BACKGROUND: Asthma is a common chronic inflammatory airway disease and intermittent hypoxia is increasingly recognized as a factor that may impact disease progression. The present study investigated whether intermittent hypoxia (IH) could aggravate asthma by promoting hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α)/nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3)/interleukin (IL)-1β-dependent pyroptosis and the inflammatory response and further elucidated the underlying molecular mechanisms involved. METHODS: A total of 49 patients diagnosed with severe bronchial asthma and diagnosed by polysomnography were enrolled at Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, between January 2022 and December 2022, and their general data and induced sputum were collected. BEAS-2B cells were treated with IL-13 and subjected to IH. An ovalbumin (OVA)-treated mouse model was also used to assess the effects of chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) on asthma. Pyroptosis, the inflammatory response, and related signalling pathways were assessed in vivo and in vitro . RESULTS: In this study, as the apnoea and hypopnea index (AHI) increased, the proportion of patients with uncontrolled asthma increased. The proportions of neutrophils and the levels of IL-6, IL-8, HIF-1α and NLRP3 in induced sputum were related to the AHI. NLRP3-mediated pyroptosis, which could be mediated by the HIF-1α signalling pathway, was activated in IL-13 plus IH-treated BEAS-2B cells and in the lungs of OVA/CIH mice. HIF-1α downregulation significantly reduced lung pyroptosis and ameliorated neutrophil inflammation by modulating the NLRP3/IL-1β pathway both in vitro and in vivo . Similarly, pretreatment with LW6, an inhibitor of HIF-1α, effectively blocked the generation of inflammatory cytokines in neutrophils. In addition, administration of the NLRP3 activator nigericin obviously increased lung neutrophil inflammation. CONCLUSIONS Obstructive sleep apnoea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is a risk factor for asthma exacerbation. IH aggravates neutrophil inflammation in asthma via NLRP3/IL-1β-dependent pyroptosis mediated by the HIF-1α signalling pathway, which should be considered a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of asthma with OSAHS.
NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein/metabolism* ; Humans ; Asthma/metabolism* ; Animals ; Pyroptosis/physiology* ; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit/metabolism* ; Mice ; Signal Transduction/physiology* ; Male ; Hypoxia/metabolism* ; Female ; Interleukin-1beta/metabolism* ; Adult ; Inflammation/metabolism* ; Middle Aged ; Mice, Inbred C57BL

Objective:To train a deep convolutional neural networks (CNN) using a labeled data set to classify the metaphase chromosomes and test its accuracy for chromosomal identification.Methods:Three thousand and three hundred individuals undergoing surveillance for chromosomal disorders at the Laboratory for Comprehensive Prevention and Treatment of Birth Defects, Ningbo Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital from January 2013 to July 2019 were enrolled. A total of 3 300×46 chromosome images were included, of which 70% were used as the training set and 30% were used as the test set for the deep CNN. The accuracy of chromosome counting and "cutting + recognition + arrangement + automatic analysis" of the model were respectively evaluated. Another 80 images were collected to record the time and accuracy of chromosome classification by geneticists and the model, respectively, so as to assess the practical value of the model.Results:The CNN model was used to count the chromosomes with an accuracy of 61.81%, and the "cutting + recognition + arrangement + automatic analysis" accuracy of the model was 96.16%. Compared with manual operation, the classification time of the CNN model has been greatly reduced, and its karyotyping accuracy was only 3.58% lower than that of geneticists.Conclusion:The CNN model has a high performance for chromosome classification and can significantly reduce the work load involved with the segmentation and classification and improve the efficiency of chromosomal karyotyping, thereby has a broad application prospect.

