Objective This study reports on the obligatory parasitism of water mites Arrenurus sp. on Anopheles messeae at the Manzhouli Port, Inner Mongolia, China. Methods Duing July 2024, a survey on the mosquito diversity was conducted at the Manzhouli Port. Captured mosquitoes and their ectoparasites were identified to species level. Results A total of 1840 adult mosquitoes were collected, representing species from three genera: Culex(Cx. modestus, Cx. pipiens pallens), Aedes(Ae. dorsalis, Ae. flavidorsalis, Ae. flavescens), and Anopheles (An. messeae). Among all the mosqutioes specimens,3 out of 150 captured An. messeae were found to carry ectoparasitic mites, with number of 2,4,27 mites separately. Morphological and molecular identification reached the same result as water mites(Hydrachnidiae, Hydracrina). COI gene sequence showed 94% similarity with the closest species Arrenurus truncatellus. Conlusions Literature review suggests water mites are host-specific parasitism of mosquito species and herein with the first record of Arrenurus sp. parasiting on An. Messeae in the most high-latitude region globally.

Objective:To study the relationship between urinary arsenic methylation metabolism patterns and skin keratinization and pigmentation abnormalities in population exposed to arsenic through drinking water.Methods:Using a cross-sectional study method, a survey on endemic arsenic poisoning was conducted among permanent residents of drinking water endemic arsenic poisoning areas in Bayannur City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 2004 (before water improvement). In 2017 (after water improvement), 71 arsenic exposed individuals were followed up as survey subjects. According to the "Diagnosis of Endemic Arsenism" (WS/T 211-2015), the clinical grading of skin injuries (skin keratinization, pigmentation abnormalities) in the survey subjects was evaluated. Urine samples were collected for detection of arsenic methylation metabolite levels by high-performance liquid chromatography inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and calibrated with urinary creatinine. The changes and amplitudes of urinary arsenic methylation indicators before and after water improvement were calculated and analyzed according to the outcome of skin keratinization and pigmentation abnormalities which were divided into reduced, unchanged, and added groups.Results:(1) The changes in urinary total arsenic (TAs), inorganic arsenic (iAs), monomethyl arsenic (MMA), and dimethyl arsenic (DMA) levels in different outcome groups of skin keratinization were compared, and the differences were statistically significant ( H = 9.08, 8.77, 9.28, 8.57, P < 0.05). The changes in urinary TAs, iAs, MMA, DMA levels, iAs percentage (iAs%), DMA percentage (DMA%), and primary methylation index (PMI) in different outcome groups of skin pigmentation abnormalities were compared, and the differences were statistically significant ( H = 8.04, 10.67, 8.29, 9.14, 6.30, 9.10, 7.20, P < 0.05). (2) The comparison of amplitudes in urinary TAs, iAs, MMA, and DMA levels in different outcome groups of skin keratinization showed statistically significant differences ( H = 6.92, 7.34, 6.66, 6.16, P < 0.05). The amplitudes in urinary iAs level, iAs%, DMA%, and PMI in different outcome groups of skin pigmentation abnormalities were compared, and the differences were statistically significant ( H = 7.94, 7.61, 9.95, 7.22, P < 0.05). Conclusion:The changes pattern of urinary TAs, iAs, MMA, DMA, iAs%, DMA%, and PMI in population exposed to arsenic through drinking water is related to the transformation of skin keratinization and pigmentation abnormalities.

