OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on the intestinal flora in rats with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and explore its possible mechanism based on the gut-lung axis theory. METHODS: A total of 30 male SD rats of SPF grade were randomly divided into a normal control (NC) group, a model group and an EA group, 10 rats in each one. In the model group and the EA group, COPD model was established by intratracheal instillation of lipopolysaccharide combined with cigarette fumigation. In the EA group, EA was applied at bilateral "Feishu" (BL13) and "Zusanli" (ST36), with disperse-dense waves, in frequency of 4 Hz/20 Hz, current of 1-3 mA, 20 min a time, once a day for 14 days continuously. Before and after modeling, as well as after intervention, body weight was observed; after intervention, the lung function indexes (forced expiratory volume in 0.1 second [FEV_0.1], FEV_0.1/forced vital capacity [FVC]%, forced expiratory volume in 0.3 second [FEV_0.3] and FEV_0.3/FVC%) were measured, serum levels of inflammatory factors (tumor necrosis factor-α[TNF-α], interleukin-6[IL-6], interleukin-1β[IL-1β] and interleukin-10[IL-10]) were detected by ELISA, histopathology of lung and colon tissues was observed by HE staining, the intestinal flora were analyzed by 16S rRNA, and the correlations between lung function and intestinal flora were analyzed. RESULTS: Compared with the NC group, in the COPD group, the body weight and lung function indexes were reduced (P<0.01); the lung and colon tissues were damaged, the mean linear intercept (MLI) of alveolus and inflammatory cell numbers of 100 μm² in lung tissue were increased (P<0.01); the serum levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β were increased (P<0.01, P<0.05), and the serum level of IL-10 was decreased (P<0.01); α-diversity indexes of intestinal flora were increased (P<0.01); the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria and Oscillospira, Bacteroides, Coprococcus was increased (P<0.01), the relative abundance of Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Tenericutes, TM7 and Lactobacillus, Allobaculum, Bifidobacterium, YRC22 was decreased (P<0.01, P<0.05); 31 different expressed metabolic pathways were identified between the two groups. Compared with the COPD group, in the EA group, the body weight and lung function indexes were increased (P<0.01); the damage of lung and colon tissues was improved, the MLI of alveolus was decreased (P<0.05); the serum levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β were decreased (P<0.05), and the serum level of IL-10 was increased (P<0.05); α-diversity indexes of intestinal flora were decreased (P<0.01); the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria and Oscillospira, Bacteroides, Coprococcus was decreased (P<0.01, P<0.05), the relative abundance of Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Tenericutes, TM7 and Lactobacillus, Allobaculum, Bifidobacterium, YRC22 was increased (P<0.01); 35 different expressed metabolic pathways were identified between the two groups. The lung function was positive related with Actinobacteria, Tenericutes, TM7 and YRC22, and was negative related with Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria and Oscillospira, Bacteroides, Coprococcus. CONCLUSION EA may ameliorate lung function and tissue injury of COPD by regulating intestinal flora dysbiosis and inflammatory response, suggesting an anti-inflammatory effect mediated via "gut-lung" axis.
Animals ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/genetics* ; Male ; Electroacupuncture ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Lung/metabolism* ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Humans ; Interleukin-6/immunology* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/immunology* ; Intestines/microbiology* ; Interleukin-10/immunology*

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the role of nucleolar pre-rRNA processing protein NIP7 (NIP7) in maintaining the malignant phenotype of anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) and its molecular mechanisms. METHODS: NIP7 expression in ATC tissues and its gene knock-out effects in ATC cells were analyzed using gene expression microarray (GSE33630), proteome database (IPX0008941000) and the Dependency Map database, respectively. Expression and localization of NIP7 in normal thyroid cells, papillary thyroid cancer cells, and ATC cells were detected by Western blotting. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) was transfected into ATC cells, and the knockdown efficiency of NIP7 was detected by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting. Cell proliferation was assessed by CCK-8 assay, colony formation was evaluated by colony formation assay, and tumor growth was assessed by xenograft tumor model in nude mice. SUnSET (surface sensing of translation) assay combined with co-immunoprecipitation were employed to evaluate the effect of NIP7 silencing on ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 C (UBE2C) translation. Finally, gene set enrichment analysis was used to identify shared pathways of NIP7 and UBE2C, which were validated by qRT-PCR. RESULTS: Compared with normal tissues and papillary thyroid cancer, NIP7 was significantly upregulated in ATC tissues, and had a gene knock-out fitness effect on different ATC cell lines. The relative protein levels of NIP7 in ATC cells were significantly higher than those in normal thyroid follicular cells, and the protein was mainly expressed in the nucleus. NIP7 silencing significantly inhibited cell proliferation and reduced colony formation. Xenograft tumor model showed that NIP7 knockdown significantly slowed down the growth of ATC xenograft, and the tumor volume and weight were significantly lower than those in the control group (all P<0.05). NIP7 silencing downregulated the protein level of UBE2C, but did not affect the expression of UBE2C mRNA. Compared to the control group, UBE2C silencing significantly inhibited ATC cells proliferation (P<0.01) and colony formation (P<0.05). UBE2C overexpression reversed the proliferation-inhibitory effect induced by NIP7 silencing (P<0.01). Gene set enrichment analysis indicated that NIP7 and UBE2C were both involved in DNA replication. NIP7 or UBE2C silencing could significantly downregulate the expression levels of DNA polymerase epsilon, catalytic subunit 2 and replication factor C4 in DNA replication pathway. CONCLUSIONS NIP7 promotes ATC tumor growth by upregulating UBE2C to mediate DNA replication.
Humans ; Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzymes/genetics* ; Thyroid Neoplasms/genetics* ; Thyroid Carcinoma, Anaplastic/genetics* ; Animals ; Mice, Nude ; Mice ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Up-Regulation ; RNA, Small Interfering/genetics* ; Nuclear Proteins/metabolism* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic

