ObjectiveThe present study aimed to investigate alterations in white matter microstructure and spontaneous neural activity in male college smokers, and to further explore their associations with nicotine dependence. Given that adolescence and early adulthood represent critical periods for brain maturation, particularly for white matter development, understanding the neural correlates of smoking behavior during this stage is of substantial importance for both neuroscience and public health. MethodsA total of 115 male undergraduate students were initially recruited for this study. After quality control and exclusion procedures, 52 male college smokers and 42 demographically matched healthy non-smokers were included in the final analysis. All participants underwent multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI). White matter fiber tracts were reconstructed using the automated fiber quantification (AFQ) method, which enables precise identification and quantification of major fiber bundles. Eighteen major white matter tracts were segmented for each participant. Along the core trajectory of each tract, 100 equidistant nodes were sampled. Fractional anisotropy (FA) was calculated at each node to assess white matter microstructural integrity, while amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) was computed to evaluate spontaneous neural activity within white matter tracts. Between-group differences in FA and ALFF were assessed using two-sample t-tests, with appropriate corrections applied for multiple comparisons. Furthermore, Pearson correlation analyses were conducted to examine the relationships between imaging-derived metrics (FA and ALFF values in regions showing significant group differences) and nicotine dependence severity, as measured by the Fagerström test for nicotine dependence (FTND). ResultsCompared with healthy non-smokers, male college smokers exhibited significantly increased FA values in several white matter tracts, including the left thalamic radiation, right corticospinal tract, forceps major of the corpus callosum, left uncinate fasciculus, and right arcuate fasciculus. These findings suggest altered microstructural organization or increased directional coherence within these pathways. In addition, smokers demonstrated significantly elevated ALFF values in the forceps major, right uncinate fasciculus, and left arcuate fasciculus, indicating enhanced spontaneous neural activity in these white matter regions. Correlation analyses revealed that FA values in the left thalamic radiation and right corticospinal tract were negatively correlated with FTND scores, suggesting that higher levels of nicotine dependence were associated with reduced microstructural integrity or altered fiber organization in these regions. In contrast, ALFF values in the forceps major and right uncinate fasciculus were positively correlated with FTND scores, indicating that greater nicotine dependence was associated with increased spontaneous neural activity in specific white matter pathways. ConclusionThe present study provides evidence that male college smokers exhibit distinct alterations in both white matter microstructure and functional activity. These abnormalities are not uniformly distributed but rather localized to specific fiber tracts implicated in sensorimotor processing, interhemispheric communication, and higher-order cognitive and emotional regulation. Importantly, the observed associations between imaging metrics and nicotine dependence severity suggest that these structural and functional alterations may reflect neurobiological mechanisms underlying addiction. The combination of AFQ-based tract profiling and multimodal MRI offers a sensitive approach for detecting subtle changes along white matter pathways, highlighting its potential utility in identifying neuroimaging biomarkers of nicotine dependence. Overall, these findings indicate that smoking during early adulthood may disrupt ongoing white matter maturation, potentially leading to long-term consequences for brain function. This study provides novel insights into the neural basis of nicotine dependence and underscores the importance of early intervention and prevention strategies targeting young smokers.

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a clinically rare, genetically and phenotypically heterogeneous condition characterized by chronic respiratory tract infections, male infertility, tympanitis, and laterality abnormalities. PCD is typically resulted from variants in genes encoding assembly or structural proteins that are indispensable for the movement of motile cilia. Here, we identified a novel nonsense mutation, c.466G>T, in cilia- and flagella-associated protein 300 ( CFAP300 ) resulting in a stop codon (p.Glu156*) through whole-exome sequencing (WES). The proband had a PCD phenotype with laterality defects and immotile sperm flagella displaying a combined loss of the inner dynein arm (IDA) and outer dynein arm (ODA). Bioinformatic programs predicted that the mutation is deleterious. Successful pregnancy was achieved through intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Our results expand the spectrum of CFAP300 variants in PCD and provide reproductive guidance for infertile couples suffering from PCD caused by them.
Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Pregnancy ; China ; Ciliary Motility Disorders/genetics* ; Codon, Nonsense ; East Asian People/genetics* ; Exome Sequencing ; Homozygote ; Infertility, Male/genetics* ; Kartagener Syndrome/genetics* ; Pedigree ; Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic ; Cytoskeletal Proteins/genetics*

