Objective To investigate the geographical distribution and seasonal fluctuations of visceral leishmaniasis vectors sandflies in Henan Province in 2023, so as to provide insights into the prevention and control of visceral leishmaniasis vectors. Methods A total of 23 counties (districts) were sampled from 18 cities of Henan Province from May to September, 2023 as sandfly surveillance sites, and sandflies were captured using human capture and light trapping methods. Following morphological identification, the changes in the sandfly density were calculated at different months and in different breeding habitats. Results A total of 406 light traps were set at sandfly surveillance sites in Henan Province from May to September, 2023, and a total of 3 137 female sandlies were captured, with an average density of 7.73 sandlies/(light·night). A total of 1 494 Phlebotomus chinensis sandflies were captured, including 1 222 female sandflies, with an average density of 3.01 sandflies/(light·night), and the highest density of P. chinensis was found in Gongyi City [17.00 sandflies/(light·night)]. A total of 5 544 sandflies were captured using the human capture method, including 230 P. chinensis, and the density of P. chinensis appeared a unimodal distribution, with a peak in early July [5.81 sandflies/(light·night)]. Among different breeding habitats, the highest P. chinensis density was detected in pigpens [4.50 sandflies/(light·night)]. Conclusions P. chinensis was predominantly distributed in hilly areas of northern and central-western Henan Province in 2023, and the sandfly density appeared a unimodal distribution. Intensified monitoring of visceral leishmaniasis vectors is recommended.

Objective To characterize the species of common sandflies in Henan Province using DNA barcoding with cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene as the molecular marker, and to analyze the genetic polymorphisms of sandflies, so as to provide insights into visceral leishmaniasis prevention and control in Henan Province. Methods Sandfly specimens were sampled from 13 sandflies surveillance sites from 2021 to 2023 in Anyang City, Zhengzhou, Luoyang and Xuchang cities (Zhengzhou-Luoyang-Xuchang areas) where visceral leishmaniasis cases were reported and in Jiaozuo and Xinxiang cities (Jiaozuo-Xinxiang areas) without visceral leishmaniasis cases reported. Genomic DNA was extracted from a single sandfly, and COI gene was amplified. The amplification product was subjected to bidirectional sequencing. Following sequence assembly, the species of sandflies was characterized through sequence alignment using the BLAST tool. The intra-specific and inter-specific genetic distances of sandflies were estimated among different areas using the software Mega 11, and phylogenetic trees were created. The polymorphisms of nucleotide sequences in the sandflies COI gene were estimated using the software DnaSP. The fixation index (F_ST) of different geographical isolates of sandflies was calculated using the Arlequin software, and the gene flow value (Nm) was used to measure the gene flow in the sandflies populations. In addition, the population genetic structure of different geographical populations of Phlebotomus chinensis was analyzed using the STRUCTURE software. Results A total of 978 sandflies were collected from 13 sandflies surveillance sites in Zhengzhou-Luoyang-Xuchang areas, Jiaozuo-Xinxiang areas and Anyang City of Henan Province from 2021 to 2023, and 475 sandflies were randomly sampled for subsequent detections. A total of 304 Ph. chinensis, 162 Se. squamirostris and 9 Se. bailyi were identified based on molecular biological detection of the COI gene, and Se. bailyi was reported for the first time in Henan Province. The intraspecific genetic distances of sandflies were 0.000 to 0.040, and the inter-specific genetic distances ranged from 0.133 to 0.161. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that each of the three sandfly species was clustered into a clade. The genetic polymorphisms of Ph. chinensis populations varied among different areas, with the highest haplotype diversity (0.966 ± 0.007) and the greatest nucleotide diversity (0.011) in Zhengzhou-Luoyang-Xuchang areas, and the lowest haplotype diversity (0.720 ± 0.091) and nucleotide diversity (0.004) in Anyang City. The dominant haplotype of Ph. chinensis populations was Pch_Hap_2 in Anyang City and Jiaozuo-Xinxiang areas, with moderate genetic differentiation (0.05 < F_ST < 0.15) and frequent gene exchange (Nm value > 1) between Ph. chinensis populations sampled from Anyang City, and Jiaozuo-Xinxiang areas. Population genetic structure analysis showed that the dominant component of Ph. chinensis populations was K5 in Anyang City and Jiaozuo-Xinxiang areas. No obvious dominant haplotype was observed in Ph. chinensis populations sampled from Zhengzhou-Luoyang-Xuchang areas, which had very high genetic differentiation (F_ST > 0.25) and little gene exchange (Nm value < 1) with Ph. chinensis populations from Anyang City, and Jiaozuo-Xinxiang areas, with K3 as the dominant component. In addition, there was no significant difference in the genetic polymorphism level among Se. squamirostris populations from the three areas. Conclusions There are Ph. chinensis, Se. squamirostris and Se. bailyi in Henan Province, and S. bailyi is recorded for the first time in Henan Province by molecular biological assays. There are different levels of genetic differentiation and gene exchange among P. chinensis populations in different areas of Henan Province.

