Parkinson's disease(PD)is the second most common neurodegenerative disease,mainly due to the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra(SN)of the midbrain,resulting in motor dysfunction.Dental stem cells(DSCs)are derived from the cranial neural crest which can be easily harvested.DSCs coming from the cranial neural crest have excellent proliferation and differentiation ability,and can promote nerve repair and regeneration.DSCs can secrete new dopamine neurons and secrete a large number of neurotro-phic factors(NTFs)to improve the neural function,and also inhibit the neuroinflammatory response through immune modulation.DSCs can effectively alleviate the motor dysfunction in rats with PD and play an important role in R&D of regenerative medicine.

Objective To investigate the inhibitory effect of epigallocatechin gallate(EGCG)on oxidative damage to the retina in a rat model of dry age-related macular degeneration(AMD)induced by sodium iodate.Methods A total of 36 male specific pathogen-free Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into the blank control group,sodium iodate group and sodium iodate+EGCG group,with 12 rats in each group.Rats in the sodium iodate group and the sodium io-date+EGCG group were given 50 mg-kg·1 sodium iodate by tail vein injection by weight to build dry AMD models,while rats in the blank control group were administered with an equal volume of normal saline.Following the modeling proce-dure,rats in the sodium iodate+EGCG group received an intravitreal injection of 4 μL EGCG(0.5 g·L-1)into their right eyes,while the right eyes of rats in both the blank control and sodium iodate groups were treated with the same volume of normal saline.After 21 days,the rats were sacrificed,and ocular samples were collected for detection.Histopathological changes of the retinal tissues in each group were examined using hematoxylin and eosin(HE)staining.Additionally,the levels of superoxide dismutase(SOD),glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px),and malondialdehyde(MDA)in the retinal tis-sues were quantified.Western blot analysis was conducted to assess the protein expression levels of nuclear factor ery-throid-2-related factor 2(Nrf2),NADPH quinone oxidoreductase 1(NQO1),and heme oxygenase-1(HO-1)in the retinas.Furthermore,real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction was performed to evaluate the relative messenger ribonucleic acid(mRNA)expression levels of Nrf2,NQO1 and HO-1 in the retinas of the rats.Results HE staining revealed that,in comparison to the blank control group,the entire retinal layer in the sodium iodate group exhibited injury,characterized by noticeable injury of the retinal pigment epithelial cells and disordered outer nuclear layer with wavy transformation.The so-dium iodate+EGCG group demonstrated ameliorated retinal injury across all layers compared to the sodium iodate group.Compared to the blank control group,the levels of SOD and GSH-Px were significantly reduced(both P＜0.01),while the level of MDA was significantly elevated(P＜0.01)in the sodium iodate group.Compared with the sodium iodate group,the sodium iodate+EGCG group showed a significant increase in the levels of SOD and GSH-Px(both P＜0.01),along-side a substantial decrease in the content of MDA(P＜0.01).Western blot analyses demonstrated that compared with the blank control group,the protein expression levels of Nrf2,NQO1 and HO-1 were significantly elevated in the sodium iodate group(all P＜0.01);compared with the sodium iodate group,the sodium iodate+EGCG group exhibited relatively higher protein expression levels of Nrf2,NQO1 and HO-1(all P＜0.05).The results from real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction indicated that the relative mRNA expression levels of Nrf2,NQO1 and HO-1 in the retinas of rats in the sodium io-date group were significantly greater than those in the blank control group(all P＜0.05);compared with the sodium iodate group,the sodium iodate+EGCG group showed a significant increase in the relative mRNA expression levels of Nrf2,NQO1 and HO-1(all P＜0.05).Conclusion EGCG can improve the capacity to scavenge oxygen free radicals by promo-ting the upregulation of Nrf2 expression.This activation subsequently enhances the expression of downstream products such as NQO1 and HO-1,leading to increased levels of SOD and GSH-Px while simultaneously reducing the MDA level.Consequently,this process inhibits oxidative damage to the retina in rats with dry AMD induced by sodium iodate.

