BACKGROUND:Although traditional screw fixation has been successful in treating ankle fractures,rigid fixation solutions tend to restrict ankle movement and delay fracture healing,whereas elastic fixation is more compatible with human mechanics and has unique advantages in patients with ankle fractures. OBJECTIVE:To compare the clinical effectiveness of elastic fixation and absolute fixation in repairing ankle fractures in the elderly with lower tibiofibular instability. METHODS:The clinical data of 108 elderly ankle fractures with lower tibiofibular instability in Hengshui People's Hospital from August 2019 to August 2021 were retrospectively collected.They were divided into screw group and elastic fixation group(n=54 per group)according to the surgical protocol,and traditional screw internal fixation and elastic internal fixation were performed respectively.The perioperative indicators,surgical results,economic benefits,and American orthopedic foot and ankle society scores were collected and compared between the two groups.Serum tumor necrosis factor-α,interleukin-8 levels,ankle cavity width,depth,and lower tibiofibular space were compared before and after surgery. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)The full weight-bearing time was shorter in the elastic fixation group than that in the screw group;the operating angle was greater in the elastic fixation group than that in the screw group,and the complication rate was lower in the elastic fixation group than that in the screw group(P<0.05).(2)Serum tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-8 levels in the elastic fixation group were lower than those in the screw group 3 days after surgery(P<0.05).(3)American orthopedic foot and ankle society scores in the two groups were higher than those before surgery at 6 and 12 months after surgery,and the depth and width of the inferior tibiofibular space and ankle cavity were lower than those before surgery(P<0.05);but no significant difference was detected between the two groups(P>0.05).(4)There was no significant difference in the excellent and good rate between the two groups at 12 months after surgery(P>0.05).(5)There was no significant difference in the comparison of direct non-medical costs,direct medical costs,and total costs between the two groups(P>0.05).(6)It is indicated that elastic fixation for the repair of ankle fractures with lower tibiofibular instability in the elderly can obtain effective outcomes,which can shorten the time of complete weight-bearing,diminish complications,and alleviate inflammatory stress.

Laboratory testing is a vital chain in the prevention and control of genital chlamydia trachomatis infection. The prevalence of genital chlamydia trachomatis infection is high, but the detection rate of the infection is low in men who have sex with men (MSM) in China. Self-sampling for genital chlamydia trachomatis detection by MSM is a new option to address this problem, which would play a significant role in expanding genital chlamydia trachomatis infection screening in this population. This paper summarizes the progress in research of self-sampling for the detection of genital chlamydia trachomatis and the related factors in MSM both at home and abroad to provide reference for the promotion of self-sampling for the detection of genital chlamydia trachomatis in this population.

Objective To explore the predictive value of blood lipid dynamics of septic shock for the short-term prognosis.Methods A total of 107 patients with septic shock treated in Dongzhimen Hospital of Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from March 2019 to July 2023 were selected as the study subjects.They were divided into survival group(n=76)and death group(n=31)based on their 28-day outcomes.Total cholesterol(TC),triacylglycerol(TG),high density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C)and LDL cholesterol(LDL-C)concentrations were tested at disease onset(day 0),day 4±1 and day 7±1.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to analyze the predictive value of lipid dynamics on outcomes in patients with septic shock.Multivariate COX regression analysis was used to analyze factors affecting the prognosis of patients with septic shock.Result The levels of TC and HDL-C at disease onset,as well as TC,HDL-C and LDL-C on day(4±1)and day(7±1)in the survival group were higher than those in death group,and the differences were significant(Z=2.241～5.744,all P＜0.05).The areas under the curve[AUC(95％)]for the prediction of changes in HDL-C and LDL-C in the first week of admission were 0.775(95％CI:0.685～0.850)and 0.646(95％CI:0.547～0.736),with the best cutoff values of 0.16mmol/L and 0.28mmol/L,sensitivity of 70.97％and 64.52％,and specificity of 82.89％and 69.74％,respectively.Multivariate regression analysis showed that HDL-C dynamics was independently associated with poor prognosis(OR=0.141,95％CI:0.044～0.454,P=0.001).Conclusion Monitoring the dynamic changes of blood lipid at the first week of admission could help in predicting short-term outcomes in patients with septic shock.

