Hepatitis E is an acute and self-limiting viral hepatitis caused by the hepatitis E virus (HEV). It has a higher mortality rate among immunosuppressed patients and pregnant women infected with HEV. Although HEV infections in humans are mostly caused by contaminated water or food worldwide, the incidence of transfusion-transmitted hepatitis E is continuously rising. Additionally, the prevalence of serum anti-HEV IgG in the blood donors in China is at a relatively high level, making it worth considering screening blood donors for HEV. This article briefly reviews the globally reported cases of transfusion-transmitted hepatitis E and the HEV screening strategies for blood donations.

[Objective] To conduct a retrospective statistical comparison of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) test values in blood donors prior to blood collection, aiming to analyze the objective characteristics of the population with elevated ALT levels (ALT>50 U/L) and provide reference data for adjusting the screening eligibility threshold for ALT. [Methods] The preliminary ALT screening data of 30 341 blood donor samples collected prior to blood donation from three smart blood donation sites at the Shenzhen Blood Center between 2022 and 2023 were extracted and compared with data from a health examination department of a tertiary hospital in Shenzhen (representing the general population, n=24 906). Both datasets were categorized and statistically described. A retrospective analysis was conducted to examine the associations between ALT test results and factors such as donors' gender, age, ethnicity, donation site, donation season, and frequency of blood donation. [Results] The ALT levels in both blood donors and the general population were non-normally distributed. The 95th percentile of ALT values was calculated as 61.4 U/L (male: 67.8 U/L, female: 39.3 U/L) for blood donors and 58.1 U/L (male: 63.7 U/L, female: 51.2 U/L) for the general population. The non-compliance rates (ALT>50 U/L) were 7.65% (2 321/30 341) in blood donors and 7.08% (1 763/24 906) in the general population. There were significant differences (P<0.05) in the ALT failure rate among blood donors based on gender, age, and donation site, but no significant differences (P>0.05) during the blood donation season. There was no statistically significant difference (P>0.05) in the positive rates of four serological markers (HBsAg, anti HCV, HIV Ag/Ab, anti TP) for blood screening pathogens between ALT unqualified and qualified individuals (2.05% vs 1.5%). If the ALT qualification threshold was raised from 50 U/L to 90 U/L, the non qualification rates of male and female blood donors would decrease from 9.82% (2 074/21 125) to 2.23% (471/21 125) and from 2.70% (249/9 216) to 0.75% (69/9 216), respectively. Among the 154 blood donors who donated blood more than 3 times, 88.31% of the 248 ALT test results were in the range of 50-90 U/L. Among them, 9 cases had ALT>130 U/L, and ALT was converted to qualified in subsequent blood donations. [Conclusion] There are differences in the ALT failure rate among blood donors of different genders and ages, and different blood donation sites and operators can also affect the ALT detection values of blood donors. The vast majority of blood donors with ALT failure are caused by transient and non pathological factors. With the widespread use of blood virus nucleic acid testing, appropriately increasing the ALT qualification threshold for blood donors can expand the qualified population and alleviate the shortage of blood sources, and the risk of blood safety will not increase.

[Objective] To investigate the factors associated with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) abnormalities in multi-ethnic blood donors across five Zang autonomous prefectures in the plateau regions of Qinghai Province, and to provide evidence for ensuring blood safety and formulating screening strategies. [Methods] A retrospective analysis was performed on the ALT abnormal test results of blood donors in the Zang autonomous prefectures of Qinghai from 2022 to 2024. The correlations between ALT levels and factors including gender, age, altitude, and infectious markers were investigated. [Results] The overall ALT unqualified rate among blood donors in this region was 9.01%. Significant differences in ALT levels were observed across genders and age groups (P<0.05). Variations in ALT abnormality rates were also noted among different plateau regions (P<0.05). Overall, ALT values exhibited an increasing trend with rising altitude. The average ALT unqualified rates were 11.19% in Zang donors, 7.96% in Han donors, and 4.79% in donors from other ethnic groups (P<0.05). No statistically significant association was observed between ALT abnormality and the presence of HBV/HCV infectious markers (P>0.05). [Conclusion] In the plateau areas of Qinghai, multi-ethnic blood donors have a relatively high ALT levels and ALT unqualified rates, showing distinct regional characteristics. ALT elevation in voluntary blood donors is related to non-pathological factors such as gender, age, and dietary habits, but not to infectious indicators.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the overall dietary intake of adult residents in Sijing Town, Songjiang District, Shanghai, and to explore the association between dietary health literacy and diet quality. MethodsA total of 1 280 adult residents were selected as the research subjects using a multi-stage sampling method, and face-to-face questionnaire surveys were administered on site. Dietary intake data were collected using a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), and the overall diet quality of the participants was evaluated based on the Chinese Healthy Eating Index (CHEI). Participants were divided into low- and high-CHEI groups according to the median CHEI score. Logistic regression models were used to examine the association between dietary health literacy and diet quality. ResultsThe median CHEI score for adults in the area was 63.68 points. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that adults with lower dietary health literacy had lower CHEI scores and poorer overall diet quality compared to those with higher dietary health literacy (OR=1.435, 95%CI:1.132‒1.819). ConclusionThe overall diet quality of adult residents in this region requires improvement. There is a significant positive correlation between the level of dietary health literacy and CHEI scores, suggesting that enhancing dietary health literacy may be an important strategy to improve resident’ dietary quality.

