The working principle and development of flexible semiconductor devices based on organic field effect transistor(OFET)technology were introduced.The current research status of OFET-based wearable flexible monitoring devices were reviewed,including biomechanical monitoring devices,tattoo biomonitoring devices and cellular detection devices and etc.The deficiencies of OFET-based wearable flexible monitoring devices were analyzed,and it's pointed out that miniaturization,personalization and diversification were the directions for the development of the future OFET-based wearable flexible moni-toring devices.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2024,45(1):93-100]

Objective: To analyze the short-term effect of individual atmospheric PM_2.5 exposure on the diversity, enterotype, and community structure of gut microbiome in healthy elderly people in Jinan, Shandong province. Methods: The present panel study recruited 76 healthy elderly people aged 60-69 years old in Dianliu Street, Lixia District, Jinan, Shandong Province, and followed them up five times from September 2018 to January 2019. The relevant information was collected by questionnaire, physical examination, precise monitoring of individual PM_2.5 exposure, fecal sample collection and gut microbiome 16S rDNA sequencing. The Dirichlet multinomial mixtures (DMM) model was used to analyze the enterotype. Linear mixed effect model and generalized linear mixed effect model were used to analyze the effect of PM_2.5 exposure on gut microbiome α diversity indices (Shannon, Simpson, Chao1, and ACE indices), enterotype and abundance of core species. Results: Each of the 76 subjects participated in at least two follow-up visits, resulting in a total of 352 person-visits. The age of 76 subjects was (65.0±2.8) years old with BMI (25.0±2.4) kg/m². There were 38 males accounting for 50% of the subjects. People with an educational level of primary school or below accounted for 10.5% of the 76 subjects, and those with secondary school and junior college or above accounting for 71.1% and 18.4%. The individual PM_2.5 exposure concentration of 76 subjects during the study period was (58.7±53.7) μg/m³. DMM model showed that the subjects could be divided into four enterotypes, which were mainly driven by Bacteroides, Faecalibacterium, Lachnospiraceae, Prevotellaceae, and Ruminococcaceae. Linear mixed effects model showed that different lag periods of PM_2.5 exposure were significantly associated with a lower gut α diversity index (FDR<0.05 after correction). Further analysis showed that PM_2.5 exposure was significantly associated with changes in the abundances of Firmicutes (Megamonas, Blautia, Streptococcus, etc.) and Bacteroidetes (Alistipes) (FDR<0.05 after correction). Conclusion: Short-term PM_2.5 exposure is significantly associated with a decrease in gut microbiome diversity and changes in the abundance of several species of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes in the elderly. It is necessary to further explore the underlying mechanisms between PM_2.5 exposure and the gut microbiome, so as to provide a scientific basis for promoting the intestinal health of the elderly.
Aged ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Feces/microbiology* ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Particulate Matter ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics* ; Female

Background and Objectives: We compared real-world clinical outcomes of patients receiving intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) versus rotational atherectomy (RA) for heavily calcified coronary lesions. Methods: Fifty-three patients who received IVL from January 2017 to July 2020 were retrospectively compared to 271 patients who received RA from January 2017 to December 2018.Primary endpoints were in-hospital and 30-day major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). Results: IVL patients had a higher prevalence of acute coronary syndrome (56.6% vs 24.4, p<0.001), multivessel disease (96.2% vs 73.3%, p<0.001) and emergency procedures (17.0% vs 2.2%, p<0.001) compared to RA. In-hospital MACE (11.3% vs 5.9%, p=0.152), MI (7.5% vs 3.3%, p=0.152), and mortality (5.7% vs 3.0%, p=0.319) were not statistically significant. 30-day MACE was higher in the IVL cohort vs RA (17.0% vs 7.4%, p=0.035). Propensity score adjusted regression using IVL was also performed on in-hospital MACE (odds ratio [OR], 1.677; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.588–4.779) and 30-day MACE (OR, 1.910; 95% CI, 0.774–4.718). Conclusions These findings represent our initial IVL experience in a high-risk, real-world cohort. Although the event rate in the IVL arm was numerically higher compared to RA, the small numbers and retrospective nature of this study preclude definitive conclusions. Theseclinical outcomes are likely to improve with greater experience and better case selection, allowing IVL to effectively treat complex calcified coronary lesions.

Objective To investigate the bacterial community diversity in Dermatophagoides farinae. Methods Laboratory-cultured D. farinae was collected, and the composition of microbial communities was determined by sequence analyses of the V4 region in the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) gene on an Illumina PE250 high-throughput sequencing platform. Following quality control and filtering of the raw sequence files, valid reads were obtained and subjected to operational taxonomic units (OTU) clustering and analysis of the composition of microbial communities and alpha diversity index using the Usearch software, Silva database, and Mothur software. Results A total of 187 616 valid reads were obtained, and 469 OTUs were clustered based on a sequence similarity of more than 97%. OTU annotation showed that the bacteria in D. farinae belonged to 26 phyla, 43 classes, 100 orders, 167 families and 284 genera. The bacteria in D. farinae were mainly annotated to five phyla of Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, Actinobacteriota, and Acidobacteriota, with Proteobacteria as the dominant phylum, and mainly annotated to five dominant genera of Ralstonia, norank-f-Mitochondria, Staphylococcus and Sphingomonas, with Wolbachia identified in the non-dominant genus. Conclusions A high diversity is identified in the composition of the bacterial community in D. farinae, and there are differences in bacterial community diversity and abundance among D. farinae.

