OBJECTIVE: To examine the mechanistic of organochlorine-associated changes in lung function. METHODS: This study investigated 76 healthy older adults in Jinan, Shandong Province, over a five-month period. Personal exposure to organochlorines was quantified using wearable passive samplers, while inflammatory factors and thyroid hormones were analyzed from blood samples. Participants' lung function was evaluated. After stratifying participants according to their thyroid hormone levels, we analyzed the differential effects of organochlorine exposure on lung function and inflammatory factors across the low and high thyroid hormone groups. Mediation analysis was further conducted to elucidate the relationships among organochlorine exposures, inflammatory factors, and lung function. RESULTS: Bis (2-chloro-1-methylethyl) ether (BCIE), was negatively associated with forced vital capacity (FVC, -2.05%, 95% CI: -3.11% to -0.97%), and associated with changes in inflammatory factors such as interleukin (IL)-2, IL-7, IL-8, and IL-13 in the low thyroid hormone group. The mediation analysis indicated a mediating effect of IL-2 (15.63%, 95% CI: 0.91% to 44.64%) and IL-13 (13.94%, 95% CI: 0.52% to 41.07%) in the association between BCIE exposure and FVC. CONCLUSION Lung function and inflammatory factors exhibited an increased sensitivity to organochlorine exposure at lower thyroid hormone levels, with inflammatory factors potentially mediating the adverse effects of organochlorines on lung function.
Environmental Exposure ; Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated/metabolism* ; China ; Ethyl Ethers/metabolism* ; Environmental Monitoring ; Thyroid Hormones/blood* ; Lung/physiology* ; Inhalation Exposure/statistics & numerical data* ; Air Pollution/statistics & numerical data* ; Air Pollutants/metabolism* ; Humans ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Aged

The long-term presence of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in the environmental water samples not only affects the life safety of aquatic organisms and disturbs the ecoenvironment, but also poses a serious threat to human health. In this study, amino-functionalized Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Fe3O4-NH2) were firstly prepared by solvothermal method. Subsequently, polyethyleneimine (PEI) with a branched chain structure was successfully grafted onto Fe3O4 nanoparticles by Schiff base reaction in aqueous solution at room temperature using glutaraldehyde as a cross-linking agent, and a recyclable PEI-grafted magnetic nano-sorbent (Fe3O4@PEI) was synthesized and applied for the detection of NSAIDs in the environmental water samples. The compositional properties of Fe3O4@PEI were investigated by different characterization methods and the parameters affecting the extraction of NSAIDs were optimized. Due to high adsorption of Fe3O4@PEI for NSAIDs, the quantitative analysis of four NSAIDs in the environmental water samples, ketoprofen, naproxen, diclofenac and tolfenamic acid, was performed in combination with high-performance liquid chromatography. A good linear relationship between the chromatographic peak area and concentration was observed in the range of 1−500 µg/mL. The recoveries of the samples at three different spiked levels ranged from 85.6% to 107.8%; the intra-day precision was less than 7.8% (n=6); and the inter-day precision was less than 9.5% (n=3). The method is simple, rapid, accurate and reliable, and can be used for the analysis of NSAIDs in the environmental water samples．

Purpose/Significance The paper discusses the application of artificial intelligence technology to the key entity recognition ofunstructured text data in the electronic medical records of lymphedema patients.Method/Process It expounds the solution of model fine-tuning training under the background of sample scarcity,a total of 594 patients admitted to the department of lymphatic surgery of Beijing Shijitan Hospital,Capital Medical University are selected as the research objects.The prediction layer of the GlobalPointer model is fine-tuned according to 15 key entity categories labeled by clinicians,nested and non-nested key entities are identified with its glob-al pointer.The accuracy of the experimental results and the feasibility of clinical application are analyzed.Result/Conclusion After fine-tuning,the average accuracy rate,recall rate and Macro_F1 ofthe model are 0.795,0.641 and 0.697,respectively,which lay a foundation for accurate mining of lymphedema EMR data.