Aims: This study aims to isolate lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from various food sources to obtain a potent strain against Listeria monocytogenes. Methodology and results: A total of 68 LAB isolates were selected to evaluate their antimicrobial activity against L. monocytogenes, a foodborne pathogen and a causative agent of listeriosis. The selected isolate was identified and characterized. The isolate C23 from cabbage showed the highest antimicrobial activity against L. monocytogenes ATCC 7644 with inhibition ability of 73.94%. The isolate was closely related to Lactobacillus brevis by 16S rRNA sequencing and subsequently deposited in GenBank with an accession number of MN880215, named as L. brevis C23. The cell free supernatant (CFS) of L. brevis C23 had high tolerance in low pH and was able to withstand up to 60 °C. The proteinaceous nature of the antimicrobial agent was also confirmed through the enzymatic test. The CFS was stable on different detergents as well as bile salts. Under transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the inhibitory effect of CFS against L. monocytogenes was proven by causing cell lysis. Conclusion, significance and impact of study Bacteriocin-like inhibitory substances (BLIS) of L. brevis C23 showed very promising potential in food industrial application.
Lactobacillales ; Listeria monocytogenes ; Foodborne Diseases ; Sprains and Strains

Objective:To investigate the clinical and pathological features of pediatric NTRK-rearranged tumors.Methods:Four NTRK-rearranged soft tissue tumors and one renal tumor at Shanghai Children′s Medical Center, Shanghai Jiaotong University and Singapore KK Women′s and Children′s Hospital from January 2017 to September 2019 were identified. Pan-TRK immunohistochemistry, and the ALK and ETV6 gene break-apart fluorescence in situ hybridizations (FISH) were performed. NTRK gene rearrangement was detected using sequencing-based methods.Results:There were 3 males and 2 females in this study. The patients were between 3 months and 13 years of age. Histologically, the tumors were infiltrative spindle cell tumors with variable accompanying inflammatory cells. Immunohistochemistry showed positive reactivity for pan-TRK in all tumors, with nuclear staining for NTRK3 fusion, and cytoplasmic staining for NTRK1 fusion. The molecular testing revealed NTRK gene fusions (one each of TPM3-NTRK1, ETV6-NTRK3 and DCTN1-NTRK1, and two cases of LMNA-NTRK1). Two patients were receiving larotrectinib. The others were are well without disease, with follow-up durations of 9 to 29 months.Conclusions:NTRK-rearranged mesenchymal tumors from soft tissue sites and kidney are identified. A novel DCTN1-NTRK1 fusion is described. Pan-TRK immunohistochemistry is useful for diagnosis. NTRK-targeted therapy may be an option for unresectable, recurrent or metastatic cases.

Objective:To observe the effect of smoking on inhaled corticosteroids and long‐acting beta‐2 agonists (ICS/LABA) therapy for patients with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) .Methods:Elderly patients with moderate to severe COPD in stable stage ,who consulted doctors at Department of Geriatric Respiratory Disease in our hospital or were admitted to our hospital during January 2013 and December 2013 ,were selected and allocated to smoking group (n=98) or ex‐smoker group(n=98) .All subjects were treated with inhaled formoterol and budesonide ,and the treatment lasted for 6 months .Before treatment and at the 3rd and 6th month of treatment ,pulmonary function (FEV1 pred% ,FEV1/FVC % ) , concentration of interleukin‐8(IL‐8) and tumor necrosis factor‐α(TNF‐α) in the blood ,and glucocorticoid receptor (GR)‐αand GR‐βpositive peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were determined ,and meanwhile dyspnea score was evaluated . Results:In both smoking group and ex‐smoker group ,compared with that before treatment ,at the 3rd and 6th month of treatment ,the FEV1% and FEV1/FVC% gradually increased (P< 0 .05) ,dyspnea score decreased (P< 0 .05) .Blood concentrations of TNF‐α and IL‐8 decreased gradually after treatment (P< 0 .05) .The percentage of GR‐α positive PBMC didn’t change significantly (P>0 .05) ,while the percentage of GR‐βpositive PBMC decreased significantly at the 6th month of treatment in ex‐smoker group (P<0 .05) .Compared with that in smoking group ,FEV1% and FEV1/FVC% in ex‐smoker group increased more at the 3rd and 6th month of treatment ,while dyspnea score declined more (P< 0 .05) ,as well as the TNF‐αand IL‐8 (P< 0 .05) .At the 3rd and 6th month of treatment ,GR‐α positive PBMCs increased more in ex‐smoker group ,while GR‐βpositive PBMCs decreased more (P<0 .05) .Conclusions :For both smokers and ex‐smokers with CODP , ICS/LABA can improve pulmonary function , relieve respiratory symptoms , reduce inflammatory reaction , and regulate glucocorticoid receptor .Smoking has negative effect on ICS/LABA treatment .