The emerging biomedical industry has an increasing demand for the professional talents and puts forward higher requirements for the quality, especially the innovation ability of the talents. Exploring a new model for fostering the innovation ability of postgraduates majoring in biological and medical sciences based on the principle of integrating production, education and research is of practical significance for improving the quality of professional talents and empowering the bio-economic development. Taking the training of innovation ability of postgraduates majoring in biological and medical sciences at Jiangnan University as an example, this paper introduced a new training system of "six integration and six optimizations". This system included ideological guidance, discipline system, training program, faculty, research innovation platform, and communication and cooperation. Satisfactory cultivation results were achieved with this new system. This paper is expected to provide reference for the training of innovative talents in the biological and medical industry.
Biological Science Disciplines/education* ; China ; Biomedical Research ; Humans ; Inventions

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics of family clustering pediatric and adult cases with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant infection in Shanghai City.Methods:A field investigation among the pediatric cases with Omicron variant infection and their household contacts from April 4 to April 30, 2022 in Children′s Hospital of Fudan University was conducted. The informations on case finding, clinical manifestations and SARS-CoV-2 vaccination status were collected. The epidemiological and clinical characteristics were compared between pediatric cases and adult cases. The independent sample t test or chi-square test was used for statistical analysis, and the relative risk ( RR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were used to evaluate the protective effect of vaccination on the infection of Omicron variant. Results:There were 1 274 family members in 297 families including 370 children and 904 adults of whom 1 110(87.13%) were infected with Omicron variant, with 989(89.10%) symptomatic and 121(10.90%) asymptomatic. There were 355 children infected with Omicron variant, of whom 337(94.93%) were symptomatic, and the main manifestations were fever (96.74%(326/337)) and cough (40.36%(136/337)). Only one pediatric case with Rett syndrome developed critically severe pneumonia. A total of 194 pediatric cases had imaging examination, 64(32.99%) showed pulmonary inflammatory lesions. There were 755 adult cases infected with Omicron variant, of whom 652(86.26%) reported symptoms, and the main manifestations were fever (73.16%(477/652)) and cough (49.85%(325/652)). Among symptomatic cases, fever was more common in pediatric cases than in adult cases, while cough was more common in adult cases than in pediatric cases, and the differences were both statistically significant ( χ2=80.87 and 8.04, respectively, both P<0.01). The fever spike was higher in pediatric cases than in adult cases ((39.3±0.7) ℃ vs (38.6±0.6) ℃), and the difference was statistically significant ( t=9.85, P<0.001). The interval from the onset of symptoms to cycle threshold (Ct) value of the nucleic acid of Omicron variant≥35 was longer in pediatric cases than in adult cases ((13.0±3.1) d vs (10.9±3.6) d), and the difference had statistically significance ( t=2.97, P=0.004). Among 160 children aged 3 to 18 years, 54 (33.75%) received two-dose vaccination. Among the 904 adults, 388 (42.92%) received two-dose vaccination and 293 (32.41%) received a booster dose. In the adult cases, the risk of symptomatic infection was reduced by only 8% ( RR=0.92, 95% CI 0.86 to 0.98, P=0.014) following two-dose vaccination, and the risks of fever and cough following booster vaccination were reduced by 42%( RR=0.58, 95% CI 0.49 to 0.67, P=0.001) and 50% ( RR=0.50, 95% CI 0.34 to 0.78, P=0.001), respectively. Conclusions:Secondary attack rate and symptomatic rate of household infection are high in the context of the Omicron variant outbreak in Shanghai. Symptomatic infection is common in children and adults in household setting. Fever is the most common symptom and fever duration is short. Booster vaccination may provide certain protection against common symptoms caused by Omicron variant infection.

The vagina contains at least a billion microbial cells,dominated by lactobacilli.Here we perform metagenomic shotgun sequencing on cervical and fecal samples from a cohort of 516 Chinese women of reproductive age,as well as cervical,fecal,and salivary samples from a second cohort of 632 women.Factors such as pregnancy history,delivery history,cesarean section,and breastfeeding were all more important than menstrual cycle in shaping the microbiome,and such information would be necessary before trying to interpret differences between vagino-cervical micro-biome data.Greater proportion of Bifidobacterium breve was seen with older age at sexual debut.The relative abundance of lactobacilli especially Lactobacillus crispatus was negatively associated with pregnancy history.Potential markers for lack of menstrual regularity,heavy flow,dysmenor-rhea,and contraceptives were also identified.Lactobacilli were rare during breastfeeding or post-menopause.Other features such as mood fluctuations and facial speckles could potentially be predicted from the vagino-cervical microbiome.Gut and salivary microbiomes,plasma vitamins,metals,amino acids,and hormones showed associations with the vagino-cervical microbiome.Our results offer an unprecedented glimpse into the microbiota of the female reproductive tract and call for international collaborations to better understand its long-term health impact other than in the settings of infection or pre-term birth.

