Objective To investigate the population density and seasonal fluctuations of Aedes albopictus in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, from 2021 to 2023, so as to provide insights into A. albopictus control and management of dengue fever. Methods The surveillance of A. albopictus density was performed in all surveillance sites assigned across all streets (townships) in Guangzhou City during the period from January to December from 2021 to 2023. The surveillance frequency was twice every half month from May to September, and once every month for the rest of a year. In each surveillance period, A. albopictus mosquito larvae were captured from indoor and outdoor small water containers in residential areas, parks, medical facilities, schools, other government sectors and social organizations, construction sites, special industries and others for mosquito species identification. Adult mosquitoes were captured using electric mosquito suction apparatus for species identification and gender classification. Adult mosquitoes and mosquito eggs were collected with mosquito and egg traps at the breeding and dwelling places of Aedes mosquitoes for identification. The mosquito oviposition index (MOI), Breteau index (BI), adult mosquito density index (ADI) and standard space index (SSI) were calculated. The A. albopictus density was classified into grades 0, 1, 2 and 3 in each surveillance site, with Grade 0 density defined eligible, and the eligible rate of A. albopictus density was calculated at all surveillance sites each year from 2021 to 2023. In addition, the changing trends in MOI, SSI, BI and ADI of A. albopictus were analyzed in Guangzhou City from 2021 to 2023. Results The eligible rates of A. albopictus density were 61.69%, 68.75% and 55.15% in surveillance sites of Guangzhou City from 2021 to 2023 (χ² = 297.712, P < 0.001), and appeared a tendency towards a reduction followed by a rise each year, which gradually reduced since January, maintained at a low level during the period between May and October, and gradually increased from November to December. The MOI, SSI, BI and ADI of A. albopictus all appeared a tendency towards a rise followed by a reduction in Guangzhou City during the period between January and December from 2021 to 2023. The BI of A. albopictus peaked in the first half of June in 2021 (4.03), the first half of July in 2022 (3.89) and the last half of August in 2023 (5.02), and the SSI of A. albopictus peaked in the last half of June in 2021 (0.93), the last half of May in 2022 (0.59), and the last half of June (0.94) and the first half of September in 2023 (1.12). In addition, the MOI of A. albopictus peaked in the first half of May in 2021 (8.64), the first half of June in 2022 (8.96), and the last half of May (10.21) and the last half of June in 2023 (10.89), and the ADI of A. albopictus peaked in the first half of June in 2021 (3.41), the last half of June in 2022 (4.06), and the first half of July in 2023 (3.61). Conclusions The density of A. albopictus is high in Guangzhou City during the period from May to October, and the risk of local outbreak caused by imported dengue fever is high. Persistent intensified surveillance of the density and seasonal fluctuation of A. albopictus is recommended and timely mosquito prevention and control is required according to the fluctuation in the A. albopictus density.

Children with cancer represent a distinct patient population, and decisions regarding hospice care preferences are primarily made by their parents. This article examines parental preferences concerning the location and goals of hospice care for their children with cancer, discusses the advantages and disadvantages associated with these choices, and identifies factors influencing parental preferences for hospice care. The aim is to provide a reference for clinical healthcare professionals in delivering high-quality hospice care services for children with cancer that align with parental preferences.

Lung transplantation is the ultimate therapeutic option for end-stage pulmonary diseases such as interstitial pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumoconiosis. Currently, the shortage of allogeneic lung donors significantly limits the opportunity for end-stage lung disease patients to receive lung transplantation. In recent years, with the rapid development of biomedical engineering technologies, especially the major breakthroughs in genetic modification and cloning, xenogeneic lung transplantation has shown important potential for clinical translation. Among them, genetically modified pigs have become the most promising xenogeneic lung source due to the close similarity of organ size and physiological characteristics to humans, and the ability to perform targeted gene knockouts (such as α-Gal antigen knockout) to reduce the occurrence of hyperacute rejection. This article focuses on the research progress of porcine xenogeneic lung transplantation, systematically reviews the latest achievements and challenges in animal experiments and human trials, and introduces the technical experience accumulated by Shenzhen Third People's Hospital in the porcine-to-monkey xenogeneic lung transplantation model, in the hope of providing practical references for future research in this field.

