Single-cell analysis of phenotypic plasticity could improve the development of more effective therapeutics. Still, the development of tools to measure single-cell heterogeneity has lagged due to difficulties in manipulating and culturing single cells. Here, we describe a single-cell culture and phenotyping platform that employs a starburst microfluidic network and automatic liquid handling system to capture single cells for long-term culture and multi-dimensional analysis and quantify their clonal properties via their surface biomarker and secreted cytokine/growth factor profiles. Studies performed on this platform found that cells derived from single-cell cultures maintained phenotypic equilibria similar to their parental populations. Single-cell cultures exposed to chemotherapeutic drugs stochastically disrupted this balance to favor stem-like cells. They had enhanced expression of mRNAs and secreted factors associated with cell signaling, survival, and differentiation. This single-cell analysis approach can be extended to analyze more complex phenotypes and screen responses to therapeutic targets.

BackgroundSuicide ideation in adolescent inpatients with depression is a multi-factorial problem， and perceived stress is considered to be closely related to suicide ideation， while its mediating role in suicide ideation among adolescent inpatients with depression remains unclear. ObjectiveTo explore the mediating effect of psychological capital on the relationship between perceived stress and suicide ideation among adolescent inpatients with depression， so as to provide references for preventing the onset of suicide ideation in adolescent inpatients with depression. MethodsA sample of 585 adolescent patients who were hospitalized in Beijing Huilongguan Hospital from June 2021 to March 2023 and fulfilling the International Classification of Diseases， 10th edition （ICD-10） diagnostic criteria for depression were enrolled. All patients were evaluated using self-designed questionnaire， Chinese Perceived Stress Scale （CPSS）， Positive Psychological Capital Questionnaire （PPQ） and Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation-Chinese Version （BSI-CV）. Pearson correlation was used to assess the correlation among the scores of the above scales. Bootstrap method was employed to verify the mediating effect of psychological capital on the relationship between perceived stress and suicide ideation. ResultsCPSS score in adolescent inpatients with depression was positively correlated with BSI-CV score （r=0.375， P<0.01）， and CPSS score and BSI-CV score were negatively correlated with PPQ score （r=-0.481， -0.436， P<0.01）. Psychological capital played a significant yet a partial role in mediating the link between perceived stress and suicide ideation， with an indirect mediating effect value of 0.160 （95% CI： 0.178~0.373）， accounting for 30.42% of the total effect. ConclusionThe perceived stress of adolescent inpatients with depression can affect the onset of suicide ideation both directly and indirectly through psychological capital.

Background Fatigue driving is an important cause of road traffic accidents in modern society, and the fatigue condition of heavy-duty commercial truck drivers has attracted widespread attention. Research on the fatigue status and influencing factors of heavy-duty commercial truck drivers in China is relatively rare at present. Objective To analyze the main characteristics of fatigue among heavy-duty commercial truck drivers and the impacts of factors such as working hours, insomnia, and occupational burnout on their fatigue status. Methods Using cluster sampling method, a cross-sectional study was conducted from July to August 2023, enrolling heavy-duty commercial truck drivers in long-distance freight logistics markets (stations) located in three administrative regions of W City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. A self-designed questionnaire was used to collect demographic and occupational characteristics of heavy-duty commercial truck drivers, and the Chinese versions of Fatigue Scale-14 (FS-14), Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS), and Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey (MBI-GS) were used to evaluate their fatigue, insomnia, and occupational burnout status, respectively. Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Walls H test were used to compare intergroup differences, and Spearman correlation coefficient was used to analyze the correlation between variables. Hierarchical regression models were used to study the impacts of selected variables on fatigue status. Results This study obtained 311 valid questionnaires, with a valid recovery rate of 88.86% (311/350). The physical fatigue, mental fatigue, and total fatigue scores of the survey subjects in M (P₂₅, P₇₅) were 3.00 (2.00, 4.00), 2.00 (1.00, 3.00), and 5.00 (4.00, 6.00), respectively. The comparison results showed that, except for smoking, there were statistically significant differences in total fatigue scores between different groups of age, marital status, number of children, educational level, service length of freight transportation, average daily working time, and average monthly income (P<0.05). The difference in total fatigue score among the groups without sleep disorders, with suspected insomnia, and with insomnia was statistically significant (P<0.001). The difference in total fatigue score among the groups without occupational burnout, with moderate occupational burnout, and with severe occupational burnout was also statistically significant (P<0.001). Positive correlations were found between insomnia score and scores of physical fatigue (r_s=0.507), mental fatigue (r_s=0.547), and total fatigue (r_s=0.618) (P<0.001). Hierarchical regression models revealed that having more children, extended daily working hours, insomnia, and increased scores of decreased personal accomplishment were negative factors affecting the fatigue status of heavy-duty commercial truck drivers (P<0.05), and the final regression equation was: total fatigue score=7.579+0.581×number of children+0.916×average daily working time+0.434×score of AIS+0.754×score of reduced personal accomplishment. Conclusion The fatigue status of heavy-duty commercial truck drivers is not optimistic. An increase in the number of children, extended daily working hours, severe insomnia symptoms, and increased scores of decreased personal accomplishment associate with their worse fatigue status.

