Background The Qingcaosha Reservoir is facing issues of algal blooms and eutrophication, and the resulting increase in the level of chlorination disinfection by-products in the water has been a major concern. Objective To evaluate the impact of "Algae Monitoring and Control Program in Qingcaosha Reservoir" (hereinafter referred to as the program) on the control of trihalomethanes (THMs) in conventional finished water. Methods From 2011 to 2019, water samples were collected from the Lujiazui Water Plant once per season, one sample each time, and the concentrations of four THMs (trichloromethane, dichlorobromomethane, monochlorodibromomethane, and tribromomethane) were measured in the samples. Using 2014 when the program was implemented as a cut-off point, the entire study period was divided into two phases: pre-implementation (2011–2013) and post-implementation(2014–2019). Segmented linear regression with interrupted time series analysis was applied to assess the concentrations and trends of THMs in the finished water before and after the program launch. Results The concentration of total THMs in finished water increased by 1.561 µg·L⁻¹ (P=0.010) for each season of time extension before launching the program. The change in the concentration of total THMs in finished water was not statistically significant after the program launch, but the THMs concentration showed a decreasing trend as the slope was −0.626 (P=0.001). From 2017 until the end of 2019, the average concentration of THMs in finished water of Lujiazui Water Plant dropped to 10 μg·L⁻¹ or less. Conclusions The algae and eutrophication control measures in Qingcaosha Reservoir have achieved good results, controlling THMs in finished water at a low level, and the trend of THMs has changed from a yearly increase pattern before the program to a yearly decrease pattern after the program.

Objective To exploring the correlation between serum miR-195 and metabolic associated fatty liver disease(MAFLD)in type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM)patients.Methods A total of 79 patients with T2DM who were treated in the Endocrinology Department of Gansu Provincial People's Hospital were enrolled in this study from October 2022 to August 2023.They were divided into simple T2DM(n=37)and MAFLD group(MAFLD,n=42)according to whether they were complicated with MAFLD.Meanwhile,34 healthy individuals who underwent physical examinations were selected as the normal control(NC)group.Results Compared with the NC group,FPG,HbA1c and HOMA-IR increased,while HDL-C decreased in T2DM and MAFLD group(P<0.05).The TG and hs-CRP levels were higher in MAFLD group than in NC and T2DM group(P<0.05).The serum miR-195 expression decreased sequentially(P<0.05),while FAS increased sequentially in NC,T2DM,and MAFLD group(P<0.05).Spearman correlation analysis showed that miR-195 was negatively correlated with FPG,HOMA-IR,hs-CRP,and FAS(P<0.05).Multiple linear regression analysis showed that HOMA-IR and FAS were the influencing factors for serum miR-195.Conclusions Down-regulation of serum miR-195 expression in patients with T2DM combined with MAFLD may be by glucose and lipid metabolism,IR and inflammatory response.

Objective To explore the safety and effectiveness of different reinforcement methods in laparoscopic radical resection of low rectal cancer.Methods The clinical data of 215 patients who underwent laparoscopic radical resection of low rectal cancer in Nan-yang Central Hospital from January 2019 to December 2022 were analyzed retrospectively.According to the different ways of anastomotic reinforcement,the patients were divided into three groups:transanal reinforcement group(n=63),transabdominal reinforcement group(n=69)and non-reinforcement group(control group,n=83).The perioperative related indexes,postoperative complications(anasto-motic leakage,bleeding,stenosis)and postoperative anorectal function were compared among the three groups.Results The incidence of anastomotic leakage and the number of anastomotic bleeding in the reinforcement group were significantly lower than those in the non-reinforcement group,the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).There was no significant difference in intraoperative blood loss,postoperative first exhaust time,hospital stay,anastomotic stenosis and anorectal function,the difference was not statistically signifi-cant(P＞0.05).The incidence of anastomotic stenosis in the transabdominal reinforcement group was significantly higher than that in the transanal reinforcement group,the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).There was no significant difference in operation time,intraoperative blood loss,postoperative first exhaust time,hospital stay,incidence of anastomotic leakage,number of anastomotic bleeding and anorectal function between the two groups,the difference were not statistically significant(P＞0.05).Conclusion Transanal reinforcement of low colorectal anastomosis can significantly reduce the incidence of postoperative complications,which is a safe and effective reinforcement method in laparoscopic radical resection of low rectal cancer.

