Objective: To obtain experience and generate suggestions for reducing average hospital stays, optimizing perioperative management of patients with gastric cancer and improving utilization of medical resources by analyzing the factors influencing super-long hospital stays in patients undergoing radical gastrectomy in the age of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS). Methods: This was a case-control study. Inclusion criteria: (1) pathologically diagnosed gastric adenocarcinoma; (2) radical surgery for gastric cancer; and (3) complete clinicopathologic data. Exclusion criteria: (1) history of upper abdominal surgery; (2) presence of distant metastasis of gastric cancer or other ongoing neoplastic diseases; (3) concurrent chemoradiotherapy; and (4) preoperative gastric cancer-related complications such as obstruction or perforation. The study cohort comprised 285 eligible patients with hospital stays of ≥30 days (super-long hospital stay group). Using propensity score matching in a 1:1 ratio, age, sex, medical insurance, pTNM stage, and extent of surgical resection as matching factors, 285 patients with hospital stays of < 30 days during the same period were selected as the control group (non-long hospital stay group). The primary endpoint was relationship between pre-, intra-, and post-operative characteristics and super-long hospital stays. Clavien-Dindo grade was used to classify complications. Results: Univariate analysis showed that number of comorbidities, number of preoperative consultations, preoperative consultation, inter-departmental transference, operation time, open surgery, blood loss, intensive care unit time, presence of surgical or non-surgical complications, Clavien-Dindo grade of postoperative complications, and reoperation were associated with super-long hospital stays (all P<0.05). Inter-departmental transference (OR=4.876, 95% CI: 1.500-16.731, P<0.001), preoperative consultation time ≥ 3 d (OR=1.758, 95%CI: 1.036-2.733, P=0.034), postoperative surgery-related complications (OR = 6.618, 95%CI: 2.141-20.459, P=0.01), and higher grade of complications (Clavien-Dindo Grade I: OR = 7.176, 95%CI: 1.785-28.884, P<0.001; Clavien-Dindo Grade II: OR = 18.984, 95%CI: 6.286-57.312, P<0.001; Clavien-Dindo Grade III-IV: OR=7.546, 95%CI:1.495-37.952, P=0.014) were independent risk factors for super-long hospital stays. Conclusion: Optimizing preoperative management, enhancing perioperative management, and surgical quality control can reduce the risk of prolonging average hospital stay.
Humans ; Case-Control Studies ; Retrospective Studies ; Length of Stay ; Stomach Neoplasms/pathology* ; Enhanced Recovery After Surgery ; Gastrectomy/adverse effects* ; Postoperative Complications/etiology*

Trichinellosis is an important zoonotic parasitic disease worldwide and is principally caused by ingesting animal meat containing Trichinella infective larvae. Aspartyl aminopeptidase is an intracytoplasmic metalloproteinase that specifically hydrolyzes the N-terminus of polypeptides free of acidic amino acids (aspartic acid and glutamate), and plays an important role in the metabolism, growth and development of organisms. In this study, a novel T. spiralis aspartyl aminopeptidase (TsAAP) was cloned and expressed, and its biological properties and roles in worm growth and development were investigated. The results revealed that TsAAP transcription and expression in diverse T. spiralis stages were detected by RT-PCR and Western blotting, and primarily localized at cuticle, stichosome and intrauterine embryos of this nematode by immunofluorescence test. rTsAAP has the enzymatic activity of native AAP to hydrolyze the substrate H-Glu-pNA. There was a specific binding between rTsAAP and murine erythrocyte, and the binding site was localized in erythrocyte membrane proteins. Silencing of TsAAP gene by specific dsRNA significantly reduced the TsAAP expression, enzymatic activity, intestinal worm burdens and female fecundity. The results demonstrated that TsAAP participates in the growth, development and fecundity of T. spiralis and it might be a potential target molecule for anti-Trichinella vaccines.