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether monotropein has an anticancer effect and explore its potential mechanisms against colorectal cancer (CRC) through network pharmacology and molecular docking combined with experimental verification. METHODS: Network pharmacology and molecular docking were used to predict potential targets of monotropein against CRC. Cell counting kit assay, plate monoclonal assay and microscopic observation were used to investigate the antiproliferative effects of monotropein on CRC cells HCT116, HT29 and LoVo. Flow cytometry and scratch assay were used to analyze apoptosis and cell cycle, as well as cell migration, respectively in HCT116, HT29, and LoVo cells. Western blotting was used to detect the expression of proteins related to apoptosis, cell cycle, and cell migration, and the expression of proteins key to the Akt pathway. RESULTS: The Gene Ontology and Reactome enrichment analyses indicated that the anticancer potential of monotropein against CRC might be involved in multiple cancer-related signaling pathways. Among these pathways, RAC-beta serine/threonine-protein kinase (Akt1, Akt2), cyclin-dependent kinase 6 (CDK6), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), cell division control protein 42 homolog (CDC42) were shown as the potential anticancer targets of monotropein against CRC. Molecular docking suggested that monotropein may interact with the 6 targets (Akt1, Akt2, CDK6, MMP9, EGFR, CDC42). Subsequently, cell activity of HCT116, HT29 and LoVo cell lines were significantly suppressed by monotropein (P<0.05). Furthermore, our research revealed that monotropein induced cell apoptosis by inhibiting Bcl-2 and increasing Bax, induced G₁-S cycle arrest in colorectal cancer by decreasing the expressions of CyclinD1, CDK4 and CDK6, inhibited cell migration by suppressing the expressions of CDC42 and MMP9 (P<0.05), and might play an anticancer role through Akt signaling pathway. CONCLUSION Monotropein exerts its antitumor effects primarily by arresting the cell cycle, causing cell apoptosis, and inhibiting cell migration. This indicates a high potential for developing novel medication for treating CRC.
Humans ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism* ; Cell Proliferation ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Cell Cycle ; ErbB Receptors ; Apoptosis ; Colorectal Neoplasms/pathology* ; Cell Line, Tumor

Objective:To investigate the prognosis of patients with initially resectable gastric cancer liver metastasis (GCLM) who were treated by different modalities, and analyze the influencing factors for prognosis of patients.Methods:The retrospective cohort study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 327 patients with initially resectable GCLM who were included in the database of a nationwide multicenter retrospective cohort study on GCLM based on real-world data from January 2010 to December 2019 were collected. There were 267 males and 60 females, aged 61(54,68)years. According to the specific situations of patients, treatment modalities included radical surgery combined with systemic treatment, palliative surgery combined with systemic treatment, and systemic treatment alone. Observation indicators: (1) clinical characteristics of patients who were treated by different modalities; (2) prognostic outcomes of patients who were treated by different modalities; (3) analysis of influencing factors for prognosis of patients with initially resectable GCLM; (4) screening of potential beneficiaries in patients who were treated by radical surgery plus systemic treatment and patients who were treated by palliative surgery plus systemic treatment. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD, and comparison between groups was conducted using the independent sample t test. Measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M( Q1, Q3), and comparison between groups was conducted using the rank sum test. Count data were described as absolute numbers or percentages, and comparison between groups was conducted using the chi-square test. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival rate and draw survival curve, and Log-Rank test was used for survival analysis. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted using the COX proportional hazard regression model. The propensity score matching was employed by the 1:1 nearest neighbor matching method with a caliper value of 0.1. The forest plots were utilized to evaluate potential benefits of diverse surgical combined with systemic treatments within the population. Results:(1) Clinical characteristics of patients who were treated by different modalities. Of 327 patients, there were 118 cases undergoing radical surgery plus systemic treatment, 164 cases undergoing palliative surgery plus systemic treatment, and 45 cases undergoing systemic treatment alone. There were significant differences in smoking, drinking, site of primary gastric tumor, diameter of primary gastric tumor, site of liver metastasis, and metastatic interval among the three groups of patients ( P<0.05). (2) Prognostic outcomes of patients who were treated by different modalities. The median overall survival time of the 327 pati-ents was 19.9 months (95% confidence interval as 14.9-24.9 months), with 1-, 3-year