A 14-year-old boy presented with coma and convulsion following a 3-day high fever of unknown origin was initially diagnosed with a central nervous system infection with uncertain pathogen. Direct microscopic examination of wet slides of cerebrospinal fluid cytology revealed active amoeboid trophozoites with different shapes. The amoeba trophozoite could be seen at high magnification after Wright′s-Giemsa staining. A diagnosis of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis was made according to the cellular morphology results of the cerebrospinal fluid, imaging data, and clinical symptoms. After high-throughput gene detection targeting the infection pathogen and specific PCR verification of amoeba species, it was confirmed that the infection was caused by Naegleria fowleri. Timely antiamoebic treatment and other related treatments were implemented, but the patient progressed to brain death after 50 days, leading to the discontinuation of treatment by the family.

Objective:To study the variational trend in disease characteristics of patients with hepatitis B-related primary liver cancer (HBV-HCC) in the past five years.Method:A single-center retrospective cross-sectional analysis was performed to compare patients diagnosed with HBV-HCC from January 2012 to December 2016 (control group) and from January 2017 to December 2021 (observation group). The data of the study variables were extracted from the electronic medical record system of the hospital information system of the Second Hospital of Lanzhou University. The 1:2 propensity score matching was used to adjust potential confounding factors such as gender and age. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to study the factors affecting changes in disease characteristics of the HBV-HCC population in the observation group. GraphPad Prism 8.0 software was used to draw forest plots to intuitively display the effect size of the study variables in the logistic regression analysis.The t-test was used to compare normally distributed data between groups. The χ2 test was used for inter-group comparison. Results:A total of 1 717 eligible cases were collected, including 510 in the control group and 1 207 in the observation group. Compared with the control group, the number of newly diagnosed cases in the observation group increased by 2.36 times, and males were still the main onset population (83.3% vs. 82.7%). The median age of onset increased (51.9 vs. 53.5 years, P<0.001). 79.4% of HBV-HCC patients had not received antiviral therapy, and the proportion of HBeAg-negative patients increased (56.4%). The factors affecting HBV-HCC patients included family history of HBV ( OR=1.626, 95% CI: 1.181-2.238), family history of hepatocellular carcinoma ( OR=1.388, 95% CI: 1.013-1.901), hypoviremia ( OR=1.322, 95% CI: 1.046-1.671), abnormal alanine aminotransferase ( OR=1.545, 95% CI: 1.231-1.940), liver fibrosis ( OR=1.478, 95% CI: 1.153-1.894), liver cirrhosis ( OR=1.431, 95% CI: 1.128-1.815), and metabolic-related fatty liver disease ( OR=1.438, 95% CI: 1.116-1.815) after propensity score matching adjustment. The factors affecting HBeAg-positive patients were decreased ( OR=0.390, 95% CI: 0.389-0.617); however, the number of early HBV-HCC diagnoses was increased (12.7% vs. 19.3%, P=0.001). Conclusion:The characteristics of patient disease and occurrence of HBV-HCC are changing over the past five years. The risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma in middle- to older male patients with chronic hepatitis B is increasing with familial history of HBV and hepatocellular carcinoma, HBeAg negativity, hypoviremia, abnormal alanine aminotransferase, liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and metabolic-related fatty liver disease.