Objective To investigate the prevalence of canine Leishmania infections in villages endemic for visceral leishmaniasis in Xin’an County, Luoyang City, so as to provide insights into visceral leishmaniasis prevention and control. Methods All dogs were captured from Huzhanggou Village, Xin’an County, Luoyang City in August 2020, where local cases with visceral leishmaniasis lived. The basic characteristics of dogs were collected, and venous blood was collected via the ear or neck veins of dogs. The serum anti-Leishmania antibody was detected using the rk39 immunochromatographic test and Leishmania nucleic acid was detected using PCR assay, and the prevalence of Leishmania infection was estimated in dogs. Results A total of 133 domestic dogs were captured from Huzhanggou Village, with a median age of 18.0 (28.5) months. The sero-prevalence of anti-Leishmania antibody was 24.81% (33/133) and the prevalence of a positive PCR assay was 14.29% (19/133) in dogs. The median ages of Leishmania-infected and uninfected dogs were 24.0 (36.0) months and 12.0 (18.0) months, respectively (U = 872.000, P = 0.000), and the prevalence of Leishmania infection was 55.56% (5/9) in “mangy dogs” and 24.19% (30/124) in asymptomatic dogs (χ² = 2.793, P = 0.095). Conclusions There are a large number of asymptomatic dogs with Leishmania infections in Xin’an County, Luoyang City, with a high transmission risk of visceral leishmaniasis. Timely prevention and control measures are required to control the spread of visceral leishmaniasis.

Background Prolonged awkward postures during occupational activities can lead to excessive musculoskeletal load on the wrist of workers and symptoms such as wrist pain or discomfort. Objective To survey the prevalence of wrist pain among workers in 10 key industries and analyze its correlation with wrist working postures. Methods By using stratified cluster sampling method, workers from 10 key industries, such as footwear manufacturing industry, shipbuilding manufacturing industry, and automobile manufacturing industry, were selected from seven regions in North China, East China, Central China, South China, Southwest China, Northwest China, and Northeast China. The demographic information, wrist working postures, pain in wrist of the workers were collected through a cross-sectional survey. Pearson χ² test was used to compare prevalence by selected factors, trend χ² test for between group comparison, and unconditional logistic regression models for the association of wrist working postures with wrist pain. Results There were 64052 workers enrolled in this survey, and 56286 provided valid questionnaires (the effective rate was 87.8%). According to the survey, the prevalence of wrist pain was 23.3% (13112/56286), and the industries with higher prevalences were footwear manufacturing (27.1%, 1927/7106), automobile manufacturing (24.9%, 5378/21560), and shipbuilding and related equipment manufacturing (24.4%, 850/3488) industries. Finger pinching (OR=2.09, 95%CI: 1.95-2.24), frequent wrist bending (OR=2.03, 95%CI: 1.92-2.15), fixed wrist bending (OR=1.77, 95%CI: 1.69-1.85), wrist on hard edge (OR=1.34, 95%CI: 1.28-1.40), and arms over shoulders (OR=1.11, 95%CI: 1.05-1.17) increased the risk of reporting wrist pain. Conclusion Awkward postures are related to wrist pain among workers in selected 10 key industries. The related factors are wrist on hard edge, frequent wrist bending, finger pinching, fixed wrist bending, and arms over shoulders.