Excavating the quantitative trait locus (QTL) associated with rice cooking quality, analyzing candidate genes, and improving cooking quality-associated traits of rice varieties by genetic breeding can effectively improve the taste of rice. In this study, we used the indica rice HZ, the japonica rice Nekken2 and 120 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) populations constructed from them as experimental materials to measure the gelatinization temperature (GT), gel consistency (GC) and amylose content (AC) of rice at the maturity stage. We combined the high-density genetic map for QTL mapping. A total of 26 QTLs associated with rice cooking quality (1 QTL associated with GT, 13 QTLs associated with GC, and 12 QTLs associated with AC) were detected, among which the highest likelihood of odd (LOD) value reached 30.24. The expression levels of candidate genes in the localization interval were analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and it was found that the expression levels of six genes were significantly different from that in parents. It was speculated that the high expression of LOC_Os04g20270 and LOC_Os11g40100 may greatly increase the GC of rice, while the high expression of LOC_Os01g04920 and LOC_Os02g17500 and the low expression of LOC_Os03g02650 and LOC_Os05g25840 may reduce the AC. The results lay a molecular foundation for the cultivation of new high-quality rice varieties, and provide important genetic resources for revealing the molecular regulation mechanism of rice cooking quality.
Quantitative Trait Loci ; Oryza/genetics* ; Plant Breeding ; Cooking ; Genetic Association Studies

BACKGROUND:With the further development of minimally invasive concepts,unicompartmental knee arthroplasty has become an important treatment for osteoarthritis of the knee;however,early postoperative pain adversely affects the recovery process,so effective analgesic measures are necessary.Femoral nerve block and cocktail therapy are common analgesic methods for unicompartmental knee arthroplasty,but there is a lack of studies confirming the analgesic effect and safety of their combined application. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the analgesic effect of cocktail therapy combined with femoral nerve block in unicompartmental knee arthroplasty. METHODS:One hundred patients who received unicompartmental knee arthroplasty from October 2021 to January 2023 were selected as the study subjects.They were divided into a control group(n=50)and a study group(n=50)using a random number table method.The femoral nerve block was used in the control group,while cocktail therapy combined with femoral nerve block was used in the study group during unicompartmental knee arthroplasty.Postoperative analgesia effect,analgesic frequency of dezocine injection within 2 days after surgery,motion range of affected knee joint,KSS function scores,and the occurrence of postoperative adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Visual analog scale scores in the study group were lower than those in the control group at 12,24,and 48 hours after surgery(P<0.05).(2)The analgesic frequency of dezocine in the study group was less than that in the control group within 2 days after surgery(P<0.05).(3)The motion range in the study group was higher than that in the control group 1 and 3 days after surgery(P<0.05).On day 14 after surgery,there was no significant difference in motion range between the two groups(P>0.05).(4)The knee KSS score in the study group was higher than that in the control group at 2 weeks after surgery(P<0.05).There was no statistically significant difference in knee KSS scores between the two groups from 6 weeks to 6 months after surgery(P>0.05).(5)The difference in the occurrence of adverse reactions within 14 days after surgery was not significant between the two groups(P>0.05).(6)These results show that the use of cocktail therapy combined with femoral nerve block in unicompartmental knee arthroplasty can effectively reduce postoperative pain,improve the analgesic effect,reduce the frequency of analgesic drugs,and improve motion range of the early affected knee joint of patients.

