T7 RNA polymerase (T7 RNAP) is one of the simplest known RNA polymerases. Its unique structural features make it a critical model for studying the mechanisms of RNA synthesis. This review systematically examines the static crystal structure of T7 RNAP, beginning with an in-depth examination of its characteristic “thumb”, “palm”, and “finger” domains, which form the classic “right-hand-like” architecture. By detailing these structural elements, this review establishes a foundation for understanding the overall organization of T7 RNAP. This review systematically maps the functional roles of secondary structural elements and their subdomains in transcriptional catalysis, progressively elucidating the fundamental relationships between structure and function. Further, the intrinsic flexibility of T7 RNAP and its applications in research are also discussed. Additionally, the review presents the structural diagrams of the enzyme at different stages of the transcription process, and through these diagrams, it provides a detailed description of the complete transcription process of T7 RNAP. By integrating structural dynamics and kinetics analyses, the review constructs a comprehensive framework that bridges static structure to dynamic processes. Despite its advantages, T7 RNAP has a notable limitation: it generates double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) as a byproduct. The presence of dsRNA not only compromises the purity of mRNA products but also elicits nonspecific immune responses, which pose significant challenges for biotechnological and therapeutic applications. The review provides a detailed exploration of the mechanisms underlying dsRNA formation during T7 RNAP catalysis, reviews current strategies to mitigate this issue, and highlights recent progress in the field. A key focus is the semi-rational design of T7 RNAP mutants engineered to minimize dsRNA generation and enhance catalytic performance. Beyond its role in transcription, T7 RNAP exhibits rapid development and extensive application in fields, including gene editing, biosensing, and mRNA vaccines. This review systematically examines the structure-function relationships of T7 RNAP, elucidates the mechanisms of dsRNA formation, and discusses engineering strategies to optimize its performance. It further explores the engineering optimization and functional expansion of T7 RNAP. Furthermore, this review also addresses the pressing issues that currently need resolution, discusses the major challenges in the practical application of T7 RNAP, and provides an outlook on potential future research directions. In summary, this review provides a comprehensive analysis of T7 RNAP, ranging from its structural architecture to cutting-edge applications. We systematically examine: (1) the characteristic right-hand domains (thumb, palm, fingers) that define its minimalistic structure; (2) the structure-function relationships underlying transcriptional catalysis; and (3) the dynamic transitions during the complete transcription cycle. While highlighting T7 RNAP’s versatility in gene editing, biosensing, and mRNA vaccine production, we critically address its major limitation—dsRNA byproduct formation—and evaluate engineering solutions including semi-rationally designed mutants. By synthesizing current knowledge and identifying key challenges, this work aims to provide novel insights for the development and application of T7 RNAP and to foster further thought and progress in related fields.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical efficacy and safety of acupuncture combined with blade needle therapy for knee osteoarthritis (KOA). METHODS: A total of 60 patients with KOA were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 30 cases each group. The control group received acupuncture at Neixiyan (EX-LE4)，Dubi (ST35), Yinlingquan (SP9), Liangqiu (ST34), Xuehai (SP10), Yanglingquan (GB34) and Zusanli (ST36) on the affected side, once every other day, 3 times a week. The observation group received blade needle therapy on the basis of the treatment in the control group, once every 3 days, 2 times a week. Both groups were treated for 4 weeks. Before treatment, after 2, 4 weeks of treatment, and after 1 month of treatment completion (in follow-up), the scores of pain visual analogue scale (VAS), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities osteoarthritis index (WOMAC) and Lequesne index were observed in the two groups, and the clinical efficacy and safety were evaluated. RESULTS: After 2, 4 weeks of treatment and in follow-up, the pain VAS scores, Lequesne index scores, and pain, stiffness, function scores of WOMAC in both groups were decreased compared with those before treatment (P<0.05), and the VAS scores, Lequesne index scores and pain, function scores of WOMAC in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). The effective response rate in the observation group was 76.7% (23/30), while that in the control group was 70.0% (21/30), there was no statistically significant difference in the effective response rates between the two groups (P>0.05). No adverse reactions were observed in either group. CONCLUSION Acupuncture combined with blade needle therapy could alleviate pain and promote functional recovery in KOA patients, and achieve long-lasting improvements.
