Background/Aims: Natural killer (NK) cell function is generally considered dampened in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection; however, the NK cell pool exhibits phenotypic and functional heterogeneity, and the antibody--mediated effect of NK cells remains less characterized. This study evaluated the dynamic changes in antibody-mediated NK cell responses and the involvement of distinct NK subsets across disease stages and during antiviral treatment. Methods: A T-cell receptor-like antibody specific for the HBV core 18–27 peptide (cTCRL-Ab) was used to determine the antibody-mediated effect of NK cells, and an array of NK cell surface markers were analyzed in cross-sectional and longitudinal cohorts of patients with chronic HBV infection. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) was performed to identify the heterogeneity of NK subsets. Results: The cTCRL-Ab enabled the detection of NK cell cytolytic activity and IFNγ production. Notably, cTCRL-Ab-mediated NK cell responses were compromised in chronically HBV-infected patients, particularly in those receiving pegylated interferon-α (Peg-IFNα), which was associated with the downregulation of CD16 expression. Correspondingly, Peg-IFNα inhibited cTCRL-Ab-mediated NK cell function by reducing CD16 expression in vitro. scRNA-seq revealed that CD16 downregulation occurred mainly within a dysfunctional CD16hi NK subset exhibiting exhaustion properties. In contrast, an activated CD16hiNK subpopulation (CX3CR1⁺KLRC2–CD16hi) with high cytotoxicity was enriched in patients who experienced favorable treatment responses. Furthermore, the intrahepatic CX3CR1+KLRC2–CD16hi subset tended to exhibit functional restoration in HBsAg-loss individuals. Conclusions Our data contribute to the understanding of antibody-mediated responses of NK cells in chronic HBV infection, and highlight a previously unappreciated functional CX3CR1+KLRC2–CD16hiNK subset as a potential therapeutic target.

Objective To investigate the acoustic characteristics of speech in Parkinson's disease(PD)pa-tients compared to healthy individuals using smartphone-recorded speech,laying the foundation for future intelligent cloud-based PD detection.Methods A total of 81 PD patients and 63 healthy controls were randomly selected to re-cord their speech using Huawei,Xiao mi,and Apple smartphones through the"Active Health"screening app from the National Key R&D Program.Using the Praat library in Python,parameters such as mean fundamental frequen-cy(Mean F0),minimum fundamental frequency(Min F0),maximum fundamental frequency(Max F0),formants(F1,F2,F3,F4),shimmer,noise-to-harmonics ratio(NHR),and jitter were extracted and compared.Results In PD patients,jitter and shimmer were significantly higher in the/ba/,/bi/,/bu/,and/bo/vowels compared to the control group,while Mean F0 and Max F0 was significantly lower in/bi/and/bo/.Min F0 was significantly higher in/bi/and/bu/for PD patients.No significant differences were found in F1,F2,F3,or F4 between PD pa-tients and controls in/ba/,/bi/,/bo/and/bu/.Conclusion Quantitative analysis of smartphone-recorded speech can detect speech changes in PD patients,providing a solid foundation for the development of a cloud-based PD de-tection system.

Objective To investigate the acoustic characteristics of speech in Parkinson's disease(PD)pa-tients compared to healthy individuals using smartphone-recorded speech,laying the foundation for future intelligent cloud-based PD detection.Methods A total of 81 PD patients and 63 healthy controls were randomly selected to re-cord their speech using Huawei,Xiao mi,and Apple smartphones through the"Active Health"screening app from the National Key R&D Program.Using the Praat library in Python,parameters such as mean fundamental frequen-cy(Mean F0),minimum fundamental frequency(Min F0),maximum fundamental frequency(Max F0),formants(F1,F2,F3,F4),shimmer,noise-to-harmonics ratio(NHR),and jitter were extracted and compared.Results In PD patients,jitter and shimmer were significantly higher in the/ba/,/bi/,/bu/,and/bo/vowels compared to the control group,while Mean F0 and Max F0 was significantly lower in/bi/and/bo/.Min F0 was significantly higher in/bi/and/bu/for PD patients.No significant differences were found in F1,F2,F3,or F4 between PD pa-tients and controls in/ba/,/bi/,/bo/and/bu/.Conclusion Quantitative analysis of smartphone-recorded speech can detect speech changes in PD patients,providing a solid foundation for the development of a cloud-based PD de-tection system.