Objective:To investigate whether hypoxia induces endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) through inositol-dependent enzyme 1α (IRE1α) and activates JNK pathway to participate in the proliferation and apoptosis of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells in mice.Methods:Mouse pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell line (MPASMCs) was cultured in vitro to establish the hypoxic MPASMCs model. The expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) and JNK pathway genes were detected. The expression of IRE1α was knocked down by siRNA transfection, JNK pathway specific inhibitor 1, 9-pyrazoxanolone and pyrazoxanolone (SP600125) was used to inhibit JNK pathway, and XBP-1s plasmid was transfected to increase the expression of XBP-1s. CCK8 assay and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) protein detection were used to observe the cell proliferation. Cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry and the expression of B-cell lymphoma-2 (BCL-2) and BCL-2 associated X protein (BAX) protein.Results:HIF-1αexpression was significantly up-regulated in MPASMCs cultured under hypoxia. The expression of GRP78, phosphorylated IRE1α (P-IRE1α) and phosphorylated JNK (P-JNK) increased after hypoxia, indicating that ERS and JNK pathways mediated by IRE1α were activated. When IRE1α expression was inhibited by si-IRE1a, the expression of P-JNK decreased, indicating that JNK pathway was inhibited. The expression of PCNA protein was up-regulated in the hypoxia group, and CCK8 assay indicated that the cell proliferation was up-regulated. The expression of BAX and BCL-2 protein were down-regulated in the hypoxia group, and the level of apoptosis was down-regulated. The above changes were delayed after SiIRE1a inhibited the expression of IRE1α. Treatment with SP600125 could also partially delay the pro-proliferation and anti-apoptosis changes induced by hypoxia. Overexpression of XBP-1s under normoxia activated the JNK pathway, accompanied by hypoxia-like changes.Conclusions:Hypoxia activates IRE1α-mediated endoplasmic reticulum stress, which promotes the proliferation and inhibits apoptosis of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells through JNK pathway in mice.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical characteristics and spectrum of SPTB gene variants among 16 Chinese children with Hereditary spherocytosis (HS) and explore their genotype-phenotype correlation. METHODS: Sixteen children who were diagnosed with HS at the Affiliated Hospital of Capital Institute of Pediatrics from November 2018 to July 2022 were selected as the research subjects. Genetic testing was carried out by whole exome sequencing. Candidate variants were verified by Sanger sequencing and subjected to bioinformatic analysis and prediction of 3D structure of the protein. Correlation between the SPTB genotypes and clinical phenotypes was analyzed using Chi-squared test. RESULTS: The male-to-female ratio of the HS patients was 6 : 10, with the median age being 7-year-and-10-month. Clinical features of the patients have included anemia, reticulocytosis and gradual onset of splenomegaly. Mild, moderate and severe anemia have respectively occurred in 56.25% (9/16), 31.25% (5/16) and 12.50% (2/16) of the patients. SPTB gene variants were detected in all patients, among which 10 were unreported previously and 7 were de novo in origin. Loss of function (LOF) variants accounted for 93.75% (15/16). Only one missense variant was detected. Eleven, 4 and 1 of the variants had occurred in the repeat domain, CH1 domain, and dimerization domain, respectively. There was no significant correlation between the type or domain of the SPTB gene variants with the clinical features such as severity of anemia (x² = 3.345, P > 0.05). All of the variants were predicted to be pathogenic or likely pathogenic based on the guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics. CONCLUSION Mild to moderate anemia are predominant clinical features of the HS children harboring a SPTB gene variant, for which LOF variants are the main mutational type. The clinical feature of HS is unaffected by the type of the variants.
Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Computational Biology ; Genetic Testing ; Genomics ; Genotype ; Spherocytosis, Hereditary/genetics* ; East Asian People/genetics* ; Spectrin/genetics*

Acute radiation dermatitis (ARD) is one of the most common toxicities of radiotherapy. Currently, there is still no standardised protocol and guideline on the prevention and treatment of ARD. Photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) has the functions of stimulating wound healing, reducing inflammatory reaction and mitigating pain, etc. Consequently, recent research progress at home and abroad in the application of PBMT for the prevention and treatment of acute radiation skin reactions was reviewed, aiming to provide reference for clinical application of PBMT in radiation protection.

Objective:To investigate the relationship between pancreatic fibrotic marker transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β) and platelet derived growth factor-BB(PDGF-BB) and serum glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels in patients with type 3c diabetes mellitus secondary to chronic pancreatitis(CP-T3cDM).Methods:The clinical data of 39 patients with CP-T3cDM admitted to the Department of Gastroenterology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University between February 2018 and August 2020 were collected, and the patients' age, gender, body mass index, duration of chronic pancreatitis and diabetes mellitus, smoking history, alcohol consumption history, serum HbA1c level at admission, degree of pancreatic atrophy, morphology of the main pancreatic duct, and treatment of diabetes mellitus were recorded. Serum TGF-β and PDGF-BB were detected by ELISA. Patients were divided into high and low level group according to the median TGF-β and PDGF-BB levels, respectively. Clinical characteristics of patients were compared between the TGF-β and PDGF-BB high and low level group. The correlation between TGF-β, PDGF-BB and HbA1c was analyzed by Spearman's correlation analysis.Results:A total of 39 CP-T3cDM patients were included; 35 were male and 4 were female. The age of first onset of chronic pancreatitis was (42±14) years old, and the duration of diabetes mellitus was 24(4, 36) months. The serum HbA1c level was (7.8±1.6)%, and the serum TGF-β and PDGF-BB levels were 20.5(10.5, 43.1) and 647.5(276.9, 1349.2)pg/ml, respectively. The serum HbA1c levels of patients in the high-level group of serum TGF-β and PDGF-BB were significantly higher than those in the corresponding low-level group [8.6%(7.4%, 9.9%) vs 6.7%(6.2%, 7.8%) and 8.6%(7.4%, 9.6%) vs 6.7%(6.1%, 7.8%), respectively] , and the difference was statistically different (both P value <0.01), while none of other indicators showed statistically significant differences between both groups. The correlation analysis showed that the levels of TGF-β and PDGF-BB were significantly positively correlated with HbA1c level ( r=0.45, 0.53, both P value <0.01). Conclusions:Increased pancreatic fibrosis in patients with CP-T3cDM was an important factor contributing to elevated blood glucose level. Patients with higher serum pancreatic fibrotic factors exhibited a significant increase in HbA1c level.

