The biological nitrogen removal technology utilizing heterotrophic nitrification-aerobic denitrification (HN-AD) bacteria has shown effectiveness in wastewater treatment. However, the nitrogen removal efficiency of HN-AD bacteria significantly decreases as the salinity increases. To tackle the challenge of treating high-salt and high-nitrogen wastewater, we isolated a moderately halophilic HN-AD strain 5505 from a salt lake in Xinjiang. The strain was identified based on morphological, physiological, and biochemical characteristics and the 16S rRNA gene sequence. Single-factor experiments were carried out with NH₄⁺-N, NO₃^--N, and NO₂^--N as sole or mixed nitrogen sources to study the nitrifying effect, denitrifying effect, and nitrogen metabolism pathway of the strain. The strain was identified as Halomonas sp.. It can grow in the presence of 1%-25% (W/V) NaCl and exhibited efficient nitrogen removal ability in the presence of 3%-8% NaCl. At the optimal NaCl concentration (8%), the strain showed the NH₄⁺-N, NO₃^--N and NO₂^--N removal rates of 100.0%, 94.11% and 74.43%, respectively. Strain 5505 removed inorganic nitrogen mainly by assimilation, which accounted for over 62.68% of total nitrogen removal. In the presence of mixed nitrogen sources, strain 5505 showed a preference for utilizing ammonia, with a potential HN-AD pathway of NH₄⁺→NH₂OH→NO₂^-→NO₃^-→NO₂^-→NO/N₂O/N₂. The findings provide efficient salt-tolerant bacterial resources, enhance our understanding of biological nitrogen removal, and contribute to the nitrogen removal efficiency improvement in the treatment of high-salt and high-nitrogen wastewater.
Halomonas/classification* ; Nitrogen/isolation & purification* ; Denitrification ; Nitrification ; Wastewater/microbiology* ; Aerobiosis ; Biodegradation, Environmental ; Salinity

Objective To analyze and evaluate the clinical characteristics of imported falciparum malaria cases and the antimalarial effect of artemisinin-based drugs, to promote rational and standardized drug use, and to improve the clinical cure rate of falciparum malaria. Methods A total of 116 imported cases of falciparum malaria admitted to the provincial malaria designated hospital in Wuhan were collected, and the clinical characteristics of the patients and use of artemisinin, and the therapeutic effects of the artemisinin-based drugs were retrospectively analyzed. Results The clinical manifestations of imported falciparum malaria were complicated and varied and had many complications, including mainly fever, anorexia, anemia, and jaundice, etc. The symptoms were alleviated or disappeared after treatment with artemisinin, without obvious adverse drug reactions. The median time of fever reduction was 2 days, the median time of Plasmodium becoming negative was 3 days, and the median time of clinical symptom relief was 3 days. 109 cases of common falciparum malaria were treated by oral artemisinin compound or artesunate injection combined with oral artemisinin compound, including 30 cases of oral artemisinin compound treatment for 1 to 4 days (1 case relapsed) and 79 cases of artesunate injection combined with oral artemisinin compound for 4 to 6 days (4 cases relapsed). Seven severe cases were cured after long-term and high-dose treatment with artesunate injection combined with oral multiple artemisinin compounds, and the total cure rate was 95.69% (111/116). Conclusion The present study demonstrates that the treatment of falciparum malaria by oral injection of artemisinin is safe and effective, and the cure rate is high. However, some patients have recurrence of the malaria parasite after stopping artemisinin drugs. It is necessary to ensure the use of artemisinin-based drugs in a ^“standardized, full-process, and adequate^” way to contain the risk of severe illness and drug resistance.

Malignant tumors in the head and neck seriously threaten the physical and mental health of patients. After treatment, they may cause many complications, such as facial deformity, difficulties with chewing, dysphagia and asaphia. Among them, trismus (restricted mouth opening) is one of the most common complications after treatment of malignant oral-maxillofacial tumors. In severe cases, patients may even suffer from trismus and eating difficulties, finally leading to malnutrition and even cachexia. Therefore, it not only affects the quality of life of patients and even endangers their lives but also brings heavy social and economic burdens. How to effectively prevent and treat posttreatment trismus is a clinical problem that is easily ignored by head and neck surgeons and urgently needs to be solved. The results of a literature review showed that trismus may be related to the tumor clinical stage, tumor site, treatment used, radiotherapy site, radiotherapy dose, radiotherapy type, and other factors. The incidence of trismus tends to be significant 6 months after treatment. Without early intervention, the resulting dysfunction may become more severe. Current studies have shown that the prevention and treatment of restricted mouth opening is based on controlling the progress of restricted mouth opening and restoring function. Exercise intervention for trismus can significantly improve the restricted mouth opening of patients with malignant head and neck tumors after treatment.