Spirometra larvae are etiological agents of human sparganosis. However, the systematics of spirometrid cestodes has long been controversial. In order to determine the current knowledge on the evolution and genetic structure of Spirometra, an exhaustive population diversity analysis of spirometrid cestodes using the mitochondrial gene: cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) was performed. All publicly available cox1 sequences available in the GenBank and 127 new sequencing genes from China were used as the dataset. The haplotype identify, network, genetic differentiation and phylogenetic analysis were conducted successively. A total of 488 sequences from 20 host species, representing four spirometrid tapeworms (S. decipiens, S. ranarum, S. erinaceieuropaei and Sparganum proliferum) and several unclassified American and African isolates from 113 geographical locations in 17 countries, identified 45 haplotypes. The genetic analysis revealed that there are four clades of spirometrid cestodes: Clade 1 (Brazil + USA) and Clade 2 (Argentina + Venezuela) included isolates from America, Clade 3 contained African isolates and one Korean sample, and the remainders from Asia and Australia belonged to Clade 4; unclassified Spirometra from America and Africa should be considered the separate species within the genus; and the taxonomy of two Korea isolates (S. erinaceieuropaei KJ599680 and S. decipiens KJ599679) was still ambiguous and needs to be further identified. In addition, the demographical analyses supported population expansion for the total spirometrid population. In summary, four lineages were found in the spirometrid tapeworm, and further investigation with deeper sampling is needed to elucidate the population structure.

A T. spiralis serine protease 1.2 (TsSP1.2) was identified in the muscle larvae (ML) and intestinal larvae surface/excretory–secretory (ES) proteins by immunoproteomics. The aim of this study was to determine the TsSP1.2 function in the process of T. spiralis intrusion, growth and reproduction by using RNA interference (RNAi). RNAi was used to silence the expression of TsSP1.2 mRNA and protein in the nematode. On 2 days after the ML were electroporated with 2 µM of TsSP1.2-specific siRNA 534, TsSP1.2 mRNA and protein expression declined in 56.44 and 84.48%, respectively, compared with untreated ML. Although TsSP1.2 silencing did not impair worm viability, larval intrusion of intestinal epithelium cells (IEC) was suppressed by 57.18% (P < 0.01) and the suppression was siRNA-dose dependent (r = 0.976). Infection of mice with siRNA 534 transfected ML produced a 57.16% reduction of enteral adult burden and 71.46% reduction of muscle larva burden (P < 0.05). Moreover, silencing of TsSP1.2 gene in ML resulted in worm development impediment and reduction of female fertility. The results showed that silencing of TsSP1.2 by RNAi inhibited larval intrusion and development, and reduced female fecundity. TsSP1.2 plays a crucial role for worm invasion and development in T. spiralis life cycle, and is a potential vaccine/drug target against Trichinella infection.

In previous studies, a Trichinella spiralis serine protease (TsSP) was identified in excretion/secretion (ES) products from intestinal infective L1 larvae (IIL1) using immunoproteomics. The complete cDNA sequence of TsSP gene was 1372 bp, which encoded 429 amino acids with 47.55 kDa. The TsSP was transcribed and expressed at all T. spiralis life cycle phases, as well as mainly located at the cuticle and stichosome of the parasitic nematode. Recombinant TsSP bind to intestinal epithelial cells (IEC) and promoted larva invasion, however, its exact function in invasion, development and reproduction are still unknown. The aim of this study was to confirm the biological function of TsSP during T. spiralis invasion and growth using RNA interference (RNAi) technology. The results showed that on 1 day after electroporation using 2.5 µM siRNA156, TsSP mRNA and protein expression of muscle larvae (ML) was suppressed by 48.35 and 59.98%, respectively. Meanwhile, silencing of TsSP gene by RNAi resulted in a 61.38% decrease of serine protease activity of ML ES proteins, and a significant reduction of the in vitro and in vivo invasive capacity of IIL1 to intrude into the IEC monolayer and intestinal mucosa. When mice were infected with siRNA 156-transfected larvae, adult worm and muscle larva burdens were decreased by 58.85 and 60.48%, respectively. Moreover, intestinal worm growth and female fecundity were evidently inhibited after TsSP gene was knockdown, it was demonstrated that intestinal adults became smaller and the in vitro newborn larval yield of females obviously declined compared with the control siRNA group. The results indicated that knockdown of TsSP gene by RNAi significantly reduced the TsSP expression and enzymatic activity, impaired larvae intrusion and growth, and lowered the female reproductive capacity, further verified that TsSP might participate in diverse processes of T. spiralis life cycle, it will be a new prospective candidate molecular target of anti-Trichinella vaccines.

