Objective To observe the correlations of chest CT quantitative parameters in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(AECOPD)with blood eosinophil(EOS)level.Methods Chest CT data of 162 AECOPD patients with elevated eosinophils were retrospectively analyzed.The patients were divided into low EOS group(n=105)and high EOS group(n=57)according to the absolute counting of blood EOS.The quantitative CT parameters,including the number of whole lung bronchi and the volume of blood vessels,low-attenuation area percentage(LAA％)of whole lung,of left/right lung and each lobe of lung,as well as the luminal diameter(LD),wall thickness(WT),wall area(WA)and WA percentage of total bronchial cross-section(WA％)of grade 3 to 8 bronchi were compared between groups.Spearman correlations were performed to analyze the correlations of quantitative CT parameters with blood EOS level.Results LAA％of the whole lung,of the left/right lung and each lobe of lung,as well as of the upper lobe of right lung LDgrade4,middle lobe of right lung WTgrade5,upper lobe of right lung WAgrade4,middle lobe of right lung WAgrade5 and lower lobe of left lung WAgrade3 in low EOS group were all higher than those in high EOS group(all P＜0.05).Except for the upper lobe of right lung LDgrade4,the above quantitative CT indexes being significant different between groups were all weakly and negatively correlated with blood EOS level(r=-0.335 to-0.164,all P＜0.05).Conclusion Chest CT quantitative parameters of AECOPD patients were correlated with blood EOS level,among which LAA％,a part of WT and WA were all weakly negatively correlated with blood EOS level.

Fluorescence microscopy is a vital tool in life science research, but the diffraction nature of light limits further observation of cells. Super-resolution imaging techniques provide deeper insights into cellular structures, including stimulated emission depletion microscopy (STED), structured illumination microscopy (SIM), and single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM). Each of these methods offers unique advantages and principles that push the boundaries of spatial resolution beyond conventional diffraction limits. Among these techniques, SMLM stands out for its exceptional resolution, offering nanometer resolution and becoming a powerful tool for obtaining high-resolution images. SMLM is particularly valuable for studying the spatial distribution and interactions of organelles and macromolecular complexes. Following the award of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2014, super-duper resolution imaging techniques were listed as one of Nature’s seven technologies to watch in 2024. The development of these techniques remains an important area of research. We introduce the development of multi-color SMLM, three-dimensional (3D) SMLM, and nanoscale resolution microscopes. We describe several methods to achieve multi-color SMLM. Sequential imaging and Exchange-PAINT require image targets in sequence, excitation or emission spectral demixing can obtain multi-color images simultaneously based on spectral difference between fluorescent dyes, dual-channel spectroscopic SMLM to achieve simultaneous imaging and spectral analysis of each molecule, and techniques based on binding kinetics of PAINT achieve multi-color by designing the blinking behavior of targets with engineered binding frequency and duration in DNA-PAINT. We then discuss various approaches for 3D imaging. Point spread function (PSF) engineering techniques manipulate the shape and properties of the PSF to improve 3D localization accuracy. Multi-plane imaging methods capture images from different focal planes and reconstruct them to obtain 3D information. Interferometry methods use single molecule interference to achieve high precision in axial localization, providing another way for high resolution 3D nanoscopy. Finally, we highlight advances in new nanoscale resolution microscopes based on modulated illumination patterns, including minimal photon fluxes (MINFLUX), repetitive optical selective exposure (ROSE), ROSE-Z, SIMFLUX, SIMPLE, and ModLoc. MINFLUX is known for its ability to achieve ultra-high resolution by detecting minimal photon fluxes from single molecules using a doughnut-shaped excitation spot to spatially modulate excitation intensities. Typically, we focus on ROSE and ROSE-Z, which outperform other techniques, using a resonant mirror to eliminate localization errors caused by fluorescence blinking. Recently, resolution enhancement by sequential imaging (RESI) and one nanometre expansion (ONE) was introduced to achieve resolution down to the Ångström scale. Nanoscopy serves as a new role between super resolution microscopy and structural biology and will lead to more discoveries in complex biological systems. Overall, this article provides a comprehensive overview of current advances in super-resolution imaging techniques, highlighting their contributions to overcoming the diffraction limit and enabling detailed observation of nanoscale biological structures, and provides an outlook on promising new techniques and applications. Through detailed descriptions of the principles, benefits, and applications of multi-color and 3D techniques, the article highlights new nanoscale imaging techniques that are expanding our ability to visualize and understand the intricate details of molecular and cellular processes. We hope that this article can be a primer resource for both newcomers and seasoned practitioners of SMLM.