Objective To explore the levels of serum matrix metalloproteinase-16(MMP-16)and growth differentiation factor-15(GDF-15)in elderly patients with tibial plateau fracture and its predictive value for postoperative deep veinous thrombosis(DVT).Methods A total of 107 elderly patients with tibial plateau fracture admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Gannan Medical University from February 2020 to Febru-ary 2024 were collected as study subjects.They were divided into DVT group(n=39)and non-DVT group(n=68)according to whether or not they had formed DVT at 7 d postoperative.The enzyme-linked immu-nosorbent assay was used to detect serum MMP-16 and GDF-15 preoperative,1 d postoperative and 3 d post-operative,and other clinical data of the study subjects were collected.Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between serum MMP-16,GDF-15 and venous thromboembolism risk assessment scale(Caprini)score.Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between serum MMP-16,GDF-15 and postoperative DVT.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to evaluate the predictive value of the two indicators for postoperative DVT.Results The serum MMP-16 and GDF-15 level of two groups were first increased and then decreased at 1 d preoperative,1 d postoperative and 3 d postopera-tive(P＜0.05).Serum MMP-16 and GDF-15 levels were higher in DVT group than in non-DVT group at 1 d postoperative and 3 d postoperative(P＜0.05).Serum MMP-16,GDF-15 at 1 d postoperative and 3 d postop-erative were positive associated with Caprini score,respectively(both P＜0.05).Elevated Caprini score,ele-vated D-D,elevated serum MMP-16 and GDF-15 at 3 d postoperative were independent risk factors for DVT(OR=3.445,1.652,1.841,1.715,all P＜0.05).The area under the ROC curve of serum MMP-16,GDF-15 at 3 d postoperative and indicators combined to predict DVT was 0.798,0.792 and 0.895,respectively.The com-bined predictive value of indicators combined was greater than that of single indicator(Z=2.253,2.346,both P＜0.05).Conclusion Serum MMP-16 and GDF-15 expression are upregulated after tibial plateau fracture in elderly patients,which the indicators combined can predict the risk of DVT.

Objective This study aimed to investigate natural infection of rodents with Ehrlichia and Neoehrlichia at major Chinese land-border ports along the"Belt and Road".Methods In 2022,rodents were monitored in 10 ports in northern and southern China and identified based on diagnostic morphological characteristics.The 16S rRNA genes of Ehrlichia and Neoehrlichia were detected by PCR using universal primers from rodent samples and phylogenetic analysis was performed based on the sequences of the detected positive pathogens.Results A total of 356 rodents were sampled,including 2 orders,5 families,15 genera,and 20 species.Predominantly,73,61,56,and 58 were Meriones unguiculatus(20.51%),Rattus norvegicus(17.13%),Apodemus agrarius(15.73%),and Microtus gregalis(16.29%).Only one Microtus fortis from Suifenghe Port was infected with Ehrlichia sp.Moreover,12 rodents were infected with Neoehrlichia spp.(overall positivity rate:3.37%).Conclusions Natural infections with Ehrlichia spp.and Neoehrlichia spp.were demonstrated in rodents at important Chinese land-border ports.The positivity rate of Neoehrlichia spp.was high in some ports,indicating that surveillance for ticks and their prevention and control measures should be intensified in these regions.