Objective To investigate the CT and MRI features of supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumors (sPNET)in adults,and to analyze the reasons of misdiagnosis.Methods The CT and MRI features of 1 5 patients with sPNET confirmed by pathology were analyzed retrospective.13 of 15 patients were underwent plain and contrast enhanced MRI,4 patients were also performed CT scan and the other 2 patients were underwent CT plain scan only.Results Nine of 1 5 lesions were located in the temporal and/or frontal lobe,with clear margin in 12 lesions,and mild to moderate peritumoral was noted in most cases.The solid portion of the lesions were hyperdense on CT,isointense or slightly hypointense on T1WI,and isointense or hyperintense on T2WI compared to the gray matter.Calcification (2/6),necrosis or cystic degeneration(1 3/1 5),hemorrhage (8/1 5)and flow void signal (1 1/1 3)were seen.Twelve lesions showed significantly heterogeneous enhancement and 7 lesions showed irregular ring-enhancement.The solid parts in 5 lesions showed hyperintensity on diffusion-weighted imaging. Preoperatively,the lesions were misdiagnosed as glioma in 10 cases,ependymoma in 2 cases,meningioma in 1 case and germ cell tumor in 1 case, respectively;and 1 case was not diagnosed definitely.Conclusion Supratentorial PNET in adults has characteristic CT and MRI features,and the main reasons accounting for misdiagnosis are its extraordinary low incidence and that radiologists do no master its imaging features.

Objective To analyze the relationship between the level of 25 (OH )D and mortality in maintenance hemodialysis (M HD) patients .Methods This study was a prospective cohort study .We enrolled 156 M HD patients of Sichuan people′s hospital dialysis center in July of 2010 .The patients were divided into three groups according to the level of 25(OH)D .The three groups were normal(25(OH)D>30 ng/mL) ,insufficient(15 ng/mL<25(OH)D≤30 ng/mL) and deficient(25(OH)D≤15 ng/mL) re‐spectively .All the patients were follow‐up 40 months ;the end point was all‐cause and cardiovascular death .Results After follow‐up 40 months ,there were 26 deaths (16 .7% ) and 13 cardiovascular deaths among the 156 cases .There were 15 deaths (30 .6% ) in in‐sufficient group ,among which there were nine cardiovascular deaths ;there were eight deaths (11 .6% ) in deficient group ,among which there were three cardiovascular deaths ;there were three deaths (7 .9% ) in normal group ,among which there was one cardio‐vascular death .There was statistically significance either between all‐cause and cardiovascular mortality of deficient and normal group or between deficient and insufficient group (P<0 .05) .The Kaplan‐Meier curve analysis showed 25(OH)D≤15 ng/mL was the independent risk factor of the all‐cause and cardiovascular mortality(P<0 .05) .Cox regression showed 25(OH)D≤15 ng/mL was the independent risk factor of the all‐cause mortality in crude analysis (RR=4 .43 ,95% CI:1 .28-15 .32 ,P<0 .05) and adjus‐ted analysis (RR=4 .92 ,95% CI 1 .23-19 .66 ,P<0 .05) .Cox regression showed 25(OH)D≤15 ng/mL was the risk factor of the cardiovascular mortality in crude analysis(RR=8 .12 ,95% CI:1 .04 -64 .15 ,P=0 .047) .Conclusion 25(OH)D≤15 ng/mL was the risk factor and predictor of the all‐cause and cardiovascular mortality in M HD patients .

Antiviral Agents ; Diabetic Retinopathy ; Drug Combinations ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; Polyethylene Glycols ; Recombinant Proteins ; Ribavirin

Objective To investigate the changes of the serum levels of matrix metalloproteinase- 2 (MMP-2) and peripheral blood leukocytes content and its relationship with the severity of cerebral infarction in acute cerebral in-farction(ACI)patients at different altitudes (high, middle and low). Methods One hundred thirty-nine cases and 150 healthy controls were included in the present study. Enzyme linked immunosorbent method was used to detect MMP-2 and WBC levels. Results MMP-2 levels increased as the altitude increased in controls. The MMP-2 in a descending or-der was 1.41±0.39 in Haixi (high altitude), 1.37±0.27 in Xining (middle altitude) and 1.28±0.21 in Sichuan (low altitude) (P<0.05). The serum levels of MMP-2 were significantly increased at 7 d at different altitudes (5.75±1.19, 5.23±1.12 and 4.15 ± 0.97 in low, middle and high altitudes, respectively). The WBC were significantly increased at different alti-tudes (12.93±2.11, 12.11±1.74 and 11.15±1.68 in low, middle and high altitudes, respectively) within 48 h in severe ACI group (P<0.05). MMP-2 levels in different altitudes were positively associated with the infarction size and the degree of neurological deficit, while were negatively correlated with the prognosis. The WBC in large infarction group were positive-ly correlated with the infarct size. Conclusions The levels of MMP-2 and WBC in different altitudes may be helpful in determining the ACI lesion size and the severity of the illness as well as estimating the prognosis.

