Objective To investigate an automated pretreatment technology for detecting levels of free silica in workplace dust. Methods An fully automated pretreatment workstation for detecting free silica levels in workplace dust was developed by integrating graphite-controlled digestion temperature, online-controlled dilution of digestion solutions, and filtration endpoint recognition based on monitoring technology, combined with multi-channel synchronous measurements. Results The fully automatic pretreatment workstation was used to digest and filter 14 standard samples of free silica produced by three institutions, and then detected by pyrophosphate method. The result range of high-, medium-, and low-level free silica standard samples detection was 66.5%-84.8%, 40.0%-44.5%, and 2.1%-24.8%, respectively. The mean relative standard deviations were 3.9%, 1.4% and 1.5%. Conclusion The fully automated pretreatment workstation produced results that met relevant requirements. It can effectively replace the manual digestion and filtration steps of the pyrophosphate method to measure free silica levels in workplace dust and enable rapid detection of free silica in dust samples.

Objective To explore the current research status and frontier hotspot of task-state functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI)based on language task in the field of neuropsychiatric diseases. Methods Literature about the application of task-state fMRI based on language task in neuropsychiatric disorders was re-trieved from CNKI,VIP and Web of Science Core Collection databases up to November 12nd,2023.The includ-ed literature was analyzed using CiteSpace and VOSviewer. Results A total of 91 literatures were included.The researches about application of task-state fMRI based on language task in the field of neuropsychiatric disorders were reported since 2002,and developed uniformly;particularly for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke,brain tumors,epilepsy,schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric disorders,as well as in studies of brain functional connectivity.Research hotspots included mechanisms of aphasia recov-ery,brain functional changes,functional connectivity and language laterality.Journals of psychology,education and sociology played the core role,disciplines such as neurology also contributed to the advancement of this tech-nology. Conclusion Task-state fMRI based on language task demonstrates significant potential in elucidating the mechanisms of how the brain processes language in neuropsychiatric disorders.

ObjectiveTo investigate the infestation and disposal of bedbugs in Shanghai， and provide scientific evidence for comprehensive prevention and control of bedbugs. MethodsA questionnaire survey was conducted in the pest control operations （PCOs） of Shanghai Association for Health Promotion to investigate the infestation and disposal of bedbugs. The questionnaire included basic information of the unit， bedbug disposal experience， type of environment of bedbug infestation， main disposal site， main treatment method， main drug and formulation， and evaluation of the disposal. Chi-square test was used for comparison between groups. ResultsOf the 116 PCOs， 78 （67.24%） had conducted bedbug disposal， and 29.49% had conducted the disposal no less than 5 times in the past three years. The main types of environment of bedbug infestation were dormitories （46.96%）， hotels （18.78%）， and households （20.44%）. Additionally， bedbug infestation was found in nursing homes， prisons and detention centers， and transport vehicles. Bed frame/bed board/mattress （32.42%） was the main site of bedbug infestation， followed by mat （19.63%）. Chemical spraying was the most common method for bedbug disposal （98.72%）， followed by high-temperature steam （11.54%）. The main drug used in chemical spraying were pyrethroids （69.23%）， nicotinoids （60.26%） and organophosphorus （42.31%）， for which the main formulation were suspended insecticides （55.13%）， followed by wettable powders （43.59%） and emulsifiers （43.59%）. Furthermore， 89.74% of the PCOs performed the assessment after disposal， in which the control effect was generally satisfactory. ConclusionBedbug infestation is relatively common in Shanghai. Dormitories， hotels and households are places where bedbug infestation is more likely to occur. Bed frame， bed board and mattress are the most vulnerable sites to bedbug infestation. Combination of physical and chemical methods should be used for disposal of bedbug infestation.

