Objective:To learn about the clinical characteristics of patients with neurobrucellosis (NB) and provide references for clinical diagnosis and treatment of NB.Methods:The clinical data of 22 NB patients diagnosed and treated at Beidahuang Industry Group General Hospital from January 2018 to November 2024 and 178 healthy individuals undergoing physical examinations during the same period were retrospectively collected. The epidemiological characteristics, clinical manifestations, laboratory tests, treatment and prognosis of NB patients were analyzed.Results:Among the 22 NB patients, 12 were males (54.55%) and 10 were females (45.45%). The age was (51.77 ± 12.75) years old, ranging from 27 to 80 years old. Most of the patients were farmers (95.45%, 21/22), and 16 cases (72.73%) had contacted with cattle/sheep. The onset seasons were mainly in summer (40.91%, 9/22) and spring (31.82%, 7/22). Among all NB patients, there were 10 cases of encephalitis/meningoencephalitis, 9 cases of myelitis, and 3 cases of meningitis. The general symptoms were mainly fever (68.18%, 15/22), the neurological symptoms were mainly nausea and vomiting (36.36%, 8/22), and the physical signs were mainly muscle weakness (50.00%, 11/22) and pathological signs (45.45%, 10/22). The laboratory test results showed that the levels of hemoglobin, hematocrit, C-reactive protein, total protein, albumin, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase, α-hydroxybutyric acid dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase, and glutathione reductase in NB patients were significantly different from those in healthy individuals ( P < 0.001). Brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed ischemic changes in 5 cases (22.73%), abnormal brain signals in 2 cases (9.09%), and demyelinating lesions in white matter in 1 case (4.55%). After treatment, 18 NB patients were followed up and showed good prognosis, with only 2 cases exhibiting varying degrees of sequelae (walking disorders or memory impairment). Conclusions:The clinical manifestations of NB patients are diverse. A comprehensive judgment should be made by combining epidemiological characteristics, clinical manifestations, laboratory tests and imaging examinations.

Objective To explore the association between aspartate aminotransferase(AST)/alanine aminotransferase(ALT)ratio and metabolic syndrome(MS)in elderly hypertensive patients,and to provide reference for early detection and prevention of MS in elderly hypertensive patients.Methods A questionnaire survey and physical examination were conducted among 616 elderly hypertensive patients at community health service centers.Participants were divided into two groups based on MS status:MS group(n=334)and non-MS group(n=282).According to AST/ALT levels,participants were divided into four groups:q1 group(AST/ALT ≤0.88,n=156),q2 group(0.88＜AST/ALT ≤ 1.10,n=155),q3 group(1.10＜AST/ALT ≤ 1.37,n=154),and q4 group(AST/ALT＞1.37,n=151).Blood biochemical parameters including triglycerides(TG),high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C),AST,ALT,and blood glucose were measured.The impact of AST/ALT levels on MS was analyzed using a Logistic regression model,while the risk prediction for MS occurrence was evaluated through receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves.Results MS group showed higher body mass index(BMI),TG,ALT levels,abnormal glucose levels,female proportion,and abdominal obesity rate compared to non-MS group.HDL-C and AST/ALT values of MS group were lower than those in non-MS patients(P＜0.05).Logistic regression analysis revealed that after adjusting for BMI,smoking,alcohol consumption,physical activity,education level,marital status,TG,HDL-C,and glucose levels,both q3 and q4 groups demonstrated reduced MS risk compared to group q1 group(P＜0.05).ROC curve analysis indicated that the area under the curve for AST/ALT in MS was 0.638(P＜0.05).Conclusion The level of AST/ALT was negatively correlated with MS in elderly hypertensive patients,and AST/ALT has certain predictive value for the risk of MS in elderly hypertensive patients.