Objective: This cross-sectional investigation aimed to determine the incidence, clinical characteristics, prognosis, and related risk factors of olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions related to infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron strain in mainland China. Methods: Data of patients with SARS-CoV-2 from December 28, 2022, to February 21, 2023, were collected through online and offline questionnaires from 45 tertiary hospitals and one center for disease control and prevention in mainland China. The questionnaire included demographic information, previous health history, smoking and alcohol drinking, SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, olfactory and gustatory function before and after infection, other symptoms after infection, as well as the duration and improvement of olfactory and gustatory dysfunction. The self-reported olfactory and gustatory functions of patients were evaluated using the Olfactory VAS scale and Gustatory VAS scale. Results: A total of 35 566 valid questionnaires were obtained, revealing a high incidence of olfactory and taste dysfunctions related to infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron strain (67.75%). Females(χ2=367.013, P<0.001) and young people(χ2=120.210, P<0.001) were more likely to develop these dysfunctions. Gender(OR=1.564, 95%CI: 1.487-1.645), SARS-CoV-2 vaccination status (OR=1.334, 95%CI: 1.164-1.530), oral health status (OR=0.881, 95%CI: 0.839-0.926), smoking history (OR=1.152, 95%CI=1.080-1.229), and drinking history (OR=0.854, 95%CI: 0.785-0.928) were correlated with the occurrence of olfactory and taste dysfunctions related to SARS-CoV-2(above P<0.001). 44.62% (4 391/9 840) of the patients who had not recovered their sense of smell and taste also suffered from nasal congestion, runny nose, and 32.62% (3 210/9 840) suffered from dry mouth and sore throat. The improvement of olfactory and taste functions was correlated with the persistence of accompanying symptoms(χ2=10.873, P=0.001). The average score of olfactory and taste VAS scale was 8.41 and 8.51 respectively before SARS-CoV-2 infection, but decreased to3.69 and 4.29 respectively after SARS-CoV-2 infection, and recovered to 5.83and 6.55 respectively at the time of the survey. The median duration of olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions was 15 days and 12 days, respectively, with 0.5% (121/24 096) of patients experiencing these dysfunctions for more than 28 days. The overall self-reported improvement rate of smell and taste dysfunctions was 59.16% (14 256/24 096). Gender(OR=0.893, 95%CI: 0.839-0.951), SARS-CoV-2 vaccination status (OR=1.334, 95%CI: 1.164-1.530), history of head and facial trauma(OR=1.180, 95%CI: 1.036-1.344, P=0.013), nose (OR=1.104, 95%CI: 1.042-1.171, P=0.001) and oral (OR=1.162, 95%CI: 1.096-1.233) health status, smoking history(OR=0.765, 95%CI: 0.709-0.825), and the persistence of accompanying symptoms (OR=0.359, 95%CI: 0.332-0.388) were correlated with the recovery of olfactory and taste dysfunctions related to SARS-CoV-2 (above P<0.001 except for the indicated values). Conclusion: The incidence of olfactory and taste dysfunctions related to infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron strain is high in mainland China, with females and young people more likely to develop these dysfunctions. Active and effective intervention measures may be required for cases that persist for a long time. The recovery of olfactory and taste functions is influenced by several factors, including gender, SARS-CoV-2 vaccination status, history of head and facial trauma, nasal and oral health status, smoking history, and persistence of accompanying symptoms.
Female ; Humans ; Adolescent ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Smell ; COVID-19/complications* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; COVID-19 Vaccines ; Incidence ; Olfaction Disorders/etiology* ; Taste Disorders/etiology* ; Prognosis

BACKGROUND: The benefits of healthy lifestyles are well recognized. However, the extent to which improving unhealthy lifestyles reduces cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk needs to be discussed. We evaluated the impact of lifestyle improvement on CVD incidence using data from the China-PAR project (Prediction for Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk in China). METHODS: A total of 12,588 participants free of CVD were followed up for three visits after the baseline examination. Changes in four lifestyle factors (LFs) (smoking, diet, physical activity, and alcohol consumption) were assessed through questionnaires from the baseline to the first follow-up visit. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The risk advancement periods (RAPs: the age difference between exposed and unexposed participants reaching the same incident CVD risk) and population-attributable risk percentage (PAR%) were also calculated. RESULTS: A total of 909 incident CVD cases occurred over a median follow-up of 11.14 years. Compared with maintaining 0-1 healthy LFs, maintaining 3-4 healthy LFs was associated with a 40% risk reduction of incident CVD (HR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.45-0.79) and delayed CVD risk by 6.31 years (RAP: -6.31 [-9.92, -2.70] years). The PAR% of maintaining 3-4 unhealthy LFs was 22.0% compared to maintaining 0-1 unhealthy LFs. Besides, compared with maintaining two healthy LFs, improving healthy LFs from 2 to 3-4 was associated with a 23% lower risk of CVD (HR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.60-0.98). CONCLUSIONS Long-term sustenance of healthy lifestyles or improving unhealthy lifestyles can reduce and delay CVD risk.