Flagella are the main motility structure of Clostridioides difficile that affects the adhesion, colonization, and virulence of C. difficile in the human gastrointestinal tract. The FliL protein is a single transmembrane protein bound to the flagellar matrix. This study aimed to investigate the effect of the FliL encoding gene flagellar basal body-associated FliL family protein (fliL) on the phenotype of C. difficile. The fliL gene deletion mutant (ΔfliL) and its corresponding complementary strains (: : fliL) were constructed using allele-coupled exchange (ACE) and the standard molecular clone method. The differences in physiological properties such as growth profile, antibiotic sensitivity, pH resistance, motility, and spore production ability between the mutant and wild-type strains (CD630) were investigated. The ΔfliL mutant and the : : fliL complementary strain were successfully constructed. After comparing the phenotypes of strains CD630, ΔfliL, and : : fliL, the results showed that the growth rate and maximum biomass of ΔfliL mutant decreased than that of CD630. The ΔfliL mutant showed increased sensitivity to amoxicillin, ampicillin, and norfloxacin. Its sensitivity to kanamycin and tetracycline antibiotics decreased, and the antibiotic sensitivity partially returned to the level of CD630 strain in the : : fliL strain. Moreover, the motility was significantly reduced in the ΔfliL mutant. Interestingly, the motility of the : : fliL strain significantly increased even when compared to that of the CD630 strain. Furthermore, the pH tolerance of the ΔfliL mutant significantly increased or decreased at pH 5 or 9, respectively. Finally, the sporulation ability of ΔfliL mutant reduced considerably compared to the CD630 strain and recovered in the : : fliL strain. We conclude that the deletion of the fliL gene significantly reduced the swimming motility of C. difficile, suggesting that the fliL gene is essential for the motility of C. difficile. The fliL gene deletion significantly reduced spore production, cell growth rate, tolerance to different antibiotics, acidity, and alkalinity environments of C. difficile. These physiological characteristics are closely related to the survival advantage in the host intestine, which is correlated with its pathogenicity. Thus, we suggested that the function of the fliL gene is closely related to its motility, colonization, environmental tolerance, and spore production ability, which consequently affects the pathogenicity of C. difficile.
Humans ; Clostridioides/metabolism* ; Clostridioides difficile/metabolism* ; Bacterial Proteins/metabolism* ; Virulence ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/metabolism*

Organoids are three-dimensional structures formed by self-organizing growth of cells in vitro, which own many structures and functions similar with those of corresponding in vivo organs. Although the organoid culture technologies are rapidly developed and the original cells are abundant, the organoid cultured by current technologies are rather different with the real organs, which limits their application. The major challenges of organoid cultures are the immature tissue structure and restricted growth, both of which are caused by poor functional vasculature. Therefore, how to develop the vascularization of organoids has become an urgent problem. We presently reviewed the progresses on the original cells of organoids and the current methods to develop organoids vascularization, which provide clues to solve the above-mentioned problems.
Humans ; Organoids ; Neovascularization, Pathologic ; Technology

Objective To study the relationship between plasma neurodegenerative protein level and non-motor symptoms(NMS)in PD patients.Methods Eighty-four PD patients served as a PD group and 54age-matched persons undergoing physical examination served as a control group. The NMS of PD patients were assessed according to the HAMD scale.The plasma levels of tau,p-tau181,Aβ-42andα-syn were measured by ELISA and analyzed by Spearman correlation analysis and binary logistic regression analysis respectively.Results The FSS score and plasmaα-syn level were significantly higher while the plasma Aβ-42level was significantly lower in PD group than in control group(3.22±1.68 vs 1.89±1.16,P=0.000;320.00±64.91ng/L vs 277.78±52.75ng/L,P=0.000;267.61±77.75ng/L vs 321.80±49.41ng/L,P=0.001).No significant difference was detected in plasma tau and p-tau181levels between the two groups(P＞0.05).The plasmaα-syn level was positively related with the FSS score(r=0.237,P=0.030)and was an influencing factor of FSS(OR=1.019,95％CI:1.006-1.032,P=0.004).Conclusion Plasma neurodegenerative protein level is related with NMS and plasmaα-syn level is a peripheral biomarker for fatigue in PD patients.

Objective To detect the expression of costimulatory molecules B7-H4 and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) in bladder cancer,and to explore the correlation between them and clinicopathological features of bladder cancer.Methods Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression of B7-H4 and PD-L1 in 98 cases of bladder urothelial carcinoma,which were confirmed by pathology from August 2014 to December 2015 in our hospital.There were 23 females,aged 45-82 years,with an average age of 67.8 years.Among them,42 cases of adjacent normal tissues were used as controls.The clinical stage,histological grade and recurrence of bladder cancer were collected,and the correlation between them was analyzed.Results The positive rates of B7-H4 and PD-L1 in bladder urothelial carcinoma were 54.1％ (53/98) and 59.2％ (58/98),respectively,and there was no expression in normal bladder tissues (P ＜ 0.05).The positive expression rate of B7-H4 in muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) patients was higher than that in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) [73.5％ (25/34) vs.43.8％ (28/64),P =0.005].The positive expression rate of B7-H4 in high-grade patients was higher than that of low-grade [70.0％ (21/30) vs.47.1％ (32/68),P =0.036].The expression rate of B7-H4 in high-risk group was higher than that of low-intermediate risk group [57.1％ (20/35) vs.27.6％ (8/29),P =0.018].The positive expression rate of PD-L1 in patients with MIBC was higher than that in NMIBC [79.4％ (27/34) vs.48.4％ (31/64),P =0.003].The PD-L1 expression rate of histological high-level group was higher than that of low-level group [73.3％ (22/30) vs.52.9％ (36/68)],but the difference was not statistically significant (P =0.058).The PD-L1 expression rate in high-risk group was 68.6％ (24/35),and also higher than low-middle group 24.1％ (7/29) (P ＜ 0.05).There was a positive correlation between the expression of B7-H4 and PD-L1 in bladder urothelial carcinoma (r =0.318,P=0.002).The combined recurrence rate of the two groups was significantly higher than that of the negative expression of the two groups [66.7％ (14/21) vs.30.8％ (8/26),P=0.014].Conclusions The expression of B7-H4 and PD-L1 is up-regulated in bladder urothelial carcinoma,which is closely related to the clinical stage,histological grade,risk classification and recurrence of NMIBC.