Purpose To investigate the immunohistochemical HER2 expression in a large group of patients with urothelial carcinoma and to compare the results with the pathologic features and survival rate.Methods A total of 519 urothelial carcinoma specimens were collected from two centers.HER2 expression was measured by EnVision immuno-histochemistry.HER2 expression was compared with clinicopathological parameters,and further analyzed in relation to patient prognosis.Results The median age of the 519 patients was 66 years with a male to female ratio of 1.93∶1.Among them,160 cases were radical specimens,and 359 were transurethral resection specimens.The overall HER2 positivity rate was 61.7％(320/519),of which 148 cases(28.5％)were HER2 1+,238(45.9％)were HER2 2+,and 82(15.8％)were HER2 3+.In addition,51 cases(9.8％)were HER2-negative.HER2-positive ex-pression was associated with age,tumor location,histological grade,histological type,surgical approach,lymphovas-cular invasion,and neural invasion(all P＜0.05),but there was no significant correlation with gender,pT stage,muscular invasion,or lymph node metastasis.Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age≥ 66 years,higher tumor grade,and lymphovascular invasion were risk factors for positive HER2 expression,and high histological grade and lymphovascular invasion were independent risk factors affecting HER2 expression after controlling for confounders.Survival analysis showed no significant difference in recurrence-free survival between patients with HER2-positive and HER2-negative non-muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma(P=0.274).Conclusion High histologic grade,tumor lymphovascular invasion,and neural invasion were associated with positive HER2 expression in patients with urothelial carcinoma,and higher histologic grade and lymphovascular invasion are important factors affect-ing HER2 expression.However,HER2-positive expression may not affect the prognosis of patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder urothelial carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the inhibitory effect of human β defensin-3(HBD3)on the replication of in-fluenza A virus(IAV)[A/PR/8/34(H1N1)virus strain]in human bronchial epithelial cells(BEAS-2B)via the mitochondrial autophagy pathway.METHODS BAS-2B cells were infected with IAV,and cell condition observa-tion:plaque assay and light microscopy.Drug treatment:HBD3,autophagy agonist rapamycin(Rapa),autoph-agy inhibitor LY294002;The expression levels of TUFM、MAVS、NP、M2 and PB1-F2 genes were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction(qPCR).Western blot was used to detect the protein expression levels of P62、LC3Ⅱ and LC3Ⅰ.RESULTS Plaque formation experiments showed that the number of plaques increased with the increase of viral titer.With the increase of viral titer or the prolongation of infection time,the expres-sion levels of TUFM,MAVS,NP,M2 and PB1-F2 genes in BEAS-2 B cells gradually increased,the expression levels of P62 protein decreased,and the protein expression levels of LC3Ⅱ/LC3Ⅰ increased(P＜0.05).Forty-eight hpi of BE-AS-2B cells with IAV,the number of cells in the IAV group was significantly lower than that in the IAV+HBD3 group,the intercellular space was enlarged,and the cells shrunk significantly.Compared with the IAV group,the expression lev-els of TUFM,MAVS,NP,M2 and PB1-F2 genes in BEAS-2B cells in the IAV+HBD3 group decreased,the expres-sion levels of P62 protein increased,and the protein levels of LC3Ⅱ/LC3Ⅰ decreased(P＜0.05).Gene expression levels of TUFM,MAVS,NP,M2 and PB1-F2 were in the IAV+Rapa+HBD3 group were lower than those in the IAV+Ra-pa group(P＜0.05).The protein expression level of P62 in the IAV+Rapa+HBD3 group was higher than that in the IAV+Rapa group(P＜0.05).The protein expression levels of LC3Ⅱ/LC3Ⅰ were lower in the IAV+Rapa+HBD3 group than in the IAV+Rapa group(P＜0.05).CONCLUSION With the increase of viral titer or the prolongation of in-fection time,the proliferation of IAV in BEAS-2B cells increases,and the cell damage exacerbates.HBD3 can inhibit the replication of IAV after its entry into the cells;HBD3 can protect host cells and inhibit IAV replication by inhibiting MA-VS,TUFM-mediated mitophagy pathways.