BACKGROUND: Ventricular remodeling after acute anterior wall ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (AAMI) is an important factor in occurrence of heart failure which additionally results in poor prognosis. Therefore, the treatment of ventricular remodeling needs to be further optimized. Compound Danshen Dripping Pills (CDDP), a traditional Chinese medicine, exerts a protective effect on microcirculatory disturbance caused by ischemia-reperfusion injury and attenuates ventricular remodeling after myocardial infarction. OBJECTIVE: This study is designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CDDP in improving ventricular remodeling and cardiac function after AAMI on a larger scale. METHODS: This study is a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group clinical trial. The total of 268 patients with AAMI after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) will be randomly assigned 1:1 to the CDDP group (n=134) and control group (n=134) with a follow-up of 48 weeks. Both groups will be treated with standard therapy of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), with the CDDP group administrating 20 tablets of CDDP before pPCI and 10 tablets 3 times daily after pPCI, and the control group treated with a placebo simultaneously. The primary endpoint is 48-week echocardiographic outcomes including left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular end-diastolic volume index (LVEDVI), and left ventricular end-systolic volume index (LVESVI). The secondary endpoint includes the change in N terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) level, arrhythmias, and cardiovascular events (death, cardiac arrest, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, rehospitalization due to heart failure or angina pectoris, deterioration of cardiac function, and stroke). Investigators and patients are both blinded to the allocated treatment. DISCUSSION This prospective study will investigate the efficacy and safety of CDDP in improving ventricular remodeling and cardiac function in patients undergoing pPCI for a first AAMI. Patients in the CDDP group will be compared with those in the control group. If certified to be effective, CDDP treatment in AAMI will probably be advised on a larger scale. (Trial registration No. NCT05000411).
Humans ; ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction/therapy* ; Stroke Volume ; Ventricular Remodeling ; Prospective Studies ; Microcirculation ; Ventricular Function, Left ; Myocardial Infarction/etiology* ; Treatment Outcome ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention/adverse effects* ; Heart Failure/drug therapy* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Multicenter Studies as Topic

Objective: To evaluate the safety and antitumor activity of envafolimab monotherapy in Chinese patients with advanced solid tumors. Methods: This open-label, multicenter phase I trial included dose escalation and dose expansion phases. In the dose escalation phase, patients received subcutaneous 0.1, 0.3, 1.0, 2.5, 5.0 or 10.0 mg/kg envafolimab once weekly (QW) following a modified "3+ 3" design. The dose expansion phase was performed in the 2.5 mg/kg and 5.0 mg/kg (QW) dose cohorts. Results: At November 25, 2019, a total of 287 patients received envafolimab treatment. During the dose escalation phase, no dose-limiting toxicities (DLT) was observed. In all dose cohorts, drug-related treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) for all grades occurred in 75.3% of patients, and grade 3 or 4 occurred in 20.6% of patients. The incidence of immune-related adverse reactions (irAE) was 24.0% for all grades, the most common irAEs (≥2%) included hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, immune-associated hepatitis and rash. The incidence of injection site reactions was low (3.8%), all of which were grades 1-2. Among the 216 efficacy evaluable patients, the objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) were 11.6% and 43.1%, respectively. Median duration of response was 49.1 weeks (95% CI: 24.0, 49.3). Pharmacokinetic (PK) exposure to envafolimab is proportional to dose and median time to maximum plasma concentration is 72-120 hours based on the PK results from the dose escalation phase of the study. Conclusion: Subcutaneous envafolimab has a favorable safety and promising preliminary anti-tumor activity in Chinese patients with advanced solid tumors.
Humans ; East Asian People ; Neoplasms/pathology* ; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized/therapeutic use*

