Objective:To investigate the value of the ratio of heparin binding protein (HBP) to albumin (ALB) in diagnosis and predict the severity of Kawasaki disease shock syndrome (KDSS).Methods:This study was a retrospective study. Pediatric patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) admitted to the Children's Intensive Care Unit and department of Pediatric Emergency Center of Hunan Children's Hospital from January 2019 to May 2022 were enrolled. The HBP/ALB ratio was calculated according to HBP and serum ALB. The children were divided into three groups (low, medium, and high ratio groups) according to the median and upper and lower quartiles of the HBP/ALB ratio. The differences of each index among the three groups were compared. The receiver operating characteristic curves were drawn to evaluate the clinical value of the HBP/ALB ratio in diagnosis of KDSS and the severity of the disease.Results:A total of 111 cases were included in this study, including 28 cases in the low ratio group, 56 cases in the medium ratio group, and 27 cases in the high ratio group. There were 24 cases with coronary artery damage, 87 cases without coronary artery damage, 27 cases with abnormal ECG findings, and 17 children with KDSS (including 5 cases in the medium ratio group, and 12 cases in the high ratio group). The incidence of KDSS, coronary involvement, and abnormal electrocardiogram proportions in the high ratio group were significantly higher than those in the other two groups. Compared with low and medium ratio groups, the levels of cardiac troponin I, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide, lactate, stroke output variation, trends in thoracic fluid content, white blood cell count, C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, and D-dimer levels were higher in the high ratio group, while ALB and blood sodium levels were lower in the high ratio group (all P<0.05). There was no significant difference in above indicators between the low and medium ratio groups (all P>0.05). The HBP/ALB ratio had a higher area under the curve, sensitivity, and specificity (0.942, 0.882, and 0.883, respectively) in predicting KDSS compared to HBP alone (0.776, 0.842, and 0.670, respectively). Conclusion:The HBP/ALB ratio could reflect the severity of children with KD and has certain clinical value for prognostic evaluation.

Objective:To construct a risk prediction model for the inter-hospital transfer of critically ill children using machine learning methods, identify key medical features affecting transfer outcomes, and improve the success rate of transfers.Methods:A prospective study was conducted on critically ill children admitted to the pediatric transfer center of Hunan Children's Hospital from January 2020 to January 2021. Medical data on critical care features and relevant data from the Pediatric Risk of Mortality (PRISMⅢ) scoring system were collected and processed. Three machine learning models, including logistic regression, decision tree, and Relief algorithm, were used to construct the risk prediction model. A back propagation neural network was employed to build a referral outcome prediction model to verify and analyze the selected medical features from the risk prediction model, exploring the key medical features influencing inter-hospital transfer risk.Results:Among the 549 transferred children included in the study, 222 were neonates (40.44%) and 327 were non-neonates (59.56%). There were 50 children in-hospital deaths, resulting in a mortality rate of 9.11%. After processing 151 critical care medical feature data points, each model selected the top 15 important features influencing transfer outcomes, with a total of 34 selected features. The decision tree model had an overlap of 72.7% with PRISMⅢ indicators, higher than logistic regression (36.4%) and Relief algorithm (27.3%). The training prediction accuracy of the decision tree model was 0.94, higher than the accuracy of 0.90 when including all features, indicating its clinical utility. Among the top 15 important features selected by the decision tree model, the impact on transfer outcomes was ranked as follows based on quantitative feature violin plots: base excess, total bilirubin, ionized calcium, total time, arterial oxygen pressure, blood parameters (including white blood cells, platelets, prothrombin time/activated partial thromboplastin time), carbon dioxide pressure, blood glucose, systolic blood pressure, heart rate, organ failure, lactate, capillary refill time, temperature, and cyanosis. Eight of these important features overlapped with PRISMⅢ indicators, including systolic blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, pupillary reflex, consciousness, acidosis, arterial oxygen pressure, carbon dioxide pressure, blood parameters, and blood glucose. The decision tree was used to select the top 15 medical features with high impact on the neonatal and non-neonatal datasets, respectively. A total of 19 features were selected, among which there were 8 differences and 11 overlap terms between the important features of the neonatal and non-neonatal.Conclusions:Machine learning models could serve as reliable tools for predicting the risk of inter-hospital transfer of critically ill children. The decision tree model exhibits superior performance and helps identify key medical features affecting inter-hospital transfer risk, thereby improving the success rate of inter-hospital transfers for critically ill children.