OBJECTIVETFo compare the efficacy and complications rate of intramedullary (IM) nailing or K-wire versus plating fixation for clavicular fractures.

METHODSPubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library databases, CNKI, VIP and Wangfang databases were searched to find all randomized or quasi-randomized controlled trials of clavicle fractures using plating versus IM nailing or K-wire. The methodologic quality of the studies was assessed. After independent study selection by 2 authors ,data were collected and extracted independently. Outcomes of postoperative shoulder functional measurement, the efficacy and information of the operation and complications rate were meta-analyzed using RevMan 5 software.

RESULTSNine hundreds and seventy-six patients in 10 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 3 quasi-RCTs were involved in the meta-analysis,of which 5 studies compared the K-wire and the plating fixations and 8 studies compared the IM nailing and the plating fixations. The overall odds ratio(OR) (with 95% CI) of the operation efficacy for K-wire versus the plating was 3.79 (1.93, 7.46). The overall weighted mean difference (with 95% CI) of Constant Shoulder score for plating versus IM fixation was -1.39 (-3.43, 0.65) in 6 studies. The overall OR of the plating versus IM nailing was 9.34(2.70, 32.32) for the overall major complications in 5 studies and 5.04 (1.52,16.77) for the revision rate in 5 studies.

CONCLUSIONThe current limited evidences suggested that the IM fixation could reduce the incidences of the overall major complications and the revision surgery, while the post-operative efficacy of the plating was superior to the K-wire. More high quality RCTs are still needed in the future.

Bone Nails ; Bone Wires ; Clavicle ; injuries ; surgery ; Fracture Fixation, Intramedullary ; instrumentation ; methods ; Fractures, Bone ; surgery ; Humans ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic

ObjectiveTo measure the iodine content of normal thyroid and the sternocleidomastoid muscle with gemstone spectral imaging (GSI),in order to offer diagnostic reference for iodine excess or iodine deficiency disorders.MethodsA total of 226 cases of patients with suspected neck or cervical disease underwent GSI of the neck,the thyroid and the sternocleidomastoid muscle.One hundred and nineteen cases were male and 107 female,aged 18 to 77 years,average age(46 ± 17) years.Data were transmitted to AW 4.4 workstation and processed using GSI Viewer software to obtain the best contrast-to-noise ratio(CNR) of thyroid to sternocleidomastoid muscle and corresponding singe-energy images.Iodine content of left and right thyroid lobes and both sides of sternocleidomastoid muscle as well as iodine content ratio of thyroid to sternocleidomastoid muscle were calculated in the iodine-based images.ResultsTotal iodine content of the left and the right lobes of the thyroid was (1.5233 ±0.4318)mg/cm3,of the left lobe was (1.5230 ± 0.4271 )mg/cm3,of the right lobe was (1.5236 ± 0.4365 )mg/cm3,there was no significant difference statistically between the two(t =0.0084,P ＞ 0.05).The iodine content of the male was (1.6395 ± 0.4105)mg/cm3,and of the female was (1.4238 ± 0.3832)mg/cm3,there was statistically a significant difference between the two(t =3.4743,P ＜ 0.01 ).Iodine content ratio of thyroid to sternocleidomastoid muscle was 96.6271 ± 33.2442,the ratio in male was 94.6250 ± 37.3621 and in female was 98.0000 ± 29.0737,there was no statistical difference between the two(t =0.3817,P ＞ 0.05).The iodine content of thyroid decreased gradually with age,the difference between groups was statistically significant(F =9.66,P ＜ 0.01 ).The iodine content in ＜ 40 age group[(1.7256 ± 0.4631)mg/cm3] was higher than that in 40 - 60 age group[(1.4517 ±0.3643)mg/cm3] and ＞ 60 age group [(1.4368 ± 0.3465)mg/cm3; q =5.6195,5.4158,all P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions It is easy to calculate thyroid iodine content with gemstone spectral imaging,which can reflect the iodine level of our body,and is helpful for the diagnosis of iodine excess or iodine deficiency disorders.

