OBJECTIVES: To explore the value of ferroptose-related genes in the diagnosis and prediction of ulcerative colitis (UC). METHODS: We used UC dataset from the GEO database to screen for differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in UC. The DEGs related to ferroptositis were screened from the FerrDb database and their functions were analyzed. The hub genes were identified by constructing the protein-protein interaction network (PPI), the differences in immune infiltration levels between UC and the control group were evaluated using CIBERSORT, and the diagnostic values of the hub genes for UC were verified by using the training set. In a mouse model of UC, we examined the expression levels of the hub genes in the colon tissues of the mice using real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (qPCR). RESULTS: We identified a total of 76 DEGs related to ferroptosis. Functional enrichment analysis showed that these genes were significantly enriched in ferroptosis and hypoxia pathways. The PPI network identified 10 hub genes, and 9 of them were highly expressed in UC. Analysis of immune cell infiltration showed that 27 cell types were significantly increased in UC (P<0.05), and the immune checkpoints-related genes had the strongest correlation with the hub gene PPARG (P<0.05). Verification analysis using the training set showed that P4HB, PPARG and STAT3 had the best predictive value for UC (P<0.05). In the UC mouse model, the expression of PPARG was significantly decreased and the expressions of P4HB and STAT3 were significantly increased in the colon tissues of the mice as compared with the normal mice. CONCLUSIONS Ferroptose-related genes have significant value for diagnosis and prediction of UC.
Colitis, Ulcerative/genetics* ; Animals ; Mice ; Ferroptosis/genetics* ; Humans ; Protein Interaction Maps ; Disease Models, Animal ; Gene Expression Profiling ; STAT3 Transcription Factor/genetics*

Objective: To investigate the effects of endurance running at different intensities on self-control of sedentary university students, and to reveal the immediate and sustained effects of exercise on cognitive control. Methods: Ninety students with sedentary behaviors from 7 universities in a university city in Shandong Province were selected by cluster stratified random sampling. 21, 23, 21 and 25 students in the high, medium and low intensity groups and the blank control group completed the 30min endurance running exercise, combined with the willingness of the subjects. The Stroop test was conducted immediately after exercise, 5, 15 and 30 min after exercise, and the correct rate and response time of the Stroop test were used as two indicators of self-control. Results: In the immediate post-exercise period, the correct response time for the control group ( 774.03 ±127.85)ms], the high-intensity group [(745.37±109.59)ms], the moderate-intensity group [(627.90±129.18)ms] and the low-intensity group [(689.90±129.79)ms] were statistically significant ( F =6.27, P <0.05). The correct rate for the control group [(94.40±2.02)%], the low-intensity group [(95.38±1.96)%], the high-intensity group [(92.43±2.32)%] and the moderate-intensity group [(96.39±1.08)%] were statistically significant ( F =14.87, P <0.05). High-intensity endurance running exercise was able to achieve the best performance at 30 min and beyond on the Stroop test response and correctness ( P <0.05), while moderate-intensity endurance running had a better effect on improving self-control than low-intensity endurance running at 30 min post-exercise. Conclusion High and moderate-intensity endurance running exercises can effectively improve self-control in sedentary university students. It is recommended that moderate or high intensity endurance running be performed as the body can tolerate it to improve self-control and cognitive ability.

Silicosis is a leading cause of occupational disease-related morbidity and mortality worldwide, but the molecular basis underlying its development remains unclear. An accumulating body of evidence supports gasdermin D (GSDMD)-mediated pyroptosis as a key component in the development of various pulmonary diseases. However, there is little experimental evidence connecting silicosis and GSDMD-driven pyroptosis. In this work, we investigated the role of GSDMD-mediated pyroptosis in silicosis. Single-cell RNA sequencing of healthy and silicosis human and murine lung tissues indicated that GSDMD-induced pyroptosis in macrophages was relevant to silicosis progression. Through microscopy we then observed morphological alterations of pyroptosis in macrophages treated with silica. Measurement of interleukin-1β release, lactic dehydrogenase activity, and real-time propidium iodide staining further revealed that silica induced pyroptosis of macrophages. Additionally, we verified that both canonical (caspase-1-mediated) and non-canonical (caspase-4/5/11-mediated) signaling pathways mediated silica-induced pyroptosis activation, in vivo and in vitro. Notably, Gsdmd knockout mice exhibited dramatically alleviated silicosis phenotypes, which highlighted the pivotal role of pyroptosis in this disease. Taken together, our results demonstrated that macrophages underwent GSDMD-dependent pyroptosis in silicosis and inhibition of this process could serve as a viable clinical strategy for mitigating silicosis.