ObjectiveTobacco-related diseases remain one of the leading preventable public health challenges worldwide and are among the primary causes of premature death. In recent years, accumulating evidence has supported the classification of nicotine addiction as a chronic brain disease, profoundly affecting both brain structure and function. Despite the urgency, effective diagnostic methods for smoking addiction remain lacking, posing significant challenges for early intervention and treatment. To address this issue and gain deeper insights into the neural mechanisms underlying nicotine dependence, this study proposes a novel graph neural network framework, termed TI-GNN. This model leverages functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data to identify complex and subtle abnormalities in brain connectivity patterns associated with smoking addiction. MethodsThe study utilizes fMRI data to construct functional connectivity matrices that represent interaction patterns among brain regions. These matrices are interpreted as graphs, where brain regions are nodes and the strength of functional connectivity between them serves as edges. The proposed TI-GNN model integrates a Transformer module to effectively capture global interactions across the entire brain network, enabling a comprehensive understanding of high-level connectivity patterns. Additionally, a spatial attention mechanism is employed to selectively focus on informative inter-regional connections while filtering out irrelevant or noisy features. This design enhances the model’s ability to learn meaningful neural representations crucial for classification tasks. A key innovation of TI-GNN lies in its built-in causal interpretation module, which aims to infer directional and potentially causal relationships among brain regions. This not only improves predictive performance but also enhances model interpretability—an essential attribute for clinical applications. The identification of causal links provides valuable insights into the neuropathological basis of addiction and contributes to the development of biologically plausible and trustworthy diagnostic tools. ResultsExperimental results demonstrate that the TI-GNN model achieves superior classification performance on the smoking addiction dataset, outperforming several state-of-the-art baseline models. Specifically, TI-GNN attains an accuracy of 0.91, an F1-score of 0.91, and a Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) of 0.83, indicating strong robustness and reliability. Beyond performance metrics, TI-GNN identifies critical abnormal connectivity patterns in several brain regions implicated in addiction. Notably, it highlights dysregulations in the amygdala and the anterior cingulate cortex, consistent with prior clinical and neuroimaging findings. These regions are well known for their roles in emotional regulation, reward processing, and impulse control—functions that are frequently disrupted in nicotine dependence. ConclusionThe TI-GNN framework offers a powerful and interpretable tool for the objective diagnosis of smoking addiction. By integrating advanced graph learning techniques with causal inference capabilities, the model not only achieves high diagnostic accuracy but also elucidates the neurobiological underpinnings of addiction. The identification of specific abnormal brain networks and their causal interactions deepens our understanding of addiction pathophysiology and lays the groundwork for developing targeted intervention strategies and personalized treatment approaches in the future.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the improvement effect of rehabilitation nursing based on information-knowledge-belief-behavior (IKAP) theory on urinary incontinence patients after radical prostatectomy. METHODS Sixty-six patients with urinary incontinence who received robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy in General Hospital of Eastern Theater Command from January 2021 to January 2023 were selected and divided into control group (n=33) and observation group (n=33) according to random number table method. The patients in the control group were treated with rehabilitation nursing. The patients in the observation group were treated with rehabilitation nursing guided by IKAP theory. The recovery of urinary incontinence, duration of urinary incontinence, subjective well-being, quality of life, psychological and emotional indexes of patients in the two groups were compared. Results： The total effective rate of urinary incontinence recovery in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group (90.91% vs 60.61%，P<0.05). The duration of urinary incontinence in the observation group was significantly shorter than that in the control group (［3.36±1.54］d vs ［4.15±1.36］d，P<0.05). And the subjective well-being score in observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group (［19.36±2.69］points vs ［11.65±2.65］points， P<0.05). There was no significant difference in preoperative physical function, social function，and mental health scores between the two groups (P>0.05). And all scores in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group after surgery (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the preoperative SAS and SDS scores between the two groups of patients (P>0.05). And the scores of SAS and SDS in observation group were lower than those of the control group after the operation (P<0.05). Conclusion： Rehabilitation nursing based on IKAP theory can significantly improve urinary incontinence in patients with prostate cancer after surgery, which promotes the recovery of urinary incontinence, shortens the time of urinary incontinence, and improves the subjective well-being and quality of life, as well as reduces the negative impact of negative emotions. Therefore, it can be widely promoted and implemented in clinical practice.
Humans ; Prostatectomy/adverse effects* ; Urinary Incontinence/etiology* ; Male ; Quality of Life ; Rehabilitation Nursing ; Middle Aged ; Aged

Salvia miltiorrhiza is a perennial herb of the genus Salvia(Lamiaceae). As one of the earliest medicinal plants to undergo molecular biology research, it has gradually become a model plant for molecular biology of medicinal plants. With the gradual analysis of the genome of S. miltiorrhiza and the biosynthetic pathways of its main active components tanshinone and salvianolic acids, the transcriptional regulation mediated by transcription factors and related regulatory proteins has gradually become a new research focus. Due to the lack of scientific and unified naming of transcription factors and different research indexes in different literature, this paper systematically sorted out the transcription factors in different literature with the genomes of DSS3 from selfing for three generations and bh2-7 from selfing for six generations as reference. In total, 73 transcription factors and related regulatory proteins belonging to 13 gene families were identified. The effects of overexpression or gene silencing experiments on tanshinone and salvianolic acids were also analyzed. This study unified the identified transcription factors, which laid a foundation for further constructing the regulatory networks of secondary metabolites and insect or stress resistance and improving the quality of medicinal materials by using global transcriptional regulation engineering.
Salvia miltiorrhiza/chemistry* ; Plant Proteins/metabolism* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Transcription Factors/metabolism* ; Abietanes/metabolism*