Objective:To explore the feasibility of 400 mL Sprite Zero ? in gastric preparation for magnetically controlled capsule endoscopy (MCE) . Methods:A randomized controlled trial at the Department of Gastroenterology of Changhai Hospital, Naval Medical University from December 16th, 2019 to January 15th, 2020 was conducted. The patients and healthy volunteers who intended to receive MCE were randomly divided into the Sprite Zero ? (S) group and the water (W) group at 1∶1. For subjects in the W group, 800 mL water was taken 10 minutes before swallowing the capsule. And for subjects in the S group, 400 mL Sprite Zero ? was taken. The primary endpoint was gastric filling score and the secondary endpoint included the fullness score, gastric transit time (GTT), small bowel transit time (SBTT), completion rate (CR) for small bowel examination and the diagnostic yield. Results:A total of 102 subjects were enrolled, 52 subjects in the S group and 50 subjects in the W group. The median score of gastric filling was 4 at 0-5 min, >5-10 min and >10-15 min after taking the capsule in both groups, with less median liquid consumption in the S group than the W group (500 mL VS 950 mL, P<0.001). The S group showed lower median fullness score (7.0 scores VS 7.5 scores, P=0.030) and higher proportion of patients with GTT less than 30 minutes [69.57% (16/52) VS 27.59% (8/29), P=0.030] compared with the W group. The CR of small bowel examination in the S group was 100.00%, higher than that of the W group (89.66%, P=0.245). Conclusion:Compared with 800 mL water, 400 mL Sprite Zero ? can fully fill the stomach with more comfort. It has the potential to accelerate gastric emptying and improve the CR of small bowel examination, which is feasible for the gastric preparation.

Objective:Based on the previous animal experiments, to preliminarily explore the safety and efficacy of self-developed new smartphone-controlled vibrating capsule (VC) in the treatment of patients with functional constipation (FC).Methods:At the Outpatient Department of Gastroenterology, Changhai Hospital, Naval Medical University, 24 patients with FC were prospectively enrolled. The trial process included basic period for ≥two weeks, treatment period for six weeks, and follow-up visits ≥six (once every two weeks). During treatment period, the patients were assigned into sham capsule group, VC at low frequency mode group and VC at high frequency mode group and the patients swallowed 12 corresponding capsules. The safety of VC treatment was evaluated based on the observation the occurrence of adverse events (AE) in patients of three groups, which included abdominal pain, abdominal distention, capsule retention and abnormal laboratory indicators. The efficacy of VC treatment was assessed by comparison of the patients of three groups in mean complete spontaneous bowel movements (CSBM) per week, mean spontaneous bowel movements (SBM) per week, capsule discharge time, patient assessment of constipation quatity of life questionnaire (PAC-QOL), patient assessment of constipation symptom questionnaire (PAC-SYM). Chi-square test, least significant difference- t test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Wilcoxon rank sum test and Fisher exact test were used for statistical analysis. Results:Two patients were lost in follow up. In the end, seven, eight and seven patients were enrolled in sham capsule group, VC at low frequency mode group and VC at high frequency mode group. AE occurred in three patients. At the sixth week of treatment, the difference between average CSBM in one week and baseline of sham capsule group, VC at low frequency mode group and VC at high frequency mode group was 0.0 (0.0, 2.0), 2.0 (1.0, 2.8) and 1.0 (0.0, 5.0), respectively; and the difference between average SBM in one week and baseline of sham capsule group, VC at low frequency mode group and VC at high frequency mode group was -1.0 (2.0, 2.0), 1.0 (-0.8, 2.0) and 1.0 (0.0, 4.0), respectively. During the six weeks of treatment period, the difference between mean CSBM per week and baseline of three, seven and five patients of sham capsule group, VC at low frequency mode group and VC at high frequency mode group was more than one, and the difference between SBM per week and baseline of two, five and five patients was more than one. At the sixth week of treatment, capsule discharge time of VC at low frequency mode group and VC at high frequency mode group was shorter than that of sham capsule group ((65.7±9.3) and (59.1±3.4) h vs. (96.7±10.0) h), and during the whole treatment period capsule discharge time of VC at low frequency mode group and VC at high frequency mode group was shorter than that of sham capsule group ((63.6±8.6) and (59.8±6.6) h vs. (100.5±13.1) h), and the differences were statistically significant ( t=3.119, 3.584, 2.832 and 3.036, all P<0.05). The PAC-SYM score of patients of sham capsule group, VC at low frequency mode group and VC at high frequency mode group during the period of treatment was 14.3±2.0, 9.9±2.3 and 7.0±2.0, respectively, there were no statistically significant differences among the three groups ( P>0.05). The PAC-QOL score of patients of sham capsule group, VC at low frequency mode group and VC at high frequency mode group during the period of treatment was 31.3±4.4, 24.0±3.8 and 13.9±4.1, respectively, and the PAC-QOL score of VC at high frequency mode group was lower than that of sham capsule group, and the difference was statistically significant ( t=2.808, P=0.012), however, there was no statistically significant difference in the PAC-QOL score between VC at low frequency mode group and sham capsule group, and between VC at high frequency mode group and VC at low frequency mode group (both P>0.05). Conclusions:VC can be safely used in patients with FC, which can promote defecation and relieve the symptoms of constipation. However, there is no significant difference in the therapeutic effect of capsules with different vibration frequencies.