Nitrate is the main form of inorganic nitrogen that crop absorbs, and nitrate transporter 2 (NRT2) is a high affinity transporter using nitrate as a specific substrate. When the available nitrate is limited, the high affinity transport systems are activated and play an important role in the process of nitrate absorption and transport. Most NRT2 cannot transport nitrates alone and require the assistance of a helper protein belonging to nitrate assimilation related family (NAR2) to complete the absorption or transport of nitrates. Crop nitrogen utilization efficiency is affected by environmental conditions, and there are differences between varieties, so it is of great significance to develop varieties with high nitrogen utilization efficiency. Sorghum bicolor has high stress tolerance and is more efficient in soil nitrogen uptake and utilization. The S. bicolor genome database was scanned to systematically analyze the gene structure, chromosomal localization, physicochemical properties, secondary structure and transmembrane domain, signal peptide and subcellular localization, promoter region cis-acting elements, phylogenetic evolution, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) recognition and annotation, and selection pressure of the gene family members. Through bioinformatics analysis, 5 NRT2 gene members (designated as SbNRT2-1a, SbNRT2-1b, SbNRT2-2, SbNRT2-3, and SbNRT2-4) and 2 NAR2 gene members (designated as SbNRT3-1 and SbNRT3-2) were identified, the number of which was less than that of foxtail millet. SbNRT2/3 were distributed on 3 chromosomes, and could be divided into four subfamilies. The genetic structure of the same subfamilies was highly similar. The average value of SbNRT2/3 hydrophilicity was positive, indicating that they were all hydrophobic proteins, whereas α-helix and random coil accounted for more than 70% of the total secondary structure. Subcellular localization occurred on plasma membrane, where SbNRT2 proteins did not contain signal peptides, but SbNRT3 proteins contained signal peptides. Further analysis revealed that the number of transmembrane domains of the SbNRT2s family members was greater than 10, while that of the SbNRT3s were 2. There was a close collinearity between NRT2/3s of S. bicolor and Zea mays. Protein domains analysis showed the presence of MFS_1 and NAR2 protein domains, which supported executing high affinity nitrate transport. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that SbNRT2/3 were more closely related to those of Z. mays and Setaria italic. Analysis of gene promoter cis-acting elements indicated that the promoter region of SbNRT2/3 had several plant hormones and stress response elements, which might respond to growth and environmental cues. Gene expression heat map showed that SbNRT2-3 and SbNRT3-1 were induced by nitrate in the root and stem, respectively, and SbNRT2-4 and SbNRT2-3 were induced by low nitrogen in the root and stem. Non-synonymous SNP variants were found in SbNRT2-4 and SbNRT2-1a. Selection pressure analysis showed that the SbNRT2/3 were subject to purification and selection during evolution. The expression of SbNRT2/3 gene and the effect of aphid infection were consistent with the expression analysis results of genes in different tissues, and SbNRT2-1b and SbNRT3-1 were significantly expressed in the roots of aphid lines 5-27sug, and the expression levels of SbNRT2-3, SbNRT2-4 and SbNRT3-2 were significantly reduced in sorghum aphid infested leaves. Overall, genome-wide identification, expression and DNA variation analysis of NRT2/3 gene family of Sorghum bicolor provided a basis for elucidating the high efficiency of sorghum in nitrogen utilization.
Nitrate Transporters ; Nitrates/metabolism* ; Sorghum/metabolism* ; Anion Transport Proteins/metabolism* ; Phylogeny ; Protein Sorting Signals/genetics* ; Nitrogen/metabolism* ; DNA ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Plant Proteins/metabolism*

With completing a baseline survey of a large natural population cohort, conducting regular follow-up has become a key factor in further improving the quality of cohort construction and ensuring its sustainable development. Typical cohort follow-up methods include repeat surveys, routine monitoring, and community-oriented surveillance. However, in practical applications, there are often issues such as high costs, difficulty, and high error rates. Telephone follow-up is an important supplementary method to the methods mentioned above, as it has the characteristics of low cost, fast response, and high quality. However, the with difficult organization, quality control is challenging, response rates are low, and management levels vary widely, which limits its widespread use in large-scale population cohort studies. Given the above problems, this study draws on customer relationship management based on the actual needs of the China Northwest Cohort follow-up. It relies on the REDCap electronic data collection platform to build a telephone follow-up management and quality control system. Targeted solutions are provided for key issues in telephone follow-up implementation, including organizational structure, project management, data collection, and process quality control, to improve the quality control level of telephone follow-up comprehensively and thereby enhance the quality and efficiency of follow-up. We hope to provide standardized follow-up programs and efficient quality control tools for newly established and existing cohort studies.

