Lung transplantation is currently the only recognized effective treatment for end-stage lung disease and has improved the quality of life for patients. However, lung transplantation still faces many challenges, including rejection, infection, post-transplant acute kidney injury, post-transplant diabetes mellitus, ischemia-reperfusion injury and donor shortage, etc. Chinese lung transplantation scholars made a series of important progress in the field of clinical research in 2024, focusing on the study and solution of the above problems, and providing new ideas for lung transplantation surgery. This article systematically reviews the clinical research and technological innovation in the field of lung transplantation in 2024, summarizes the achievements of clinical research in the field of lung transplantation in China in 2024, and aims to providing new directions and strategies for future research.

Previous studies have found associations between color discrimination deficits and cognitive impairments besides aging. However, investigations into the microstructural pathology of brain white matter (WM) associated with these deficits remain limited. This study aimed to examine the microstructural characteristics of WM in the non-demented population with abnormal color discrimination, utilizing Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging (NODDI), and to explore their correlations with cognitive functions and cognition-related plasma biomarkers. The tract-based spatial statistic analysis revealed significant differences in specific brain regions between the abnormal color discrimination group and the healthy controls, characterized by increased isotropic volume fraction and decreased neurite density index and orientation dispersion index. Further analysis of region-of-interest parameters revealed that the isotropic volume fraction in the bilateral anterior thalamic radiation, superior longitudinal fasciculus, cingulum, and forceps minor was significantly correlated with poorer performance on neuropsychological assessments and to varying degrees various cognition-related plasma biomarkers. These findings provide neuroimaging evidence that WM microstructural abnormalities in non-demented individuals with abnormal color discrimination are associated with cognitive dysfunction, potentially serving as early markers for cognitive decline.
Humans ; White Matter/pathology* ; Male ; Female ; Cognitive Dysfunction/physiopathology* ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Color Perception/physiology* ; Brain/pathology* ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Diffusion Tensor Imaging

Echinocandin B (ECB) is a key precursor of the antifungal drug anidulafungin. It is a secondary metabolite of Aspergillus nidulans, and its titer in fermentation is significantly affected by the ECB synthesis pathway and cell morphology. In this study, the key genes related to the transcription activation, hydroxylation, and cell morphology during ECB biosynthesis were investigated to increase the fermentation titer of ECB and to change the cell morphology of Aspergillus nidulans to reduce the viscosity of the fermentation broth. The results indicated that after overexpression of ecdB and ecdK, the ECB titer increased by 25.8% and 23.7%, respectively, compared with that of the wild-type strain, reaching (2 030.5±99.2) mg/L and (1 996.4±151.4) mg/L. However, the deletion of fksA associated with cell wall synthesis resulted in damage to the cell wall, affecting strain growth and product synthesis. The engineered strain overexpressing ecdB was fermented in a 50-L bioreactor, in which the ECB titer reached 2 234.5 mg/L. The findings laid a research foundation for the subsequent metabolic engineering of this strain.
Fermentation ; Aspergillus nidulans/genetics* ; Echinocandins/genetics* ; Bioreactors/microbiology* ; Fungal Proteins/biosynthesis* ; Metabolic Engineering

Objective:To explore the association between polymorphisms of transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β)signaling pathway and non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate(NSCL/P)among Asian populations,while considering gene-gene interaction and gene-environment interaction.Methods:A total of 1 038 Asian NSCL/P case-parent trios were ascertained from an international consortium,which conducted a genome-wide association study using a case-parent trio design to investigate the genes affec-ting risk to NSCL/P.After stringent quality control measures,343 single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP)spanning across 10 pivotal genes in the TGF-β signaling pathway were selected from the original genome-wide association study(GWAS)dataset for further analysis.The transmission disequilibrium test(TDT)was used to test for SNP effects.The conditional Logistic regression models were used to test for gene-gene interaction and gene-environment interaction.Environmental factors collected for the study in-cluded smoking during pregnancy,passive smoking during pregnancy,alcohol intake during pregnancy,and vitamin use during pregnancy.Due to the low rates of exposure to smoking during pregnancy and al-cohol consumption during pregnancy(＜3％),only the interaction between maternal smoking during pregnancy and multivitamin supplementation during pregnancy was analyzed.The threshold for statistical significance was rigorously set at P=1.46 × 10-4,applying Bonferroni correction to account for multiple testing.Results:A total of 23 SNPs in 4 genes yielded nominal association with NSCL/P(P＜0.05),but none of these associations was statistically significant after Bonferroni's multiple test correction.How-ever,there were 6 pairs of SNPs rs4939874(SMAD2)and rs1864615(TGFBR2),rs2796813(TGFB2)and rs2132298(TGFBR2),rs4147358(SMAD3)and rs1346907(TGFBR2),rs4939874(SMAD2)and rs1019855(TGFBR2),rs4939874(SMAD2)and rs12490466(TGFBR2),rs2009112(TGFB2)and rs4075748(TGFBR2)showed statistically significant SNP-SNP interaction(P＜1.46 × 10-4).In contrast,the analysis of gene-environment interactions did not yield any significant results after being cor-rected by multiple testing.Conclusion:The comprehensive evaluation of SNP associations and interac-tions within the TGF-β signaling pathway did not yield any direct associations with NSCL/P risk in Asian populations.However,the significant gene-gene interactions identified suggest that the genetic architec-ture influencing NSCL/P risk may involve interactions between genes within the TGF-β signaling path-way.These findings underscore the necessity for further investigations to unravel these results and further explore the underlying biological mechanisms.