overall survival rate of 61.3%, 32.7%, respectively. The 1-year overall survival rates of patients undergoing radical surgery plus systemic treatment, palliative surgery plus systemic treatment and systemic treatment alone were 68.3%, 63.1%, 30.6%, and the 3-year overall survival rates were 41.1%, 29.9%, 11.9%, showing a significant difference in overall survival rate among the three groups of patients ( χ2=19.46, P<0.05). Results of further analysis showed that there was a significant difference in overall survival rate between patients undergoing radical surgery plus systemic treatment and patients undergoing systemic treatment alone ( hazard ratio=0.40, 95% confidence interval as 0.26-0.61, P<0.05), between patients undergoing palliative surgery plus systemic treatment and patients under-going systemic treatment alone ( hazard ratio=0.47, 95% confidence interval as 0.32-0.71, P<0.05). (3) Analysis of influencing factors for prognosis of patients with initially resectable GCLM. Results of multivariate analysis showed that the larger primary gastric tumor, poorly differentiated tumor, larger liver metastasis, multiple hepatic metastases were independent risk factors for prognosis of patients with initially resectable GCLM ( hazard ratio=1.20, 1.70, 1.20, 2.06, 95% confidence interval as 1.14-1.27, 1.25-2.31, 1.04-1.42, 1.45-2.92, P<0.05) and immunotherapy or targeted therapy, the treatment modality of radical or palliative surgery plus systemic therapy were independent protective factors for prognosis of patients with initially resectable GCLM ( hazard ratio=0.60, 0.39, 0.46, 95% confidence interval as 0.42-0.87, 0.25-0.60, 0.30-0.70, P<0.05). (4) Screening of potentinal beneficiaries in patients who were treated by radical surgery plus systemic treatment and patients who were treated by palliative surgery plus systemic treatment. Results of forest plots analysis showed that for patients with high-moderate differentiated GCLM and patients with liver metastasis located in the left liver, the overall survival rate of patients undergoing radical surgery plus systemic treatment was better than patients undergoing palliative surgery plus systemic treatment ( hazard ratio=0.21, 0.42, 95% confidence interval as 0.09-0.48, 0.23-0.78, P<0.05). Conclusions:Compared to systemic therapy alone, both radical and palliative surgery plus systemic therapy can improve the pro-gnosis of patients with initially resectable GCLM. The larger primary gastric tumor, poorly differen-tiated tumor, larger liver metastasis, multiple hepatic metastases are independent risk factors for prognosis of patients with initial resectable GCLM and immunotherapy or targeted therapy, the treatment modality of radical or palliative surgery plus systemic therapy are independent protective factors for prognosis of patients with initially resectable GCLM.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the predictive performance of non-contrast CT (NCCT) signs for hemorrhagic growth after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) when stratified by onset-to-imaging time (OIT). Materials and Methods: 1488 supratentorial ICH within 6 h of onset were consecutively recruited from six centers between January 2018 and August 2022. NCCT signs were classified according to density (hypodensities, swirl sign, black hole sign, blend sign, fluid level, and heterogeneous density) and shape (island sign, satellite sign, and irregular shape) features. Multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between NCCT signs and three types of hemorrhagic growth: hematoma expansion (HE), intraventricular hemorrhage growth (IVHG), and revised HE (RHE). The performance of the NCCT signs was evaluated using the positive predictive value (PPV) stratified by OIT. Results: Multivariable analysis showed that hypodensities were an independent predictor of HE (adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval] of 7.99 [4.87–13.40]), IVHG (3.64 [2.15–6.24]), and RHE (7.90 [4.93–12.90]). Similarly, OIT (for a 1-h increase) was an independent inverse predictor of HE (0.59 [0.52–0.66]), IVHG (0.72 [0.64–0.81]), and RHE (0.61 [0.54– 0.67]). Blend and island signs were independently associated with HE and RHE (10.60 [7.36–15.30] and 10.10 [7.10–14.60], respectively, for the blend sign and 2.75 [1.64–4.67] and 2.62 [1.60–4.30], respectively, for the island sign). Hypodensities demonstrated low PPVs of 0.41 (110/269) or lower for IVHG when stratified by OIT. When OIT was ≤ 2 h, the PPVs of hypodensities, blend sign, and island sign for RHE were 0.80 (215/269), 0.90 (142/157), and 0.83 (103/124), respectively. Conclusion Hypodensities, blend sign, and island sign were the best NCCT predictors of RHE when OIT was ≤ 2 h. NCCT signs may assist in earlier recognition of the risk of hemorrhagic growth and guide early intervention to prevent neurological deterioration resulting from hemorrhagic growth.