BACKGROUND: A large number of preclinical experimental data have shown that stem cells can regulate the immune function, and serve the function of cell replacement. OBJECTIVE: To summarize the anti-inflammatory effects of stem cells in the treatment of ischemic stroke, based on which, we further discuss the specific mechanisms. METHODS: We conducted a systematic and comprehensive search in PubMed, Elsevier, Springer, Wiley, Ovid, EBSCO databases. The range of retrieval time was from 2012 to 2017. The keywords were stem cells, stroke, inflammation, immune. Totally 110 articles were retrieved initially, and 47 articles were included in result analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: By reading extensive literature, we analyzed and summarized the research status quo of the anti-inflammatory effects of neural stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells and endothelial cells in the treatment of ischemic stroke. The mechanisms mainly include reducing focal inflammation, immune regulation, promoting the secretion of various neurotrophic factors, reducing secondary cell death, protecting neurons and promoting cell function recovery and further promoting the recovery of nerve function. The mechanisms underlying local immune regulation and anti-inflammatory effects of stem cells are mainly described as the shift from M1 to M2 macrophages under the intervention of stem cell factors, to intervene secreted immune cytokine profiles and exert effects on inhibition and polarization of glial cells. Further investigation is required on the anti-inflammatory effects and immune regulation of stem cell therapy for stroke.

Background and purpose:As a member of the catenin family, Delta-catenin protein could promote proliferation and invasion of tumor cells, but the accurate mechanism of Delta-catenin promoting cell proliferation is not clear. In the present study, we illustrated that Delta-catenin’s effect on cell apoptosis and their relationship with mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway, and the possible mechanism was also explored for Delta-catenin promoting invasion and proliferation of tumor cells. Methods:The alterations of p38 and c-jun N-terminal rinasel JNK protein activity were detected in SPC and SK lung cancer cell lines with Delta-catenin overexpression or not, by Western blot method. At the same time, the apoptotic number of tumor cells was also examined by FCM method. Furthermore, the number of invasive tumor cells was examined by Matrigel invasive experiment. Results:Compared with untreated group and empty vector group, the activity of p38 protein was unchanged in lung cancer cell lines with Delta-catenin overexpressed (P>0.05), but the activity of JNK protein was decreased signiifcantly (P<0.05),meanwhile, apoptotic proportion of tumor cells were also reduced (P<0.05), and invasive ability of tumor cells was enhanced signiifcantly (P<0.05). Conclusion:Delta-catenin probably decreases apoptosis number of lung cancer cells via inhibiting the activity of JNK pathway, and then promotes invasive ability of tumor cells.

Background and purpose: As a member of Catenin family, little is known about expressive signiifcance and mechanism of Delta-catenin in numerous tumors. In present study, we investigated the expression of Delta-catenin in breast cancer tissues and its correlation with the prognosis of patients. Methods:We examined the expression of Delta-catenin and its correlation with clinicopathological factors of patients by immunohistochemistry in 92 cases of breast cancer tissues with tissue micro-array. The mRNA and protein expression of Delta-catenin were also detected in another 32 cases of frozen paired breast cancer tissues and normal breast tissues. Results:Compared with normal breast tissues, the mRNA and protein expression of Delta-catenin were increased in breast cancer tissues, and expression of Delta-catenin was closely associated with histological grade and lymph node metastasis (P=0.016 and 0.022, respectively). Moreover, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that patients with high Delta-catenin expression had shorter survival than patients with low expression (P=0.015), and multivariate Cox analysis revealed that high Delta-catenin expression was also an independent prognostic factor (P=0.017). Conclusion:Our results suggest that Delta-catenin acts as an oncoprotein when overexpressed in breast cancer, and its expression is associated with poor prognosis of patients.