Humans ; Osteoarthritis, Knee/physiopathology* ; Acupuncture Therapy/instrumentation* ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Acupuncture Points ; Treatment Outcome ; Adult ; Needles ; Combined Modality Therapy

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between ABO blood types and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) risk. METHODS: A prospective birth cohort study was conducted. ABO blood types were determined using the slide method. GDM diagnosis was based on a 75-g, 2-h oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) according to the criteria of the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups. Logistic regression was applied to calculate the odds ratios ( ORs) and 95% confidence intervals ( CIs) between ABO blood types and GDM risk. RESULTS: A total of 30,740 pregnant women with a mean age of 31.81 years were enrolled in this study. The ABO blood types distribution was: type O (30.99%), type A (26.58%), type B (32.20%), and type AB (10.23%). GDM was identified in 14.44% of participants. Using blood type O as a reference, GDM risk was not significantly higher for types A ( OR = 1.05) or B ( OR = 1.04). However, women with type AB had a 19% increased risk of GDM ( OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.05-1.34; P < 0.05), even after adjusting for various factors. This increased risk for type AB was consistent across subgroup and sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSION The ABO blood types may influence GDM risk, with type AB associated with a higher risk. Incorporating it-either as a single risk factor or in combination with other known factors-could help identify individuals at risk for GDM before or during early pregnancy.
Humans ; Female ; Pregnancy ; Diabetes, Gestational/etiology* ; ABO Blood-Group System ; Adult ; Prospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the spatiotemporal patterns and socioeconomic factors influencing the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in the Guangdong Province between 2010 and 2019. METHOD: Spatial and temporal variations in TB incidence were mapped using heat maps and hierarchical clustering. Socioenvironmental influencing factors were evaluated using a Bayesian spatiotemporal conditional autoregressive (ST-CAR) model. RESULTS: Annual incidence of TB in Guangdong decreased from 91.85/100,000 in 2010 to 53.06/100,000 in 2019. Spatial hotspots were found in northeastern Guangdong, particularly in Heyuan, Shanwei, and Shantou, while Shenzhen, Dongguan, and Foshan had the lowest rates in the Pearl River Delta. The ST-CAR model showed that the TB risk was lower with higher per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) [Relative Risk ( RR), 0.91; 95% Confidence Interval ( CI): 0.86-0.98], more the ratio of licensed physicians and physician ( RR, 0.94; 95% CI: 0.90-0.98), and higher per capita public expenditure ( RR, 0.94; 95% CI: 0.90-0.97), with a marginal effect of population density ( RR, 0.86; 95% CI: 0.86-1.00). CONCLUSION The incidence of TB in Guangdong varies spatially and temporally. Areas with poor economic conditions and insufficient healthcare resources are at an increased risk of TB infection. Strategies focusing on equitable health resource distribution and economic development are the key to TB control.
Humans ; China/epidemiology* ; Incidence ; Bayes Theorem ; Spatio-Temporal Analysis ; Tuberculosis/epidemiology* ; Socioeconomic Factors

OBJECTIVE: Humans are exposed to complex mixtures of environmental chemicals and other factors that can affect their health. Analysis of these mixture exposures presents several key challenges for environmental epidemiology and risk assessment, including high dimensionality, correlated exposure, and subtle individual effects. METHODS: We proposed a novel statistical approach, the generalized functional linear model (GFLM), to analyze the health effects of exposure mixtures. GFLM treats the effect of mixture exposures as a smooth function by reordering exposures based on specific mechanisms and capturing internal correlations to provide a meaningful estimation and interpretation. The robustness and efficiency was evaluated under various scenarios through extensive simulation studies. RESULTS: We applied the GFLM to two datasets from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). In the first application, we examined the effects of 37 nutrients on BMI (2011-2016 cycles). The GFLM identified a significant mixture effect, with fiber and fat emerging as the nutrients with the greatest negative and positive effects on BMI, respectively. For the second application, we investigated the association between four pre- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and gout risk (2007-2018 cycles). Unlike traditional methods, the GFLM indicated no significant association, demonstrating its robustness to multicollinearity. CONCLUSION GFLM framework is a powerful tool for mixture exposure analysis, offering improved handling of correlated exposures and interpretable results. It demonstrates robust performance across various scenarios and real-world applications, advancing our understanding of complex environmental exposures and their health impacts on environmental epidemiology and toxicology.