Objective:To investigate the completion rate of tumor evaluation at initial assessment and after neoadjuvant therapy for mid and low rectal cancer patients in the national multicenter real-world database.Methods:The prospective real-world study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 1 074 patients who underwent surgical treatment for mid and low rectal cancer in 47 national medical institutions, including Peking Union Medical College Hospital et al, from May 12,2023 to May 11,2024 were collected. Observation indicators: (1) clinical characteristics of patients with mid and low rectal cancer; (2) initial colonoscopy and pathologic evaluation of tumors in patients with mid and low rectal cancer; (3) initial imaging evaluation of patients with mid and low rectal cancer; (4) imaging evaluation after neoadjuvant therapy for patients with mid and low rectal cancer. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD, and measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M( Q1, Q3). Count data were described as absoluter numbers and/or percentages. Results:(1) Clinical characteristics of patients with mid and low rectal cancer. Of the 1 074 patients, there were 713 males and 361 females, aged 63(56,70)years. The body mass index of 1 074 patients was 24(21,26)kg/m 2.For American Society of Anesthesiologists classification, there were 147 cases of stage Ⅰ, 641 cases of stage Ⅱ, 157 cases of stage Ⅲ, 2 cases of stage Ⅳ, and there were 127 cases missing data. (2) Initial colonoscopy and pathologic evaluation of tumors in patients with mid and low rectal cancer. Of the 1 074 patients, there were 787 cases (73.28%) undergoing complete colonoscopy, and there were only 197 cases (18.34%) undergoing immunohistochemical evaluation of all four mismatch repair proteins. (3) Initial imaging evaluation of patients with mid and low rectal cancer. Of the 1 074 patients, there were 842(78.40%) patients completing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or ultrasound evaluation, and there were 914(85.10%) patients completing chest, abdomen, and pelvis enhanced computed tomography (CT) evaluation. In the 149 patients completing rectal ultrasound evaluation, there were 122 cases (81.88%) comple-ting T staging evaluation, and there were 81 cases (54.36%) completing N staging evaluation. In the 808 patients completing rectal MRI evaluation, there were 708 cases (87.62%) completing T staging evaluation, and there were 590 cases (73.02%) completing N staging evaluation. (4) Imaging evalua-tion after neoadjuvant therapy for patients with mid and low rectal cancer. Of the 388 patients with neoadjuvant therapy, there were 332 patients (85.57%) completing MRI or ultrasound evaluation, and there were 327 patients (84.28%) completing chest, abdomen, and pelvis enhanced CT evalua-tion. In the 70 patients completing rectal ultrasound evaluation, there were 65 cases (92.86%) com-pleting T staging evaluation, and there were 49 cases (70.00%) completing N staging evaluation. In the 327 patients completing rectal MRI evaluation, there were 246 cases (75.23%) completing T staging, and there were 228 cases (69.72%) completing N staging evaluation. Conclusion:The com-pletion rate of tumor imaging evaluation at initial assessment and after neoadjuvant therapy for mid and low rectal cancer patients on a national scale is relatively good.

Aim To investigate the protective effect of liraglutide(LIRA)on acetaminophen(APAP)-in-duced hepatotoxicity at the in vivo level and to reveal the underlying mechanism.Methods Forty SPF grade male C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into the Control,LIRA(200 μg·kg-1),APAP(500 mg·kg-1),LIRA+APAP,LIRA+APAP+3-methylade-nine(3-MA,30 mg·kg-1)groups,with eight mice in each group.The mice were administered for three con-secutive days,and the materials were taken after 24 h.The general condition and body weight of mice in each group were recorded,and liver morphology was ob-served.Serum ALT and AST levels,as well as SOD ac-tivity,MDA,and GSH content in liver homogenates,were measured using biochemical assay kits.The levels of inflammatory cytokines IL-6,TNF-α,and IL-1β in serum were detected by ELISA.Liver pathological changes were assessed by HE staining,while mitochon-drial and autophagosome structures in liver tissues were observed using transmission electron microscopy.The number of PCNA-positive cells in liver tissues was e-valuated using immunohistochemical staining.The pro-tein expression levels of LC3Ⅱ,p62,Bax,Bcl-2,PC-NA,and CyclinD1 in liver tissues were determined by Western blot.Results LIRA pretreatment can im-prove the general condition of mice with acetamino-phen-induced liver injury(AILI),reduce serum ALT and AST levels,and effectively ameliorate the appear-ance and morphology of the liver as well as the patho-logical damage to liver tissue.Simultaneously,the lev-els of inflammatory cytokines IL-6,TNF-α,and IL-1βare significantly decreased;SOD activity and GSH con-tent are significantly increased,while MDA content is significantly reduced.Transmission electron microsco-py observations reveal the presence of numerous auto-phagosomes in the cytoplasm of liver tissue.Immuno-histochemical staining results indicate a significant in-crease in the number of PCNA-positive cells.Further-more,the expression of LC3Ⅱ,Bcl-2,PCNA,and Cy-clinD1 proteins in liver tissue is significantly upregulat-ed,while the expression of p62 and Bax proteins is significantly downregulated.However,after interven-tion with the autophagy inhibitor 3-MA,the aforemen-tioned protective effects of LIRA are significantly.Conclusions LIRA pretreatment can significantly im-prove liver injury in AILI mice.Its protective mecha-nism may be related to enhancing autophagy in hepato-cytes,thereby reducing oxidative stress,inflammatory response and apoptosis in liver of AILI mice.