Objective To monitor the susceptibility of clinical isolates to antimicrobial agents in tertiary hospitals in major regions of China in 2022.Methods Clinical isolates from 58 hospitals in China were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility using a unified protocol based on disc diffusion method or automated testing systems.Results were interpreted using the 2022 Clinical &Laboratory Standards Institute(CLSI)breakpoints.Results A total of 318 013 clinical isolates were collected from January 1,2022 to December 31,2022,of which 29.5％were gram-positive and 70.5％were gram-negative.The prevalence of methicillin-resistant strains in Staphylococcus aureus,Staphylococcus epidermidis and other coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species(excluding Staphylococcus pseudintermedius and Staphylococcus schleiferi)was 28.3％,76.7％and 77.9％,respectively.Overall,94.0％of MRSA strains were susceptible to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and 90.8％of MRSE strains were susceptible to rifampicin.No vancomycin-resistant strains were found.Enterococcus faecalis showed significantly lower resistance rates to most antimicrobial agents tested than Enterococcus faecium.A few vancomycin-resistant strains were identified in both E.faecalis and E.faecium.The prevalence of penicillin-susceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae was 94.2％in the isolates from children and 95.7％in the isolates from adults.The resistance rate to carbapenems was lower than 13.1％in most Enterobacterales species except for Klebsiella,21.7％-23.1％of which were resistant to carbapenems.Most Enterobacterales isolates were highly susceptible to tigecycline,colistin and polymyxin B,with resistance rates ranging from 0.1％to 13.3％.The prevalence of meropenem-resistant strains decreased from 23.5％in 2019 to 18.0％in 2022 in Pseudomonas aeruginosa,and decreased from 79.0％in 2019 to 72.5％in 2022 in Acinetobacter baumannii.Conclusions The resistance of clinical isolates to the commonly used antimicrobial agents is still increasing in tertiary hospitals.However,the prevalence of important carbapenem-resistant organisms such as carbapenem-resistant K.pneumoniae,P.aeruginosa,and A.baumannii showed a downward trend in recent years.This finding suggests that the strategy of combining antimicrobial resistance surveillance with multidisciplinary concerted action works well in curbing the spread of resistant bacteria.

Objective To investigate the changing distribution and antibiotic resistance profiles of clinical isolates of Staphylococcus in hospitals across China from 2015 to 2021.Methods Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was conducted for the clinical isolates of Staphylococcus according to the unified protocol of CHINET(China Antimicrobial Surveillance Network)using disk diffusion method and commercial automated systems.The CHINET antimicrobial resistance surveillance data from 2015 to 2021 were interpreted according to the 2021 CLSI breakpoints and analyzed using WHONET 5.6.Results During the period from 2015 to 2021,a total of 204,771 nonduplicate strains of Staphylococcus were isolated,including 136,731(66.8％)strains of Staphylococcus aureus and 68,040(33.2％)strains of coagulase-negative Staphylococcus(CNS).The proportions of S.aureus isolates and CNS isolates did not show significant change.S.aureus strains were mainly isolated from respiratory specimens(38.9±5.1)％,wound,pus and secretions(33.6±4.2)％,and blood(11.9±1.5)％.The CNS strains were predominantly isolated from blood(73.6±4.2)％,cerebrospinal fluid(12.1±2.5)％,and pleural effusion and ascites(8.4±2.1)％.S.aureus strains were mainly isolated from the patients in ICU(17.0±7.3)％,outpatient and emergency(11.6±1.7)％,and department of surgery(11.2±0.9)％,whereas CNS strains were primarily isolated from the patients in ICU(32.2±9.7)％,outpatient and emergency(12.8±4.7)％,and department of internal medicine(11.2±1.9)％.The prevalence of methicillin-resistant strains was 32.9％in S.aureus(MRSA)and 74.1％in CNS(MRCNS).Over the 7-year period,the prevalence of MRSA decreased from 42.1％to 29.2％,and the prevalence of MRCNS decreased from 82.1％to 68.2％.MRSA showed higher resistance rates to all the antimicrobial agents tested except trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole than methicillin-susceptible S.aureus(MSSA).Over the 7-year period,MRSA strains showed decreasing resistance rates to gentamicin,rifampicin,and levofloxacin,MRCNS showed decreasing resistance rates to gentamicin,erythromycin,rifampicin,and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole,but increasing resistance rate to levofloxacin.No vancomycin-resistant strains were detected.The prevalence of linezolid-resistant MRCNS increased from 0.2％to 2.3％over the 7-year period.Conclusions Staphylococcus remains the major pathogen among gram-positive bacteria.MRSA and MRCNS were still the principal antibiotic-resistant gram-positive bacteria.No S.aureus isolates were found resistant to vancomycin or linezolid,but linezolid-resistant strains have been detected in MRCNS isolates,which is an issue of concern.