Objective: To analyze the antimicrobial resistance and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) results of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBLs)-producing Escherichia coli in rural residents in villages with pig breeding farms in a county of Shandong province. Methods: Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed with agar dilution method by using 360 ESBLs-producing E. coli strains from fresh stool samples of rural residents in villages with pig breeding farms in a county of Shandong. PCR was conducted to amplify the CTX-M, TEM, SHV genes and capillary electrophoresis was used to screen positive strains in July, 2016. MLST was performed for molecular typing analysis, and eBURST v3.0 software was used for cluster analysis. Results: Among 360 strains of ESBLs-producing E. coli, the resistance rates to cefotaxime, tetracycline, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and florfenicol were 100.0% (360/360), 82.2% (296/360), 81.1% (292/360) and 80.3% (289/360), respectively. The positive rate of CTX-M gene was 99.2% (357/360), in which the positive rate of CTX-M-9 was 35.6% (128/360) and the positive rate of CTX-M-1 was 24.4% (88/360). The positive rate of TEM gene was 26.9% (97/360). A total of 132 STs were identified through MLST. The predominant ST was ST10, accounting for 12.5% (45/360). Cluster analysis showed that CC10 was the most important clone group, including 39 ST clones, involving 148 strains (41.1%). Conclusions The drug resistances of ESBLs-producing E. coli to cefotaxime, tetracycline, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and flurfenicol are serious in this rural area. There is a small-scale clustering of CC10 and transmission mode from animals to humans might exist.

Objective: To analyze the association of cytogenetic abnormalities with the prognosis of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients in tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) era. Methods: Karyotype analysis of chromosome G-banding was carried out in 387 newly diagnosed CML patients by short-term culture of bone marrow cells. The correlation of cytogenetic abnormalities and CML progression was explored in combination with ABL tyrosine point mutations. Result: Of 387 patients with positive BCR-ABL fusion gene assayed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique, 94.1% (364/387) patients were Ph positive and 5.9% (23/387) Ph negative; 320 patients (87.9%) had a translocation t (9;22) (q34;q11) and 5 (1.4%) a variant translocation t (v;22) . Additional cytogenetic aberrations (ACA) at diagnosis were found in 10.7% (39/387) Ph⁺ patients, major route ACA in 22 (56.4%) cases and minor route ACA in 15 (38.5%) cases and 2 patients (5.1%) lacked the Y chromosome (−Y) ; 23.4% (71/303) patients occurred ACA during TKI treatment and the most frequent abnormalities were abnormal chromosome numbersd, which were likely associated with high proportion of disease progression (χ²=168.21, P<0.001) and ABL tyrosine point mutations (χ²=29.04, P<0.001) . Newly diagnosed CML-CP patients with t (9;22) (q34;q11) had a longer event-free survival (EFS) and disease-free survival (DFS) rates than that of patients with ACA (P=0.037; P=0.003) , while the overall survival (OS) had no significant differences (P=0.209) . As for CML-CP patients that occurred ACA during TKI therapy would have a marked low OS, EFS and DFS (all P<0.001) compared with no ACA occurred patients. Survival of advanced patients that occurred ACA were dramatically reduced. Conclusion ACA often emerged during the disease progress in CML patients, regular and timely detection of chromosomes karyotype and ABL tyrosine point mutations during TKI treatment was important for therapeutic evaluation, progress and prognosis of CML.

Objective To study the gene expressions of nestin and stem cell factor(SCF)in neurons after ischemia-reperfusion injury in rat brain. Methods Thirty-six adult female rats were subject to left middle cerebral artery occlusion for 1.5h and different hours of reperfusion. In site hybridization was used to examine the expression of nestin and SCF mRNA in the rats subjected to 2h, 6h, 12h, 24h, 2d, 3d, 7d, 14d of reperfusion and sham-operation group (n=4). Results (1) Nestin expression in cortex, striatum and extraventricular zone was weak in the sham-operation group, and increased markedly in the ischemic hemisphere compared with sham-operation group except of reperfusion 2h in cortex, 2h, 6h in striatum, 2h, 6h and 14d in extraventricular zone. (2)SCF expression in cortex, striatum and extraventricular zone was weak in the sham-operation group, and increased markedly in the ischemic hemisphere compared with sham-operation group except of reperfusion 2h, 6h, 12h in cortex, 2h, 6h in striatum, 2h and 14d in extraventricular zone. Conclusion It is suggested that SCF expression might enhance the proliferation of neural stem cells following ischemia-reperfusion in rats.