AIM:To observe the efficacy and safe-ty of combined lipid-lowering strategies in the ini-tial stage of treatment in"very high-risk ASCVD"pa-tients in cardiology outpatient clinics in a real-world prospective cohort study.METHODS:Pa-tients with"very high-risk ASCVD"from January to June 2021 were consecutively enrolled and divided into three groups according to the actual lipid-low-ering treatment strategies:Atorvastatin group;Atorvastatin combine with ezetimibe group;Atorv-astatin combine with evolocumab group.The pri-mary observation endpoints were the changes in LDL-C,Lp(a),and non-HDL-C after one month of treatment,and the secondary endpoints were the changes in TC,TG,HDL-C,Hs-CRP,and safety indica-tors.RESULTS:The efficacy of the combined lipid-lowering strategy in the initial stage of treatment was significantly better than that of the Atorvas-tatin group:LDL-C,Log[Lp(a)],non-HDL-C,TC sig-nificantly decreased(all P＜0.05).Compared with the Atorvastatin combine with Ezetimibe group,LDL-C and Log[Lp(a)]decreased significantly in the Atorvastatin combine with Evolocumab group(P＜0.05),and TC and TG had decreased insignifi-cantly(P＞0.05).When"LDL-C＜1.4mmol/L or＜1.8 mmol/L"is used as the standard for lipid-low-ering compliance,the LDL-C compliance rates of the two groups of combined lipid-lowering treat-ments are higher than those of the atorvastatin sin-gle-drug group.The differences were all statistically significant(all P＜0.05);the LDL-C compliance rate of the atorvastatin combined with evolocumab group was higher than that of the atorvastatin com-bined with ezetimibe group,and the differences were statistically significant(All P＜0.05).When the reduction rate of"LDL dropped by more than 50％"alone or in combination were used as the standard,no one in the three groups could reach the stan-dard.The liver aminotransferase levels had no signif-icant changes among the 3 groups after treatment(all P＞0.05).Myocardial enzyme isoenzyme(CK-MB)decreased among the 3 groups insignificantly(P＞0.05).Compared with the Atorvastatin group,the blood sugar(BS)of the two combined lipid-low-ering groups decreased significantly(P＜0.05);The BS of the Atorvastatin+ezetimibe group significant-ly decreased than that of Atorvastatin combine with Evolocumab group(P＜0.05).CONCLUSION:The lipid-lowering effect and LDL-C compliance rate of patients with"very high-risk ASCVD"in the cardi-ology outpatient department after 1 month of com-bined lipid-lowering treatment were better than those of the atorvastatin monotherapy group.When LDL-C＜1.4 mmol/L or＜1.8 mmol/L is the lip-id-lowering target,the LDL-C compliance rate after 1 month of treatment in the atorvastatin combined with evolocumab group is higher than that of the combined atorvastatin and zetamibu group.When the"LDL drop by more than 50％"is used as the standard for lipid lowering,it is difficult to reach the standard within 1 month.Outpatient"very high-risk ASCVD"patients were treated with initial combined lipid-lowering therapy for 1 month with-out adverse reactions.The initial combined lipid-lowering strategy can be used for patients with"very high-risk ASCVD"in cardiology outpatient clinics who need to achieve LDL-C values early.Atorvastatin combined with evolocumab strategy can be recommended for those patients who re-quire LDL-C＜1.4 mmol/L or＜1.8 mmol/L within one month.

Objective:To compare the postoperative effects of double eyelid surgery with different exophthalmos to find its influence on the surgery and necessary changes in preoperative design and during operation.Methods:A total of 50 female patients with single eyelid seeking beauty from June 2021 to March 2022 were selected from the Department of Plastic Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University. The ocular protrusion was measured by HETEL ophthalmostatometer before surgery. Both eyes at 12-15 mm were taken as normal group ( n=26), both eyes at 16-18 mm as mild protrusion group ( n=14) and both eyes at 19-22 mm as severe protrusion group ( n=10). All the patients were treated with double-eyelid surgery by orbital septum and unified postoperative nursing. Results:After six months of follow-up, there was no difference in eyelid width with closed eyes (all P>0.05). The width of double eyelid with open eyes in normal group was smaller than that in mild protrusion group ( F=23.23, all P<0.05), and the width of double eyelid with open eyes in mild protrusion group was smaller than that in severe protrusion group ( F=47.70, all P<0.05). There was no difference in the improvement rate of facial aesthetics among the three groups ( P>0.05). The " feeling of meet" and scar formation in the normal group were less than those in the mild protrusion group ( F=16.92, F=33.45, all P<0.05), and the " feeling of meet" and scar formation in the mild protrusion group were less than those in the severe protrusion group ( F=27.93, F=28.53, all P<0.05). The improvement rate of normal group was higher than that of mild and severe protrusion group (χ 2=7.25, 7.89, all P<0.05). There was no difference in the improvement rate between the mild and severe protrusion groups ( P>0.05). Conclusions:In clinical practice, it is necessary to make corresponding changes in the preoperative design and operation of double eyelid surgery for patients with high eyeball protrusion.