Humans ; Environmental Exposure/analysis* ; Linear Models ; Nutrition Surveys ; Environmental Pollutants ; Body Mass Index

Objective To analyze the diagnostic value of fat content measurement based on magnetic resonance multi-echo Dixon(ME-Dixon)technique combined with serological indicators for early liver fibrosis.Methods A total of 78 patients with early liver fibrosis who underwent liver biopsy at the First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University from August 2019 to October 2021 were included.According to the pathological results,the patients with early liver fibrosis were divided into the S0 group(n=21),the S1 group(n=32),and the S2 group(n=25).Meanwhile,the complete imaging examination results(including ME-Dixon sequence)and laboratory examination results[including hyaluronic acid(HA),procollagen Ⅲ(PCⅢ),collagen Ⅳ(CⅣ),laminin(LN),aspartate transaminase(AST),alanine amino-transferase(ALT),gamma-glutamyl transferase(GGT),alkaline phosphatase(ALP)]were collected.And the hepatic fat fraction(HFF)was measured by ME-Dixon technique.One-way ANOVA was used to analyze the differences in HFF and serological indicators among the three groups,and then factors with statistical differences in the univariate analysis were selected to draw receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve,and the area under the curve(AUC)was calculated to evaluate their value in the diagnosis of liver fibrosis and the degree of early liver fibrosis.Results There was no statistically significant difference in the PCⅢ,LN,AST,or ALT among the S0,S1,and S2 groups(P>0.05),while there were statistically significant differences in the HFF,HA,CⅣ,GGT,and ALP(P<0.05),and the levels of HA,CⅣ,GGT,and ALP in the S2 group were significantly higher than those in the S0 and S1 groups(P<0.05).ROC curve analysis showed that the above indicators for diagnosing liver fibrosis and the degree of early liver fibrosis based on AUC values were in the following order:HFF+GGT(0.72)>HFF(0.68)>GGT(0.61)>CⅣ(0.54)>ALP(0.53)>HA(0.48)and HA+CⅣ(0.71)>CⅣ(0.68)>HA(0.66)>GGT(0.61)>ALP(0.59)>HFF(0.46).Conclusion The fat content measurement based on magnetic resonance ME-Dixon tech-nique combined with serological indicators has significant reference value for the diagnosis of early liver fibrosis,and it plays a certain guid-ing role in clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Objective To investigate the distribution and antimicrobial resistance profiles of clinically isolated Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis in hospitals across China from 2015 to 2021,and provide evidence for rational use of antimicrobial agents.Methods Data of H.influenzae and M.catarrhalis strains isolated from 2015 to 2021 in CHINET program were collected for analysis,and antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by disc diffusion method or automated systems according to the uniform protocol of CHINET.The results were interpreted according to the CLSI breakpoints in 2022.Beta-lactamases was detected by using nitrocefin disk.Results From 2015 to 2021,a total of 43 642 strains of Haemophilus species were isolated,accounting for 2.91％of the total clinical isolates and 4.07％of Gram-negative bacteria in CHINET program.Among the 40 437 strains of H.influenzae,66.89％were isolated from children and 33.11％were isolated from adults.More than 90％of the H.influenzae strains were isolated from respiratory tract specimens.The prevalence of β-lactamase was 53.79％in H.influenzae strains.The H.influenzae strains isolated from children showed higher resistance rate than the strains isolated from adults.Overall,779 strains of H.influenzae did not produce β-lactamase but were resistant to ampicillin(BLNAR).Beta-lactamase-producing strains showed significantly higher resistance rates to these antimicrobial agents than the β-lactamase-nonproducing strains.Of the 16 191 M.catarrhalis strains,80.06％were isolated from children and 19.94％isolated from adults.M.catarrhalis strains were mostly susceptible to both amoxicillin-clavulanic acid and cefuroxime,evidenced by resistance rate lower than 2.0％.Conclusions The emergence of antibiotic-resistant H.influenzae due to β-lactamase production poses a challenge for clinical anti-infective treatment.Therefore,it is very important to implement antibiotic resistance surveillance for H.influenzae and guide rational antibiotic use.All local clinical microbiology laboratories should actively improve antibiotic susceptibility testing and strengthen antibiotic resistance surveillance for H.influenzae.

