Background Metals and metalloids in fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) may cause damage to the respiratory and circulatory systems of the human body, and long-term exposure is prone to causing chronic poisoning, cancer, and other adverse effects. Objective To assess the distribution characteristics of metals and metalloids in outdoor PM_2.5 in a southern city of China, conduct source apportionment, and evaluate the associated health risks, thereby providing theoretical support for further pollution control measures. Methods PM_2.5 samples were collected in districts A, B, and C of a southern China city, and the concentrations of 17 metals and metalloids were detected by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Pollution sources were assessed through enrichment factor and principal components analysis, and the main pollution sources were quantified using absolute principal component scores-multivariate linear regression (APCS-MLR). Health risks were evaluated based on the Technical guide for environmental health risk assessment of chemical exposure (WS/T777—2021). Results The ambient air PM_2.5 concentrations in the city were higher in winter and spring, and lower in summer and autumn. The annual average concentrations of ambient PM_2.5 in districts A, B, and C were 36.7, 31.9, and 24.4 μg·m⁻³, respectively. The ambient PM_2.5 levels in districts B and C were below the second-grade limit set by the Ambient air quality standards (GB 3095—2012). The enrichment factors of cadmium (Cd), aluminum (Al), and antimony (Sb) were greater than 10, those of copper (Cu), lead (Pb), arsenic (As), nickel (Ni), mercury (Hg), and molybdenum (Mo) fell between 1 and 10, and those of manganese (Mn), vanadium (V), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), barium (Ba), beryllium (Be), and uranium (U) were below or equal to 1. The comprehensive evaluation of source analysis showed that the main pollution sources in districts A and C and the whole city were coal-burning. In district B, the main pollution source was also coal combustion, followed by industrial process sources and dust sources. The carcinogenic risks of As and Cr were between 1×10⁻⁶ and 1×10⁻⁴. However, the hazard quotients for 15 metals and metalloids in terms of non-carcinogenic risk were below 1. Conclusion Cr and As in the atmospheric PM_2.5 of the city present a certain risk of cancer and should be paid attention to. In addition, preventive control measures should be taken against relevant pollution sources such as industrial emission, dust, and coal burning.

Allergic rhinitis(AR)is a type Ⅰ allergic reaction,which mediated by immunoglobulin E immediately when an individual with a special constitution is exposed to a same allergen for second time,whose pathogenesis has not been clarified yet,and closely related to genes,immune cells and cytokines.Pathogenesis of AR become more deeper and more accurate due to rapid develop-ment of molecular biology and second-generation gene sequencing technology.Current studies have found that miR-155 and transcrip-tion factor GATA3 have important regulatory effects on occurrence and development of AR,then affect dominant differentiation of CD4+T lymphocytes and proliferation of ILC2.This article discusses and reviews pathogenesis of AR,which mainly focuses on miR-155/GATA3 pathway and effects of related upstream genes and downstream regulatory substances.

Objective To discuss the application effect of using a stone extractor balloon catheter to assist in crossing the anastomotic stenosis in treatment of anastomotic biliary stenosis after liver transplantation using endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography(ERCP).Methods Clinical data of 48 patients who developed anastomotic biliary stenosis after liver transplantation and underwent ERCP treatment were collected.Upon unsuccessful use of a dilation catheter to cross the stricture,attempts were made to cross the anastomotic biliary stenosis by using a stone extractor balloon catheter.The success rate of the procedure was recorded,intraoperative conditions were observed,treatment outcomes and complications were analyzed.Results The main presenting symptoms in the 48 patients on admission were abdominal discomfort(32 patients),fever(7 patients),pruritus(4 patients),jaundice(3 patients),and no obvious symptoms(2 patients).Preoperative magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography(MRCP)examination revealed isolated stricture of the anastomotic site in 35 cases,and stricture associated with stones in 13 cases.Using the stone extractor balloon catheter as a guide,guidewire crossing of the anastomotic stenosis was successful in 26 cases,resulting in a success rate of 54.17%(26/48).Through statistical analysis of the successful group and the failed group,there was a significant difference in whether the distal biliary dilatation between the two groups,and the difference was statistically significant(χ2 = 8.39,P = 0.004).In the 26 successfully treated cases,alanine transaminase(ALT),aspartate transaminase(AST),γ-glutamyl transpeptidase(γ-GT),alkaline phosphatase(ALP),and total bilirubin(TBiL)levels decreased significantly 48 hours after the procedure(P<0.05),and no serious complications occurred.Conclusion The use of a stone extractor balloon catheter significantly increases the success rate of crossing anastomotic stenosis in the treatment of anastomotic biliary stenosis after liver transplantation,especially in cases with distal dilatation of the common bile duct.This approach is safe and worth promoting.