Current experimental and computational methods have limitations in accurately and efficiently classifying ion channels within vast protein spaces. Here we have developed a deep learning algorithm, GPT2 Ion Channel Classifier (GPT2-ICC), which effectively distinguishing ion channels from a test set containing approximately 239 times more non-ion-channel proteins. GPT2-ICC integrates representation learning with a large language model (LLM)-based classifier, enabling highly accurate identification of potential ion channels. Several potential ion channels were predicated from the unannotated human proteome, further demonstrating GPT2-ICC's generalization ability. This study marks a significant advancement in artificial-intelligence-driven ion channel research, highlighting the adaptability and effectiveness of combining representation learning with LLMs to address the challenges of imbalanced protein sequence data. Moreover, it provides a valuable computational tool for uncovering previously uncharacterized ion channels.

Objective: To retrospectively analyze the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among voluntary blood donors in Qinghai Province over a ten-year period and to provide evidence for refining blood safety screening strategies. Methods: Blood samples from 362 066 blood donors in Qinghai collected between January 2015 and April 2024 were simultaneously screened using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and nucleic acid testing (NAT). Follow-up was conducted for donors with reactive HCV RNA screening results, and alanine transaminase (ALT) was detected by rate method. Results: The HCV positive rate among blood donors in Qinghai was 0.22%. Gender, marital status, number of blood donations, and educational level were associated with HCV infection. Significant differences in HCV positive rates were observed among donors across regions and ethnic groups. The HCV positive rate among donors in Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (with an average altitude of 4 330 m) was significantly higher than that in Xining (0.52% vs 0.21%, P<0.001). Positivity rates were also significantly higher in Salar (0.84%), Hui (0.81%), Zang (0.60%), and Tu (0.45%) ethnic groups compared to the Han ethnic group (0.17%) (P<0.001). The abnormal rate of ALT in HCV-positive donors was higher than in non-HCV donors (6.13% vs 1.55%) (P<0.001). Conclusion: The relatively high HCV positivity rate among blood donors in Qinghai highlights the need for further investigation into viral sources, risk factors, and transmission routes. Optimized screening strategies are essential to ensure blood safety.

Objective To construct methoxy polyethylene glycol (mPEG) modified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) loaded with doxorubicin (DOX) AuNPs-mPEG@DOX in order to reduce the toxicity and side effects of DOX. Methods AuNPs-mPEG@DOX was prepared and characterized by Z-Average, Zeta potential and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The impact of thiol-linked DOX (HS-DOX) at various dosage concentrations on the drug adsorption rate and drug loading of AuNPs-mPEG@DOX was investigated. Furthermore, a HPLC method was developed to accurately determine the content of unadsorbed HS-DOX in AuNPs-mPEG@DOX. The specificity, linearity, precision, stability and average recovery of this method were thoroughly investigated. The cytotoxic effect of AuNPs-mPEG@DOX on MCF-10A and MCF-7 cells was evaluated using a CCK-8 assay. Results AuNPs-mPEG@DOX was successfully prepared with Z-Average of (46.12±0.49) nm, Zeta potential of (18.60±1.51) nm and the maximum absorption wavelength of 530 nm. An efficient HPLC method for the detection of unadsorbed HS-DOX in AuNPs-mPEG@DOX was devised. The optimal dosage concentration of HS-DOX for AuNPs-mPEG@DOX was determined to be 11.18 μg/ml, resulting in a drug adsorption rate of (9.21±2.88)% and a drug loading rate of (2.01±0.62)%. Cytotoxicity experiments demonstrated that AuNPs-mPEG@DOX significantly reduced the toxic and side effects of DOX on normal breast cells. Additionally, AuNPs-mPEG@DOX and free DOX exhibited comparable cytotoxic effects on breast tumor cells when DOX concentration was equal to or greater than 4.75 μmol/L. Conclusion AuNPs-mPEG@DOX effectively reduce the toxicity of DOX, providing a reference for future research on reducing the toxicity of AuNPs-linked drugs.