Gegen Qinlian Decoction(GQD) is a classic prescription for the clinical treatment of ulcerative colitis(UC). This study, based on the differences in efficacy observed in UC mice under different level of bile acids treated with GQD, aims to clarify the impact of bile acids on UC and its therapeutic effects. It further investigates the expression of bile acid receptors in the liver of UC mice, and preliminarily reveals the mechanism through which GQD affects bile acid synthesis in the treatment of UC. A UC mouse model was established using dextran sulfate sodium(DSS) induction. The efficacy of GQD was evaluated by assessing the general condition, disease activity index(DAI) score, colon length, and histopathological changes in colon tissue via hematoxylin and eosin(HE) staining. ELISA and Western blot were used to evaluate the inflammatory response in colon tissue. The total bile acid(TBA) level and liver damage were quantified using an automatic biochemistry analyzer. The expression levels of bile acid receptors and bile acid synthetases in liver tissue were detected by Western blot and RT-qPCR. The results showed that compared with the model group, GQD treatment significantly improved the DAI score, colon shortening, and histopathological damage in UC mice. The levels of pro-inflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-6 in the colon were significantly reduced. Serum TBA levels were significantly decreased, while alkaline phosphatase(ALP) levels significantly increased. After administration of cholic acid(CA), UC symptoms in the CA + GQD group were significantly aggravated compared with the GQD group. The DAI score, degree of weight loss, colon injury, serum TBA, and liver injury markers all increased significantly. However, compared with the CA group, the CA + GQD group showed a marked reduction in TBA levels and a significant improvement in UC-related symptoms, indicating that GQD can alleviate UC damage exacerbated by CA. Further investigation into the expression of bile acid receptors and synthetases in the liver showed that under GQD treatment, the expression of farnesoid X receptor(FXR) and small heterodimer partner(SHP) significantly increased, while the expression of G protein-coupled receptor 5(TGR5) and cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase(Cyp7A1) significantly decreased. These findings suggest that GQD may affect bile acid receptors and synthetases, inhibiting bile acid synthesis through the FXR/SHP pathway to treat UC.
Animals ; Colitis, Ulcerative/genetics* ; Bile Acids and Salts/biosynthesis* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Mice ; Male ; Humans ; Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear/metabolism* ; Colon/metabolism* ; Disease Models, Animal ; Liver/metabolism* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL

Lentiviral vectors(LVs)are key gene delivery tools for integrating target genes into the host genome,but they may also pose risks of insertional mutagenesis.The vector copy number(VCN)in cells is critical for determining the safety of gene modification.However,the reliability and accuracy of its quantification process are influenced by multiple factors.Developing cell reference materials with specific vector copy numbers represents a viable approach to enhance the reliability and consistency of measurement results,enabling quality control of the quantification process and traceability of outcomes.However,the preparation of such reference materials faces challenges in cell sample design,preparation protocols,and advanced quantification techniques.In this study,T lymphocyte cell line Jurkat-based reference materials with LV gene copy numbers of 1 and 2 copy/cell were developed.A high-precision duplex digital polymerase chain reaction(dPCR)method was established to quantify the LV gene and endogenous genes simultaneously.Additionally,the results of dPCR were cross-validated through next-generation sequencing and flow cytometric analysis.Ultimately,confocal microscopy characterization results showed that the developed cell reference materials had intact morphology.The quantification result of VCN-1 was(1.07±0.11)copy/cell,and that of VCN-2 was(2.09±0.21)copy/cell.These cell reference materials demonstrated compliance with stability and homogeneity requirements,and could be applied for quality control throughout the VCN measurement workflow and metrological traceability,improving the accuracy,comparability,and validity of copy number measurements.

Aim To investigate the effects of Agrimonia pilosa(AP)on the proliferation and apoptosis of non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC)H1299 cells using non-targeted metabolomics and other methods,and to explore the underlying molecular mechanisms.Meth-ods Taking H1299 cells as the research object,the effect of AP on cell proliferation and apoptosis was de-tected through CCK-8 method,colony formation,LDH,Hoechst 33258 staining,AO/EB staining,flow cytometry detection,RT qPCR and other experiments.The main differential metabolites were detected by the metabolomics method of ultra-high phase liquid chro-matography and mass spectrometry(UHPLC-Q-Orbi-trap MS),and related metabolic pathways were ana-lyzed.Results Compared with the control group,AP treatment was able to significantly inhibit the prolifera-tion and colony formation of H1299 cells,while the re-lease of LDH increased in a dose-dependent manner.Fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry and RT-qPCR analysis revealed that H1299 cells underwent crumpling and increased nuclear fragmentation after AP administration,blocked in G0/G1 phase,up-regulated apoptotic genes caspase-3 and Bax,and down-regulated apoptosis-inducing effects of Bcl-2.Metabolomics anal-ysis screened 35 differential metabolites,which were PC(O-30∶1),D-Glutamic acid,PE(18∶0/15∶0),etc.The main metabolic pathways involved includ-ed amino acid metabolism,glycerophospholipid metabo-lism and purine metabolism so on.Conclusions AP may exert its pharmacological effects by interfering with multiple metabolic pathways in H1299 cells,inhibiting cell proliferation and promoting apoptosis.