OBJECTIVES: Major depressive disorder (MDD) patients with anhedonia tend to have a poor prognosis. The underlying imaging basis for anhedonia in MDD remains largely unknown. The relationship between nodal properties and anhedonia in MDD patients need to be further investigated. Herein, this study aims to explore differences of cerebral functional node characteristics in MDD patients with severe anhedonia (MDD-SA) and MDD patients with mild anhedonia (MDD-MA) before and after the antidepressant treatment. METHODS: Ninety participants with current MDD were recruited in this study. 24-Item Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD-24) and Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS) were used to assess the severity of depression and anhedonia at baseline and the end of 6-months treatment. The MDD patients who scored above the 25th percentile on the SHAPS were assigned to an MDD-SA group (n=19), while those who scored below the 25th percentile were assigned to an MDD-MA group (n=18). All patients in the 2 groups received antidepressant treatment. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) images of all the patients were collected at baseline and the end of 6-months treatment. Graph theory was applied to analyze the patients' cerebral functional nodal characteristics, which were measured by efficiency (e_i) and degree (k_i). RESULTS: Repeated measures 2-factor ANCOVA showed significant main effects on group on the e_i and k_i values of left superior frontal gyrus (LSFG) (P=0.003 and P=0.008, respectively), and on the e_i and k_i values of left medial orbital-frontal gyrus (LMOFG) (P=0.004 and P=0.008, respectively). Compared with the MDD-MA group, the significantly higher e_i and k_i values of the LSFG (P=0.015 and P=0.021, respectively), and the significantly higher e_i and k_i values of the LMOFG (P=0.015 and P=0.037, respectively) were observed in the MDD-SA group at baseline. Meanwhile, higher SHAPS scores could result in higher e_i and k_i values of LSFG (P=0.019 and P=0.026, respectively), and higher e_i value of LMOFG (P=0.040) at baseline; higher SHAPS scores could result in higher e_i values of LSFG (P=0.049) at the end of 6-months treatment. The multiple linear regression analysis revealed that sex were negatively correlated with the e_i and k_i values of LSFG (r= -0.014, P=0.004; r=-1.153, P=0.001, respectively). The onset age of MDD was negatively correlated with the k_i value of LSFG (r=-0.420, P=0.034) at the end of 6-months treatment. We also found that SHAPS scores at baseline were positively correlated with the HAMD-24 scores (r=0.387, P=0.022) at the end of 6-months treatment. CONCLUSIONS There are obvious differences in nodal properties between the MDD-SA and the MDD-MA patients, such as the high e_i of LSFG in the MDD-SA patients, which may be associated with the severity of anhedonia. These nodal properties could be potential biomarkers for the prognosis of MDD. The increased e_i and k_i values in the LSFG of MDD-SA patients may underlie a compensatory mechanism or protective mechanism. The mechanism may be an important component of the pathological mechanism of MDD-SA. The poor prognosis in the MDD-SA patients suggests that anhedonia may predict a worse prognosis in MDD patients. Sex and onset age of MDD may affect the nodal properties of LSFG at baseline and the end of 6-months treatment.
Anhedonia ; Antidepressive Agents/therapeutic use* ; Depressive Disorder, Major/drug therapy* ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Prefrontal Cortex

Retinal pigment epithelium(RPE)has essential functions,such as nourishing and sup-porting the neural retina,and is of vital importance in the pathogenesis of age-related retinal degen-eration.However,the exact molecular changes of RPE during aging remain poorly understood.Here,we isolated human primary RPE(hRPE)cells from 18 eye donors distributed over a wide age range(10-67 years old).A quantitative proteomic analysis was performed to analyze changes in their intracellular and secreted proteins.Age-group related subtypes and age-associated proteins were revealed and potential age-associated mechanisms were validated in ARPE-19 and hRPE cells.The results of proteomic data analysis and verifications suggest that RNF123-and RNF149-related protein ubiquitination plays an important role in protecting hRPE cells from oxidative damage dur-ing aging.In older hRPE cells,apoptotic signaling-related pathways were up-regulated,and endo-plasmic reticulum organization was down-regulated both in the intracellular and secreted proteomes.Our work paints a detailed molecular picture of hRPE cells during the aging process and provides new insights into the molecular characteristics of RPE during aging and under other related clinical retinal conditions.

