Background As one of the most severe occupational diseases in China, pneumoconiosis is significantly burdened by its complications, which adversely affects patients' quality of life. Objective To identify the influencing factors of complications in pneumoconiosis and to construct an early prediction model for pneumoconiosis complications, providing theoretical guidance for clinical diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation. Methods A case-control study was conducted using data from the Chongqing 5G Pneumoconiosis Rehabilitation Management Information Platform. A total of 1872 pneumoconiosis patients with complications, who received rehabilitation at various rehabilitation stations in Chongqing from January 2021 to December 2024, were enrolled as the case group. Concurrently, 2348 patients without complications from the same platform and period were included as the control group. Univariate analysis, LASSO regression, and logistic regression were employed to identify influencing factors for complications. An extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) model was trained using ten-fold cross-validation to predict pneumoconiosis complications. The SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) method was applied for model visualization. Results The analysis of influencing factors revealed that increased age, silicosis type, advanced stage of pneumoconiosis, dependence in activities of daily living, abnormal muscle strength, increased dyspnea index, presence of cough, viscous sputum, impaired cardiac function, severe abnormality in the 6-minute walk test (6MWT), and increased Borg score were risk factors for complications (P<0.05). The XGBoost model demonstrated an area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic of 0.718, and a Brier score of 0.211 for the calibration curve. Decision curve analysis demonstrated a superior net benefit within the threshold probability range of 0.2 to 1.0 compared to "all-patient intervention" and "no-patient intervention" strategies, indicating good predictive performance and significant clinical utility. SHAP visualization identified the top six important features as Borg score, age, 6MWT, muscle strength, pneumoconiosis stage, and cough symptoms. Conclusion Multiple factors influence the occurrence of complications in pneumoconiosis patients. Clinical attention should be focused on elderly patients with decreased cardiopulmonary reserve, pronounced respiratory symptoms, and diminished muscle strength. The XGBoost model demonstrates satisfactory discrimination, calibration, and clinical applicability in predicting pneumoconiosis complications and may serve as a useful reference for clinical decision-making.

Bronchiolar adenoma (BA) is a rare type of lung tumor characterized by bilayered epithelial cells having a continuous basal layer and a luminal layer. It resembles mucinous adenocarcinoma (MA) on frozen section, with difficulty in distinguishing the basal layer. Immunohistochemistry is the best choice for verifying the diagnosis. This study aimed to comprehensively characterize three cases of BA-combined carcinoma using clinical, histopathological, and genetic features. BA and carcinoma sections were subjected to next-generation sequencing, respectively. It was hypothesized that while different mutation forms matched different regions, BA and lung adenocarcinoma shared the same gene mutation when they co-occurred in the same location. BA with extensive carcinoma is extremely rare and presents diagnostic challenges due to its overlap with conditions such as MA. Because of its distinctive morphological characteristics, BA may be regarded as a low-grade malignancy, particularly during a confusing evaluation. A multifaceted examination of clinical, radiological, immunohistochemical, and genetic data is necessary for an accurate diagnosis.

Objective To investigate the epidemiological characteristics and changing trend of typhus in Shaanxi Province from 2005 to 2023 to provide a scientific basis for its prevention and control. Methods Excel 2007, SPSS 25.0, Joinpoint 4.9.1.0, and Geoda 1.6 were used for data collection and statistical analysis. Super Map was used for data visualization to describe the changing characteristics of the disease. Results A total of 394 typhus cases were reported in Shaanxi Province from 2005 to 2023. The average annual incidence of typhus was 0.054/100 000, showing a dynamic fluctuation trend(AAPC=-3.3, t=-0.3, P>0.05). The cases were mainly concentrated in Baoji, Hanzhong and Xi′an, accounting for 78.68%. The incidence peak was from May to October, accounting for 64.21% of annual incidence. The epidemic season was from May to October and December. The incidence of the disease was concentrated in the 40-69 age group, accounting for 58.88%, and the sex was 1.07:1. The main occupation was farmers, accounting for 72.08%. The median time from onset to diagnosis was 7 days. Global spatial autocorrelation analysis showed that there were significant spatial autocorrelations in 11 years from 2005 to 2023(P<0.05). Local spatial autocorrelation analysis detected a total of 43“high-high”clustering areas, mainly concentrated in Baoji City. Conclusions The overall incidence of typhus in Shaanxi Province showed a dynamic fluctuation trend, with notable seasonal and regional aggregation. The incidence of typhus was higher in middle-aged and elderly people in rural areas. Surveillance should be strengthened in typhus endemic areas in summer and autumn, and health education should be conducted for key population to form good health habits and reduce the incidence of typhus.