Objective:To analyze the methylation characteristics of the lymphocyte-specific protein-tyrosine kinase (LCK) promoter region in the peripheral blood circulation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and its correlation with clinical indicators.Methods:Targeted methylation sequencing was used to compare the methylation levels of 7 CpG sites in the LCK promoter region in the peripheral blood of RA patients with healthy controls (HC) and osteoarthritis (OA) patients. Correlation analysis and ROC curve construction were performed with clinical information.Results:Non-parametric tests revealed that compared with HC [0.53(0.50, 0.57)] and OA patients [0.59(0.54, 0.62), H=47.17, P<0.001], RA patients [0.63(0.59, 0.68)] exhibited an overall increase in methylation levels. Simultaneously, when compared with the HC group [0.38(0.35, 0.41), 0.59(0.55, 0.63), 0.60(0.55, 0.64), 0.59(0.55, 0.63), 0.58(0.53, 0.62), 0.45(0.43, 0.49), 0.57(0.54, 0.61)], the RA group [0.46(0.42, 0.49), 0.70(0.65, 0.75), 0.70(0.66, 0.76), 0.70(0.65, 0.75), 0.69(0.64, 0.74), 0.55(0.51, 0.59), 0.68(0.63, 0.73)] showed a significant elevation in methylation levels at CpG sites cg05350315_60, cg05350315_80, cg05350315_95, cg05350315_101, cg05350315_104, cg05350315_128, and cg05350315_142, with statistically significant differences ( Z=-5.63, -5.89, -5.91, -5.89, -5.98, -5.95, -5.95, all P<0.001). Compared with the OA group [0.65(0.59, 0.69), 0.65(0.60, 0.69), 0.64(0.58, 0.68), 0.50(0.45, 0.54), 0.63(0.58, 0.67)], the RA group [0.70(0.66, 0.76), 0.70(0.65, 0.75), 0.69(0.64, 0.74), 0.55(0.51, 0.59), 0.68(0.63, 0.73)] exhibited a significant increase in methylation levels at CpG sites cg05350315_95, cg05350315_101, cg05350315_104, cg05350315_128, and cg05350315_142, with statistically significant differences ( Z=-3.56, -3.52, -3.60, -3.67, -3.62; P=0.036, 0.042, 0.031, 0.030, 0.030). Furthermore, Pearson correlation coefficient analysis revealed a positive correlation between the overall methylation level in this region and C-reactive protein (CRP) ( r=0.19, P=0.004) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate ( r=0.14, P=0.035). The overall methylation level of the LCK promoter region in the CRP (low) group [0.63 (0.58, 0.68)] was higher than that in the CRP (high) group [0.65(0.61, 0.70)], with statistically significant differences ( Z=2.60, P=0.009). Finally, by constru-cting a ROC curve, the discriminatory efficacy of peripheral blood LCK promoter region methylation levels for identifying RA patients, especially seronegative RA patients, from HC and OA groups was validated, with an AUC value of 0.78 (95% CI: 0.63, 0.93). Conclusion:This study provides insights into the methylation status and methylation haplotype patterns of the LCK promoter region in the peripheral blood of RA patients. The overall methylation level in this region is positively correlated with the level of inflammation and can be used to differentiate seronegative RA patients from the HC and OA patients.

