Ticks are important disease vectors that pose serious threats to human health and animal husbandry. Understanding seasonal fluctuation in tick populations and their influencing factors provides a scientific basis for population management and the prevention and control of tick-borne diseases. Tick life stages are influenced by factors including population density, activity levels, survival rates, and other biological features that exhibit periodic changes. Seasonal fluctuations in tick populations directly impact population dynamics and the risk of disease transmission. This review primarily examines the factors that influence seasonal tick population fluctuations.

Objective:To investigate the prevalence of chronic endometritis(CE)in patients with repeated implantation failure(RIF),and the correlation between diagnostic indexes of CE and classification of peripheral blood immune cells.Methods:A total of 64 patients with RIF who visited Outpatient of Hebei Reproductive Health Hospital from January 2020 to December 2021 were retrospec-tively analyzed.General information of patients,results of hysteroscopy and endometrial immunohistochemistry in the mid luteal phase,the number and percentage of NK cells,Th1 cells,Th2 cells,Th17 cells and Treg cells in peripheral blood,and Th1/Th2,Th17/Treg were collected,and the pregnancy outcome of retransplantation was followed up.To evaluate the consistency of hysteroscopy and endometrial immunohistochemistry CD138 in diagnosis of CE in RIF patients,to analyze whether chronic inflammation of endome-trium was related to classification of peripheral blood immune cells,and to analyze the pregnancy outcome of patients with RIF diag-nosed with CE after retransplantation.Results:Prevalence of CE in RIF patients detected by hysteroscopy was 53.12%,which was sig-nificantly higher than that detected by endometrial immunohistochemistry CD138(25.00%,P<0.05).There was no significant differ-ence in the number and percentage of immune cells in peripheral blood between CE and non CE patients.After antibiotic treatment,the 12-week continuous pregnancy rate and live birth rate in the CD138 positive group were higher than those in negative group,with a statistically significant difference(P<0.05).Conclusion:The combination of hysteroscopy and endometrial CD138 immunohistochem-istry at the right time for RIF patients is beneficial to improve their pregnancy rate and pregnancy outcome.The infiltration of endome-trial plasma cells does not affect the classification of peripheral blood immune cells.

OBJECTIVE: Blood culture remains the gold standard for diagnosing bloodstream infections. Clinical laboratories must ensure the quality of blood culture processes from receipt to obtaining definitive results. We examined laboratory analytical indicators associated with positive blood culture results. METHODS: Blood cultures collected from Peking Union Medical College Hospital between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2022, were retrospectively analyzed. The mode of transportation (piping logistics delivery vs. staff), source of blood cultures (outpatient/emergency department vs. inpatient department), rotation of personnel, and time of reception (8:00-19:59 vs. 20:00-07:59) were compared between blood culture-positive and -negative results. RESULTS: Between 2020 and 2022, the total positive rate of blood culture was 8.07%. The positive rate of blood cultures in the outpatient/emergency department was significantly higher than that in the inpatient department (12.46% vs. 5.83%; P < 0.0001). The time-to-detection of blood cultures was significantly affected by the delivery mode and personnel rotation. The blood culture positive rate of the total pre-analytical time within 1 h was significantly higher than that within 1-2 h or > 2 h ( P < 0.0170). CONCLUSION Laboratory analytical indicators such as patient source, transportation mode, and personnel rotation significantly impacted the positive detection rate or time of blood culture.
Blood Culture/statistics & numerical data* ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Emergency Service, Hospital/statistics & numerical data*

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the association between body mass index (BMI) and mortality based on the 10-year population-based multicenter prospective study. METHODS: A general population-based multicenter prospective study was conducted at four sites in rural China between 2013 and 2023. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models and restricted cubic spline analyses were used to assess the association between BMI and mortality. Stratified analyses were performed based on the individual characteristics of the participants. RESULTS: Overall, 19,107 participants with a sum of 163,095 person-years were included and 1,910 participants died. The underweight (< 18.5 kg/m ²) presented an increase in all-cause mortality (adjusted hazards ratio [ aHR] = 2.00, 95% confidence interval [ CI]: 1.66-2.41), while overweight (≥ 24.0 to < 28.0 kg/m ²) and obesity (≥ 28.0 kg/m ²) presented a decrease with an aHR of 0.61 (95% CI: 0.52-0.73) and 0.51 (95% CI: 0.37-0.70), respectively. Overweight ( aHR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.67-0.86) and mild obesity ( aHR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.59-0.87) had a positive impact on mortality in people older than 60 years. All-cause mortality decreased rapidly until reaching a BMI of 25.7 kg/m ² ( aHR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.92-0.98) and increased slightly above that value, indicating a U-shaped association. The beneficial impact of being overweight on mortality was robust in most subgroups and sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSION This study provides additional evidence that overweight and mild obesity may be inversely related to the risk of death in individuals older than 60 years. Therefore, it is essential to consider age differences when formulating health and weight management strategies.
Humans ; Body Mass Index ; China/epidemiology* ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Rural Population/statistics & numerical data* ; Aged ; Follow-Up Studies ; Adult ; Mortality ; Cause of Death ; Obesity/mortality* ; Overweight/mortality*