Objective To observe the effects of expressions of neurocyte adhesion molecule (NCAM) and growth associated protein-43 (GAP-43) in neurological function recovery following cerebral ischemia-reperfusion in rats. Methods The model of focal ischemia-reperfusion in SD rat was induced by intraluminal middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion with a nylon monofilament suture. In situ hybridization (ISH) was performed to examine the expression of NCAM mRNA and GAP-43 mRNA at 2,12 h and 1,2,3,7,14 d after reperfusion and in sham-operated controls. Results There was no functional deficit and little expression of NCAM mRNA and GAP-43 mRNA in brain cells in rats of the sham-operated group. In the experimental group, NCAM mRNA expression was observed after reperfusion for 2 h in cortex and striatum and peaked at 12 h and was still higher at 7 d. The neurological function improved at reperfusion of 3 d~14 d compared to reperfusion 2 h. In the ischemic cortex and striatum, GAP-43 mRNA expression demonstrated "double-peak" at 12 h and 2 d after reperfusion, then decreased gradually to the level of sham-operated group at 14 d. Conclusion The increasing NCAM expression might be an important factor of the neural reparation and GAP-43 might enhance the neurological functional recovery with ischemic brain injury in rat.

Objective To investigate the changes of blood and urine endothelin levels in the aged patients with primary nephrotic syndrome(PNS) and their clinical significance. Methods The levels of blood and urine endothelin were measured by radioimmunoassay at different stages(active and alleviated stages) in 40 elderly and 40 non elderly patients with PNS and 40 elderly healthy controls(control group). The levels of endothelin in blood and urine of the aged patients with PNS, and serum creatinine(Scr), endogenous creatinine clearance rate(Ccr), 24 hour urinary protein and urinary retinal binding protein(uRBP) were determined. Results The contents of endothelin in blood and urine of the aged PNS patients in the active stage were (229?81) ng/L and (143?58)ng/24 h,which were apparently higher than those in the alleviated stage 〔(60?11) ng/L, (53?13)ng/24 h〕 and the healthy control group〔(53?9) ng/L, (50?14 ng)/24 h, P 0 05). Conclusions Endothelin may be involved in the pathogenesis of the aged PNS. The increased urine endothelin level may be an important factor in glomerulus and tubular damage in the elderly PNS patients.

Objective To investigate a water contamination accident caused by industrial wastewater during Feb 27th-29th ,2004,in Tuojiang river, analyze the variation of sanitary quality of drinking water during and after the accident. Methods After the occurrence of the accident,consecutive surveillance and analyses were done to discover the variation of the levels of amino-nitrogen,nitrite and nitrate in source water and finished water of Jianyang Water Works and Neijiang No 2 Water Works,which located at the lower reaches of Jianyang. Results The levels of amino-nitrogen in source water and finished water of Jianyang Water Works reached the first peak [(47.04?2.48)?(45.97?2.37)mg/L]at the 3rd day(March 3rd) after the end of discharge of industrial wastewater from contamination source,decreased at the 4th day ,reached the second peak at the 5th day[(42.26?2.88)?(39.50?2.64)mg/L], then decreased gradually, presented the normal levels at the 11th day[(0.54?0.10)?(0.30?0.12)mg/L]. The levels of nitrite in source water and finished water of Jianyang Water Works reached the first peak [(2.09?0.23)?(0.91?0.15)mg/L] at the 2 nd-3rd day after the end of discharge of industrial wastewater from contamination source,decreased at the 4th day ,reached the second peak at the 5th day[(2.18?0.33),(0.61?0.16)mg/L], then decreased gradually,presented the normal levels at the 11th day[(0.16?0.07)?(0.02?0.01)mg/L]. The levels of nitrate in source water and finished water of Jianyang Water Works(3.56～9.15 mg/L) didn't exceed the standard ruled the Sanitary Standard for Drinking Water (2001) throughout the duration of accident. The levels of amino-nitrogen and nitrite in source water and finished water of Neijiang No.2 Water Works both exceeded the related standards, the levels of nitrate met the requirement of the Sanitary Standard for Drinking Water (2001) during the period from the first day to the third day after the end of discharge of industrial wastewater from contamination source. From the forth day to the 25 th day, Neijiang No.2 Water Works was changed to be supplied by the Five-star reservoir,and produced safe and sanitary finished water meeting the requirement of the Sanitary Standard for Drinking Water (2001). Conclusion This wastewater contamination accident seriously deteriorates the quality of drinking water in Jianyang and Neijiang.