Objective:To establish a rapid detection method based on matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry(MALDI-TOF MS)for drug resistance of Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae(CRE),so as to provide basis for enhancing clinically diagnostic effect.Methods:A total of 120 suspected CRE strains that were isolated from the clinical laboratory of Jiading District Central Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Medicine&Health Sciences during October 2023 and September 2024 were collected,and the experimental detection of 44 strains was finally completed.The 44 suspected CRE bacterial strains were all from hospitalized patients.A rapid detection protocol based on the MALDI-TOF MS platform was initially established and improved,and experimental detection was carried out using the fully automatic rapid microbial mass spectrometry detection system(VITEK MS).The results of identification review and antimicrobial susceptibility test(AST)for VitEK-2 Compact strain was used as the reference standard.The screening results and detection efficacy of two kinds of detection methods were compared.Results:In the 44 suspected CRE strains,31 CRE strains were screened out by MALDI-TOF MS detection,and 31 CRE stains were screened out by VITEK-2 Compact recheck detection.In them,one strain of Enterobacter cloacae was confirmed as negativity by the MALDI-TOF MS test,but it was confirmed as CRE by the VITEK-2 Compact test.One strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae was confirmed as positivity by the MALDI-TOF MS test,but it was confirmed as mediator for carbapenem drugs by the VITEK-2 Compact test.The tested results of VITEK-2 Compact was used as standard,the results of four-grid table(2×2 contingency table)statistical method indicated that the sensitivity,specificity,accuracy rate and Youden index(R)of MALDI-TOF MS were respectively 96.7%,92.3%,100%and 89.1%.Conclusion:The rapid detection method based on the MALDI-TOF MS platform for CRE drug resistance has simple operation process and high accuracy rate,which can provide a basis for the application of targeted antibacterial drugs at early stage.

Objective:To establish a rapid detection method based on matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry(MALDI-TOF MS)for drug resistance of Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae(CRE),so as to provide basis for enhancing clinically diagnostic effect.Methods:A total of 120 suspected CRE strains that were isolated from the clinical laboratory of Jiading District Central Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Medicine&Health Sciences during October 2023 and September 2024 were collected,and the experimental detection of 44 strains was finally completed.The 44 suspected CRE bacterial strains were all from hospitalized patients.A rapid detection protocol based on the MALDI-TOF MS platform was initially established and improved,and experimental detection was carried out using the fully automatic rapid microbial mass spectrometry detection system(VITEK MS).The results of identification review and antimicrobial susceptibility test(AST)for VitEK-2 Compact strain was used as the reference standard.The screening results and detection efficacy of two kinds of detection methods were compared.Results:In the 44 suspected CRE strains,31 CRE strains were screened out by MALDI-TOF MS detection,and 31 CRE stains were screened out by VITEK-2 Compact recheck detection.In them,one strain of Enterobacter cloacae was confirmed as negativity by the MALDI-TOF MS test,but it was confirmed as CRE by the VITEK-2 Compact test.One strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae was confirmed as positivity by the MALDI-TOF MS test,but it was confirmed as mediator for carbapenem drugs by the VITEK-2 Compact test.The tested results of VITEK-2 Compact was used as standard,the results of four-grid table(2×2 contingency table)statistical method indicated that the sensitivity,specificity,accuracy rate and Youden index(R)of MALDI-TOF MS were respectively 96.7%,92.3%,100%and 89.1%.Conclusion:The rapid detection method based on the MALDI-TOF MS platform for CRE drug resistance has simple operation process and high accuracy rate,which can provide a basis for the application of targeted antibacterial drugs at early stage.