Objective:To translate the English version of the Beliefs Toward Mental Illness Scale (BTMI) into Chinese and test the reliability and validity of the Chinese version in college students.Methods:According to the Beaton cross-cultural adaptation guideline, the Chinese version of BTMI was formed. From April to May 2023, a questionnaire survey was conducted on 915 university students from 171 universities in 26 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities across China using convenience sampling, to analyze the reliability and validity of the scale.Results:A total of 915 questionnaires were distributed, and 814 valid questionnaires were collected, with an effective recovery rate of 88.96% (814/915). The Chinese version of BTMI had a total of 21 items. The Cronbach's α coefficient of the total scale was 0.922, and the Cronbach's α coefficients of each dimension were 0.745 to 0.921. The half reliability coefficient of the total scale was 0.797, and the retest reliability coefficient of the total scale was 0.903 ( P<0.01). Exploratory factor analysis extracted four common factors, namely social function, risk, incurability, and awkwardness, with a cumulative variance contribution rate of 62.29%. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that all important fitting indicators were greater than 0.900, indicating a good overall model fit. Conclusions:The Chinese version of BTMI has good reliability and validity, which can be used to evaluate the beliefs of Chinese university students about mental illness.

This article summarizes the research progress on situation awareness in nursing through literature review. Currently, research on situation awareness in nursing is mostly focused on foreign countries, and there is relatively little attention and research on it in China. This article reviews the relevant theories of situation awareness in nursing and its application status in medical settings, related factors, and improvement strategies, in order to provide theoretical references for future research on situation awareness in the nursing and even medical industries.

Objectives:To investigate the association between social determinants of health(SDOH)and incident stroke and analyze the main risk factors for stroke among resident with different SDOH levels. Methods:From 2012 to 2015,30 036 residents(≥35 years old)from 30 districts in 14 provincial-level administrative divisions in China were enrolled this study based on stratified multi-stage-random-sampling method.The prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and related risk factors were investigated,and stroke events were followed up in 2018 to 2019.Principal component analysis was performed to establish SDOH scores based on 9 indicators related to socioeconomic and healthcare resources,participants were divided into low SDOH group(n=8 343)when it was≥-2.01 to<-1.14,middle SDOH group(n=7 257)when it was≥-1.14 to<0.10,and high SDOH group(n=8 457)when it was≥0.10 to≤5.79.Multivariate Cox regression was applied to estimate the association of SDOH levels with incident stroke.The random survival forest method was used to analyze the major risk factors in different SDOH levels. Results:A total of 24 057 participants were finally included,669(2.8%)participants developed stroke during a mean of(4.7±0.8)years follow-up.The incidence densities of stroke in the low,medium,and high SDOH groups were 468.39,628.85,and 700.39/100 000 person-years,respectively(Pdifference<0.05,Ptrend=0.01).Compared with individuals with low SDOH level group,fully HR for incident stroke among those with medium and high were 1.91(95%CI:1.54-2.36)and 1.59(95%CI:1.30-1.95),respectively(Ptrend<0.001).Advanced age is the primary risk factor for stroke in the population,especially in districts with high SDOH level.In districts with medium SDOH level,diabetes is an important risk factor for stroke.High blood pressure and alcohol consumption are important modifiable risk factors in low SDOH level districts. Conclusions:Present study shows that higher levels of SDOH are associated with increased risk of stroke.The main risk factors for stroke differ among participants with different SDOH level districts.Targeted interventions should be implemented to improve the prevention and treatment of stroke in populations with different levels of SDOH.

Objective:To design a fully integrated multi-channel implantable brain-computer interface electrical stimulation system.Methods:The human-computer interaction interface of the upper computer was set by users, and the data was packaged via a self-built protocol. When parameters were transmitted to the field programmable gate array (FPGA) chip through the Bluetooth module, the stimulation chip was controlled after the parameter analysis was completed. Eventually the user-set current stimulation was output. To verify the system feasibility, the accuracy of the single-channel stimulation waveform, the multi-channel output capability, and the adjustable range of the parameter were tested separately.Results:It realized 16 channels of time-sharing differential stimulation current output, the output stimulation current waveform was dual-phase equal-width pulse, the amplitude ranged within 4~1 000 μA, the pulse single-phase width range was 10~1 000 μs, the cycle time was 1~1 000 ms, thus the current parameters could be accurately adjusted.Conclusions:A fully integrated multi-channel implantable brain-computer interface electrical stimulation system was completed.