Objective To investigate the neuroprotective effect of miR-181c on hypoxia-preconditioned ischemia in rats and its mechanism.Methods Thirty-nine male SD rats were randomly divided into 5 groups of control group,sham-operated group,middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO)group,hypoxia-preconditioned group,hypoxia-preconditioned and MCAO group.Infarct volume and behavioral deficits were quantified.Real-time PCR was applied to detect the expression levels of miR-181c and Western blotting was used to verify the target protein of mt-cox1.Results Under the treatment of hypoxia-preconditioned,the neurological impairment was alleviated and the infarct volume was reduced significantly from 22.50％ ±2.96％ to 16.40％ ±3.13 ％ (t =5.26,P ＜0.01).The expression of miR-181c was decreased significantly in hypoxia-preconditioned and MCAO group than that in MCAO group (1.89 ± 0.14 vs 3.05 ± 0.26,t =6.10,P ＜ 0.01),and the expression of mt-cox1 protein was also significantly decreased (0.54 ± 0.07 vs 0.93 ± 0.04,t =8.01,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion Hypoxia-preconditioned may attenuate the ischemic injury in SD rats,which may be related to the down-regulation of the expression of miR-181c,therefore increasing the expression of its targeted protein mt-cox1.

Objective To study the association of serum L-kynurenine changes with nutritional status and vascular stiffness in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients. Methods Twenty gender- and age-matched healthy volunteers (healthy group) and 40 MHD patients,including 20 cases with α-keto aicd(α-keto acid group)and 20 cases without α-keto aicd(non-α-keto acid group)were enrolled in the study.Serum L-kynurenine was measured by high performance liquid chromatography.C-reactive protein (CRP)and interleukin 6 (IL-6)were detected.Subjective global assessment(SGA)and malnutrition inflammation score(MIS)were applied to evaluate the nutritional status.Pulse wave velocity(PWV)was used to evaluate arterial stiffness for both groups of MHD patients. Results Serum L-kynurenine was significantly higher in MHD patients than that in healthy subjects[(3.20±1.12)μmol/L vs (1.74±0.27)μmol/L,P<0.01],while such difference was not found between α-keto aicd group and non-α-keto-aicd group [(3.20±0.88)μmol/L vs (3.29±1.34)μmol/L,P>0.05].IL-6 was significantly higher in MHD patients as compared to healthy subjects[(6.45±3.78)ng/L vs(1.38±1.59)ng/L,P<0.01],while such difference was found between α-keto aicd group and non-α-keto aicd group[(3.37±0.82)ng/L vs (9.62±2.48)ng/L,P<0.051.There was no difference of CRP concentration between two MHD groups.As compared to non-α-keto acid group,higher SGA score(26.00±1.75 vs 22.67±2.61,P=0.001),lower MIS score(5.82±2.27 vs 10.00±2.62,P=0.002),lower left side PWV[(21.11±8.21)m/s vs(24.57±5.45)m/s,P=0.244]and lower right side PWV[(19.27±3.22)m/s vs (24.19±5.41)m/s,P=0.015]were observed in α-keto aicd group.Pearson analysis showed positive correlation between serum L-kynurenine and IL-6(r=0.352,P=0.011)and negative correlation between L-kynurenine and pre-dialysis Scr(r=-0.412,P=0.019). Conclusions Inflammation is common in MHD patients.Tryptophan degeneration product L-kynurenine may indicate inflammation status.α-keto acid improves nutritional status,anemia and arterial stiffness maybe through the alleviation of inflammation in MHD patients.

Objective To compare the yield and speed of detection of Salmonella subsp, enterica serotypo Paratyphi A from the blood of patients with suspected paratyphoid fever A. Methods With the BacT/ALERT 3D system and paired aerobic and anaerobic bottles (AEB, ANB) that were each filled with 5 ml of blood, the blood culture of 13 500 suspected paratyphoid fever A patients were performed. Results A total of 4 060 isolates were detected. About 3 149 were detected from both AEB and ANB. Four hundred and sixty-one isolates were detected only from the AEB and 450 were only from the ANB. The detection rates of the AEB and ANB were all 26.7% (χ<'2>=0.023, P=0.880). The increased detection rate attributed to the additional blood volume in the AEB and ANB were 11.3% and 11.1%, respectively. The detection speed differed between the two medium formulations. The time to detection was (23.66±15.89) h and (25.48±16.92) h for3 149 isolates, respectively (t=7.007, P<0.01).The mean time to detection was 31.80±20. 97 for 461 isolates discovered with AEB and (33.45±20.72) h for 450 isolates discovered with ANB. Conclusion The blood volume is an important factor in determining the detection rate of blood culture. Although no statistical difference for positive rate was found between the AEB and ANB, more isolates was detected earlier in AEB.