TGF-β1 is considered a key mediator in the formation of hepatic fibrosis and mainly acts by activating the downstream Smad signaling pathway.Smad2 and Smad3 are two major downstream regulators that promote TGF-β1-mediated tissue fibrosis,while Smad7 is a negative-feedback regulator of the TGF-β1/Smad pathway and inhibits TGF-β1-mediated hepatic fibrosis.A growing number of studies are showing that natural products can delay the progression of hepatic fibrosis by regulating the TGF-β1/Smad pathway,inhibiting HSC activation,and reducing ECM deposition.This article reviews the molecular mechanism of the TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway in hepatic fibrosis,and summarizes the natural products that target the regulation of this pathway,providing a reference for research into the treatment of hepatic fibrosis.

Objective:To observe and summarise the clinical effect of free groin flap in repairing of soft tissue defects in extremities, and to explore the selection of main vessel in a flap.Methods:From January 2018 to January 2021, 146 patients with soft tissue defects in extremities were treated with free groin flaps in the Department of Hand and Microsurgery, Guangxi Guilin Xing'an Jieshou Orthopaedic Hospital. There were 126 patients with traumatic wound and 20 with chronic ulcer. In addition, 86 of the patients with bone fracture and exposure of internal fixator, 18 with tendon, nerve or artery injuries or defects. There were 6 patients with severe infection and other 3 with deep dead space. The sizes of wound ranged from 2.0 cm×3.0 cm to 25.0 cm×6.0 cm. The flap was the same size as the wound and not enlarged. Firstly, the superficial branch of superficial iliac circumflex artery was explored as the axial artery for all the flaps, then the blood supply vessels of the flap were selected according to the availability of the axial artery. The size, course, adjacent and possible length to be freed of the axial artery and the accompanying veins of a flap were recorded. The donor sites were directly sutured and closed. All patients were included in the postoperative follow-up at outpatient clinic.Results:Free groin flap were used to repair the wounds in all patients. However, the main blood supply vessel of the flap was not constant, and it was often required to adjust the way of flap harvesting. Superficial circumflex iliac artery was taken as the axial vessels in 141 patients (96.6%), among them, 133 cases(94.3%) had the superficial branch as the axis and 5 cases (3.6%) had deep branch as the axis. Three patients (2.1%) had the bone and soft tissue defects reconstructed with vascularised iliac mosaic osteocutaneous flap with superficial circumflex iliac artery as axial vessel and 5 cases(3.4%) had the superficial epigastric artery as axial vessel. The axial arteries were measured as follow: the superficial branch of the superficial circumflex iliac artery was 0.5-0.9 mm in diameter and 7.0-9.0 cm in length, the outer diameter of the deep branch was 1.2-1.4 mm and 9.0-11.0 cm in length, and the outer diameter of superficial epigastric artery was 1.0-1.6 mm and 8.0-11.3 cm in length. All the flaps survived smoothly after surgery and the follow-up period ranged 6-40 (mean 26) months. The texture of the flaps was soft with good function.Conclusion:Free groin flap can be used to repair soft tissue defects in extremities. The main axial vessel is the superficial branch of the superficial circumflex iliac artery, followed by the deep branch or the trunk. The superficial abdominal artery can also be used as an axial vessel. Under the circumstances, the flap design needs to be adjusted without changing the supply area

Objective To analyze the differences in the treatment patterns,clinical characteristics,treatment outcomes and prognostic factors between breast cancer patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and ductal carcinoma in situ with microinvasion (DCIS-MI).Methods Clinical data of 866 female patients including 631 DCIS cases and 235 DCIS-MI cases treated in our institution between 1999 and 2013 were retrospectively analyzed.The local control (LC),disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were calculated by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis.The prognostic factors were identified by Log-rank test.Results Similar LC,DFS and OS rates were obtained between two groups (all P＞ O.05).The univariate analysis demonstrated that Her-2-positive patients had worse OS and DFS than Her-2-negative counterparts.Patients undergoing breast-conserving surgery without radiotherapy had lower LC and DFS rates compared with those receiving radical mastectomy.Conclusions DCIS and DCIS-MI patients have similar clinical prognosis in terms of OS,LC and DFS.Her-2 positive is an unfavorable prognostic factor for DFS and OS.The LC and DFS rates in the breast-conserving surgery alone group are worse than those in the mastectomy group.