Objective To observe the alterations in functional complexity of brain regions in autism spectrum disorder(ASD)patients and correlations with the predicted brain age.Methods Open brain resting-state functional MRI(rs-MRI)data of 93 ASD patients and 96 typically developing adolescents(healthy subjects)were downloaded.The functional complexity in brain regions were extracted with self-developed virtual digital brain software,and the alterations in functional complexity of brain regions in ASD patients and correlations with their ages were analyzed.Two networks were prospectively trained with data of 65 ASD patients and 67 healthy subjects as the training set to predict brain age,and the results were evaluated,and the predicting errors were compared using test set,i.e.the other 28 ASD patients and 29 healthy subjects.Results Compared to healthy subjects,on the basis of anatomical automatic labeling(AAL)atlas,ASD patients exhibited significantly reduced functional complexity based on Shannon entropy in the left precuneus,left cuneus and right parahippocampal gyrus.Conversely,functional complexity of ASD patients based on permutation entropy significantly increased in the left cuneus and right cerebellar Crus Ⅱ region.The left hippocampus showed reduced functional complexity based on Pearson correlation coefficient,while the left middle temporal gyrus showed increased functional complexity based on Pearson correlation coefficient.The functional complexity in brain regions of ASD patients were not closely correlated with ages(all|r|＜0.4).According to the trained fully connected network,the predicted brain ages of ASD patients and healthy subjects in test set were all lower than their physiological ages,but no significant difference was found between the prediction errors of ASD patients and healthy subjects(P=0.283).Conclusion Functional complexity changed in some brain region functions in ASD patients.The predicted brain ages of ASD patients based on the obtained fully connected network were on the low side,but not obviously affected by the alterations of functional complexity in brain regions.

Objective:To analyze the changes of preterm birth rate and proportion of multipara in 10 years, and to explore the possibility of multipara as a risk factor for preterm birth.Methods:This study was a cohort study. The general clinical data and pregnancy outcomes of 53 979 parturients delivered in Peking University First Hospital from January 2013 to December 2022 were collected, and the changes of preterm birth rate and proportion of multipara in the past 10 years were analyzed retrospectively. Single factor and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to explore the risk factors of spontaneous preterm birth and the influence of multipara on pregnancy outcome.Results:(1) The total preterm birth rate of 53 979 parturients was 8.3%(4 478/53 979), and the overall preterm birth rate showed an upward trend in the past 10 years, among which the preterm birth rate was higher in 2017 and 2018, which were 8.9% and 9.2% respectively. The proportion of multipara was 24.9% (13 440/53 979), which showed a trend of rising first, then declining and then stabilizing. In 2017 and 2018, the proportion of multipara was the highest, accounting for 35.0%. (2) Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that multipara was a risk factor for spontaneous preterm birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy ( OR=1.678, 95% CI: 1.523-1.850; P<0.001), which was also a risk factor for spontaneous preterm birth before 34 weeks of pregnancy ( OR=1.937, 95% CI: 1.632-2.301; P<0.001). The high risk factors of spontaneous preterm birth also include multiple pregnancies, hyperglycemia during pregnancy, abnormal amniotic fluid volume, premature rupture of membranes, intrauterine infection, cervical incompetence, history of cervical surgery and abnormal uterine development. (3) Compared with primiparas, multiparas was older, had earlier delivery weeks, higher premature delivery rate, higher birth weight and fewer multiple pregnancies. Among pregnancy complications, the incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus, placenta previa, placenta implantation, urgent delivery and macrosomia was higher, while the incidence of pregnancy-induced hypertension, pre-eclampsia, intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, oligohydramnios, fetal growth restriction, premature rupture of membranes, intrauterine infection and postpartum hemorrhage was lower, and the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.05). Conclusions:In recent 10 years, the overall rate of preterm birth is on the rise, and the risk factors of preterm birth are basically similar to those in previous studies. Multipara is a high-risk group of spontaneous preterm birth, and the risk of various pregnancy complications increases, which should be paid attention to in pregnancy care.

Objective To optimize the screening methods for antiallergic activity of two Chinese medicines in vitro and compare the antiallergic activity of five medicine pairs in vitro.Methods The degranulation assay of RBL-2H3 cells was optimized,and the activity of the five drugs on inhibiting mast cell degranulation was compared by toluidine blue staining and the release of β-HEX and histamine(HIS).The hyaluronidase inhibition test was optimized to compare the hyaluronidase inhibition effect of five Chinese medicine pairs.Results In the experiment of degranulation of RBL-2H3 cells,5 medicine pairs could inhibit β-HEX release from model cells to different degrees(P<0.05),including Schizonepetae Herba-Saposhnicovia divaricata,Ephedrae Herba-Asarum,Saposhnicovia divaricata-Radix Angelicae dahuricae,Rhizoma Chuanxiong-Asarum.The β-HEX release rate in the supernatant of degranulated model cells was significantly increased(P<0.05)after coculture with Flos Magnoliae-Fructus Xanthii.All the five medicine pairs could reduce HIS release in the supernatant of degranulated model cells.In the hyaluronase inhibition rate test,the hyaluronase inhibition rate of each medicine pair was Rhizoma Chuanxion-Asarum>Saposhnicovia divaricate-Radix Angelicae dahuricae>Schizonepetae Herba-Saposhnicovia divaricate>Ephedrae Herba-Asarum,among which Rhizoma Chuanxiong-Asarum had the strongest anti-allergic activity.Conclusion The trend of antiallergic activity of different drugs obtained by the two methods is consistent in vitro,indicating that the two methods can be used for screening antiallergic activity in vitro.