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of duodenal neuroendocrine neoplasms.Methods:The clinical data of 35 patients with duodenal neuroendocrine neoplasms admitted to Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology from Jan 2012 to Dec 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. The differences of clinical characteristics between periampullary and non-periampullary duodenal neuroendocrine neoplasms were analyzed. Kaplan-Meier curve was used for survival analysis, and the clinical factors affecting the prognosis were analyzed.Results:Of the 35 patients, 30 underwent tumor resection, 7 (23%) developed different degree of complications after operation and were improved and discharged after intervention. A total of 5 patients died during the follow-up period. Only 1 of 30 patients who underwent tumor resection died 30 months after operation due to disease progression, and the others had no recurrence or metastasis. Univariate analysis showed that tumor size, tumor grade, and tumor location were associated with the prognosis of patients (all P<0.05), and multivariate analysis showed that patients with tumors located.Away from the ampulla had a significantly better prognosis than those located around the duodenal ampulla ( P<0.01). Conclusions:Patients with duodenal neuroendocrine neoplasms have a good prognosis after complete resection; patients with duodenal neuroendocrine neoplasms located around the ampulla of Vater have a relatively poor prognosis compared with those away from the area of ampulla.

Objective:To explore the diagnostic value of the toxicant and drug detection in clinical poisoning diseases and analyze the clinical characteristics of patients with positive poison test.Methods:This study was a multicenter retrospective cohort study. Sampling and clinical information data were collected between October 1, 2020 and September 30, 2022 from 41 tertiary hospitals in and around Jiangsu province. The clinical characteristics of patients with positive toxicology tests were analyzed, and the correlation between the drug sampling situation and the test results was analyzed..Results:A total of 895 patients with clinical diagnosis or suspected poisoning were enrolled in this study. Among them, 652 patients had positive results, accounting for 72.85%. Among all positive patients, 506 patients were exposed to a single poison and 147 patients were exposed to multiple poisons. The top three poisons were pesticide herbicides (202 cases, 30.98%), sedative and psychotropic drugs (151 cases, 23.16%), and pesticide insecticides (97 cases, 14.88%). Among 541 patients with clear exposure history, the positive rate was 78.19%, and among 354 patients with unclear exposure history, the positive rate was 64.69%. The top three poisons (drugs) of patients with unclear exposure history were sedative and psychotropic (82, 12.58%), herbicide (26, 3.99%), and rodenticide (22, 3.37%). Patients who admitted to hospital for unexplained consciousness disorder, abnormal blood coagulation function and multiple organ dysfunction were more likely to obtain positive poison test results.Conclusions:There is uncertainty in the exposure history of poisoning diseases, so it is necessary to improve the detection of toxic substances as soon as possible. Toxicant testing should be considered when patients have impaired consciousness, abnormal coagulation function and multiple organ dysfunction.

Objective:To explore the clinical features, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of rectal neuroendocrine tumor with lymphatic metastasis.Method:There were 153 case who were diagnosed with RNET, among them, there were 10 patients(6.5%) with lymphatic metastasis in Affiliated Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology from January 2012 to December 2020, including 4 males and 6 females, aged from 32 to 71 years old, and the median age was 56.5 years.Results:Of the 10 patients, 3 had tumors < 1 cm in diameter, 4 had 1 to 2 cm, and 3 had > 2 cm. Preoperative CT examination was performed in 10 patients, of which 9 suggested lymphatic metastasis; preoperative MRI examination was performed in 7 patients, of which 6 suggested lymphatic metastasis. All patients were received radical resection, in which Miles operation was performed in 2 cases, Dixon operation in 6 cases, and additional Dixon operation after endoscopic submucosal dissection in 2 cases.All patients were followed up for 51 months (ranged from 14 to 118 months). Nine patients had no recurrence or metastasis, and one patient had abdominal metastasis 40 months after surgery and died after 31 months of comprehensive treatment.Conclusions:Lymphatic metastasis is rare in rectal neuroendocrine tumor. Imaging examination has important reference value for judging the status of lymphatic metastasis. For rectal neuroendocrine tumor with lymphatic metastasis, radical resection is effective.