ObjectiveTo investigate the intervention effect of Buzhong Yiqitang （BZYQT） on pulmonary inflammation in mice induced by chronic intermittent hypoxia （CIH） and preliminarily elucidate its mechanism. MethodForty healthy male C57BL/6 mice aged 6-8 weeks were randomly divided into the following groups： normoxia group， model group （exposed to CIH）， and low-， medium-， and high-dose BZYQT groups. The normoxia group was exposed to a normoxic environment， while the model group and the low-， medium-， and high-dose BZYQT groups were exposed to intermittent hypoxia. In the BZYQT groups， the BZYQT （8.1， 16.2， 32.4 g·kg^-1·d^-1） was administered orally 30 min before placing the mice in the hypoxic chamber， while the model group and the normoxia group received an equivalent volume of normal saline. After five weeks of modeling， pulmonary function of the mice was measured using an EMKA animal lung function analyzer， and lung tissue samples were collected after the pulmonary function tests. Hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining was performed to observe the histopathological changes in the lung tissue of each group. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was used to measure the levels of interleukin-6 （IL-6）， interleukin-8 （IL-8）， tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α） in the serum， as well as angiotensin Ⅱ （Ang Ⅱ） and angiotensin-（1-7） ［Ang（1-7）］ in lung tissue. Western blot and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the protein expression of IL-6， IL-8， TNF-α， angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 （ACE2）， and mitochondrial assembly receptor （Mas）. ResultCompared with the normoxia group， the model group showed significant abnormalities in lung function （P<0.05， P<0.01）， lung tissue changes， such as thickening of alveolar walls and inflammatory cell infiltration， increased levels of IL-6， IL-8， TNF-α in the serum and Ang Ⅱ in lung tissue （P<0.01）， decreased level of Ang（1-7） （P<0.01）， increased protein expression of IL-6， IL-8， and TNF-α， and decreased protein expression of ACE2 and Mas （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the BZYQT groups showed improvement in lung function （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and HE staining of lung tissue showed approximately normal alveolar wall thickness and reduced inflammatory cell infiltration. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis showed a significant decrease in the expression of inflammatory-related proteins （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and a significant increase in ACE2 and Mas protein expression （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionBZYQT can improve lung injury in mice exposed to CIH by regulating the ACE2-Ang（1-7）-Mas axis to inhibit inflammatory responses.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of acupuncture at "Feishu" (BL 13) + "Dingchuan" (EX-B 1) and "Kongzui" (LU 6) + "Yuji" (LU 10) for the airway remodeling in asthma rats based on the transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1)/ Smad family member 3 (Smad3) signaling pathway; and explore the efficacy difference between the two acupoint combinations. METHODS: Forty SPF male SD rats, aged 4 weeks, were randomly divided into a blank group (n = 10) and a modeling group (n = 30). The ovalbumin (OVA) sensitization method was used to establish asthma model in the modeling group. After successful model preparation, the rats of the modeling group were randomized into a model group, an acupuncture at "Feishu" (BL 13) + "Dingchuan" (EX-B 1) (AAF) group, and acupuncture at "Kongzui" (LU 6)+"Yuji" (LU 10) (AAK) group, with 10 rats in each one. Starting from day 15 of the experiment, 5 min after motivating, acupuncture was applied to "Feishu" (BL 13) + "Dingchuan" (EX-B 1) and "Kongzui" (LU 6)+"Yuji" (LU 10) in the AAF group and the AAK group respectively. The intervention was delivered for 30 min each time, once daily, lasting 3 weeks consecutively. Using lung function detector, the airway resistance (RL) and dynamic compliance (Cdyn) of the lungs were detected. The histomorphology of lung tissues was detected with HE staining and Masson staining, and the mRNA and protein expression of TGF-β1 and Smad3 in lung tissues was detected with the real-time PCR and Western blot methods. RESULTS: Compared with the blank group, RL was increased and Cdyn was decreased in the rats of the model group (P<0.01); and RL was reduced and Cdyn was increased in the AAF group and the AAK group when compared with those in the model group (P<0.01, P<0.05). The rats of the model group had bronchial lumen stenosis, inflammatory cell infiltration, collagen fibre hyperplasia and thickened smooth muscle in the lung tissues when compared with those in the blank group; and in comparison with the model group, all of the above morphological changes were attenuated in the AAF group and the AAK group. Besides, these morphological changes of the lung tissues were more alleviated in the AAF group when compared with those in the AAK group. In comparison with the blank group, the mRNA and protein expression of TGF-β1 and Smad3 of the lung tissues was increased in the model group (P<0.01), and it was reduced in the AAF group and the AAK group when compared with that in the model group (P<0.05, P<0.01). The mRNA expression of TGF-β1 and Smad3 was lower in the AAF group when compared with that in the AAK group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Acupuncture at either "Feishu" (BL 13)+"Dingchuan" (EX-B 1) or "Kongzui" (LU 6)+"Yuji" (LU 10) reduces the airway remodeling in the rats with asthma, which may be related to the down-regulation of mRNA and protein expression of TGF-β1 and Smad3. The better efficacy is obtained with acupuncture at "Feishu" (BL 13)+"Dingchuan" (EX-B 1).