Objective:To determine the risk factors of extubation failure and its effect on the prognosis of patients who had successfully passed a spontaneous breathing trial (SBT).Methods:The clinical data of patients with mechanical ventilation more than 24 hours who passed SBT admitted to department of intensive care unit (ICU) of First Hospital of Qinhuangdao from November 2018 to November 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the outcome of weaning within 48 hours after weaning, patients were divided into weaning success group and weaning failure group. The baseline data, the presence of basic cardiopulmonary diseases, B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), fluid balance, albumin and hemoglobin within 24 hours before weaning, the time of mechanical ventilation before weaning, rapid shallow breathing index (RSBI) during SBT, oxygenation index, cough peak flow at the end of SBT, and prognostic indicators were collected. The outcome of weaning was taken as the dependent variable, and the observation factors were taken as the independent variable for univariate analysis. The factors with statistical significance in univariate analysis were analyzed by binary Logistic regression to determine the influencing factors of weaning failure.Results:Of the 204 patients, 167 (81.9%) were successfully weaned, and 37 (18.1%) failed. Compared with the weaning success group, the total duration of mechanical ventilation and the length of ICU stay in the weaning failure group were significantly longer [days: 13.0 (7.5, 23.5) vs. 5.0 (3.0, 8.0), 17.0 (12.5, 31.0) vs. 10.0 (6.0, 15.0), both P < 0.01], and the tracheotomy rate and mortality were significantly higher (32.4% vs. 0%, 51.4% vs. 0%, both P < 0.01). Univariate analysis showed that there were significant differences in age, proportion of patients with cardiopulmonary diseases, BNP and cough peak flow between weaning failure group and weaning success group [age (years old): 70.65±15.78 vs. 62.69±15.82, cardiopulmonary diseases: 62.2% vs. 24.6%, BNP (ng/L): 416.87 (32.70, 1 225.80) vs. 45.36 (10.00, 273.60), cough peak flow (L/min): 59.89±9.06 vs. 83.84±16.52, all P < 0.01]. However, there were no significant differences in gender, acute physiology and chronic health evaluationⅡ (APACHEⅡ) at admission, mechanical ventilation time before weaning, albumin, hemoglobin, oxygenation index, RSBI and fluid balance 24 hours before weaning between weaning failure group and weaning success group [male: 51.4% vs. 68.3%, APACHEⅡ: 16.70±6.65 vs. 15.67±6.28, mechanical ventilation time before weaning (days): 6.0 (2.5, 11.0) vs. 5.0 (3.0, 8.0), albumin (g/L): 27.78±4.15 vs. 27.76±4.46, hemoglobin (g/L): 102.43±15.80 vs. 100.61±17.19, oxygenation index (mmHg, 1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa): 359.33±79.83 vs. 365.75±78.23, RSBI (times·L -1·min -1): 50.73±24.97 vs. 46.76±15.53, positive fluid balance: 70.3% vs. 69.5%, all P > 0.05]. The results of binary Logistic regression analysis showed that age ≥ 75 years old [odds ratio ( OR) = 3.099, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 1.003-9.574, P = 0.049], presence of cardiopulmonary diseases ( OR = 3.599, 95% CI was 1.126-11.498, P = 0.031), BNP within 24 hours before weaning ( OR = 1.002, 95% CI was 1.000-1.003, P = 0.005) were the risk factors of extubation failure, while cough peak flow at the end of SBT was the protective factor ( OR = 0.869, 95% CI was 0.823-0.917, P = 0.000). Conclusions:For patients who had successfully passed SBT, age ≥ 75 years old, the presence of cardiopulmonary diseases and an increased level of BNP within 24 hours were the risk factors of extubation failure. In addition, the higher the cough peak flow at the end of SBT, the lower the risk of weaning failure will be.

Objective:To build a medical service experience system based on role play of hospital staff, and explore its contribution to upgrading medical service, elevating medical service quality, and improving patients′ satisfaction.Methods:An indicator system for medical service experience was developed via literature review. 20 newly recruited hospital employees in 2019 were sampled randomly to form a service experience team, who were arranged to experience the full medical service process of outpatients and inpatients based on role play. The questionnaire for service quality based on patient perception and expectation was used to survey the expectation and perception values of those role players on their medical service experiences, and summarize the defects found on such six dimensions as hospital reliability, responsiveness, tangibility, assurance, empathy and cost-effectiveness. After due corrections of these defects, further experiences and patient satisfaction survey were made to assess the effects of such actions taken. Paired t test was used respectively in statistical analysis of service experience value and actual perception value, as well as the perception values before and after the actions taken, and χ2 test was used for a statistical analysis of patient satisfaction. Results:Role players experienced respectively at the emergency, outpatient and inpatient departments of the hospital for a week in August 2019. Statistics of their experiences indicated≥0.50 points difference between the mean expectation and perception values on doctor-patient communication, patient help responsiveness, outpatient process, examination report delivery duration, service attitude, patient trust on medical workers, medical environment and patient privacy protection.Following a 3-month reform, role players found improvements in such aspects as hospital reliability, responsiveness, tangibility, assurance, empathy and cost-effectiveness; patient satisfaction improved sizably in December 2019 over January of the same year( P<0.05). Conclusions:The construction and application of the medical service experience system based on role play of hospital staff prove highly useful in upgrading medical service actions, improving medical service quality, and improving patient satisfaction.