Objective: To evaluate the safety and antitumor activity of envafolimab monotherapy in Chinese patients with advanced solid tumors. Methods: This open-label, multicenter phase I trial included dose escalation and dose expansion phases. In the dose escalation phase, patients received subcutaneous 0.1, 0.3, 1.0, 2.5, 5.0 or 10.0 mg/kg envafolimab once weekly (QW) following a modified "3+ 3" design. The dose expansion phase was performed in the 2.5 mg/kg and 5.0 mg/kg (QW) dose cohorts. Results: At November 25, 2019, a total of 287 patients received envafolimab treatment. During the dose escalation phase, no dose-limiting toxicities (DLT) was observed. In all dose cohorts, drug-related treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) for all grades occurred in 75.3% of patients, and grade 3 or 4 occurred in 20.6% of patients. The incidence of immune-related adverse reactions (irAE) was 24.0% for all grades, the most common irAEs (≥2%) included hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, immune-associated hepatitis and rash. The incidence of injection site reactions was low (3.8%), all of which were grades 1-2. Among the 216 efficacy evaluable patients, the objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) were 11.6% and 43.1%, respectively. Median duration of response was 49.1 weeks (95% CI: 24.0, 49.3). Pharmacokinetic (PK) exposure to envafolimab is proportional to dose and median time to maximum plasma concentration is 72-120 hours based on the PK results from the dose escalation phase of the study. Conclusion: Subcutaneous envafolimab has a favorable safety and promising preliminary anti-tumor activity in Chinese patients with advanced solid tumors.
Humans ; East Asian People ; Neoplasms/pathology* ; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized/therapeutic use*

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo ; Humans ; Vitamin D ; Vitamins

Abstract: Objective　To analyze the laboratory microscopic re-examination results of malaria cases in Nantong of the National Notifiable Disease Report System from 2014 to 2021 by Nantong Malaria Diagnostic Reference Laboratory, so as to evaluate the malaria diagnosis ability of Nantong Malaria Diagnostic Reference Laboratory. Methods　The blood smear and blood samples of malaria cases in Nantong from 2014 to 2021 of the National Notifiable Disease Report System were collected. Nantong Malaria Diagnostic Reference Laboratory and Jiangsu Institute of Parasitic Diseases carried out the re-examination of municipal and provincial laboratories, taking the results of provincial laboratory as the standard to compare and analyze the re-examination results of Nantong Malaria Diagnostic Reference Laboratory. Results　From 2014 to 2021, the two-level laboratories in Nantong city and Jiangsu Province re-examined the blood samples of 297 malaria cases. The microscopic examination and PCR re-examination results at the provincial level were the same：292 positive cases and 5 negative cases. The qualitative coincidence rate between Nantong microscopic re-examination results and the provincial re-examination results was 100% (297/297), without misjudgment and omission. The coincidence rate of Plasmodium typing was 96.23% (281/292). The coincidence rate of P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale and P. malaria were 99.57% (234/235), 62.50% (5/8), 89.47% (34/38) and 72.73% (8/11) respectively. The consistency test results showed that the Kappa value of Plasmodium typing results between municipal and provincial laboratories was 0.89. The Kappa values of P. falciparum, P. vivax， P. ovale and P. malaria were 0.98, 0.58, 0.87 and 0.79 respectively. Conclusion　The malaria diagnosis ability of Nantong Malaria Diagnostic Reference Laboratory is generally good, and it is necessary to improve the ability of Plasmodium typing.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the advantages of self made minimally invasive hook assisted transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) via modified bilateral Wiltse approach in the treatment of lumbar degenerative diseases. METHODS: The clinical data of 140 patients underwent lumbar spine fusion surgery from October 2016 to October 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 72 cases were treated by self-made minimally invasive hook-assisted TLIF via modified bilateral Wiltse approach (group A), there were 37 males and 35 females, aged (48±16) years old;68 cases were treated by TLIF via traditional posterior median approach (group B ), there were 38 males and 30 females, aged (45±15) years old. The surgical incision size, operation time, intraoperative blood loss volume, postoperative drainage volume, postoperative wound healing, and intervertebral fusion rate at the final follow-up were recorded between two groups. Visual analogue scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) were used to assess the clinical efficacy. RESULTS: All the patients were followed up for 3 to 13 (8±5) months. The wound in group A healed well after operation, and 1 case in group B occurred wound necrosis after operation, and healed after debridement and suture. There were no significant differences in operation time and postoperative fusion rate between two surgical methods ( CONCLUSION The self made minimally invasive hook assistedTLIF via modified bilateral Wiltse approach has the characteristics of minimally invasive, less intraoperative blood loss, less postoperative drainage, fewer complications, and more stable fusion in the treatment of lumbar degenerative desease.
Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc Degeneration/surgery* ; Lumbar Vertebrae/surgery* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Fusion ; Treatment Outcome