Objective To compare the accuracy and clinical application value of contrast-induced fractional flow reserve(cFFR),resting full-cycle ratio(RFR),and quantitative flow ratio(QFR)in evaluating coronary artery borderline lesions,using fractional flow reserve(FFR)as the gold standard.Methods A retrospective study was conducted including 143 patients with 143 lesions who underwent coronary angiography(CAG)and were tested for cFFR,RFR,QFR,and FFR at Peking University Third Hospital from September 2020 to January 2022.Clinical data,CAG lesion anatomical data,and target vessel cFFR,RFR,QFR,and FFR measurements were collected.The correlation and diagnostic concordance of cFFR,RFR,QFR,and FFR were analyzed.Results The mean age of the 143 patients was 66(58,71)years,with 90(62.9％)being male.Among them,60(42.0％)patients were diagnosed with unstable angina,and 115(80.4％)target lesions were located in the left anterior descending artery.Correlation analysis showed that RFR,QFR,and cFFR were all significantly correlated with FFR(r=0.956,r=0.861,r=0.751,P＜0.001).Bland-Altman analysis demonstrated high agreement between cFFR,RFR,QFR,and FFR.Receiver operating characteristics(ROC)curve analysis showed that the area under the curve(AUC)for RFR corresponding to FFR ≤0.80 was 0.92(95％CI 0.87-0.96),for QFR was 0.89(95％CI 0.83-0.95),and for cFFR was 0.96(95％CI 0.94-0.99).Conclusions cFFR,RFR,and QFR show high concordance with FFR,with similar diagnostic consistency between the three methods and FFR.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of a novel intravascular lithotripsy(IVL)balloon—Vesscrack shockwave balloon—for vascular preparation before stent implantation in patients with severe coronary artery calcification(CAC).Methods This was a prospective,single-arm,multicenter study conducted in China from June 2022 to October 2022.Patients with severe CAC were treated with the Vesscrack shockwave balloon for lesion preparation,followed by drug-eluting stent(DES)implantation.Of these,33 patients underwent optical coherence tomography(OCT).The primary endpoint was procedural success,defined as successful stent implantation with residual stenosis≤30％and the absence of in-hospital major adverse events,including cardiac death,target vessel-related myocardial infarction,or target lesion revascularization.Results A total of 170 patients[mean age:(65.9±7.9)years,116 males]were enrolled.After treatment with IVL and DES,the minimum lumen diameter increased significantly compared to baseline[(2.34±0.40)mm vs.(0.95±0.33)mm,P＜0.001],the degree of stenosis was significantly reduced[(13.24±6.60)％vs.(65.18±10.59)％,P＜0.001].Procedural success was achieved in 100％of cases,and device success was 98.8％.The 30-day patient-related cardiovascular clinical composite endpoint(POCE)rate was 0.0,with no target lesion failure,no confirmed or potential thrombotic events were observed.The shockwave energy generator demonstrated excellent stability and ease of use.Among the 33 patients assessed with OCT,after IVL intervention,the maximum calcified area of the lumen[(3.51±1.51)mm2 vs.(2.85±1.80)mm2,P＜0.001],and the minimum lumen area within the target lesion[(3.08±1.04)mm2 vs.(2.02±0.75)mm2,P＜0.001],and after DES intervention,the luminal area of the largest calcified site[(6.59±1.64)mm2 vs.(2.85±1.80)mm2,P＜0.001]and the minimum luminal area within the target lesion[(6.19±1.45)mm2 vs.(2.02±0.75)mm2,P＜0.001]were significantly increased,and the differences were statistically significant.Conclusions The Vesscrack shockwave balloon is effective and safe for vascular preparation in patients with severe CAC prior to stent implantation.It achieves significant calcified plaque modification,high procedural success rates,and minimal complications.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of a novel intravascular lithotripsy(IVL)balloon—Vesscrack shockwave balloon—for vascular preparation before stent implantation in patients with severe coronary artery calcification(CAC).Methods This was a prospective,single-arm,multicenter study conducted in China from June 2022 to October 2022.Patients with severe CAC were treated with the Vesscrack shockwave balloon for lesion preparation,followed by drug-eluting stent(DES)implantation.Of these,33 patients underwent optical coherence tomography(OCT).The primary endpoint was procedural success,defined as successful stent implantation with residual stenosis≤30％and the absence of in-hospital major adverse events,including cardiac death,target vessel-related myocardial infarction,or target lesion revascularization.Results A total of 170 patients[mean age:(65.9±7.9)years,116 males]were enrolled.After treatment with IVL and DES,the minimum lumen diameter increased significantly compared to baseline[(2.34±0.40)mm vs.(0.95±0.33)mm,P＜0.001],the degree of stenosis was significantly reduced[(13.24±6.60)％vs.(65.18±10.59)％,P＜0.001].Procedural success was achieved in 100％of cases,and device success was 98.8％.The 30-day patient-related cardiovascular clinical composite endpoint(POCE)rate was 0.0,with no target lesion failure,no confirmed or potential thrombotic events were observed.The shockwave energy generator demonstrated excellent stability and ease of use.Among the 33 patients assessed with OCT,after IVL intervention,the maximum calcified area of the lumen[(3.51±1.51)mm2 vs.(2.85±1.80)mm2,P＜0.001],and the minimum lumen area within the target lesion[(3.08±1.04)mm2 vs.(2.02±0.75)mm2,P＜0.001],and after DES intervention,the luminal area of the largest calcified site[(6.59±1.64)mm2 vs.(2.85±1.80)mm2,P＜0.001]and the minimum luminal area within the target lesion[(6.19±1.45)mm2 vs.(2.02±0.75)mm2,P＜0.001]were significantly increased,and the differences were statistically significant.Conclusions The Vesscrack shockwave balloon is effective and safe for vascular preparation in patients with severe CAC prior to stent implantation.It achieves significant calcified plaque modification,high procedural success rates,and minimal complications.