Tubal ciliary movement is one of the essential transport mechanisms for female fertility, playing a key role in facilitating oocyte pickup and transporting the fertilized ovum. This movement is mediated by multiciliated cells and regulated by specific proteins and hormones that modulate ciliary number, length, polarity, beat frequency, and amplitude to ensure proper function. Genetic mutations, inflammatory stimuli, and hormonal fluctuations can impair ciliary activity or induce ciliary apoptosis, leading to ciliary dysfunction. Disorders of tubal ciliary movement are frequently observed in primary ciliary dyskinesia, pelvic inflammatory disease, polycystic ovary syndrome, and endometriosis, conditions commonly associated with female infertility. These disorders manifest as structural abnormalities of cilia, disrupted polarity, shortened ciliary length, reduced ciliary count, and decreased beat frequency and amplitude. Understanding the role of tubal ciliary movement in female infertility-related diseases, through immunohistochemistry and ultrastructural analysis, helps clarify underlying infertility mechanisms. Identifying abnormal inflammatory factors, hormonal environments, and gene expression, combined with advanced techniques for measuring ciliary protein and beat frequency, may offer novel clinical targets for early prevention and treatment of female infertility.
Humans ; Female ; Infertility, Female/etiology* ; Cilia/physiology* ; Polycystic Ovary Syndrome/physiopathology* ; Fallopian Tubes/physiopathology* ; Endometriosis/complications* ; Pelvic Inflammatory Disease/complications*

Objective To study the related molecular mechanism of andrographolide(AGP)in inhibi-ting the proliferation of human colon cancer LoVo cells and promoting their apoptosis.Methods The LoVo cells were set up as the control group and experimental group.The cells were treated with different concentra-tions of AGP(0,20,40,80 μmol/L).The cell viability was detected by CCK-8,the cellular cycle and apoptosis were detected by flow cytometery,and Western blot was used to detect protein level of PCNA,Bad and Bcl-2,and the effect of AGP of BMP9 overexpression or silencing AGP on PCNA,Bad and Bcl-2 protein levels;West-ern blot was used to analyze the effect of AGP on PTEN,Akt1/2/3 and p-Akt1/2/3 levels.Results AGP could inhibit the proliferation of LoVo cells,promoted their apoptosis and increased the BMP9 expression lev-el.The BMP9 overexpression could enhance the effect of AGP for inhibiting the proliferation and promoting the apoptosis,silencing BMP9 could weaken the above effects of AGP(P＜0.05).AGP decreased the expres-sion level of p-Akt1/2/3 in the LoVo cells and increased the PTEN expression level(P＜0.05).BMP9 over-expression enhanced AGP and decreased the p-Akt 1/2/3 expression level in the LoVo cells,and silencing BMP9 could weaken the above effects of AGP(P＜0.05).Conclusion AGP could inhibit the proliferation of human colon cancer LoVo cells,its mechanism may be related with up-regulating BMP9 expression,thus in-crease PTEN protein level and inhibit P13K/Akt signal.

Children with cancer represent a distinct patient population, and decisions regarding hospice care preferences are primarily made by their parents. This article examines parental preferences concerning the location and goals of hospice care for their children with cancer, discusses the advantages and disadvantages associated with these choices, and identifies factors influencing parental preferences for hospice care. The aim is to provide a reference for clinical healthcare professionals in delivering high-quality hospice care services for children with cancer that align with parental preferences.