A putative serine protease of T. spiralis (TsSP) was expressed in Escherichia coli and its potential as a diagnostic antigen was primarily assessed in this study. Anti-Trichinella IgG in serum samples from T. spiralis different animal hosts (mice, rats, pigs and rabbits) were detected on Western blot analysis with rTsSP. Anti-Trichinella antibodies were detected in 100% (30/30) of experimentally infected mice by rTsSP-ELISA. Cross-reactions of rTsSPELISA were not found with sera from mice infected with other parasites (S. erinaceieuropaei, S. japonicum, C. sinensis, A. cantonensis and T. gondii) and sera from normal mice. There was no statistical difference in antibody detection rate among mice infected with the encapsulated Trichinella species (T. spiralis, T. nativa, T. britovi, and T. nelsoni) (P>0.05). The results of rTsSP-ELISA showed that serum specific antibody IgG in mice infected with 100 or 500 T. spiralis muscle larvae (ML) were detectable early at 7-8 dpi, but not detected by ML ES antigen-ELISA prior to 10-12 dpi. Specific anti-Trichinella IgG was detected in 100% (18/18) of infected pigs by rTsSP-ELISA and ES-ELISA, but no specific antibodies was not detected in 20 conventionally raised normal pigs by two antigens. The results showed the rTsSP had the potential for early serodiagnosis of animal Trichinella infection, however it requires to be assayed with early infection sera of swine infected with Trichinella and other parasites.

The prevalence of child and adolescent growth and mental-behavior related diseases are increasing, and the pathogenesis are complex. Twins are excellent natural resources for complex chronic diseases research as they share the maternal intrauterine environment, born at the same time and share the same family environment in early years, which could benefit the adjust ment of confounding factors, such as age, genetic factors and early family environmental factors. Birth cohort with twin families involved could be more effective in exploring the genetic and environmental factors for complex chronic diseases at the very beginning of life. This paper summarizes the objective, content, progress, strengths and potential problems of Wuhan Twin Birth Cohort, with emphasis on the overall design and progress of the study.
Adolescent ; Asian People ; Birth Weight ; Child ; China ; Cohort Studies ; Diseases in Twins/genetics* ; Epidemiological Monitoring ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Twin Studies as Topic ; Twins

Objective: To analyze the characteristics of super-antigen (SAg) of group A Streptococcus pyogenes (GAS), isolated from patients with scarlet fever or pharyngeal infections in Beijing between 2015-2017. Methods: Throat swab specimens from patients with scarlet fever or pharyngeal infections were collected and tested for GAS. Eleven currently known SAg genes including SpeA, speC, speG, speH, speI, speJ, speK, speL, speM, smeZ and ssa were tested by real-time PCR while M protein genes (emm genes) were amplified and sequenced by PCR. Results: A total of 377 GAS were isolated from 6 801 throat swab specimens, with the positive rate as 5.5%. There were obvious changes noticed among speC, speG, speH and speK in three years. A total of 45 SAg genes profiles were observed, according to the SAgs inclusion. There were significant differences appeared in the frequencies among two of the highest SAg genes profiles between emm1 and emm12 strains (χ(2)=38.196, P<0.001; χ(2)=72.310, P<0.001). There also appeared significant differences in the frequencies of speA, speH, speI and speJ between emm1 and emm12 strains (χ(2)=146.154, P<0.001; χ(2)=52.31, P<0.001; χ(2)=58.43, P<0.001; χ(2)=144.70, P<0.001). Conclusions: Obvious changes were noticed among SAg genes including speC, speG, speH and speK from patients with scarlet fever or pharyngeal infections in Beijing between 2015-2017. SAg genes including speA, speH, speI and speJ appeared to be associated with the emm 1 and emm 12 strains. More kinds of SAg genes profiles were isolated form GAS but with no significant differences seen in the main SAg genes profiles, during the epidemic period.
Antigens, Bacterial/genetics* ; Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins ; Bacterial Proteins ; Beijing/epidemiology* ; China/epidemiology* ; Exotoxins ; Female ; Humans ; Membrane Proteins ; Pharyngitis/microbiology* ; Pharynx/microbiology* ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious/microbiology* ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Scarlet Fever/microbiology* ; Streptococcal Infections ; Streptococcus pyogenes/isolation & purification* ; Superantigens/genetics*