Background::Ubiquitination plays an essential role in many biological processes, including viral infection, and can be reversed by deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs). Although some studies discovered that DUBs inhibit or enhance viral infection by various mechanisms, there is lack of information on the role of DUBs in virus regulation, which needs to be further investigated.Methods::Immunoblotting, real-time polymerase chain reaction, in vivo/ in vitro deubiquitination, protein immunoprecipitation, immunofluorescence, and co-localization biological techniques were employed to examine the effect of ubiquitin-specific protease 3 (USP3) on APOBEC3G (A3G) stability and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication. To analyse the relationship between USP3 and HIV disease progression, we recruited 20 HIV-infected patients to detect the levels of USP3 and A3G in peripheral blood and analysed their correlation with CD4 + T-cell counts. Correlation was estimated by Pearson correlation coefficients (for parametric data). Results::The results demonstrated that USP3 specifically inhibits HIV-1 replication in an A3G-dependent manner. Further investigation found that USP3 stabilized 90% to 95% of A3G expression by deubiquitinating Vif-mediated polyubiquitination and blocking its degradation in an enzyme-dependent manner. It also enhances the A3G messenger RNA (mRNA) level by binding to A3G mRNA and stabilizing it in an enzyme-independent manner. Moreover, USP3 expression was positively correlated with A3G expression ( r= 0.5110) and CD4 + T-cell counts ( r= 0.5083) in HIV-1-infected patients. Conclusions::USP3 restricts HIV-1 viral infections by increasing the expression of the antiviral factor A3G. Therefore, USP3 may be an important target for drug development and serve as a novel therapeutic strategy against viral infections.

Objective:To understand the prevalence of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) infection and related factors in outpatients of sexually transmitted disease (STD) in Shenzhen and provide scientific evidence for targeted intervention. Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted in STD outpatients who were aged 18-49 years, had had sexual intercourse, had not received antibiotics in the last 2 weeks and sought medical cares in 22 medical institutions in 6 districts of Shenzhen from 15 April, 2018 to 16 May, 2018, their basic information and urine samples were collected, and NG in urine sample was detected by nucleic acid amplification test. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify the related factors for NG infection.Results:The information collection and sample collection were completed for 8 324 STD outpatients, among these STD outpatients, 196 were NG positive, with a positive rate of 2.4% (196/8 324). The positive rate of NG in men (5.8%, 148/2 567) was higher than that in women (0.8%, 47/5 742) ( χ2=189.43, P<0.05). Aged 24 years or below ( OR=2.11, 95% CI: 1.44-3.09), single/divorced/widowed ( OR=1.98, 95% CI:1.38-2.84), having casual sex in the last 3 months ( OR=1.77, 95% CI:1.29-2.43) were the related factors for NG infection. Conclusions:We found that NG infection rate was high in STD outpatients in Shenzhen. The infection rates in men and in women differed obviously. It is necessary to conduct gonorrhea screening and intervention in STD outpatients with high-risk behaviors, such as extramarital and casual sex behaviors, and standardize the treatment to reduce the incidence and spread of gonorrhea and other STDs.

The aim of the work is to improve the synthetic process of dexrabeprazole sodium,enhance quality and yield of the product,simplify synthetic steps,and offer a stable and feasible process. Starting from 2-[[[4-(3-methoxypropoxy)-3-methylpyridine-2-yl]methyl]thio]-1 H-benzimidazole,dexrabeprazole was produced by asym-metric oxidation reaction with oxidant cumene hydroperoxide in the presence of chiral catalyst tetraisopropyl titan-ate and L-(+)-tartaric acid diethyl ester. Dexrabeprazole sodium was obtained by the reaction of purified dexrabeprazole with sodium hydroxide in a total yield of 79%with an HPLC purity of ＞99. 5%. The structure of dexrabeprazole sodium was confirmed by NMR,IR,elemental analysis and LC-MS. The improved process of dexrabeprazole sodium possesses simple operations,good yield and high purity,which is feasible for industrializa-tion.