Objective:To analyze the correlation between Cutibacterium acnes (C. acne) ribotypes (RTs) on the skin surface and epidermal barrier function in patients with acne vulgaris.Methods:Sixty patients with acne vulgaris were enrolled in this prospective study from the Department of Dermatology, the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University from November 2018 to May 2019, including 23 males and 37 females, aged (21.6±2.6) years. According to the General Acne Grading System (GAGS) score, the patients were divided into three groups: 28 mild cases, 14 moderate cases, and 18 severe or above cases. Twenty healthy controls aged 18 to 30 years were recruited in the same period from the community, including 5 males and 15 females, aged (24.2±2.3) years. The VISIA skin testing device was used to detect the percentage of red areas and porphyrins on the facial skin of all subjects. The hydration of the stratum corneum (SCH), transepidermal water loss (TEWL), PH value and the skin surface sebum level on the facial skin were detected by CK system. The RTs of C. acne were further analyzed based on the 16s rDNA sequences. The correlation between the abundance of each RT and epidermal barrier function was analyzed using Pearson correlation analysis.Results:Compared with the healthy controls, the percentage of porphyrins [(41.69±23.10) % vs (61.33±24.27) %, t=2.98, P<0.01] and the percentage of red area [(26.71±17.13) % vs (67.97±15.22) %, t=10.78, P<0.01] decreased in the acne vulgaris patients. Meanwhile, the patients of different severity levels had decreased SCH ( P<0.01), but increased TEWL, pH value, and the skin surface sebum level ( P<0.05) compared to healthy controls. Six different RTs (RT1, RT2, RT7, RT12, RT13 and RT14) were found in both healthy controls and acne vulgaris patients with varying degrees of severity, while there was no statistically significant difference of C. acne abundance between the mild patients and the controls ( P>0.05). As the severity of disease increased, the abundance of the above RTs showed a changing trend, with the gradually decreasing abundance of RT1 and the gradually increasing abundance of RT2, RT7, RT12, RT13, and RT14 (all P<0.05). The abundance of RT1 was negatively correlated with pH value ( r=-0.33, P=0.04) and GAGS score ( r=-0.39, P=0.01). The abundance of RT2 ( r=0.39, P=0.02) and RT7 ( r=0.39, P=0.01) were positively correlated with GAGS score. The abundance of RT13 was negatively correlated with SCH ( r=-0.34, P=0.02) and positively correlated with TEWL ( r=0.30, P=0.05). Conclusions:As the severity of disease increases, the abundance of various RTs of C. acne on the skin surface of acne vulgaris patients shows a trend of gradually increasing or decreasing, and the abundance of differential RTs of C. acne is closely related to the function of the epidermal barrier.

Objective:To explore the application and potential optimization of the collaborative and competitive learning model in the Health Education course. Methods:Undergraduate medical students participating in Health Education course practice tasks were selected to conduct discussions and reach consensus according to research objectives based on the e fast anonymous consensus-forming tool (eFAST). The meeting records were analyzed for theme identification using the keyword classification method. Results:Nine medical students participated in eFAST discussions. The students considered the following five aspects as the most important for undertaking Health Education course practice tasks using the collaborative and competitive learning model: timely communication, problem evaluation, report content enrichment, reasonable task allocation within groups, and task topic selection by group members together. They also proposed suggestions on improvement of the assessment method, including teacher involvement in scoring, intra-group scoring based on inter-group scoring, all students participating in inter-group scoring, and using mobile applications for scoring and summarization. Conclusions:The collaborative and competitive learning model can be used in the teaching of Health Education, but further optimization is needed in course task design, implementation, reporting, and assessment.

The many-banded krait, Bungarus multicinctus, has been recorded as the animal resource of JinQianBaiHuaShe in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Characterization of its venoms classified chief phyla of modern animal neurotoxins. However, the evolutionary origin and diversification of its neurotoxins as well as biosynthesis of its active compounds remain largely unknown due to the lack of its high-quality genome. Here, we present the 1.58 Gbp genome of B. multicinctus assembled into 18 chromosomes with contig/scaffold N50 of 7.53 Mbp/149.8 Mbp. Major bungarotoxin-coding genes were clustered within genome by family and found to be associated with ancient local duplications. The truncation of glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor in the 3'-terminal of a LY6E paralog released modern three-finger toxins (3FTxs) from membrane tethering before the Colubroidea divergence. Subsequent expansion and mutations diversified and recruited these 3FTxs. After the cobra/krait divergence, the modern unit-B of β-bungarotoxin emerged with an extra cysteine residue. A subsequent point substitution in unit-A enabled the β-bungarotoxin covalent linkage. The B. multicinctus gene expression, chromatin topological organization, and histone modification characteristics were featured by transcriptome, proteome, chromatin conformation capture sequencing, and ChIP-seq. The results highlighted that venom production was under a sophisticated regulation. Our findings provide new insights into snake neurotoxin research, meanwhile will facilitate antivenom development, toxin-driven drug discovery and the quality control of JinQianBaiHuaShe.