Objective:To explore the clinical value of serum insulin combined with cardiac-related markers in evaluating the severity of sepsis associated encephalopathy (SAE).Methods:The clinical data of 130 children with sepsis who admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of Hunan Children's Hospital from January 2018 to December 2021 were analyzed retrospectively, and the differences of serum insulin and cardiac-related markers in children with sepsis and SAE were compared.Results:The levels of serum insulin, creatine kinase isoenzyme, hypersensitive troponin T, and N-terminal cerebral urine peptide in the SAE group were significantly higher than those in the non-SAE group ( P<0.05), but there was no significant difference in heart rate and lactic acid ( P>0.05). The levels of serum insulin, creatine kinase isoenzyme, hypersensitive troponin T, N-terminal cerebral urine peptide and lactic acid in the death group were significantly higher than those in the survival group ( P<0.05), while the heart rate was not significantly different ( P>0.05). The area under ROC curve of serum insulin, creatine kinase isoenzyme, hypersensitive troponin T, and N-terminal cerebral urine peptide in predicting SAE were 0.841, 0.599, 0.700, and 0.667, respectively; in terms of judging the prognosis of sepsis, the area under ROC curve were 0.647, 0.669, 0.645, and 0.683, respectively; and in terms of judging the prognosis of children with SAE, the areas under the ROC curve were 0.509, 0.682, 0.666 and 0.555, respectively. Binary logistic regression equation was established with serum insulin, creatine kinase isoenzyme, hypersensitive troponin T, and N-terminal cerebral urine peptide: Y=8.153×NT-proBNP+1.704×CTnT-hs+27.121×insulin+0.946×CK-MB+1.573. The area under the ROC curve of the new variable Y in predicting sepsis SAE, evaluating the prognosis of sepsis, and predicting the prognosis of children with sepsis and SAE was 0.890, 0.756, and 0.729, respectively. Conclusions:Serum insulin, creatine kinase isoenzyme, hypersensitive troponin T, and N-terminal cerebral urine peptide can be used alone to determine the severity of sepsis and sepsis in children with SAE. The combined value of the four indicators is obviously better than that of the single indicator. The combined application of the four indicators may better evaluate the severity of sepsis and SAE.

Genome-scale metabolomics analysis is increasingly used for pathway and function dis-covery in the post-genomics era.The great potential offered by developed mass spectrometry(MS)-based technologies has been hindered,since only a small portion of detected metabolites were iden-tifiable so far.To address the critical issue of low identification coverage in metabolomics,we adopted a deep metabolomics analysis strategy by integrating advanced algorithms and expanded reference databases.The experimental reference spectra and in silico reference spectra were adopted to facilitate the structural annotation.To further characterize the structure of metabolites,two approaches were incorporated into our strategy,i.e.,structural motif search combined with neutral loss scanning and metabolite association network.Untargeted metabolomics analysis was performed on 150 rice cultivars using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-Orbitrap MS.Consequently,a total of 1939 out of 4491 metabolite features in the MS/MS spectral tag(MS2T)library were annotated,representing an extension of annotation coverage by an order of magnitude in rice.The differential accumulation patterns of flavonoids between indica and japon-ica cultivars were revealed,especially O-sulfated flavonoids.A series of closely-related flavonolignans were characterized,adding further evidence for the crucial role of tricin-oligolignols in lignification.Our study provides an important protocol for exploring phytochemical diversity in other plant species.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Hyperuricemic nephropathy is a common cause of acute kidney injury. Resveratrol can ameliorate kidney injury, but the explicit mechanism remains unclear.We investigated the effects of resveratrol on the inflammatory response and renal injury in hyperuricemic rats.MATERIALS/METHODS: A rat model of hyperuricemic nephropathy was established by the oral administration of a mixture of adenine and potassium oxinate. Biochemical analysis and hematoxylin and eosin staining were performed to assess the rat kidney function. Enzymelinked immunosorbent assays were performed to evaluate the immune and oxidative responses. RESULTS: The expression levels of urine albumin and β2-microglobulin were significantly decreased after resveratrol treatment. In addition, the levels of serum creatinine and uric acid were significantly decreased in the resveratrol groups, compared with the control group.The levels of proinflammatory factors, such as interleukin-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α, in kidney tissue and serum were also increased in the hyperuricemic rats, and resveratrol treatment inhibited their expression. Moreover, the total antioxidant capacity in kidney tissue as well as the superoxide dismutase and xanthine oxidase levels in serum were all decreased by resveratrol treatment. CONCLUSIONS Resveratrol may protect against hyperuricemic nephropathy through regulating the inflammatory response.

