Objective To provide a scientific basis for vector prevention and control in port areas, vector monitoring has been conducted continuously to characterize the composition, density, and seasonal fluctuations of vectors across 21 port-areas of Shandong province from 2017 to 2023. Methods In accordance with the Regional Vector Monitoring Plan for Frontier Ports, vector surveillance of mosquitoes, flies, cockroaches, rodents, and other disease vectors was performed. Data were analyzed to describe vector community composition and identify seasonal fluctuations. Results A total of 601 rodents belonging to 1 family, 4 genera, and 4 species were captured. Three dominant rodent species inhabit port areas. In addition, 88 104 mosquitoes were captured and classified into 3 subfamilies, 4 genera, and 12 species; 38 959 flies were trapped and classified into 8 families,31 genera, and 51 species, including 9 dominant fly species in port-areas; and 54 672 captured cockroaches were classified into 2 families,4 genera, and 4 species, with Blattella germanica as the dominant species. Conclusions Significant vector community changes(P＜0.005)have been identified after the epidemic. To improve the pertinence and efficacy of port health quarantine work, continuous and strong attention should be paid to vector compositions and population densities at Shandong ports.

Ovarian tumor (OT) is the most lethal form of gynecologic malignancy, with minimal improvements in patient outcomes over the past several decades. Metastasis is the leading cause of ovarian cancer-related deaths, yet the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Psychological stress is known to activate the glucocorticoid receptor (NR3C1), a factor associated with poor prognosis in OT patients. However, the precise mechanisms linking NR3C1 signaling and metastasis have yet to be fully elucidated. In this study, we demonstrate that chronic restraint stress accelerates epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and metastasis in OT through an NR3C1-dependent mechanism involving nuclear protein 1 (NUPR1). Mechanistically, NR3C1 directly regulates the transcription of NUPR1, which in turn increases the expression of snail family transcriptional repressor 2 (SNAI2), a key driver of EMT. Clinically, elevated NR3C1 positively correlates with NUPR1 expression in OT patients, and both are positively associated with poorer prognosis. Overall, our study identified the NR3C1/NUPR1 axis as a critical regulatory pathway in psychological stress-induced OT metastasis, suggesting a potential therapeutic target for intervention in OT metastasis.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are crucial for facilitating intercellular communication, promoting cell migration, and orchestrating the immune response. Recently, EVs can diagnose and treat tumors. EVs can be measured as biomarkers to provide information about the type of disease and therapeutic efficacy. Furthermore, EVs with lower immunogenicity and better biocompatibility are natural carriers of chemicals and gene drugs. Herein, we review the molecular composition, biogenesis, and separation methods of EVs. We also highlight the important role of EVs from different origins as biomarkers and drug delivery systems in tumor therapy. Finally, we provide deep insights into how EVs play a role in reversing the immunosuppressive microenvironment.

Dysregulated RNA splicing is a well-recognized characteristic of colorectal cancer (CRC); however, its intricacies remain obscure, partly due to challenges in profiling full-length transcript variants at the single-cell level. Here, we employ high-depth long-read scRNA-seq to define the full-length transcriptome of colorectal epithelial cells in 12 CRC patients, revealing extensive isoform diversities and splicing alterations. Cancer cells exhibited increased transcript complexity, with widespread 3'-UTR shortening and reduced intron retention. Distinct splicing regulation patterns were observed between intrinsic-consensus molecular subtypes (iCMS), with iCMS3 displaying even higher splicing factor activities and more pronounced 3'-UTR shortening. Furthermore, we revealed substantial shifts in isoform usage that result in alterations of protein sequences from the same gene with distinct carcinogenic effects during tumorigenesis of CRC. Allele-specific expression analysis revealed dominant mutant allele expression in key oncogenes and tumor suppressors. Moreover, mutated PPIG was linked to widespread splicing dysregulation, and functional validation experiments confirmed its critical role in modulating RNA splicing and tumor-associated processes. Our findings highlight the transcriptomic plasticity in CRC and suggest novel candidate targets for splicing-based therapeutic strategies.
Humans ; Colorectal Neoplasms/metabolism* ; RNA Isoforms/metabolism* ; Single-Cell Analysis ; RNA Splicing ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; RNA, Neoplasm/metabolism* ; Transcriptome