Objective:To explore the practice-orientated connotation from the perspective of nursing managers, and provide a reference for the construction of practice-oriented nurse professional title promotion evaluation system.Methods:From January to April 2022, a total of 12 nursing managers from 4 Grade A hospitals in Jiangsu Province were selected by purpose sampling method. The semi-structured interview method was used to interview nursing managers. The data was sorted and analyzed by content analysis method.Results:A total 4 themes were extracted: technical ability (nursing workload, nursing technical difficulty) , quality and safety (patient health outcomes, satisfaction management) , resource utilization (nursing service cost) , contribution.Conclusions:Nursing managers' evaluation of practice-oriented connotation covers several topics, however some indexes are still dominated by subjective evaluation. A scientifically quantifiable practice-oriented nurse professional title promotion evaluation system should be constructed with the help of information technology.

The clinical data of patients with chlamydia psitsiti pneumonia confirmed by metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) who were admitted to the Huizhou Municipal Central Hospital from January 2020 to November 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. Among 21 patients, the serum creatine kinase (CK) was elevated in 10 cases, and 5 cases was complicated with rhabdomyolysis (RM). The symptoms of patients with Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia-induced RM were severe, including high fever, dyspnoea, headache and myalgia; 2 case were complicated by acute kidney injury (AKI) and neurological symptoms. Laboratory testing showed a marked increase in CK, myoglobin (Mb), high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and D-dimer levels in all 5 patients. The chest CT revealed large areas of pulmonary consolidation, ground-glass opacity in 1 case and a small amount of pleural effusion in 2 cases. One patient died from multiple organ failure, and the other 4 patients were discharged with considerable improvement. Patients with psittacosis pneumonia are prone to developing rhabdomyolysis, early detection and early treatment can effectively improve the prognosis of patients.

Objective To compare the effect of mediastinal lymph node dissection by video -assisted thora-coscopic surgery (VATS)with thoracotomy in the treatment of lung cancer.Methods 96 patients with non -small cell lung cancer were collected.Patients undergoing VATS were matched with those undergoing thoracotomy in terms of gender,age,clinical tumor stage,tumor location and surgical procedure.Results After matching,48 patients in VATS group and 48 patients in open group were eligible for analysis.In the VATS and open groups,the mean total numbers of dissected lymph nodes were (27.2 ±7.4)and (28.8 ±10.6)(P =0.507),the numbers of N1 nodes were (9.4 ±4.0)and (8.3 ±4.6)(P =0.323).And the number of N2 nodes was similar between the VATS and open group [(18.5 ±6.9)vs (21.3 ±9.9),P =0.201].No significant differences were observed between the two groups(all P >0.05 ).But the days of the postoperation and the chest tube indwelling in thoracotomy group were (8.1 ±3.9)and (7.3 ±4.4)days,which in the VATS group were (6.8 ±3.5)and (5.6 ±3.5),the VATS group had more advantages than the thoracotomy group(P <0.05).The intraoperative blood loss more than 400mL and peri-operative blood transfusion rate of the thoracotomy group were 27.38% and 25.00%,those of the VATS group were 7.03% and 8.60% respectively,which in thoracotomy group were higher than the VATS group.Conclusion Under-go our retrospective study,after mature VATS to treat lung cancer,with regard to the number of the dissected lymph nodes,VATS lobectomy can achieve complete mediastinal lymph node dissection compared with the traditional approach.There are more advantages by VATS in the complications.

Objective To investigate the distribution of blaOXA-51-like genes and the clonal relation-ship among Acinetobacter baumannii strains isolated from three teaching hospitals in Guangzhou , China. Methods Fifty-two Acinetobacter baumannii isolates were genotyped by multilocus sequence typing (MLST).eBURST algorithm was performed to define clonal complexes (CCs).blaOXA-51-like genes were am-plified by using polymerase chain reaction ( PCR) and sequenced .Results MLST grouped the A.bauman-nii isolates into 5 existing sequence types (STs) and 7 new STs.STn4 carried allele G1 with a T→C muta-tion at the 3rd nucleotide site (nt3) on the gpi111 locus.STn5 carried allele A1, possessing A→C muta-tions at nt156 and nt159 on the gltA1 locus.ST195 and ST208 accounted for 69.2%of all isolates.Clonal relationship analysis showed that ST 195 and ST208 belonged to CC92.Fifty-one A.baumannii isolates car-ried OXA-66 and the rest one carried OXA-199.Conclusion A.baumannii strains that belonged to CC92 and carried OXA-66 were the predominant genotype circulating in Guangzhou , China.