Objective To evaluate the effect of melatonin pretreament on cell apoptosis and autophagy during lung ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) in rats.Methods Thirty-six adult male Sprague-Dawley rats,weighing 230-280 g,were divided into 3 groups (n=12 each) using a random number table method:sham operation group (group Sham),pulmonary I/R group (LIR group) and melatonin pretreatment group (MLT group).Lung I/R injury model was established by clamping the left hilum of lung for 60 min followed by 2 h reperfusion in LIR and MLT groups.Melatonin 1 mg/100 g was intraperitoneally injected at 15 min before clamping the left hilum of lung in group MLT.The rats were sacrificed at the end of reperfusion,the left lung was lavaged and the broncho-alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was colleted for determination of protein concentrations.Lungs were removed for microscopic examination of the pathological changes (with a light microscope) which were scored and for determination of wet to dry weight ratio (W/D ratio),cell apoptosis (by TUNEL) and expression of Bcl-2,Bax,microtubule-related protein 1 light chain 3B Ⅰ (LC3B Ⅰ),LC3B Ⅱ,Beclin-1 and phosphorylated mammal rapamycin target protein receptor (p-mTOR) (using Western blot).The apoptosis index,Bcl-2/Bax ratio and LC3B Ⅱ/LC3B Ⅰ ratio were calculated.Results Compared with Sham group,the protein concentration in BALF,W/D ratio of lung tissues,apoptosis index,LC3B Ⅱ/LC3B Ⅰ ratio and Beclin-1 expression were significantly increased,and Bcl-2/Bax ratio and p-mTOR expression were decreased in LIR and MLT groups (P＜0.05).Compared with LIR group,the protein concentration in BALF,W/D ratio of lung tissues,apoptosis index,LC3B Ⅱ/LC3B Ⅰ ratio and Beclin-1 expression were significantly decreased,and Bcl-2/Bax ratio and p-mTOR expression were increased in MLT group (P＜0.05).Conclusion The mechanism by which melatonin pretreatment mitigates lung I/R injury may be related to inhibiting cell apoptosis and autophagy in rats.

Objective To compare the initial detection rate and the accuracy of qualitative diagnosis of multislice spiral computed tomography (MSCT),gastrointestinal tract radiography,gastroscopy,and endoscopic ultrasonography in the diagnosis of gastric lipoma,with a focus on evaluating the diagnostic value of MSCT.Methods Twenty-six patients with gastric lipoma,6 males and 20 females with a mean age of 61 years (ranging from 41 to 82 years) and confirmed by pathology,were enrolled in the present study.Their clinical,pathologic and imaging findings were retrospectively analyzed.All the patients underwent gastroscopy,and plain and dynamic enhanced MDCT scans.Of them 21 cases underwent endoscopic ultrasonography and 12 cases gastrointestinal tract radiography.Results The detection rate was 88.5％(23/26) and 80.8％(21/26),P＞0.05 for MSCT and gastroscopy,respectively,in the initial diagnosis of gastric lipomas,both higher than that of gastrointestinal tract radiography (41.7％,5/12).The accuracy of qualitative diagnosis of MSCT (100％,23/23) was higher than that of endoscopic ultrasonography (71.4％,15/21),gastrointestinal tract radiography (0％,0/5) and gastroscopy (0％,0/21).The lesions located at the gastric antrum in 18 cases (69.2％,including 10 front wall,6 posterior wall and 2 pyloric canal),the gastric body in 7 cases (26.9％) and the gastric fundus in 1 case (3.8％).All the lipomas presented as round or ovoid nodule with clear boundary on MSCT images,and homogeneous or mixed low density.The CT values,long dimensions and volumes ranged from-50 to-95Hu (mean-72.58Hu),5.7 to 40.7mm (mean 17.67mm) and 0.02 to 7.03cm3 (mean 1.89cm3),respectively.Contrast-enhanced CT scans showed no enhancement in all the lesions.Conclusion MSCT can make accurate locating and qualitative diagnosis for gastric lipomas.