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the efficacy and safety of decitabine-based myeloablative preconditioning regimen for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). METHODS: The clinical characteristics and efficacy of 115 AML patients who underwent allo-HSCT at the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital from August 2018 to August 2022 were retrospectively analyzed, including 37 patients treated with decitabine conditioning regimen (decitabine group) and 78 patients without decitabine conditioning regimen (non-decitabine group). The cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR), overall survival (OS), leukemia-free survival (LFS), non-relapse mortality (NRM) and graft versus host disease (GVHD) were analyzed. RESULTS: For the patients in first complete remission (CR1) state before allo-HSCT, the 1-year relapse rates of decitabine group(22 cases) and non-decitabine group(69 cases) were 9.1% and 29.6%, respectively, the difference was statistically significant(P =0.042). The 1-year cumulative incidence of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) in decitabine group and non-decitabine group was 62.2% and 70.5%, respectively, and the 1-year cumulative incidence of chronic inhibitor-versus-host disease (cGVHD) was 18.9% and 14.1%, respectively, there were no significant differences in the incidence of aGVHD and cGVHD between the two groups (P >0.05). Of the 115 patients, there were no significantly differences in the 1-year CIR(21.7% vs 28.8%, P =0.866), NRM(10.9% vs 3.9%, P =0.203), OS(75.2% vs 83.8%, P =0.131) and LFS(74.6% vs 69.1%, P =0.912) between the decitabine group(37 cases) and the non-decitabine group(78 cases). CONCLUSION Decitabine-based conditioning regimen could reduce the relapse rate of AML CR1 patients with good safety.
Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/therapy* ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation/methods* ; Decitabine/therapeutic use* ; Transplantation Conditioning/methods* ; Retrospective Studies ; Graft vs Host Disease ; Transplantation, Homologous ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Adolescent ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is sensitive to ferroptosis, a new form of programmed cell death that occurs in most tumor types. However, the mechanism through which ferroptosis modulates HCC remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the oncogenic role and prognostic value of FANCD2 and provide novel insights into the prognostic assessment and prediction of immunotherapy. METHODS: Using clinicopathological parameters and bioinformatic techniques, we comprehensively examined the expression of FANCD2 macroscopically and microcosmically. We conducted univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses to identify the prognostic value of FANCD2 in HCC and elucidated the detailed molecular mechanisms underlying the involvement of FANCD2 in oncogenesis by promoting iron-related death. RESULTS: FANCD2 was significantly upregulated in digestive system cancers with abundant immune infiltration. As an independent risk factor for HCC, a high FANCD2 expression level was associated with poor clinical outcomes and response to immune checkpoint blockade. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed that FANCD2 was mainly involved in the cell cycle and CYP450 metabolism. CONCLUSION To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to comprehensively elucidate the oncogenic role of FANCD2. FANCD2 has a tumor-promoting aspect in the digestive system and acts as an independent risk factor in HCC; hence, it has recognized value for predicting tumor aggressiveness and prognosis and may be a potential biomarker for poor responsiveness to immunotherapy.
Humans ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/diagnosis* ; Liver Neoplasms/diagnosis* ; Immunotherapy ; Fanconi Anemia Complementation Group D2 Protein/metabolism* ; Prognosis ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Biomarkers, Tumor/metabolism*

Objective To evaluate the reliability and validity and perform cost-consequence analysis of the brief version of the Montreal cognitive assessment(MoCA)for identifying cognitive impairment in a community-based population ≥50 years of age.Methods The internal consistency and retest reliability of the brief version of the MoCA were analyzed,and the area under the curve(AUC),sensitivity,and specificity were determined to discriminate mild cognitive impairment(MCI)and dementia with the clinical dementia rating(CDR)as the diagnostic criterion.The consistency between the brief version and the full version was analyzed by the Kappa test and the Bland-Altman method,and the number of individuals entering the diagnostic assessment and the overall assessment time were estimated and compared between the two versions.Results A total of 303 individuals were included in this study,of whom 192,94,and 17 had normal cognitive function,MCI,and dementia,respectively.The Cronbach's α and re-test coefficients of the brief version of MoCA were 0.754 and 0.711(P<0.001),respectively.The brief version showed the AUC,sensitivity,and specificity of 0.889,74.5%,and 93.8% for identifying MCI,and 0.994,100%,and 93.8% for identifying dementia,respectively.When the brief version of MoCA was used to identify 94 patients with MCI in 303 individuals,107 individuals required additional diagnostic assessment,with an overall assessment time of 142.4 h,which represented decreases of 21.3% and 32.7%,respectively,compared with those of the full version.When the brief version of MoCA was used to identify 17 patients with dementia in 303 individuals,35 individuals required additional diagnostic assessment,with an overall assessment time of 70.4 h,a decrease of 29.5% in the time cost compared with the full version.Conclusions The brief version of MoCA can identify cognitively impaired individuals in a community-based middle-aged and elderly population,with diagnostic validity comparable to that of the full version but less time cost and fewer individuals needing additional diagnostic assessment to detect true-positive cases.It could be expanded for use in the community-based primary screening setting.
Humans ; Aged ; Middle Aged ; Cognitive Dysfunction/diagnosis* ; Male ; Female ; Mental Status and Dementia Tests ; Reproducibility of Results ; Dementia/diagnosis* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Aged, 80 and over ; Cost-Benefit Analysis

To determine the optimal cultivation duration and harvest period for cultivated Notopterygium incisum and promote its industrial development, this study established a characteristic chromatographic profile of cultivated N. incisum and employed chemometrics combined with entropy-weighted grey correlation analysis to assess differences in agronomic traits and quality indicators across different cultivation years and harvest periods. By comparing with reference substances, ten common peaks were identified, including chlorogenic acid, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, marmesinin, nodakenin, isochlorogenic acid B, notopterol, phenethyl ferulate, isoimperatorin, and falcarindiol. The similarity between the characteristic chromatographic profiles of N. incisum at different cultivation years and the reference profile was all above 0.932. Principal component analysis(PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA) revealed that the quality of 1-to 3-year-old cultivated N. incisum was highly dispersed and unstable, whereas the quality of 4-year-old cultivated N. incisum remained relatively stable across different harvest periods. This suggests that the accumulation of relevant compounds in the medicinal material had reached a plateau, confirming that the optimal cultivation period for N. incisum is four years. Entropy-weighted grey correlation analysis indicated that the quality of 4-year-old cultivated N. incisum across different harvest periods ranked from highest to lowest as follows: November, December, October, August, July, and September, demonstrating that November is the optimal harvest time. The findings of this study establish the suitable cultivation duration and optimal harvest period for N. incisum, providing a scientific basis for cultivation guidance and quality standardization.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods* ; Apiaceae/chemistry* ; Entropy ; Chemometrics/methods* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Principal Component Analysis ; Quality Control