Objective To examine the changing prevalence and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Burkholderia cepacia in 52 hospitals across China from 2015 to 2021.Methods A total of 9 261 strains of B.cepacia were collected from 52 hospitals between January 1,2015 and December 31,2021.Antimicrobial susceptibility of the strains was tested using Kirby-Bauer method or automated antimicrobial susceptibility testing systems according to a unified protocol.The results were interpreted according to the breakpoints released in the Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute(CLSI)guidelines(2023 edition).Results A total of 9 261 strains of B.cepacia were isolated from all age groups,especially elderly patients.The proportion was 11.1％(1 032 strains)in children,significantly lower than the proportion in adults.About half(46.5％,4 310/9 261)of the strains were isolated from patients at least 60 years old and 42.3％(3 919/9 261)of the strains were isolated from young adults.Most isolates(71.1％)were isolated from sputum and respiratory secretions,followed by urine(10.7％)and blood samples(8.1％).B.cepacia isolates were highly susceptible to the five antimicrobial agents recommended in the CLSI M100 document(33rd edition,2023).B.cepacia isolates showed relatively higher resistance rates to meropenem and levofloxacin.However,the resistance rates to ceftazidime,trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole,and minocycline remained below 8.1％.The percentage of B.cepacia strains resistant to levofloxacin was the highest compared to other antibiotics in any of the three age groups(from 12.4％in the patients＜18 years old to 20.6％in the patients aged 60 years or older).Conclusions B.cepacia is one of the clinically important non-fermenting gram-negative bacteria.Accurate and timely reporting of antimicrobial susceptibility test results and ongoing antimicrobial resistance surveillance are helpful for rational prescription of antimicrobial agents and proper prevention and control of nosocomial infections.

Objective To summarize the changing prevalence of carbapenem resistance in Enterobacterales based on the data of CHINET Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Program from 2015 to 2021 for improving antimicrobial treatment in clinical practice.Methods Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using a commercial automated susceptibility testing system according to the unified CHINET protocol.The results were interpreted according to the breakpoints of the Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute(CLSI)M100 31st ed in 2021.Results Over the seven-year period(2015-2021),the overall prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales(CRE)was 9.43％(62 342/661 235).The prevalence of CRE strains in Klebsiella pneumoniae,Citrobacter freundii,and Enterobacter cloacae was 22.38％,9.73％,and 8.47％,respectively.The prevalence of CRE strains in Escherichia coli was 1.99％.A few CRE strains were also identified in Salmonella and Shigella.The CRE strains were mainly isolated from respiratory specimens(44.23±2.80)％,followed by blood(20.88±3.40)％and urine(18.40±3.45)％.Intensive care units(ICUs)were the major source of the CRE strains(27.43±5.20)％.CRE strains were resistant to all the β-lactam antibiotics tested and most non-β-lactam antimicrobial agents.The CRE strains were relatively susceptible to tigecycline and polymyxins with low resistance rates.Conclusions The prevalence of CRE strains was increasing from 2015 to 2021.CRE strains were highly resistant to most of the antibacterial drugs used in clinical practice.Clinicians should prescribe antimicrobial agents rationally.Hospitals should strengthen antibiotic stewardship in key clinical settings such as ICUs,and take effective infection control measures to curb CRE outbreak and epidemic in hospitals.

Objective To characterize the changing species distribution and antibiotic resistance profiles of respiratory isolates in hospitals participating in the CHINET Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Program from 2015 to 2021.Methods Commercial automated antimicrobial susceptibility testing systems and disk diffusion method were used to test the susceptibility of respiratory bacterial isolates to antimicrobial agents following the standardized technical protocol established by the CHINET program.Results A total of 589 746 respiratory isolates were collected from 2015 to 2021.Overall,82.6％of the isolates were Gram-negative bacteria and 17.4％were Gram-positive bacteria.The bacterial isolates from outpatients and inpatients accounted for(6.0±0.9)％and(94.0±0.1)％,respectively.The top microorganisms were Klebsiella spp.,Acinetobacter spp.,Pseudomonas aeruginosa,Staphylococcus aureus,Haemophilus spp.,Stenotrophomonas maltophilia,Escherichia coli,and Streptococcus pneumoniae.Each microorganism was isolated from significantly more males than from females(P＜0.05).The overall prevalence of methicillin-resistant S.aureus(MRSA)was 39.9％.The prevalence of penicillin-resistant S.pneumoniae was 1.4％.The prevalence of extended-spectrum β-lactamase(ESBL)-producing E.coli and K.pneumoniae was 67.8％and 41.3％,respectively.The overall prevalence of carbapenem-resistant E.coli,K.pneumoniae,Enterobacter cloacae,Pseudomonas aeruginosa,and Acinetobacter baumannii was 3.7％,20.8％,9.4％,29.8％,and 73.3％,respectively.The prevalence of β-lactamase was 96.1％in Moraxella catarrhalis and 60.0％in Haemophilus influenzae.The H.influenzae isolates from children(＜18 years)showed significantly higher resistance rates to β-lactam antibiotics than the isolates from adults(P＜0.05).Conclusions Gram-negative bacteria are still predominant in respiratory isolates associated with serious antibiotic resistance.Antimicrobial resistance surveillance should be strengthened in clinical practice to support accurate etiological diagnosis and appropriate antimicrobial therapy based on antimicrobial susceptibility testing results.