In this study, rats were used to evaluate the effect of Radix glycyrrhiza on reducing liver toxicity of Tripterygium wilfordii. Metabonomics techniques were used to analyze the changes of small molecular metabolites and the metabolic pathways involved in the beneficial process. Different groups of rats were given for the extractions from Tripterygium wilfordii and Tripterygium wilfordii together with Radix glycyrrhiza. The general state, pathological changes of liver tissue, biochemical indexes of liver function and the changes of inflammatory factors in rats were observed. The results showed that the liver tissue injury of Tripterygium wilfordii group was significant, and the injury was reduced by Radix glycyrrhiza. Biochemical indexes and inflammatory factors also suggested that Tripterygium wilfordii together with Radix glycyrrhizaeffectively decreased the liver toxicity. HPLC-MS/MS-IT-TOF was used to characterize the difference of serum metabolism in rats. Multivariate statistical analysis was used to screen 15 potential biomarkers, such as fatty acid, glycerol ester, glycerol phosphate, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine. It mainly involved in 7 metabolic pathways, such as glycerol phospholipid metabolism, linoleic acid metabolism, alpha linoleic acid metabolism, and glycosyl phosphatidylinositol terminal biosynthesis. The results showed that the Tripterygium wilfordii compatibility of Radix glycyrrhizaeffectively decreased the liver toxicity induced by Tripterygium wilfordii. Phospholipid metabolism may be the key metabolic pathway of Tripterygium wilfordii hepatotoxicity and the target of Radix glycyrrhiza. This study provides a reference for the control of liver toxicity of Tripterygium wilfordii.

BACKGROUNDMultidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDRAB) is an important and emerging hospital-acquired pathogen worldwide. This study was conducted to identify the sources of MDRAB and its role in respiratory tract colonization and nosocomial pneumonia in intensive care unit (ICU) patients.

METHODSWe conducted a prospective active surveillance study of MDRAB in three ICUs at a Chinese Hospital from April to August 2011, to identify the sources of MDRAB and its role in respiratory tract colonization and nosocomial pneumonia.

RESULTSOne hundred and fourteen (13.0%) MDRAB isolates were detected from 876 specimens, with a sensitivity of 11.6% (55/474) in screening of the pharyngeal and tracheal swabs, and 14.7% (59/402) of the sputum/endotracheal aspirates. MDRAB colonization/infection was found in 34 (26.8%) of 127 patients, including 16 (12.6%) cases of pure colonization and 18 (14.2%) cases of pneumonia (two pre-ICU-acquired cases of pneumonia and 16 ICU-acquired cases of pneumonia). Previous respiratory tract MDRAB colonization was found in 22 (17.3%) patients: eight (6.3%) were pre-ICU-acquired colonization and 14 (11.0%) ICU-acquired colonization. Of eight pre-ICU-colonized patients, five were transferred from other wards or hospitals with hospitalization > 72 hours, and three came from the community with no previous hospitalization. Overall, 6/22 colonized patients presented with secondary pneumonia; only two (9.1%) colonized MDRAB strains were associated with secondary infections. Respiratory tract MDRAB colonization had no significant relationship with nosocomial pneumonia (P = 0.725). In addition, acute respiratory failure, mechanical ventilation, renal failure, and prior carbapenem use were risk factors for MDRAB colonization/infection.

CONCLUSIONSA high proportion of cases of MDRAB colonization/infection in ICU patients were detected through screening cultures. About one-third were acquired from general wards and the community before ICU admission. The low incidence of MDRAB colonization-related pneumonia questions the appropriateness of targeted antibiotic therapy.

Acinetobacter baumannii ; drug effects ; pathogenicity ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; therapeutic use ; Cross Infection ; drug therapy ; microbiology ; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial ; Female ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pneumonia ; drug therapy ; microbiology ; Prospective Studies ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; drug therapy ; microbiology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the role of contrast-enhanced ultrasound in the differential diagnosis of high- and low-grade urothelial carcinoma.

METHODSThe radiological data of 96 patients with urothelial carcinomas who had undergone gray-scale contrast-enhanced ultrasound from August 2010 to April 2011 were analyzed retrospectively. Pathological examination demonstrated that the tumors were high-grade in 55 cases (high-grade group) and low-grade in 41 cases (low-grade group). The dynamic images were analyzed by time-intensity curve, and the arrival time (AT), peak intensity (PI), time to peak (TTP), and washout time (WT) were measured. The enhancement patterns of different urothelial carcinomas were analyzed.