Objective: To investigate the origin of infection and risk factors of a case with SARS-CoV-2 infection associated with overseas countries in the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, Zhejiang Province, so as to provide the evidence for improving the COVID-19 control measures at ports. Methods: Ningbo Center for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) and Beilun CDC conducted case finding and epidemiological surveys immediately after being informed. The general information, history of vaccination and the travel during the latest 14 days were collected from the positive case, and all close contacts were tracked. Saliva samples were collected for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid testing and whole-genome sequencing, and the sequencing results were aligned with the GISAID's EpiCoV database. The origin of infection and transmission route of the positive case was investigated. Results: A case was identified positive for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid during company M's routine screening in the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port on August 10, 2021, and was confirmed positive for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid by Beilun CDC and Ningbo CDC on August 11. Whole-genome sequencing showed SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 ( Delta ) variant, which shared the highest homology with the virus sequence uploaded by Russia on June, 2021 ( Russia/MOW-RII-MH27356S/2021 ). The case was a bundling worker for overseas container ships, and reported communicated with foreign boatmen and contacted materials without protected interventions on the SINOKOR AKITA Container Ship between August 4 and 5, 2021. This ship anchored at Vladivostok, Russia from July 27 to 29, anchored at Ningbo Harbor on August 4, and departed on August 5. Then, 11 boatmen from this ship were tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid on August 8. One asymptomatic case was reported in this epidemic; 254 close contacts and 617 secondary close contacts were identified, and all were tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid. No new cases with SARS-CoV-2 infections were detected until August 25, 2021, and the emergency response was therefore terminated. Conclusions The infection was a sporadic COVID-19 epidemic associated with overseas countries, which was caused by Delta variant infection through contacts with foreign boatmen or materials by a bundling worker in Ningbo-Zhoushan Port; fortunately, no epidemic spread occurred. Intensified closed-loop management and increased frequency of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test among high-risk populations, and improving the precision and rapid emergency treatment of COVID-19 epidemics are required for the containment of COVID-19 at ports.

AIM: To explore the effects of prolonged sevoflurane exposure on prefrontal cortical metabolites in aged mice using a metabolomics approach. METHODS: Ten 18-month-old male C57BL/J6 mice were divided into a sevoflurane group (Sev group) and a control group (Con group) by the random number table method, with five mice in each group. Mice in the sevoflurane group were anesthetized with 3% sevoflurane and 60% oxygen for 6 h. Mice in the control group were given 60% oxygen under the same conditions for 6 h. All mice were executed immediately after the end of anesthesia or oxygenation, and fresh prefrontal cortex was taken for LC-MS/MS analysis. The data obtained were processed and analyzed using OSV2.1 software (AB SCIEX). RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the content of glutathione, arginine, coenzyme A, 1-methyl-histi-dine, L-arginino-succinate and 2-isopropylmalic acid was reduced in the prefrontal cortex of aged mice in the sevoflurane group, while the content of mesaconic acid was increased. A total of 29 metabolic pathways were involved in the differential metabolites, with significant enrichment in nine pathways including arginine biosynthesis. CONCLUSION: Significant changes in metabolites such as glutathione, arginine, and coenzyme A occurred in the prefrontal cortex of aged mice exposed to prolonged sevoflurane. The changes in these products may affect the amino acid metabolic pathway and the gluconeogenic pathway.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, it has spread rapidly throughout the country and even in the world. As a first tier city, Guangzhou is also the South Gate of China, with large population mobility and severe and complex prevention and control situation. Guangzhou CDC, together with Tencent and Alibaba Cloud, has made full use of its artificial intelligence technology to carry out a series of practices in case transmission chain analysis, close contact and other key personnel management, front-line staff prevention and control skills training and convenience services. Through the application of artificial intelligence in different scenarios, the difficulties and challenges in the prevention and control are solved, and the speed of epidemic prevention and control is increased.