Aim To investigate the effect of Panax no-toginseng saponins(PNS)on the interaction between endometrial cancer cells and macrophages by regulating the epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR)/heat shock protein 27(HSP27)axis.Methods Ishikawa cells were divided into Control,DDP,PNS-treated,M2-CM,M2-CM+DDP,M2-CM+PNS,M2-CM+PNS+oe-NC,M2-CM+PNS+oe-EGFR,PNS(200 mg·L-1)+oe-NC,PNS(200 mg·L-1)+oe-EG-FR,oe-NC,oe-EGFR,oe-EGFR+si-NC,and oe-EG-FR+si-HSP27 groups.MTT assay was used to detect cell proliferation,Transwell assay for cell invasion,TUNEL assay for cell apoptosis,qRT-PCR for macro-phage polarization markers CD86 and CD163 mRNA levels,ELISA for iNOS and IL-12 levels,and West-ern-blot for EGFR and HSP27 protein expression.A nude mouse xenograft tumor model was established and treated with PNS to evaluate the effect of PNS in vivo.Results Compared with the Control group,PNS and DDP significantly inhibited the proliferation and inva-sion of Ishikawa cells and induced apoptosis.M2-CM treatment inhibited M1 macrophage markers,promoted M2 macrophage markers,and induced Ishikawa cell growth,but this effect was reversed by PNS treatment.EGFR was confirmed as a target of PNS,and compared with the M2-CM+PNS+oe-NC group,EGFR overex-pression promoted M2 macrophage marker levels,in-duced Ishikawa cell proliferation and invasion,and in-hibited apoptosis.Knockdown of HSP27 reversed the effect of EGFR overexpression on the biological behav-ior of Ishikawa cells.Animal experiments showed that PNS could inhibit tumor growth and reduce the positive expression of CD163,EGFR,and HSP27 in tumor tis-sues.Conclusion PNS affects the interaction be-tween macrophages and EC cells by regulating the EG-FR/HSP27 axis,thereby participating in EC progres-sion.

Objective To investigate the role of Sneathia sanguinegens(S.sanguinegens)in the development of unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion(URSA).Methods A case-control study was conducted to analyze the vaginal flora characteristics of 65 patients with URSA and 18 healthy controls through 16S rRNA gene sequencing.Toxicity profile of S.sanguinegens on human cervical cancer cells(ME-180),human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVEC)and human placental choriocarcinoma cells(JEG-3)was analyzed at the cellular level to assess the mechanism of it in adverse pregnancy outcomes.And S.sanguinegens was used to infect C57BL/6J mice to explore the toxic effect on living organisms.Results The relative abundance of Sneathia was increased in patients with URSA compared with healthy controls.It was positively correlated with the number of miscarriages,and was attributed to S.sanguinegens.We also found that S.sanguinegens damaged ME-180,JEG-3 and HUVEC cells.The degree of cellular damage was related to the level of S.sanguinegens added.Intravenous infection with S.sanguinegens caused inflammatory damage in several organs and extramedullary hematopoiesis in the spleen.Conclusion S.sanguinegens is closely related to URSA and should be emphasized in patients with high vaginal bacterial load.

Objective To propose a novel identification algorithm based on ensemble learning for assessing the severity of acute respiratory distress syndrome(ARDS)to achieve continuous monitoring of the disease severity.Methods Firstly,leve-raging the open-source MIMIC-Ⅳ database,a variety of non-invasive physiological parameters of patients were extracted and subjected to preliminary preprocessing.A multivariate feature selection algorithm was employed to rank these parameters and calculate feature importance scores through weighted computation.Secondly,based on the feature importance scores,a subset search algorithm was utilized to identify the subset of features that could yield optimal performance across four machine learning algorithms:neural networks,logistic regression,AdaBoost and XGBoost.Finally,a soft voting ensemble method was designed using a generalized linear regression model to integrate the results of each single machine learning algorithm,and a multivariate ensemble learning algorithm was proposed by combining the optimal feature subsets.The algorithm proposed when used to identify the severity of ADRS was evaluated with MIMIC-Ⅳ database,and compared with the traditional algorithms.Results The sensitivity,specificity,accuracy and AUC of the algorithm were 87.15％,89.23％,88.34％and 0.923 4,respectively,all of which outperformed those of the traditional algorithms.Conclusion The ARDS severity identification algorithm based on ensemble learning is capable of achieving continuous and real-time monitoring of the severity of ARDS,thereby offering robust support for the early identification and warning of ARDS in patients.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2025,46(2):1-9]