RESULTSBoth PI (P=0.005) and WT (P=0.002) were significantly higher in high-grade group than in low-grade group, whereas AT (P=0.374) and TTP (P=0.386) showed no significant difference between these two groups. In the high-grade group, 47 cases (85.5%) were identified as fast wash-in and slow wash-out; in the low-grade group, 35 (85.4%) were identified as fast wash-in and fast wash-out. When the enhancement pattern was used as a diagnostic indicator for differentiating urothelial carcinomas, the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 85.5%, 90.2%, 87.5%, 92.2%, and 82.2% for high-grade tumor and 85.4%, 90.9%, 88.5%, 87.5%, and 89.3% for low-grade tumor.

CONCLUSIONSDifferent grade urothelial carcinomas show different enhancement finding on contrast-enhanced ultrasound. The enhancement pattern can serve as an important diagnostic indicator.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma ; diagnostic imaging ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Ultrasonography ; Urologic Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging

OBJECTIVETo develop a nomogram for predicting the probability of prostate cancer at transrectal ultrasound-guided repeat prostate biopsy in Chinese men.

METHODSWe performed repeat biopsy for 170 patients with benign prostate diseases diagnosed on the first biopsy, and analyzed the correlation of positive repeat biopsy with age, prostate volume, PSA, free-to-total PSA (f-PSA/t-PSA), PSA velocity, PSA density, results of digital rectal examination (DRE) and previous histology. We entered the variables stepwise into logistic regression models, and established a nomogram for the risk score on the probability of positive repeat biopsy, whose predictive value was assessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.

RESULTSProstate cancer was detected in 31.8% of the repeat biopsies (54/170). The most accurate predictive nomogram comprised age, PSA, f-PSA/t-PSA, PSA velocity, prostate volume, DRE and previous prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) findings. The nomogram exhibited a high predictive value, with the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 82.4%, significantly greater than that of the prediction based on PSA density (AUC: 66.9%), prostate volume (AUC: 72.6%), PSA velocity (AUC: 69.6%), f-PSA/t-PSA (AUC: 69.3%), or DRE (AUC: 58.5% ) alone.

CONCLUSIONThe nomogram is an accurate multi-variable predicting tool to determine the probability of positive repeat prostate biopsy.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Area Under Curve ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Biopsy, Needle ; methods ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nomograms ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Prostate ; pathology ; Prostatic Diseases ; pathology ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; ROC Curve ; Ultrasonography

OBJECTIVETo investigate the role of transrectal real-time tissue elastography (TRTE) in the diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa).

METHODSEighty-four patients with suspected PCa and scheduled for prostate biopsies underwent TRTE, digital rectal examination (DRE), transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The findings of TRTE were compared with those of other examinations and pathological findings.

RESULTSOf these 84 patients, 36 had benign lesions and 48 had PCa. The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 91.7%, 72.2%, 83.3%, 81.5%, and 86.7% for TRTE and 85.4%ì63.9%ì76.2%, 75.9%, and 76.7% for TRUS (P>0.05), while its specificity (72.2%) was significantly higher than that of MRI (44.4%) (P=0.03). The TRTE findings were not significantly correlated with the pathological findings and serum total prostate specific antigen (P>0.05), and the diagnostic sensitivity of TRTE decreased along with the enlargement of prostate. However, the diagnostic specificity of TRTE was higher than MRI for nodules with soft to medium texture (P=0.04).For PCa, the diagnostic sensitivity of TRTE increased when the Gleanson scores of tumors increased (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONTRTE can be used as a diagnostic test to supplement clinical diagnosis of PCa.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Elasticity Imaging Techniques ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; Rectum ; diagnostic imaging ; Sensitivity and Specificity

OBJECTIVETo develop a predictive nomogram for predicting the prostate carcinoma among Chinese population.

METHODSTotally 556 Chinese male patients who had undergone an initial prostate biopsy in our hospital from July 2004 to February 2009 were enrolled in this study. Variables including age, volume, prostate specific antigen (PSA) level, and free PSA (f-PSA)/total PSA (t-PSA) were collected. Logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the relative risk. Regression equation was established for variables via stepwise regression, via which a nomogram for assessing the positive biopsy results was established, and then the predictive value of this nomogram was evaluated using receiver area under curve (ROC) analysis.

RESULTSOf these 556 patients, cancer was detected in 205 patients (36.87%) via biopsies. Univariate analysis showed that age, prostate volume, PSA levels, and f-PSA/t-PSA were the influencing factors of the nomogram. The risk model performed well in an independent sample, with an AUC(ROC) of 0.8767, which was significantly larger than that of the prediction based on age (AUC(ROC) : 0.6397), prostate volume (AUC(ROC) : 0.7255), PSA (AUC(ROC) : 0.7111), or f-PSA/t-PSA (AUC(ROC) : 0.6973) alone.

CONCLUSIONA preliminary nomogram with high predictive value for Chinese population was successfully established.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Area Under Curve ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Biopsy, Needle ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nomograms ; Prostate ; pathology ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; pathology ; ROC Curve