Objective:To investigate the value of counting microvessel density (MVD) and lymphatic vessel density (LVD) in predicting distant metastasis of pancreatic cancer within 1 year after surgery.Methods:The clinicopathological data of 47 patients with pancreatic cancer who underwent surgery in Laibin People's Hospital from January 2020 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into non-metastasis group( n=24) and metastasis group( n=23) according to whether distant metastasis occurred during 1-year follow-up. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the CD 34 expression in microvascular epithelial cells and D2-40 level in lymphatic epithelial cells from pancreatic cancer tissues. MVD and LVD in cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues were counted. The relationship between MVD and LVD in cancer tissues and clinicopathological characteristics such as gender, age, tumor diameter, tumor differentiation, lymph node metastasis, vascular invasion, nerve invasion and tumor stage were analyzed. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was drawn and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated to evaluate the value of MVD and LVD in predicting distant metastasis of pancreatic cancer within 1 year after surgery. The effects of MVD and LVD on the distant metastasis rate of pancreatic cancer within one year after operation were evaluated. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to analyze the independent influencing factors for distant metastasis of pancreatic cancer within 1 year after surgery. Results:MVD and LVD in metastatic cancer tissues were higher than those in adjacent normal tissues [(72.52±9.73) vs (51.73±7.95)/400 times field of view, (23.78±6.87) vs (14.00±5.66)/400 times field of view]. MVD and LVD in the non-metastasis group were also higher than those in the adjacent normal tissues [(63.20±6.52) vs (54.79±5.80)/400 times field of view, (16.25±5.15) vs (13.62±5.03)/400 times field of view], and all the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.05). MVD in cancer tissue was significantly increased in patients with tumor diameter ≥2 cm, lymph node metastasis, vascular invasion and high TNM stage ( P<0.05), and LVD was significantly increased in patients with tumor diameter ≥2 cm, lymph node metastasis, moderate and low differentiation, vascular invasion, nerve invasion and high TNM stage ( P<0.05). The AUC values of MVD and LVD in predicting distant metastasis of pancreatic cancer within 1 year after surgery were 0.799 (95% CI 0.659-0.939) and 0.803(95% CI 0.676-0.929), and the cut-off values were 70.5 and 20.5/400 times field of view, respectively. The sensitivity was 73.9% and 69.6%, and the specificity was 87.5% and 83.7%. The cumulative distant metastasis rate within 1 year after operation in high MVD and high LVD groups was significantly higher than that in low MVD and low LVD groups ( P<0.05). Multivariate logitic regression analysis showed that tumor diameter ≥2 cm ( OR=1.757, 95% CI 1.536-3.846, P<0.05), lymph node metastasis ( OR=2.364, 95% CI 1.036-4.175, P<0.05), high MVD ( OR=4.345, 95% CI 1.245-3.736, P<0.05) and high LVD ( OR=3.637, 95% CI 1.426-4.035, P<0.05) were independent risk factors for distant metastasis of pancreatic cancer within 1 year after surgery. Conclusions:Increased MVD and LVD in pancreatic cancer tissues are independent influencing factors for distant metastasis within 1 year after surgery, which can be used to predict whether patients have distant metastasis within 1 year after surgery.

Objective:To explore the clinical effectiveness of arthroscopic treatment of tibial eminence avulsion fracture by four-point fixation with suture anchors.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed of the 58 patients with tibial eminence avulsion fracture who had been treated by the same group of surgeons using four-point fixation technique with suture anchors under arthroscopy at Department of Sports Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital to Qingdao University from January 2015 to December 2018. They were 33 males and 25 females, with an average age of 18.4 years (from 14 to 32 years). By the modified Meyers-McKeever classification, 15 fractures were type Ⅱ, 19 type Ⅲ and 24 type Ⅳ. Recorded and compared were knee Lysholm scores, International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) scores and tibial eminence height between preoperation and one year postoperation; recorded at the last follow-up were range of knee motion and results of Lachman and pivot-shift tests.Results:The 58 patients were followed up for a mean of 20.7 months (from 12 to 33 months). Bony union was achieved in all patients within 12 weeks after operation. In this cohort, the Lysholm score (85.2±4.9) and IKDC score (86.2±4.3) at one year postoperation were significantly higher than the preoperative values (43.2±5.2 and 51.2±4.9), and the post-operative tibial eminence height [(9.1±1.2) mm] was significantly lower than the preoperative value [(12.6±1.2) mm] (all P<0.05). The correlation coefficients between the tibial eminence height and the Lysholm & IKDC scores at one year postoperation were -0.16 and -0.17, respectively. The last follow-up showed a 132°±5° range of knee motion for all patients, a positive result of pivot-shift test (grade Ⅱ) for 3 and a positive result of Lachman test (grade Ⅰ) for 2. Conclusion:Arthroscopic treatment of tibial eminence avulsion fracture by four-point fixation with suture anchors can lead to satisfactory effectiveness, showing advantages of minimal invasion, anatomic reduction, reliable fixation, and little impact on the epiphysis plate.