Objective To construct a dynamic prediction model for JC polyomavirus (JCV) reactivation after kidney transplantation. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 128 recipients who met the inclusion criteria and received kidney transplantation in Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, from June 2021 to December 2024. Dynamic Cox regression and dynamic restricted mean survival time (RMST) regression based on the landmark method were adopted to establish the dynamic prediction models, and Monte Carlo cross-validation was used to evaluate model performance. Results The dynamic models could predict the incidence and onset time of JCV reactivation within the subsequent 3 months according to covariates at each landmark time point from the 1st to the 6th month after transplantation. Remuzzi score, body mass index and warm ischemia time were independent risk factors for JCV reactivation, while a history of urinary BK polyomavirus reactivation served as a protective factor. The median values of the area under the curve, C-index and Brier score of the dynamic Cox model were 0.873, 0.851 and 0.065 respectively, and the C-index of the dynamic RMST model was 0.829, all of which were superior to those of the static model. Conclusions The landmark-based dynamic models exhibit excellent predictive performance, which may integrate baseline data and post-transplant follow-up information to realize dynamic assessment of the risk and time window of JCV reactivation, thereby providing evidence for optimizing post-operative monitoring and individualized intervention strategies.

ObjectiveMethylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP) is found to be frequently deleted in malignant cancers, but the role of MTAP underlying metastasis and stemness of liver cancer remains far from clear. 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) is clinically used in treating advanced liver cancer, however, chemoresistance is one of the major barriers impeding its efficacy. Liver cancer stem cells are considered to be the reservoir for tumor progression and chemoresistance. This study aims to explore the role of MTAP in regulating stemness and chemoresistance of 5-Fu in liver cancer. It is designed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying MTAP-manipulated stemness. How MTAP influences metastasis and chemoresistance against 5-Fu in liver cancer is also elaborated. MethodsThe correlation of MTAP expression with stemness marker CD133 was evaluated by flow cytometry. Colony formation assays were conducted to analyze the tumorigenic ability. Western blot assays were applied to delineate the molecular mechanisms underlying MTAP-regulated stemness. Trans-well assays were conducted to analyze the metastatic potential of liver cancer cells.In vivo experiments were performed using subcutaneous xenograft and lung metastasis model on nude mice. Tumor size and weight were analyzed upon 5-Fu treatment. Metastatic nodules on lungs were evaluated. Immunohistochemical and TUNNEL assays were performed on slides obtained from tumor tissues. ResultsMTAP overexpression inhibited expression of CD133 and colony formation, which is further ablated by MTAP inhibitor. MTAP deprivation augmented stemness and colony formation, which is reversed by protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) overexpression but not its catalytically inactive counterparts. Critically, SRY-box transcription factor 2 (SOX2) was found to be a downstream regulator of MTAP/PRMT5, leading to stemness of liver cancer cells. MTAP overexpression suppressed SOX2 expression, while MTAP inhibition augmented expression of SOX2. Critically, MTAP overexpression inhibited migration and invasion of liver cancer cells. In vivo experiments in animal model found that MTAP deprivation promotes tumor growth and metastatic nodules of liver cancer. Additionally, MTAP overexpression inhibits tumor growth. Moreover, MTAP deprivation contributes to chemoresistance shown by increased tumor size and weight treated by 5-Fu. In contrast, MTAP overexpression led to further decline in tumor size and weight elicited by 5-Fu treatment. Accordingly, SOX2 was inhibited in tumor tissues after MTAP overexpression. Marker of proliferation Ki67 (Ki67) expression was dampened while apoptosis was found in MTAP-overexpressed tumor tissues. ConclusionIn this study, plethora of experimental studies collectively demonstrated that MTAP deprivation enhances stemness of liver cancer by regulating SOX2, exerting anti-cancer and chemoresistant role against 5-Fu in liver cancer. It is also worth noting that MTAP inhibition promoted metastasis of liver cancer. MTAP overexpression augmented tumor shrinking elicited by 5-Fu and SOX2 was involved in this process. These results concluded that MTAP/PRMT5/SOX2 signaling axis was involved in regulating stemness and chemoresistance of liver cancer. These findings help to exploit novel therapies by targeting stemness in MTAP-depleted liver cancer. It shed novel light on unveiling MTAP-regulated stemness in antagonizing 5-Fu treatment in liver cancer. It also adds mounting evidence to the theoretical basis for accomplishing personalized chemotherapy of liver cancer patients by targeting MTAP or its downstream PRMT5/SOX2.