Objective To investigate the management and control of hypertension in patients with chronic kidney disease(CKD) and its associated factors.Methods Data of 726in-patients with CKD and hypertension who hospitalized in our hospital from March 2009 to April 2010 were studied.Results 91.74％ of patients was treated with antihypertensive medications,and 21.21％, 22.59％, 19.56％, 28.37％ of patients received 1, 2, 3, ≥4 antihypertensive drugs,respectively.42.4％ of patients with CKD and hypertension could be controlled up to the standard,and the mean blood pressure was(137.86±20.75)/(76.30±11.35) mm Hg.There was significant difference among stage 1 plus 2, 3, 4 plus 5 (non-dialysis), 5 (dialysis) kidney diseases, with the hypertension control rate being 50.8％, 46.7％, 42.0％, 33.5％, respectively.The hypertension control rate of non-dialysis patients was significantly higher than that of dialysis (44.9％ vs 33.5％,P＜0.05).There was no significant difference between blood dialysis group and peritoneal dialysis group(32.3％ vs 38.7％, P＞0.05).Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that female (OR=1.787, 95％CI 1.045-3.056)and ACEI application (OR=4.378, 95％CI1.830-10.472) were positively associated with hypertension control.Whereas, diabetes (OR=0.415, 95％CI 0.188-0.919)and pulse pressure (OR =0.847, 95％ CI 0.811-0.885) were associated with inadequate blood pressure control.ConclusionsDespite almost universal hypertension treatment is used in patients with CKD and high blood pressure, the hypertension control rate is still suboptimal.Female and ACEI are positively associated with adequate hypertension control, whereas diabetes and pulse pressure are negatively associated with the standard.

Based on the Miller Pyramid for assessing clinical competence, this article analyzed the existing problems in the practice of teaching physical examination and provided suggestions for possible reforms.

ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical features and risk factors of patient with Wegener's granulomatosis complicated with pulmonary infection.Methods Patients with Wegener's granulomatosis admitted to our hospital in the past 11 years were retrospectively analyzed.Comparisons between groups were performed by t tests or Fisher test.ResultsPulmonary infection occurred in 27 cases with an incidence rate of 29％.Twenty-six percent of pulmonary infections occurred at the initial diagnosis,and 44％ occurred within 6 months,while 30％ occurred later than 6 months.The clinical manifestations of pulmonary infection were productive cough (89％),hemoptysis (63％),fever and fatigue (56％),chest pain and pactoralgia (33％).The most common causative pathogen were bacteria(59％ ),fungi(37％ ),and tubercle bacillus(37％ ).Sinus infection(P=0.01),hypoproteinemia(P=0.03),hypoimmunoglobulinemia (P=0.007),and methylprednisolone pulse therapy(P=0.002) were the risk factors for pulmonary infection.ConclusionThe occurrence of Wegener's granulomatosis complicated with pulmonary infection is high within 6 months.The most common clinical manifestation is productive cough.The most common causative pathogens are bacteria,tubercle bacillus and fungi.Sinus infection,hypoproteinemia,hypoimmunoglobulinemia,and methylprednisolone pulse therapy are risk factors of pulmonary infection.

Objective To explore the association of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with obesity level in middle and elderly population. Methods A total of 19181 subjects aged 50-85 years were collected in this study from the first and second recruitment phase of the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study. The subjects received face-to-face interviews to collect the detailed information on their sociodemographic background, occupational exposures, living environment, lifestyle, family and personal disease histories, and had physical examinations and tests including 12-lead ECG, chest radiograph, and pulmonary function testing. Each subject was screened for a range of fasting biochemical parameters. The cognitive ability was tested with 10-words delayed memory test. The associations between cognition function and anthropometric indices of obesity, including body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and waistline, were evaluated. Results Apart from fast glucose and hypertension in subjects with normal cognition function and abnormal cognition function, some lifestyle and such physiological and biochemical factors as age, education, smoking status, and drinking status were significantly different in both gender (P＜0.05). WHR was the independent risk factor of MCI in both gender (P＜0.05). Logistic regression indicated that high WHR was a risk of MCI in both gender; the greater the WHR, the poorer memory the middle and elderly population; the OR and 95％ CI was 1.57 (1.42-1.72) in female and 1.22(1.05-1.41) in male. Conclusion Centripetal obesity is associated with MCI. WHR is a sensitive indicator influencing the cognitive function in women.