Objective: To assess the association and intensity of baseline TC level with the incidence of lung cancer in men in China. Methods: Since May 2006, all the male workers, including the employees and the retirees in Kailuan Group were recruited in the Kailuan male dynamic cohort study. Information about demographics, medical history, anthropometry and TC level were collected at the baseline interview, as well as the information of newly-diagnosed lung cancer cases during the follow-up period. According to guidelines for blood lipids in Chinese adults and the distribution in the population, TC level was classified into five groups as followed: <160, 160-, 180-, 200- and ≥240 mg/dl, with the second quintile group (160- mg/dl) serving as the referent category. Cox proportional hazards regression model and restricted cubic spline (RCS) model were used to evaluate the association and the nonlinear association between baseline TC level and the risk of lung cancer in the men. Results: By December 31, 2014, for the 109 884 men, a follow up of 763 819.25 person-years was made with a median follow-up period of 7.88 years. During the follow up, 808 lung cancer cases were identified. After adjustment for age, education level, income level, smoking status, alcohol consumption level, history of dust exposure, FPG level and BMI, HR (95%CI) of lung cancer for men with lower TC level (<160 mg/dl) and higher TC level (≥240 mg/dl) were 1.34 (1.04- 1.72) and 1.45 (1.09-1.92), respectively, compared with men with normal TC level (160- mg/dl). The results didn't change significantly after exclusion of newly diagnosed cancer cases within 2 years of follow up and subjects with the history of hyperlipidemia. Conclusion: Our results showed that TC might be associated with higher risk of lung cancer. Men with lower TC level or higher TC level had higher risk for lung cancer. Keep moderate TC level might be one of the effective precaution for the prevention of lung cancer.
Adult ; Asian People ; China/epidemiology* ; Cholesterol/blood* ; Cohort Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lipids ; Lung Neoplasms/ethnology* ; Male ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Prospective Studies ; Risk Factors

Objective: To understand the awareness of hepatic disease related knowledge among hepatic physicians in poverty-stricken counties in China, assess the effectiveness of training and provide a reference for the training in the future. Methods: The training was conducted in 90 clinical hepatic physicians selected from county hospitals in poverty-stricken counties (or cities) in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces. An examination was conducted before the training, immediately after the training and at 5(th) month after the training, respectively. One-way analysis of variance and χ(2) test were conducted to evaluate the score and the correct rate. Results: The knowledge score was (42.96±14.02) before the training, (62.86±13.28) immediately after the training and (59.03±17.92) at 5(t)h month after the training, and the differences were significant. After the training, the awareness of all aspects of related knowledge was improved, the difference was significant compared to knowledge score before training, and at 5(th) month after the training, the difference was still significant. Conclusion: After the training, the awareness of liver disease related knowledge of clinical hepatic physicians in poverty-stricken counties (cities) in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces was improved, and the improvement could be maintained for nearly half a year.
Awareness ; China/epidemiology* ; Clinical Competence ; Female ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; Liver Diseases/therapy* ; Physicians ; Poverty Areas ; Program Evaluation ; Staff Development/methods* ; Surveys and Questionnaires