Objective:To compare 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) between preoperative three dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) and volumetric medulated arc therapy (VMAT) concurrently combined with chemotherapy for locally advanced rectum cancer (LARC), and analyze the value of induction and/or consolidation chemotherapy in these circumstances.Methods:334 patients with LARC treated with preoperative 3DCRT (172 cases) and VMAT (162 cases) concurrently combined with chemotherapy, main protocol XELOX (capecitabine plus oxaplatin), and subsequent surgery in Sun Yat-sen University from May 2007 to April 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. The radiation prescription dose for VMAT group was 50 Gy 25 fractions for planning target volume1(PTV 1), and 46 Gy 25 fractions for PTV 2. The radiation prescription dose for 3DCRT group was 46 Gy 23 fractions for PTV 2. One hundred and eighty-five cases of all received preoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy (namely, CCRT group), 149 cases received preoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy plus median 2 courses (1-7 courses) induction and/or consolidation chemotherapy (namely, CCRT±induction chemotherapy±consolidation chemotherapy group), whose main chemotherapy protocol was XELOX. Difference of 5-year OS and DFS between 3DCRT and VMAT group was compared. The rate differences of acute toxicity during chemoradiotherapy, postoperative complications, ypCR, and survival between CCRT group and CCRT±induction chemotherapy±consolidation chemotherapy group were analyzed. Results:After a median follow-up of 62.3 months (2.4-119months) for the 334 patients, no any significant difference for 5-year OS (79.0% vs. 83.2%, P=0.442) and 5-year DFS (77.0% vs. 82.1%, P=0.231) between 3DCRT and VMAT group was observed. There was no any significant difference for the Grade 3 hematological toxicity (7.0% vs. 12.1%, P=0.114) and non-hematological toxicity (14.1% vs. 16.8%, P=0.491) during chemoradiotherapy, postoperative complications (17.3% vs. 17.4%, P=0.971), ypCR rate (25.4% vs. 30.2%, P=0.329), 5-year OS (80.5% vs. 82.0%, P=0.714) and 5-year DFS (78.8% vs. 81%, P=0.479) between CCRT group and CCRT±induction chemotherapy±consolidation chemotherapy group. Conclusions:Compared with 3DCRT, the physics advantage of VMAT technique does not significantly convert into clinical benefits and improve 5-year OS and DFS, even further boosting radiation dose to the gross tumor volume. It is safe for median 2 courses of induction and/or consolidation chemotherapy before and or after preoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy in the treatment of LARC, though it does not significantly improve ypCR rate and survival.

Objective:To compare long-term efficacy between watch and wait (W&W) strategy and total mesorectal excision (TME) in patients who were diagnosed with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) and attained clinical complete response (cCR) after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT).Methods:A retrospective cohort study was carried out. A total of 238 patients with stage II-III LARC exhibiting cCR after nCRT in Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center from September 16, 2010 to January 9, 2018 were enrolled. Patients who were diagnosed with other malignant tumor within 5 years, did not receive regular follow-up in our center for more than 1 year and had no complete examination items after nCRT were excluded. Of 238 patients, 151 were male and 87 were female with a median age of 57 (27-83) years old. According to TNM stage, 61 cases were cII, 177 cases were cIII. Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) was performed in 20 patients. CCRT plus induction/consolidated chemotherapy was performed in 218 patients. Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) was applied to radiotherapy. The median radiation dose was 50 Gy/25 Fr for both the primary tumor and clinical target volumes, and the total dose was 45.0 to 50.6 Gy for 227 patients. In 27 patients, single-agent fluorouracil or capecitabine was used as concurrent chemotherapy. But in the other 211 patients, a combined regimen of oxaliplatin and fluorouracil or capecitabine was used. After nCRT, 59 and 179 patients received W&W (W&W group) and TME 6-12 weeks later (TME group), respectively. After the ending of treatment, patient was interviewed one time every 3 months and after 3 years, one time every six months. Overall survival (OS) rate, distant-metastasis-free survival (DMFS) rate, and local-recurrence-free survival (LRFS) rate were compared between two groups. The salvage treatment and sphincter preservation rate were analyzed. The survival curve was drawn with Kaplan-Meier method and evaluated by log-rank method.Results:In the cases treated with TME, the median interval from nCRT to surgery was 59 days. The postoperative pCR rate was 63.1%(113/179). The median follow-up time of the whole cohort was 41.8 (12.0-99.0) months. The 3-year and 5-year OS rates were 98.4% and 96.5%; the 3-year and 5-year LRFS rates were 96.5% and 96.5%; the 3- and 5-year DMFS rates were 91.0% and 87.9%, respectively. The 3-year OS rates in the W&W group and the TME group were 100% and 97.9%; the 5-year OS rates in W&W group and the TME group were 90.6% and 97.9% ( P=0.339); The 3-year local recurrence rate (LRR) in the W&W group was 12.9% (7 cases recurred within 2 years), which was significanthy higher then that in the TME group (0.6%, P=0.003). Salvage surgery was successful in 5/6 cases. After salvage surgery, LRFS rate was not significantly different between the two groups ( P=0.137). The 3-year DMFS rate in the W&W group and the TME group were 88.4% and 81.1%, whose difference was not significant ( P=0.593). Recurrence with simultaneous metastasis was seen in 3/7 cases of the W&W group. The sphincter was preserved in 89.8% (53/59) of patients in the W&W group, which was significantly higher than 73.7% (132/179) in the TME group ( P<0.001). When distance of tumor from the anal verge was ≤ 5 cm, the sphincter preservation rate (SPR) in the W&W group was 88.0% (44/50), which was significantly higher than the 54.4% (56/103) in the TME group ( P<0.001). Conclusions:W&W is safe and feasible for patients with LARC and cCR after nCRT. The results should be verified by further clinical trials.