Objective:To compare the the cultivation effects of human embryos in dry and humid incubators.Methods:A total of 479 infertile patients who underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment at Reproductive Center of Guiyang Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital from October 2020 to April 2022. The study was divided into two stages. The first stage of the study was a self-comparative research with 95 cases from the same period and source. The embryos were divided into dry and humid incubator groups to compare the embryo development indicators. In the second stage of the study, the patients were divided into six groups, including 10 μL humid incubator group ( n=64), 20 μL humid incubator group ( n=64), 30 μL humid incubator group ( n=64), 10 μL dry incubator group ( n=64), 20 μL dry incubator group ( n=64), and 30 μL dry incubator group ( n=64). The general clinical data, embryo development indicators, pregnancy outcomes, and the osmotic pressure and pH values of each group at 24 h, 48 h and 72 h were detected and compared. Results:After cultivation of the same patient's embryos in dry and humid incubator, the total blastocyst formation rate [62.3% (162/260)] and high-quality blastocyst rate [24.6% (64/260)] in dry incubator were lower than those in the humid incubator [71.6% (252/352), P=0.015; 32.1% (113/352), P=0.043]. Compared with the other microdroplet groups, the osmotic pressure of cleavage culture medium in 10 μL group of dry incubator at 48 h and 72 h and blastocyst culture medium were significantly increased, the differences among the groups were significant (cleavage culture medium, all P<0.001; blastocyst culture medium, P=0.006, P=0.008). There was no significant difference in pH value among different microdroplet volume groups at the same period (all P>0.05). There were no significant differences in general data among the different microdroplet groups (all P>0.05). Compared with the other microdroplet groups, 10 μL dry incubator group exhibited significantly lower transferable embryo rate (all P<0.001). When compared with 20 μL and 30 μL groups in both dry and humid incubators, 10 μL dry incubator group showed a lower day 5 blastocyst formation rate, lower total blastocyst formation rate, and lower high-quality blastocyst formation rate, the differences among the groups were significant (all P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the number of transferred embryos, the ratio of cleavage-stage embryos and the ratio of high-quality embryos among different groups (all P>0.05). Compared with the other microdroplet groups, the clinical pregnancy rate, the embryo implantation rate, the live birth rate of fresh transplanted embryos and the cumulative pregnancy rate in 10 μL group in the dry incubator decreased, and the miscarriage rate increased, but all were not significant (all P>0.05). Conclusion:Compared with humid incubators, there are no significant differences in embryo development and pregnancy outcomes for droplet volumes of 20 μL or above in dry incubators. However, the 10 μL microdroplet culture in the dry incubator is not conducive to embryonic development, which may be related to the increased osmotic pressure of the microdroplet.

Objective To analyze the diagnostic value of fat content measurement based on magnetic resonance multi-echo Dixon(ME-Dixon)technique combined with serological indicators for early liver fibrosis.Methods A total of 78 patients with early liver fibrosis who underwent liver biopsy at the First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University from August 2019 to October 2021 were included.According to the pathological results,the patients with early liver fibrosis were divided into the S0 group(n=21),the S1 group(n=32),and the S2 group(n=25).Meanwhile,the complete imaging examination results(including ME-Dixon sequence)and laboratory examination results[including hyaluronic acid(HA),procollagen Ⅲ(PCⅢ),collagen Ⅳ(CⅣ),laminin(LN),aspartate transaminase(AST),alanine amino-transferase(ALT),gamma-glutamyl transferase(GGT),alkaline phosphatase(ALP)]were collected.And the hepatic fat fraction(HFF)was measured by ME-Dixon technique.One-way ANOVA was used to analyze the differences in HFF and serological indicators among the three groups,and then factors with statistical differences in the univariate analysis were selected to draw receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve,and the area under the curve(AUC)was calculated to evaluate their value in the diagnosis of liver fibrosis and the degree of early liver fibrosis.Results There was no statistically significant difference in the PCⅢ,LN,AST,or ALT among the S0,S1,and S2 groups(P>0.05),while there were statistically significant differences in the HFF,HA,CⅣ,GGT,and ALP(P<0.05),and the levels of HA,CⅣ,GGT,and ALP in the S2 group were significantly higher than those in the S0 and S1 groups(P<0.05).ROC curve analysis showed that the above indicators for diagnosing liver fibrosis and the degree of early liver fibrosis based on AUC values were in the following order:HFF+GGT(0.72)>HFF(0.68)>GGT(0.61)>CⅣ(0.54)>ALP(0.53)>HA(0.48)and HA+CⅣ(0.71)>CⅣ(0.68)>HA(0.66)>GGT(0.61)>ALP(0.59)>HFF(0.46).Conclusion The fat content measurement based on magnetic resonance ME-Dixon tech-nique combined with serological indicators has significant reference value for the diagnosis of early liver fibrosis,and it plays a certain guid-ing role in clinical diagnosis and treatment.