Objective:To investigate the epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 caused by 2019-nCoV Delta variant in Shangyu district, Shaoxing of Zhejiang province in 2021, and provide evidence for the improvement of COVID-19 control and prevention measures.Methods:The incidence data of COVID-19 in Shangyu from December 7 to 21, 2021 was obtained from Shangyu District Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The epidemiological characteristics of the cases, i.e. the population, time and space distributions, were analyzed, and the incubation period and time-varying reproduction numbers ( R t) were calculated. Results:From December 7 to 21, 2021, a total of 380 COVID-19 cases caused by 2019-nCoV Delta variant were detected in Shangyu, the median age of the cases was 52 years, M ( Q1，Q3: 38, 61). The male to female ratio of the cases was 1∶1.25, and the cases were mainly workers (36.58%) and farmers (27.63%). The epidemic affected 9 townships (or community) of Shangyu, especially Caoe and Baiguan communities with the cases accounting for 57.10% and 31.53% respectively. The median incubation period of cases was 4.00 days, M ( Q1，Q3: 3.00, 5.75). The basic reproduction number ( R0) was 4.06, and the R t was 5.62 in early phase of the outbreak (the highest) and continuously decreased to less than 1.00 within 10 days after the detection of the outbreak. The number of COVID-19 cases decreased to 0 within 14 days after the outbreak (December 7-21), and the main detection methods were screening in centralized isolation (55.53%) and home isolation (40.00%). The infection rates of close contacts and secondary close contacts were 2.06% and 0.46% respectively. Conclusion:The epidemic of COVID-19 in Shangyu characterized by short incubation period, large number of infected people, and case clustering, suggesting the strong transmission of Delta variant (B.1.617.2). Comprehensive prevention and control measures, such as management of close contacts and secondary close contacts, and high-risk area, are essential for the rapid control of the epidemic.

Objective:To investigate specificity of neurovascular compression in patients with primary trigeminal neuralgia (PTN) by three-dimension reconstruction and computational fluid dynamics.Methods:Clinical characteristics and preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data of 20 patients with both PTN and single artery compression (PTN group) and 10 patients without PTN but having neurovascular contact in MRI images (control group) in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2018 to December 2019 were collected and analyzed. After three-dimension reconstruction of the MRI images, curvature of the arterial loop, angle between the plane of arterial loop and the trigeminal nerve and location of the compression were observed. Then bidirectional structure-fluid coupling based on the optimized stereolithography models of arterial loop and nerve were processed by ANSYS 19.2 software. In the location of the compression of contact, equivalent stress (ES) of arterial loop on the nerve, shearing stress (SS) of the blood flow and local deformation of the nerve were iteratively computed. All parameters were analyzed and compared between the PTN group and the control group, and the correlation analysis was proceeded between the anatomical parameters and hemodynamical parameters.Results:The curvature of arterial loop [0.21(0.12) mm -1vs 0.13(0.07) mm -1, U=34.00, P<0.05], the angle between vascular loop and nerve [69.70(30.67)° vs 43.40(37.21)°, U=38.00, P<0.05] in the PTN group were significantly greater than those in the control group, and the location of compression was significantly closer to the root of nerve in the PTN group [PTN group: (4.23±1.29) mm vs control group: (5.54±1.85) mm, t=-2.26, P<0.05]. The average SS [15 952.48(5 365.56) Pa vs 12 501.97(6 355.26) Pa, U=53.00, P<0.05], ES [24 965.65(7 693.22) Pa vs 14 992.99(9 824.08) Pa, U=32.00, P<0.05] in the PTN group were significantly greater than those in the control group. The curvature of arterial loop was positively correlated with the SS ( r=0.931, P<0.05) and ES ( r=0.962, P<0.05), and the latter two ( r=0.787, P<0.05; r=0.853, P<0.05) were positively correlated with the local neural deformation. Conclusions:In patients with PTN, offending artery compresses the root of nerve by greater arterial curvature and angle between the arterial loop and nerve. These anatomical differences will cause significantly greater SS, ES and local neural deformation.

In December 2019, a cluster of patients with pneumonia of unknown cause were linked to a seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, China. Some studies found that the virus was a new kind of virus which had never been found in the human body. Then, the virus was named 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) by the World Health Organization (WHO). 2019-nCoV nucleic acid detection is one of the essential indicators of COVID-19. Recently, some false-negative cases in China-Japan Friendship Hospital and Hangzhou Hospital led the clinical doctors to question the value of the nucleic acid detection. In this paper, more than 3 000 results of 2019-nCoV detection in Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan University were analyzed. Attention should be paid to the root cause of false-negative results and the related countermeasures should be taken.