Objective:To explore the clinical characteristics and predictors of severe acute pancreatitis complicated with acute respiratory distress syndrome (SAP-ARDS).Methods:Clinical data of consecutive 313 SAP patients hospitalized from January 2000 to January 2020 in Peking Union Medical College Hospital, were retrospectively analyzed, including 258 cases with ARDS (ARDS group) and 55 cases without ARDS (non-ARDS group). According to the severity of ARDS, ARDS group were further divided into mild ARDS group (165 cases) and moderate to severe ARDS group (93 cases). Clinical symptoms, laboratory examination and imaging results, ICU admission time and clinical outcome, as well as the local and systemic complications, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHEⅡ) within 24 h after admission, bedside index for severity in acute pancreatitis (BISAP), CT severity index (CTSI), sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) and quick sequenctial organ failure assessment(qSOFA) score were recorded. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were performed to analyze independent risk factors of SAP complicated with moderate to severe ARDS. Receiver operating characteristics curves (ROC) was drawn to calculate area under the ROC curve (area under curve, AUC) and evaluate the performance of WBC and hsCRP in predicting SAP complicated with moderate to severe ARDS, and assess the performance of APACHEⅡ, BISAP, CTSI, SOFA and qSOFA scores in predicting SAP-ARDS endotracheal intubation.Results:The ICU length of stay and mortality rate of SAP-ARDS patients were significantly higher than those without ARDS [(8.3±11.6 day vs 5.7±7.7 day, 12.4% vs 3.6%, all P value <0.05)]. Univariate analysis showed that elevated WBC ( OR 4.52, 95% CI 1.64-12.4) and hsCRP ( OR 3.69, 95% CI 1.29-10.48) on admission were independent risk factors for moderate to severe ARDS with SAP. The AUC of WBC and hsCRP for predicting SAP with moderate to severe ARDS at admission were 0.651(95% CI 0.532-0.770) and 0.615 (95% CI 0.500-0.730), respectively. The predicted cut-off values (Cut-off values) were 17.5×10 9/L and 159 mg/L, respectively, and the sensitivity was 53.1% and 78.1%, the specificity was 78.1% and 48.4% respectively. The area under the ROC curve for APACHEⅡ, BISAP, CTSI, SOFA, and qSOFA score 24 h after admission in the early prediction of endotracheal intubation were 0.739 (95% CI 0.626-0.840), 0.705 (95% CI 0.602-0.809), 0.753 (95% CI 0.650-0.849 ), 0.737 (95% CI 0.615-0.836) and 0.663 (95% CI 0.570-0.794), and the optimum Cut-off values were 14 points, 3 points, 5 points, 7 points, 2 points, and the sensitivity and specificity for these predictors were 58.8% and 81.4%, 79.4% and 60.0%, 73.5% and 67.1%, 38.2% and 98.6%, 45.5% and 83.3%, respectively. Conclusions::Elevated blood WBC and hsCRP on admission were independent risk factors for moderate to severe ARDS in SAP. APACHEⅡ≥14, BISAP≥3, CTSI≥5, SOFA≥7, or qSOFA≥2 within the 24 h admission indictaed that the risk of SAP patients to receive endotracheal intubation was high.