Tumor drug resistance is an important problem in the failure of chemotherapy and targeted drug therapy, which is a complex process involving chromatin remodeling. SWI/SNF is one of the most studied ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes in tumorigenesis, which plays an important role in the coordination of chromatin structural stability, gene expression, and post-translation modification. However, its mechanism in tumor drug resistance has not been systematically combed. SWI/SNF can be divided into 3 types according to its subunit composition: BAF, PBAF, and ncBAF. These 3 subtypes all contain two mutually exclusive ATPase catalytic subunits (SMARCA2 or SMARCA4), core subunits (SMARCC1 and SMARCD1), and regulatory subunits (ARID1A, PBRM1, and ACTB, etc.), which can control gene expression by regulating chromatin structure. The change of SWI/SNF complex subunits is one of the important factors of tumor drug resistance and progress. SMARCA4 and ARID1A are the most widely studied subunits in tumor drug resistance. Low expression of SMARCA4 can lead to the deletion of the transcription inhibitor of the BCL2L1 gene in mantle cell lymphoma, which will result in transcription up-regulation and significant resistance to the combination therapy of ibrutinib and venetoclax. Low expression of SMARCA4 and high expression of SMARCA2 can activate the FGFR1-pERK1/2 signaling pathway in ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma cells, which induces the overexpression of anti-apoptosis gene BCL2 and results in carboplatin resistance. SMARCA4 deletion can up-regulate epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) by activating YAP1 gene expression in triple-negative breast cancer. It can also reduce the expression of Ca²⁺ channel IP3R3 in ovarian and lung cancer, resulting in the transfer of Ca²⁺ needed to induce apoptosis from endoplasmic reticulum to mitochondria damage. Thus, these two tumors are resistant to cisplatin. It has been found that verteporfin can overcome the drug resistance induced by SMARCA4 deletion. However, this inhibitor has not been applied in clinical practice. Therefore, it is a promising research direction to develop SWI/SNF ATPase targeted drugs with high oral bioavailability to treat patients with tumor resistance induced by low expression or deletion of SMARCA4. ARID1A deletion can activate the expression of ANXA1 protein in HER2+ breast cancer cells or down-regulate the expression of progesterone receptor B protein in endometrial cancer cells. The drug resistance of these two tumor cells to trastuzumab or progesterone is induced by activating AKT pathway. ARID1A deletion in ovarian cancer can increase the expression of MRP2 protein and make it resistant to carboplatin and paclitaxel. ARID1A deletion also can up-regulate the phosphorylation levels of EGFR, ErbB2, and RAF1 oncogene proteins.The ErbB and VEGF pathway are activated and EMT is increased. As a result, lung adenocarcinoma is resistant to epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs). Although great progress has been made in the research on the mechanism of SWI/SNF complex inducing tumor drug resistance, most of the research is still at the protein level. It is necessary to comprehensively and deeply explore the detailed mechanism of drug resistance from gene, transcription, protein, and metabolite levels by using multi-omics techniques, which can provide sufficient theoretical basis for the diagnosis and treatment of poor tumor prognosis caused by mutation or abnormal expression of SWI/SNF subunits in clinical practice.

Osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures(OVCFs)are common orthopedic conditions that can lead to spinal pain and deformity,which greatly affects the quality of life of patients.Currently,there are various treatment methods for OVCFs,but there is still a lack of standards for optimal treatment modalities.Therefore,this article introduces the current treatment methods and character-istics of epidemiology for OVCFs,in order to improve the awareness of this disease among clinicians and provide a reference for select-ing more appropriate treatment regimens.Conservative treatment measures,such as bracing and analgesia,are the basic treatment mea-sures for OVCFs,and anti-osteoporosis drugs play a crucial role in management.Minimally invasive procedures,including percutane-ous vertebroplasty and percutaneous balloon kyphoplasty,remain the primary surgical interventions,and traditional open surgeries are also an important part of treatment,such as anterior spinal fusion,combined anterior and posterior spinal fusion,posterior spinal fusion with three-column osteotomy,and posterior spinal fusion with vertebroplasty.Furthermore,surgeons should focus on the accumulation of related surgical techniques and skills during surgery to effectively address the challenges and complications associated with surgical interventions.Finally,scientific and appropriate treatment methods should be selected for patients,in order to improve long-term treat-ment outcomes and increase the degree of satisfaction among pa-tients.