In-fusion cloning technology,as a revolutionary and efficient molecular biology tool,has been applied in multiple research fields such as basic biology,biotechnology,and biomedicine.In this article,we introduce a teaching reform project suitable for undergraduate students in the course of"Molecular Bi-ology Laboratory",which utilizes in-Fusion cloning technology to construct a prokaryotic expression vector for alkaline phosphatase mutant genes.Through specific teaching cases,we systematically explored the design and implementation of experimental projects,and focused on analyzing the key and difficult points of the teaching content.Our teaching practice has found that the implementation of this educational re-form project has achieved very good results in enhancing students' core biological literacy,bioinformatics skills,research thinking,and innovation abilities.At the same time,the application of this technology can significantly improve the quality of experimental teaching,providing new ideas and practical refer-ences for promoting the reform and innovation of National First-Class Courses.

Objective:To compare the the cultivation effects of human embryos in dry and humid incubators.Methods:A total of 479 infertile patients who underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment at Reproductive Center of Guiyang Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital from October 2020 to April 2022. The study was divided into two stages. The first stage of the study was a self-comparative research with 95 cases from the same period and source. The embryos were divided into dry and humid incubator groups to compare the embryo development indicators. In the second stage of the study, the patients were divided into six groups, including 10 μL humid incubator group ( n=64), 20 μL humid incubator group ( n=64), 30 μL humid incubator group ( n=64), 10 μL dry incubator group ( n=64), 20 μL dry incubator group ( n=64), and 30 μL dry incubator group ( n=64). The general clinical data, embryo development indicators, pregnancy outcomes, and the osmotic pressure and pH values of each group at 24 h, 48 h and 72 h were detected and compared. Results:After cultivation of the same patient's embryos in dry and humid incubator, the total blastocyst formation rate [62.3% (162/260)] and high-quality blastocyst rate [24.6% (64/260)] in dry incubator were lower than those in the humid incubator [71.6% (252/352), P=0.015; 32.1% (113/352), P=0.043]. Compared with the other microdroplet groups, the osmotic pressure of cleavage culture medium in 10 μL group of dry incubator at 48 h and 72 h and blastocyst culture medium were significantly increased, the differences among the groups were significant (cleavage culture medium, all P<0.001; blastocyst culture medium, P=0.006, P=0.008). There was no significant difference in pH value among different microdroplet volume groups at the same period (all P>0.05). There were no significant differences in general data among the different microdroplet groups (all P>0.05). Compared with the other microdroplet groups, 10 μL dry incubator group exhibited significantly lower transferable embryo rate (all P<0.001). When compared with 20 μL and 30 μL groups in both dry and humid incubators, 10 μL dry incubator group showed a lower day 5 blastocyst formation rate, lower total blastocyst formation rate, and lower high-quality blastocyst formation rate, the differences among the groups were significant (all P<0.05). There were no significant differences in the number of transferred embryos, the ratio of cleavage-stage embryos and the ratio of high-quality embryos among different groups (all P>0.05). Compared with the other microdroplet groups, the clinical pregnancy rate, the embryo implantation rate, the live birth rate of fresh transplanted embryos and the cumulative pregnancy rate in 10 μL group in the dry incubator decreased, and the miscarriage rate increased, but all were not significant (all P>0.05). Conclusion:Compared with humid incubators, there are no significant differences in embryo development and pregnancy outcomes for droplet volumes of 20 μL or above in dry incubators. However, the 10 μL microdroplet culture in the dry incubator is not conducive to embryonic development, which may be related to the increased osmotic pressure of the microdroplet.