This study was aimed at evaluating the characteristics of H9N2 subtype avian influenza viruses(AIVs)origina-ting from wild birds in major wetlands in Fujian.Five H9N2 subtype AIVs isolated from fecal samples from wild birds in wet-lands of the Minjiang River,Jiulong River,Sandu Bay,Xinghua Bay,and Quanzhou Bay in Fujian were sequenced.Sequence a-nalysis of the HA genes of the five H9N2 subtype AIVs indicated that the five isolates shared 89.8％-99.4％nucleotide se-quence identity.All five isolates belonged to the same h9.4.2.5c evolutionary branch.The cleavage site motifs of HA were all PSRSSR ↓ GLF,thus indicating molecular characteristics of AIVs with low pathogenicity.The HA proteins of the viruses orig-inating from wild birds bore eight identical potential glycosylation sites,among which the glycosylation site at position 313 was located near the HA protein cleavage site.The 226th amino acid of HA in the receptor binding site was leucine in each virus,thus indicating that HAs of the five H9N2 subtype AIVs had mammalian sialic acid α-2,6 receptor binding affinity.In conclu-sion,the five H9N2 subtype AIVs originating from wild birds in Fujian had low pathogenicity,and the HAs had mammalian sialic acid α-2,6 receptor binding affinity.

Objective:To investigate the significance of serum β2-microglobulin(β2-MG)for survival and relapse of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma(DLBCL)in the rituximab era.Methods:Clinical data of 92 patients with DLBCL admitted from December 2003 to July 2015 were retrospectively analyzed.The optimal cutoff value of β2-MG levels for predicting prognosis of the DLBCL patients was determined using receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve.Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to estimate progression-free survival(PFS)and overall survival(OS).Cox logistic regression analysis was used to explore potential prognostic factors associated with survival.Binary logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between various factors and relapse.Results:The most discriminative cutoff value for β2-MG level was determined to be 2.25 mg/L by the ROC curve.Subgroup analysis showed that patients in the elevated β2-MG(＞2.25 mg/L)group had significantly worse PFS(P=0.006)and a trend toward worse OS compared with those in the low β2-MG(≤2.25 mg/L)group(P=0.053).Univariate analysis showed that elevated β2-MG,age＞60 years,Ann Arbor stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ,as well as IPI score ≥ 3 were associated with worse PFS.Binary logistic regression analysis showed that age＞60 years and β2-M G＞2.25 mg/L were potential influencing factors for relapse of DLBCL patients.Conclusion:Serum β2-MG might be an important predictor for the survival and relapse of DLBCL patients in the rituximab era.

BACKGROUND:The highest incidence of spinal fracture is in the thoracolumbar segment,and its symptoms are back pain,posterior convexity deformity,activity limitation,or with spinal cord nerve injury causing lower limb pain,numbness,and even paraplegia and other complications.The finite element method is a digital computer modeling technique,which can simulate the physical model and carry out force analysis realistically.OBJECTIVE:To review the application of finite element method in thoracolumbar spine fractures.METHODS:We searched the Chinese and English literature databases PubMed,Web of Science,and CNKI for relevant literature on the application of the finite element analysis method in spinal thoracolumbar fracture published before March 2024.The search terms in Chinese and English were:finite element analysis methods,biomechanical phenomena,stress analysis,thoracolumbar fractures,spinal fractures.Finally,55 papers were included.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)The exploration of thoracolumbar fractures caused by different etiologies(osteoporotic,traumatic,and pathological)through the finite element method is conducive to a deeper understanding of the biomechanics of various types of thoracolumbar fractures,and to improve the individualized and fine-tuned treatment of thoracolumbar fractures.(2)The finite element analysis of a single sample or a small number of samples has the chance,and a larger number of samples are required for the future finite element analysis to reduce the chance caused by the sample.(3)The rigid structure of bones alone cannot meet the biomechanical working conditions of the integrity of the physical object,and future finite element models need to incorporate all the structures of the physical object(e.g.,soft tissues,such as muscles and ligaments)as far as possible.(4)The finite element method has been used in more studies on osteoporotic and traumatic thoracolumbar spine fractures,which will need to be more in-depth in the future,and less in the field of pathologic thoracolumbar fractures,which has a wider scope for future research.