Objective:To explore the influencing factors of pain control among abdominal surgery patients with the enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) so as to provide a basis for improving pain control.Methods:From May 2018 to November 2018, we selected 15 abdominal surgery patients with ERAS in Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery at Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital by purposive sampling. Semi-structured interview was carried out with the method of phenomenology in qualitative research. Colaizzi 7-step analysis was used in data analysis to conclude themes.Results:By interview data analysis, a total of 5 themes that had influences on pain control were concluded: activity-related pain and pain management after removing patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) ; adverse reaction related to pain management; recognition of patients and their family members on pain or pain treatment; information support for pain treatment; influence of non-medical service on patient satisfaction with pain control.Conclusions:We should explore the operation mode of acute pain service organization suitable for our country. Muti-disciplinary team should be used for abdominal surgery patients to strengthen the management of activity-related pain and removing PCA, prevention and treatment for adverse reaction related to pain treatment, information support for pain treatment, and improve the recognition of patients and their family members on pain or pain treatment, and pay attention to the influence of non-medical service on patient satisfaction with pain control so as to improve pain control.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the causes of oocyte vitrification and its application in assisted reproduction. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 26 patients with 27 cycles of oocyte vitrification cryopreservation undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and embryo transfer between January, 2008 and October, 2018. The causes of oocyte vitrification and the outcomes of ICSI and clinical pregnancy were analyzed. RESULTS: The causes of oocytes vitrification included mainly azoospermia or severe spermatogenesis disorder of the husband, failure to obtain sperms from the husband, failure of the husband to be present on the day of oocyte retrieval and acute diseases of the husband to not allow sperm collection. A total of 274 oocytes were frozen in 27 oocyte retrieval cycles, and 217 eggs were thawed in 19 cycles with a survival rate of 81.11% (176/217). The normal fertilization rate, cleavage rate and high-quality embryo rate was 74.81% (98/131), 89.80% (88/98) and 36.73% (36/98), respectively. Fifteen patients underwent embryo transfer, and the clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate was 53.33% (8/15) and 33.33% (5/15), respectively. Compared with patients below 35 years of age, the patients aged above 35 years had significantly lower oocyte survival rate after thawing (82.76% 74.42%, =0.211), clinical pregnancy rate (77.78% 16.67%, =0.041) and live birth rate (55.56% 0, =0.044). CONCLUSIONS Oocytes vitrification can be used as a remedy for infertile couples who fail to provide sperms due to male factors on the day of oocyte retrieval. Vitrification of the oocytes does not significantly affect the fertilization rate or the clinical pregnancy rate. The survival rate of the thawed oocytes is related to the age of the wife, and an age younger than 35 years can be optimal for achieving favorable clinical pregnancy outcomes after oocyte vitrification.
Adult ; Cryopreservation ; Embryo Transfer ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Oocytes ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Rate ; Retrospective Studies ; Vitrification

Objective? To establish a WeChat online system supporting continued nursing care for patients receiving enteral bladder augmentation and to evaluate its effects on continued nursing care for patients with neurogenic bladder in spinal cord injury who received enteral bladder augmentation. Methods? Totally 60 patients with low-compliant neurogenic bladder in spinal cord injury who received enteral bladder augmentation and were discharged from Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital between March 2016 and March 2018 were selected by convenient sampling, and divided into the observation group (n=30) and the control group (n=30) according to the random number table. Patients in the control group received conventional nursing care after discharge, while patients in the observation group received nursing care after discharge via the WeChat online support system. The follow-up duration was 3 months. Bladder self-management compliance, urinary catheter-associated complications, bladder function, quality of life and negative emotions at discharge and 3 months after discharge were compared between the two groups. Results? The score of bladder self-management compliance, anxiety score, depression score, and scores of physical function, role function, emotional function and social function in quality of life in the observation group were better than those in the control group 3 months after discharge (P＜0.05); the rates of urinary tract infection and urethral injury of the observation group were 3.3% and 6.7%, while those of the control group were 26.7% and 33.3%, respectively; the incidence rate of urinary catheter-associated complications of the observation group was lower than that of the control group (P＜0.05); and the parameters of bladder function such as bladder volume, bladder compliance, residual urine volume and maximum detrusor pressure of the observation group were better than those of the control group (P＜ 0.05). Conclusions? The WeChat online support system can improve patients' bladder self-management compliance, reduce the urinary catheter-associated complications, enable the recovery of bladder function, ameliorate their negative emotions, and improve their quality of life.