Male ; Animals ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1/genetics* ; Airway Remodeling ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Signal Transduction ; Asthma/therapy* ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Anti-Asthmatic Agents

Objective To investigate the Gram-positive coccus resistance in nationwide's tertiary hospitals and understand the trend of antimicrobial resistance.Methods All the clinical isolates were collected from 19 hospitals and the minimal inhibitory concentrations(MICs)were tested using agar/broth dilution method recommended.Results A total of 1 974 pathogenic Gram-positive coccus from 19 tertiary hospitals in 19 cities nationwide over the period from July 2021 to June 2022 were studied.Based on the MIC results,the prevalence of methicillin resistant Stapylococcus aureus(MRSA)and methicillin resistant Stapylococcus epidermidis(MRSE)were 36.4％and 79.9％respectively.No vancomycin insensitivity Staphylococcus was detected.Staphylococcus aureus were 100％susceptibility to linezolid and teicoplanin.Antibiotic resistance rate of Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium to ampicillin were 3.1％and 92.9％.The detectation rate of vancomycin resistant Enterococcus(VRE)was 1.6％.Nonsusceptibility rate of Enterococcus faecalis to linezolid was 32.2％,two consecutive monitoring rises and nonsusceptibility rate of Enterococcus faecium(12.5％)was also significantly increased.The prevalence of penicillin non-susceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae(PNSSP)was 0.8％based on non-meningitis and parenteral administration criterion,decrease of nearly 30 percentage points from the previous surveillance.While for cases of oral penicillin,the rate was 71.8％,showing similar to last time.The results indicated that the number of strains with higher MIC value of penicillin(MIC ≥4 mg·L-1)decreased significantly.There were no significant differences of resistance rates of Stapylococcus aureus,Stapylococcus epidermidis,Enterococcus faecalis,Enterococcus faecium and Streptococcus pneumoniae among various groups such as different department,age,or specimen source.Conclusion VRE detection ratio stablized at a relatively low level.The number of Streptococcus pneumoniae with higher MIC value of penicillin decreased significantly compared with the previous monitoring.The increase of linezolidin-insensitive Enterococcus was noteworthy.

Objective To investigate the Gram-negative bacteria resistance in nationwide's tertiary hospitals and understand the trend of antimicrobial resistance.Method All the clinical isolates were collected from 19 hospitals and the minimal inhibitory concentrations(MICs)were tested using agar/broth dilution method recommended.Results A total of 4 066 pathogenic isolates from 19 tertiary hospitals in 19 cities nationwide over the period from July 2021 to June 2022 were studied.Based on the MIC results,Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae showed extended spectrum β-lactamase(ESBLs)phenotype rates of 55.0％and 21.0％,respectively,ESBLs phenotype rate of Klebsiella pneumoniae keep going down.The ratios of carbapenems resistance Klebsiella pneumoniae increased by 5 percentage points compared with the previous monitoring.Carbapenems,moxalactam,sitafloxacin,β-lactam combination agents,fosfomycin trometamol,and amikacin displayed desirable antibacterial activity against Enterbacterales,susceptibal rates were above 75％.In addition,tigacycline,omacycline,colistin and fluoxefin maintained good antibacterial activity against their respective effective bacteria/species,and the bacterial sensitivity rates by more than 80％.Resistance rates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannnii to imipenem were 26.3％and 72.1％and multidrug-resistant(MDR)detection rates were 41.1％and 77.3％,extensively drug-resistant(XDR)were 12.0％and 71.8％,respectively.Comparison of drug resistance rates from different wards,ages and specimen sources indicated that the proportion of resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter baumannii isolated from intensive care unit(ICU)were significantly higher than non-ICU.Carbapenem resistance rates of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from ICU were more than 35％.Resistance rates of Haemophilus influenzae isolated in children to β-lactam,macrolide,clindamycin and ESBLs detection rate in Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from children were more than those from adults and the old people,so bacterial resistance in children is an important problem in China.Conclusion ESBLs detection rate of Escherichia coli increased slightly after years of continuous decline.The proportion of carbapenem resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa was stable,but the resistance rate of Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter baumannii to carbapenems was still increased,which should be paid more attention.