Objective:To compare long-term efficacy between watch and wait (W&W) strategy and total mesorectal excision (TME) in patients who were diagnosed with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) and attained clinical complete response (cCR) after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT).Methods:A retrospective cohort study was carried out. A total of 238 patients with stage II-III LARC exhibiting cCR after nCRT in Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center from September 16, 2010 to January 9, 2018 were enrolled. Patients who were diagnosed with other malignant tumor within 5 years, did not receive regular follow-up in our center for more than 1 year and had no complete examination items after nCRT were excluded. Of 238 patients, 151 were male and 87 were female with a median age of 57 (27-83) years old. According to TNM stage, 61 cases were cII, 177 cases were cIII. Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) was performed in 20 patients. CCRT plus induction/consolidated chemotherapy was performed in 218 patients. Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) was applied to radiotherapy. The median radiation dose was 50 Gy/25 Fr for both the primary tumor and clinical target volumes, and the total dose was 45.0 to 50.6 Gy for 227 patients. In 27 patients, single-agent fluorouracil or capecitabine was used as concurrent chemotherapy. But in the other 211 patients, a combined regimen of oxaliplatin and fluorouracil or capecitabine was used. After nCRT, 59 and 179 patients received W&W (W&W group) and TME 6-12 weeks later (TME group), respectively. After the ending of treatment, patient was interviewed one time every 3 months and after 3 years, one time every six months. Overall survival (OS) rate, distant-metastasis-free survival (DMFS) rate, and local-recurrence-free survival (LRFS) rate were compared between two groups. The salvage treatment and sphincter preservation rate were analyzed. The survival curve was drawn with Kaplan-Meier method and evaluated by log-rank method.Results:In the cases treated with TME, the median interval from nCRT to surgery was 59 days. The postoperative pCR rate was 63.1%(113/179). The median follow-up time of the whole cohort was 41.8 (12.0-99.0) months. The 3-year and 5-year OS rates were 98.4% and 96.5%; the 3-year and 5-year LRFS rates were 96.5% and 96.5%; the 3- and 5-year DMFS rates were 91.0% and 87.9%, respectively. The 3-year OS rates in the W&W group and the TME group were 100% and 97.9%; the 5-year OS rates in W&W group and the TME group were 90.6% and 97.9% ( P=0.339); The 3-year local recurrence rate (LRR) in the W&W group was 12.9% (7 cases recurred within 2 years), which was significanthy higher then that in the TME group (0.6%, P=0.003). Salvage surgery was successful in 5/6 cases. After salvage surgery, LRFS rate was not significantly different between the two groups ( P=0.137). The 3-year DMFS rate in the W&W group and the TME group were 88.4% and 81.1%, whose difference was not significant ( P=0.593). Recurrence with simultaneous metastasis was seen in 3/7 cases of the W&W group. The sphincter was preserved in 89.8% (53/59) of patients in the W&W group, which was significantly higher than 73.7% (132/179) in the TME group ( P<0.001). When distance of tumor from the anal verge was ≤ 5 cm, the sphincter preservation rate (SPR) in the W&W group was 88.0% (44/50), which was significantly higher than the 54.4% (56/103) in the TME group ( P<0.001). Conclusions:W&W is safe and feasible for patients with LARC and cCR after nCRT. The results should be verified by further clinical trials.