In December 2019, a cluster of patients with pneumonia of unknown cause were linked to a seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, China. Some studies found that the virus was a new kind of virus which had never been found in the human body. Then, the virus was named 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) by the World Health Organization (WHO). 2019-nCoV nucleic acid detection is one of the essential indicators of NCP (Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia). Recently, some false-negative cases in China-Japan Friendship Hospital and Hangzhou Hospital led the clinical doctors to question the value of the nucleic acid detection. In this paper, more than 3 000 results of 2019-nCoV detection in Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan University were analyzed. Attention should be paid to the root cause of false-negative results and the related countermeasures should be taken.

In order to study the pesticide residues of the medicinal Crataegi Fructus,this study aims to establish an analysis method for pesticide residues( mainly containing insecticides and fungicides) suitable for the actual situation of medicinal Crataegi Fructus based on the survey of the pesticides of the Crataegi Fructus base,combined with the blind screening results of the LC-ESI-MS/MS pesticide screening platform established by the research team in the early stage. Then,the pesticide residues in medicinal Crataegi Fructus from Shandong,Hebei,Henan,Shanxi,and Liaoning( main cultivation areas) were analyzed. The samples were pretreated by the modified Qu ECh ERS method,i.e.,extracted with acetonitrile-water( 9 ∶1),purified by PSA,C_(18),GCB,silica gel. The detection of pesticides was performed by LC-MS/MS. The ion source was ESI with positive scanning mode,and the linearity of 11 kinds of pesticides in the range of 5-300 μg·kg~(-1) was acceptable( R~2>0. 996 9). All the recoveries of pesticides were within 70. 02%~(-1)12. 0% in the low,medium and high levels,with RSD≤17%. The results showed that the detection rate of carbendazim,chlorpyrifos and difenoconazole is 79%,82%,56%,respectively. Besides,the prohibition pesticide carbofuran were detected in some of the batches,indicating the security risk. This study provides methodological references and basic data for risk assessment of Crataegi Fructus and government regulation.
Chromatography, Liquid ; Crataegus/chemistry* ; Drug Contamination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/analysis* ; Pesticide Residues/analysis* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of sofosbuvir (Nanjing Zhengda Tianqing Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) combined with ribavirin in patients with genotype 2 chronic hepatitis C virus infection. Methods: Treatment-naïve or treatment experienced genotype 2 chronic hepatitis C patients from sixteen research centers of China were screened. All subjects received once-daily dose of sofosbuvir (400 mg) combined with ribavirin (body weight < 75 kg, 1 000 mg/day, 400 mg in the morning and 600 mg in the evening; body weight > 75 kg, 1 200 mg/d, 600 mg in the morning and 600 mg in the evening) for 12 weeks. Patients were followed-up for a period of 12 weeks after discontinuation of treatment. Continuous variables were expressed as mean ± standard deviation. The proportion of subjects with virologic response at different follow-up time points and 95% confidence intervals were estimated by maximum likelihood ratio and Clopper-Pearson interval. Results: 132 cases with genotype 2 chronic hepatitis C virus infection from sixteen research centers of China were included, 12 cases of whom were associated with cirrhosis, and the remaining 120 cases were not associated with cirrhosis. One hundred and thirty-one cases completed the study, and one patient lost to follow-up at week 4 after the end of treatment. The sustained virological response rate was 96.2% (95% confidence interval: 92.37% - 99.16%) after 12 weeks of drug withdrawal. Virological relapse occurred in four cases. Of the 132 subjects enrolled in the study, 119 (90.2%) reported 617 adverse events during treatment, of which 359 (76.5%) were TEAE related to sofosbuvir and/or ribavirin. There were nine TEAEs of grade 3 and above, and six cases (4.5%) of them had six severe adverse events. Only one serious adverse event was associated with sofosbuvir and ribavirin (unstable angina pectoris). There were no adverse events leading to drug discontinuation or death. Conclusion Sofosbuvir combined with ribavirin has a high SVR rate in the treatment of genotype 2 chronic hepatitis C virus infection, and most of the adverse events occurred were mild with acceptable safety profile.