Objective To employ three dimensional high-resolution vessel wall magnetic resonance imaging(3D hr-VW-MRI)for analyzing the imaging characteristics of posterior circulation non-stenotic intracranial atherosclerotic plaque and to discuss its diagnostic value in identifying culprit plaques.Methods Ninety-three patients(age[62.94±9.70]years old,67 males,26 females)with non-stenotic atherosclerosis in our hospital from Jan.2019 to Jan.2021 were retrospectively recruited.The imaging features of plaques,including luminal area,maximum wall thickness and minimum wall thickness at the most stenotic site,stenosis rate,plaque burden,remodeling index,eccentricity index,enhancement ratio at the most stenotic site,and intraplaque hemorrhage,were measured based on T1-weighted imaging(T1WI)and contrast-enhanced T1WI.The culprit plaque was defined as a lesion arising from the responsible vascular supply area to a fresh infarction on the diffusion weighted imaging(DWI)and T2 fluid attenuated inversion recovery(T2-FLAIR)images with accompanying ischemic stroke/transient ischemic attack(TIA).A plaque was considered to be a nonculprit plaque when it occurred in patients with presumed ischemic stroke/TIA,but without an infarct on DWI and T2-FLAIR.Results Sixty-one culprit plaques and 32 non-culprit plaques were analyzed.The proportions of patients with hyperlipidemia,National Institutes of Health stroke scale(NIHSS)score,narrowest plaque enhancement rate,and incidence of intraplaque hemorrhage in the culprit plaque group were significantly higher than those in the non-culprit plaque group(all P＜0.05).Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that NIHSS score(odds ratio[OR]=1.799,95％confidence interval[CI]1.303-2.484,P＜0.001),enhancement ratio(OR=1.076,95％CI 1.027-1.128,P=0.002)and intraplaque hemorrhage(OR=30.708,95％CI 2.563-367.925,P=0.007)were associated with plaque type.Conclusion NIHSS score,enhancement ratio at the most stenotic site,and intraplaque hemorrhage are independent risk factors for culprit plaques in patients with posterior circulation non-stenotic intracranial atherosclerotic disease.These indicators may help identify such culprit plaques and could be used to screen individuals with plaques having these characteristics,thereby providing a basis for early preventive interventions.

Objective To establish a mouse model of infection with the minimum lethal dose of Vibrio vulnificus(V.vulnificus)and to evaluate the protective efficacy of inactivated whole-cell(IWC)vaccine using this model.Methods A mouse model of lethal-dose infection was established by intraperitoneal injection of different doses of V.vulnificus.Bacterial colonization in the organs was detected with tissue homogenate plating,and pathological changes in the organs were observed after tissue section staining.Flow cytometry was used to detect immune cell responses after liver tissues were digested into single-cell suspension.IWC vaccine of V.vulnificus was prepared,and the mice were immunized through different routes to observe the protective efficacy of the vaccine.Results A mouse model of infection with the minimum lethal dose at 1×106 CFU of V.vulnificus was successfully established.After infection,the bacteria were mainly colonized in the liver of mice and caused severe pathological damages.Compared with the uninfected mice,the proportion of neutrophils in the liver was significantly increased in the infected mice,whereas the proportions of B cells and T cells were correspondingly decreased(P<0.05).A single intramuscular or intraperitoneal injection of the IWC vaccine could protect the mice effectively against lethal infection of V.vulnificus in 7 d later(P<0.01),although the level of serum IgG having no significant increase.Conclusion A mouse model of lethal-dose infection with V.vulnificus is successfully established,with histopathological characteristics.The IWC vaccine of V.vulnificus rapidly mediates immune protection in this model probably independent of IgG.

Travelling wave structures for lossless ion manipulations(TW-SLIM)employ travelling wave electric fields to propel ions forward,enabling exceptionally long transmission paths and holding great potential for applications in material transportation and separation.In this study,different from previous studies focusing on the transport performance of macromolecules such as proteins in TW-SLIM,the transmission performance of small molecules(<200 amu)was investigated and analyzed in the turning TW-SLIM through the COMSOL simulation platform,to explore the influence of electrostatic field of protective electrode and radio frequency(RF)electric field on ion transport efficiency,and obtain the optimal value.Compared to macromolecules,small molecules required lower voltage amplitudes from guard electrodes but stricter requirements in terms of the peak-to-peak amplitude and frequency of RF voltage for lossless transmission.Using dimethyl methylphosphonate(DMMP)as a sample and testing it on the TW-SLIM experimental platform,when the protective voltage amplitude was 5 V and the peak-to-peak voltage of the radio-frequency electrode was 440 V at 1.5 MHz,the ion transmission efficiency reached 100%,achieving lossless transmission.The experimental results provided valuable references for application of TW-SLIM in separation and detection of small molecular substances,such as explosives and drugs.