Objective To explore the preventive and therapeutic effects of quercetin(QU)loaded with different nanomate-rials on high altitude cerebral edema(HACE)in rats and their mechanisms.Methods Thirty male SD rats were selected and equally divided into a normoxic group,a HACE group,a HACE+QU group,a HACE+carbon quantum dots(CQDs)-loaded QU(QU@CQDs)group,a HACE+mesoporous silica(MS)-loaded QU(QU@MS)group and a HACE+zeolitic imida-zolate framework-8(ZIF-8)loaded QU(QU@ZIF-8)group.The rats except those in the normoxic group were exposed to a simulated 5 000 m altitude in a low-pressure oxygen chamber,which were orally administered QU at a dose of 5 mg/g body mass 1 h before hypoxic exposure except those in the HACE group.The groups were compared in terms of the effects of the materials on the water content of rat brain tissue,cerebrovascular leakage,hematological changes and NF-κB-related mechanisms.Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 26.0 software.Results When compared with the rats in the normoxic group,the ones in the HACE group showed significant increases in brain tissue water content,cerebrovascular leakage,leukocytes,erythrocytes,lymphocytes,monocytes,granulocytes,mean erythrocyte volume,hemoglobin,hematocrit,platelets,reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde and NF-κB protein levels,with obvious oxidative damage and statistically decreased oxidative stress parameters including glutathione peroxidase,glutathione and superoxide dismutase(all P＜0.05).When compared with the HACE+QU@CQDs and HACE+QU@MS groups,the HACE+QU@ZIF-8 group gained advantages with the lowest brain tissue water content,improved cerebrovascular leakage,leukocytes,erythrocytes,lymphocytes,monocytes,granulocytes,mean erythrocyte volume,hematocrit,platelets and hemoglobin,decreased oxidative damagea and oxidative stress,enhanced antioxidant enzyme levels and the statistically lowered NF-κB protein level.Conclusion ZIF-8 loaded QU behaves better than CQDs and MS in reducing inflammation and brain edema formation in HACE rats.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2025,46(5):27-33]

In-fusion cloning technology,as a revolutionary and efficient molecular biology tool,has been applied in multiple research fields such as basic biology,biotechnology,and biomedicine.In this article,we introduce a teaching reform project suitable for undergraduate students in the course of"Molecular Bi-ology Laboratory",which utilizes in-Fusion cloning technology to construct a prokaryotic expression vector for alkaline phosphatase mutant genes.Through specific teaching cases,we systematically explored the design and implementation of experimental projects,and focused on analyzing the key and difficult points of the teaching content.Our teaching practice has found that the implementation of this educational re-form project has achieved very good results in enhancing students' core biological literacy,bioinformatics skills,research thinking,and innovation abilities.At the same time,the application of this technology can significantly improve the quality of experimental teaching,providing new ideas and practical refer-ences for promoting the reform and innovation of National First-Class Courses.

With the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence(GAI)technologies,their widespread application in academic research and writing is continuously expanding the boundaries of sci-entific inquiry.However,this trend has also raised a series of ethical and regulatory challenges,inclu-ding issues related to authorship,content authenticity,citation accuracy,and accountability.In light of the growing involvement of AI in generating academic content,establishing an open,controllable,and trustworthy ethical governance framework has become a key task for safeguarding research integrity and maintaining trust within the academic community.This expert consensus outlines ethical requirements across key stages of AI-assisted academic writing-including topic selection,data management,citation practices,and authorship attribution.It aims to clarify the boundaries and ethical obligations surrounding AI use in academic writing,ensuring that technological tools enhance efficiency without compromising in-tegrity.The goal is to provide guidance and institutional support for building a responsible and sustainable research ecosystem.

Neurogenic bladder(NB)is one of the most challenging urinary system disorders,with spinal cord injury(SCI)being an important etiological factor.Animal models provide crucial tools for investigating the pathogenesis,therapeutic strategies,and novel drug screening for NB subsequent to SCI.We reviewed and synthesized recent literature on NB animal models after SCI from both domestic and international sources.This review summarizes and analyzes research advancements using these models in terms of animal species,SCI segments,modeling techniques,and evaluation indicators,with the aim of offering insights and guidance for future experimental research based on animal models of NB following SCI.