Objective:To study the effect of microglia depletion combined with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSC) transplantation for spinal cord injury (SCI) repair.Methods:GFP-BMSCs were cultured, identified and detected for expression levels of growth factors. The effects of BMSCs ondorsal root ganglion (DRG) axon outgrowth were observed by the co-culture of BMSCs with DRGs. Mice were depleted of microglia by administrating the colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) inhibitor PLX3397. The spinal cords of these microglia-depleted mice were subjected to crush injury. BMSCs were transplanted into SCI area after microglia depletion. Mice were randomly divided into control group (SCI+BMSCs) and experimental group (PLX3397+SCI+BMSCs). Mice were sacrificed at corresponding time points after transplantation for observing the survival of transplanted BMSCs and the repair of spinal cord. BMS score was used for evaluation of motor function recovery.Results:BMSCs secreted a large number of neurotrophic factors and promoted the growth of DRG axons when co-cultured with DRGs. Depletion of microglia significantly improved the survival of transplanted BMSCs. Compared with BMSCs transplantation alone, the combined treatments slightly but non-significantly reduced the area of the lesion ( t=2.141, P=0.065). Immunofluorescence staining showed that both BMSC transplantation alone and the combined treatments did not cause the corticospinalaxons across the lesion and into distal spinal cord. BMS scores were (1.20±0.45), (3.20±0.45), (3.80±0.45), (4.20±0.45), and (4.60±0.55) points in control group at 1, 7, 14, 21 and 28 d after injury. The experimental groups were(0.60±0.55), (3.00±0.71), (3.80±0.84), (4.20±0.84), and (4.40±0.89) points, respectively. Conclusion:Depletion of microglia improves the survival of transplanted cells, depletion of microglia combined with BMSC transplantation did not result in a significant reduction in lesion area. At the same time, the damaged CST axons were notregenerated. Thus, combining cell transplantation with axon-promoting strategy may be necessary for SCI repair.

Objective:To establish a scientific and systematic department rotation examination and evaluation system adapted to the development of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine according to the clinical needs and the actual situation of the hospital.Methods:The literature analysis method and Delphi method were adopted to determine the index system after two rounds of consultation. The weight of the index was determined by the method of optimal sequence diagram.Results:The positive coefficients of the two rounds of consulting experts were 100% and 95.65%. The average value of the authoritative coefficients of the two consulting groups was 0.85. And the coordination coefficients of the two rounds of expert consultations were 0.513 and 0.516 respectively. Finally, five first-level indicators and 14 second-level indicators were established.Conclusion:The enthusiasm and coordination coefficient of experts are good, and the results are credible. The established index system can be used for standardized residency training assessment of residents in Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.

Objective To explore the main problems of ultrasonic quality management in Qinghai Province.Methods The ultrasound departments of 19 tertiary hospitals and 51 secondary hospitals in Qinghai Province were investigated.The x2 test was carried out to analyze the setting of departments,subspecialty,instrument status,ultrasonic quality control,workload,and personnel specialty and educational composition ratio.Results There was a statistically significant difference between tertiary and secondary hospitals in department settings,sub-specialty,instrument status,ultrasound quality control,workload,personnel specialty,and personnel qualifications (x2=30.49,38.208,36.87,7.913,28.518,7.111 and 322.363,respectively,P ＜ 0.01 for all).Conclusions The above-mentioned observation indexes are better in the 19 tertiary hospitals than in the 51 secondary hospitals in Qinghai Province.Strengthening construction from these aspects and improving ultrasound quality control management play an important role in improving the level of ultrasound diagnosis and promoting the homogeneity of ultrasound diagnosis.