Objective: To investigate the clinical and prognostic differences between primary nasopharyngeal natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphoma (NP NKTCL) and extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma of the nasal cavity with nasopharynx extension (N-NP NKTCL). Methods: A total of 89 patients with NP NKTCL and 113 patients with N-NP NKTCL from January 2000 to June 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Clinical and pathological features, treatment responses and prognosis were compared between the two groups. Results: NP NKTCL patients showed similar clinicopathological features with those with N-NP NKTCL, except that the former had a relative low proportion of elevated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels (28.1% vs. 41.6%; P=0.001). Both of two groups presented with high proportion of cervical lymph node involvement (55.1% and 42.5%; P=0.076). The 5-year overall survival (OS) rates in these two groups were 63.2% and 54.6%, respectively, whereas 5-year progress-free survival (PFS) rates were 50.7% and 45.6%, respectively. For the patients with stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ, the 5-year OS and PFS rates in these two groups were 68.8% and 55.7% as well as 55.6% and 47.2%, respectively. These were no statistically significant differences between two groups (all P>0.05). The complete response (CR) rate after initial chemotherapy in NP NKTCL group was 43.8%, which was significant higher than that of 19.6% in N-NP NKTCL group (P=0.006). Additionally, the CR rate after primary radiotherapy was 63.4% and 62.7%, respectively (P=0.629). The NP NKTCL patients with stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ who accepted radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy had similar survival times with chemotherapy alone, showing the 5-year OS rates of 70.5% and 33.3% (P=0.238), as well as the 5-year PFS rates of 56.7% and 33.3%, respectively (P=0.431). Similar results were found in N-NP NKTCL group, the 5-year OS rates for patients with radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy and chemotherapy alone were 57.4% and 33.3% (P=0.246), while the 5-year PFS rates were 49.3% and 16.7% (P=0.177), respectively. Besides, the relapse pattern of NP NKTCL and N-NP NKTCL groups was also similar, mainly involving the distant extra-nodal organs followed by lymph nodes. Conclusion The patients with N-NP NKTCL and NP NKTCL showed similar clinical and prognostic features, however, the initial response to chemotherapy was different.

Objective To analyze the changes in treatment patterns,clinical characteristics,treatment outcomes and prognostic factors of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).Methods Clinical data of 617 female patients admitted to our institution between 2000 and 2013 were retrospectively analyzed.KaplanMeier survival analysis was adopted to calculate the local control (LC),disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rates.Log-rank test was utilized to identify the prognostic factors.Results Along the number of DCIS patients was gradually increased year by year,the proportion of breast conservative surgery was also elevated.However,mastectomy remained the primary surgical method.A total of 374 patients underwent mastectomy,160 cases received breast conservative surgery plus radiotherapy and 83 underwent breast conservative surgery alone.Postoperatively,366 patients (83.6％) with positive hormone receptor received hormone therapy and 45 patients (7.3％) underwent chemotherapy.The median follow-up time was 47 months.The 5-year LC,DFS and OS rates were 98.4％,97.5％ and 98.9％,respectively.Univariate analysis demonstrated that Her-2-positive patients obtained worse OS (P=0.019).Although mastectomy group had more adverse factors compared with breast conservative surgery with or without radiotherapy groups,similar survival results were obtained among three groups.Mastectomy yielded better LC and DFS compared with breast conservative surgery alone.Conclusions DCIS patients obtain favorable clinical prognosis between the breast conservative surgery and mastectomy groups.The LC rate in the mastectomy group is better than that in the breast conservative surgery group.