Objective:To explore the application of an automatic slide-dropping instrument in bone marrow chromosomal karyotyping.Methods:The effects of manual and automatic dropping methods under different environmental humidity were retrospectively analyzed, and the repeatability of the automatic dropping method was analyzed.Results:No statistical difference was found between the results of automatic and manual dropping methods under the optimum ambient humidity and high humidity ( P>0.05). At low humidity, there was a statistical difference between the two methods ( P<0.05). With regard to the repeatability, the coefficient of variations of the automatic dropping method for the number of split phases, the rate of good dispersion and the rate of overlap were all lower than those of the manual dropping method. A statistical difference was also found in the number of split phases ( P<0.05) but not in the discrete excellent rate and overlapping rate between the two methods ( P>0.05). Conclusion:Better effect can be obtained by the automatic dropping instrument. It is suggested to gradually replace manual work with machine.

Objective:To observe the multi-modal fundus imaging features of subretinal drusenoid deposit (SDD) in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and observe image features.Methods:A prospective clinical study. From December 2019 to December 2023, 65 patients (104 eyes) with a diagnosis of AMD-SDD by spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) examination in Shandong Eye Hospital were included. All eyes were examined by best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), traditional color fundus photography (CFP), ultra-wide-angle scanning laser fundus imaging (UWF), multicolor scanning laser fundus imaging (MC) and SD-OCT. The standard MC images were obtained by using Spectralis HRA+OCT for MC examination. The multi-mode image characteristics of SDD were analyzed retrospectively. Area under curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of CFP, MC and UWF in detecting SDD.Results:Among 65 patients with SDD, 29 cases of males (52 eyes) and 36 cases of females (52 eyes) was included. There were 26 patients with unilateral SDD and 39 patients with bilateral SDD. The average age was (71.74±10.97) years. The early, middle and late stages of AMD were 31 (29.8%, 31/104), 24 (23.1%, 24/104), 49 (47.1%, 49/104) eyes, respectively. The SDD detected by CFP, MC and UWF was 76 (73.1%, 76/104), 94 (90.4%, 94/104), 96 (92.3%, 96/104) eyes. CFP showed that the edge of SDD in the macular area was blurred. UWF showed that the dot and the ribbon SDD were light yellow pale discrete deposits and light yellow interlaced network deposits respectively. MC showed the dot SDD had a strong yellow-green circular reflection, while the edge of the ribbon SDD was surrounded by a weak reflection, and the boundary was clear. SD-OCT showed that SDD had strong reflection signal, which was located between the retinal pigment epithelium layer and the photoreceptor cell layer. The dot SDD could break through the ellipsoid zone and caused slight uplift or interruption of the external membrane, showing a cone-like strong reflection signal. While the ribbon SDD showed a continuous "hill-like" protrusion, which hardly broke through ellipsoid zone. The sensitivity and specificity of CFP, MC and UWF for SDD were 73.1%, 90.4%, 92.3% and 61.1%, 94.4% and 83.3%, respectively.Conclusions:MC and UWF show high sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing AMD-SDD, which is superior to CFP. SD-OCT can effectively reveal the location and morphoLogical characteristics of SDD under retina.

Gene epigenetic modification can turn on and off the program of gene expression without changing the DNA sequence, and the underlying mechanisms mainly include DNA methylation, histone modification and miRNA regulation. A series of studies have shown that epigenetic regulation is involved in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis. This review briefly summarizes the role of gene epigenetic modification in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis.

Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) is a cytosolic DNA sensor which is regarded as a potential target for antitumor immunotherapy. However, clinical trials of STING agonists display limited anti-tumor effects and dose-dependent side-effects like inflammatory damage and cell toxicity. Here, we showed that tetrahedral DNA nanostructures (TDNs) actively enter macrophages to promote STING activation and M1 polarization in a size-dependent manner, and synergized with Mn²⁺ to enhance the expressions of IFN-β and iNOS, as well as the co-stimulatory molecules for antigen presentation. Moreover, to reduce the cytotoxicity of Mn²⁺, we constructed a TDN-MnO₂ complex and found that it displayed a much higher efficacy than TDN plus Mn²⁺ to initiate macrophage activation and anti-tumor response both in vitro and in vivo. Together, our studies explored a novel immune activation effect of TDN in cancer therapy and its synergistic therapeutic outcomes with MnO₂. These findings provide new therapeutic opportunities for cancer therapy.

Objective:To establish the normal reference value of lumbar bone mineral density (BMD) under quantitative CT (QCT) in Chinese healthy adult females and to explore the regional differences.Methods:Total of 35 431 healthy women who met the inclusion criteria of Chinese health quantitative CT big data program were selected in this study. The BMD of the central plane of L 1 and L 2 vertebrae was measured by Mindways′s QCT system, and the mean value was taken. One-way analysis of variance was used to compare the BMD differences of lumbar vertebrae in women of different ages and regions. The subjects were grouped by an age interval of 10 years, and the level of BMD in different regions of the same age group were compaired. Results:The peak BMD of Chinese healthy adult women appeared in the age group of 20-29 years (Northeast China(183.01±24.58) mg/cm 3, North China (188.93±24.80) mg/cm 3, East China (187.54±27.71) mg/cm 3, South China (186.22±33.72) mg/cm 3, Central China (176.33±24.91) mg/cm 3, Southwest China(182.25±28.00) mg/cm 3), and then it decreased with age. The level of BMD in different regions decreased with the age. Before the age of 70 years, BMD in Central and Southwest China was always at a low level((176.23±24.91) to (90.38±28.12) mg/cm 3, 182.25±28.00 to (88.55±25.68) mg/cm 3), lower than those in Northeast China ((183.01±24.58) to (99.69±27.85) mg/cm 3), North China ((188.93±24.80) to (95.89±26.12) mg/cm 3), East China ((187.54±27.71) to (95.65±27.86) mg/cm 3). After 70 years of age, BMD tended to be the same in different regions ( P>0.05). The BMD values in Central China and Southwest China were similar in the age group of 40-60 years ( P>0.05). The BMD values in the health adult femles in the age group of 60 years in different regions of Chinawere all lower than those of bone mass abnormality (all P<0.05). The detection rate of osteoporosis in females over 50 years was the highest in Southwest China (25.65%) and it was the lowest in North China (17.30%). Conclusions:This study establishes reference values of BMD under QCT in healthy Chinese women, which can be used as a reference basis for identifying women with low BMD who are at risk of osteoporosis. The BMD value is the lowest in Southwest China and the highest in South China.

Objective:To explore the application of micro-lecture system based on ASSURE model in clinical practice teaching of dermatology.Methods:Sixty clinical medicine undergraduate intern doctors in Batch 2014 of Anhui Medical University were randomized into 2 groups, with thirty interns in both experimental group and control group. Micro-lecture system based on ASSURE model teaching method was adopted in experimental group, while traditional teaching method was adopted in control group. At the end of practice, theory test scores and medical record writing was used to evaluate the clinical ability of interns in two groups, and questionnaire survey was conducted to evaluate the satisfaction of interns with the teaching method of micro-lecture system based on ASSURE model. SPSS 16.0 was used for t test. Results:①Theory test scores were higher in experimental group than in control group, with statistically significant differences between the two groups ( P<0.05); ②The scores of history of illness, physical examination, treatment plan and the medical record writing were higher in experimental group than in control group ( P<0.05); ③At the end of internship, the questionnaire showed that the interns in the experimental group were more recognized for this new way of teaching. Conclusion:Micro-lecture system based on ASSURE model teaching method has achieved better results in the teaching of dermatology, which is worthy of future research and promotion.

Objective:To summarize the experience of five hospitals in Guangdong Province on successfully transporting retained passengers by chartered flights during the outbreak of the COVID-19.Methods:We retrospectively evaluated the operation and management, cabin arrangement, isolation requirements, and personnel protection in the aspect of epidemic prevention and control.Results:In 11 charter missions, over one thousand "healthy" passengers with potential risk of infections were transported back to China. The medical delivery team and flight crew were kept free of infection, passengers maintained zero cluster infections and no unexpected adverse events during the air transport.Conclusions:Our results indicate how to carry passengers in a scientific and orderly way is crucial for avoiding the transmission risks of the epidemic of COVID-19 among working staffers and passengers during air transportation.