The ICR(Institute of Cancer Research)mouse infection model was constructed to study the pathogenicity of Sal-monella Telelkebir serotype,and the pathogenic identification of mouse isolates was carried out.Observe the bacterial excretion cycle,evaluate the pathogenicity of Salmonella serotype to mice,and calculate the LD50 by the changes in clinical characteris-tics,histopathology and tissue bacterial load of infected mice;by flight mass spectrometry,biochemical identification,serotype identification,molecular typing and other experiments,compared with human isolates;virulence gene analysis was carried out by PCR experiment and whole genome sequencing.The LD50 of Salmonella Telelkebir is 2.67 × 108 CFU/mL;curling and fluffing may occur 0.5 h after infection;autopsy of dead mice showed that the small intestine was severely congested,with more bubbles and fluid accumulation,cecal necrosis,liver apical degeneration and necrosis,necrotic foci on the surface of the kidney and spleen atrophy;the bacterial load of spleen,kidney,lung,liver and jejunum in mice reached its peak at 3 days after infection,while that of heart at 6 days;the bacterial excretion time of the high-dose group exceeded 100 days;The level of CD3 in tissues increased with increasing dose,with inflammatory cell infiltration,myocardial capillary dilation and hyperemia,large area of vacuoles,degeneration and necrosis of hepatocytes,obvious enlargement of splenic sinus,blurred zoning,thickening of glomerular basement membrane,partial exfoliation of ciliated epithelium,atrophy and exfoliation of jejunal villi;PCR and whole genome sequencing revealed Salmonella-related virulence genes such as cdtB,plt A and pltB.This study was the first to successfully establish the ICR mouse model of Salmonella Telelkebir,demonstrating that this serotype of Salmonella has some pathogenicity.

Objective:To investigate the risk factors of pleural effusion after spinal separation surgery for patients with spinal metastatic tumors.Methods:A total of 427 patients with spinal metastatic tumors from January 2014 to January 2022 in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine were retrospectively analyzed. There were 252 males and 175 females, with an average age of 59±12 years (range, 15-87 years). All patients underwent separation surgery. Based on the chest CT within 1 month after surgery, the volume of pleural effusion was measured individually by reconstruction software. Pleural effusion was defined as small volume (0-500 ml), moderate volume (500-1 000 ml), and large volume (above 1 000 ml). Baseline data and perioperative clinical outcomes were compared between the groups, and indicators with statistically significant differences were included in a binary logistic regression analysis to determine the independent risk factors for the development of pleural effusion after isolation of spinal metastatic cancer. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were conducted to calculate the area under the curve (AUC) for each independent risk factor.Results:All patients successfully completed the operation. Among the 427 patients, there were 35 cases of large pleural effusion, 42 cases of moderate pleural effusion, and 350 cases of small pleural effusion. There were significant differences in tumor size (χ 2=9.485, P=0.013), intraoperative blood loss ( Z=-2.503, P=0.011), blood transfusion ( Z=-2.983, P=0.003), preoperative total protein ( Z=2.681, P=0.007), preoperative albumin ( Z=1.720, P= 0.085), postoperative hemoglobin ( t=2.950, P=0.008), postoperative total protein ( Z=4.192, P<0.001), and postoperative albumin ( t=2.268, P=0.032) in the large pleural effusion group versus the small and moderate pleural effusion group. Logistic regression analysis showed that decreased preoperative albumin ( OR=0.89, P=0.045) and metastases located in the thoracic spine ( OR=4.01, P=0.039) were independent risk factors for the occurrence of large pleural effusion after separation surgery. The ROC curve showed that the AUC and 95% CI for preoperative albumin, lesion location, and the combined model were 0.637 (0.54, 0.74), 0.421 (0.36, 0.48), and 0.883 (0.81, 0.92). The combined predictive model showed good predictive value. Conclusion:The volume of pleural effusion can be measured individually and quantitatively based on chest CT. Decreased preoperative albumin and metastases located in the thoracic spine are independent risk factors for the occurrence of large pleural effusion after separation surgery. The combined prediction of the two factors has better predictive efficacy.

Objective: To analyze the correlation between refractive errors and physical development indicators among primary school students aged 6 to 9, so as to provide a scientific basis for the development of effective prevention and control measures. Methods: A stratified cluster random sampling method was used to recruit 2 833 elementary school students aged 6 to 9 from Guangdong Province for vision screening, ocular biometry, and physical examinations in Octorber, 2020. The Chi square test, t-test, and ANOVA were employed to compare myopia rates and indicator values across different groups. Multiple linear regression models were used to analyze the correlations between height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) with refractive development indicators. Results: The screening myopia rate among primary school students aged 6 to 9 was 16.7%, and the myopia rate increased with age ( χ 2= 51.58 , P <0.01). The height and weight of the myopic group [(126.96±7.41)cm, (26.59±6.45)kg] were higher than those of the non myopic group [(124.76±7.77)cm, (25.42±5.87)kg] ( t =5.84, 3.65, P <0.01). The mean values of spherical equivalent (SE), axial length (AL), anterior chamber depth (ACD), and AL/corneal curvature radius (CR) ratio for students aged 6 to 9 were (-0.17±1.04)D, (22.96±0.78)mm, (3.38±0.24)mm, and (2.95±0.08), respectively, with statistically significant differences across different age and myopia severity groups ( t =37.08, 119.20, 41.54, 133.60; 935.30, 184.10, 73.95, 498.50, P < 0.01). After adjusting for gender, age, and residence, the multiple linear regression model showed that height was positively correlated with AL and CR, weight was positively correlated with ACD, and BMI was positively correlated with AL and ACD ( β = 0.191 , 0.070, 0.035, 0.013, 0.007, P <0.05). When stratified by myopia status, results for the non-myopic group were similar to the overall results, whereas in the myopic group, the correlations between height, BMI, and AL were not statistically significant ( P > 0.05). Conclusions Among primary school students aged 6 to 9, height and BMI are positively correlated with AL in the non myopic group but no similar correlation is observed in the myopic group, indicating that factors other than physical development, such as environmental and behavioral factors, should be considered for their impact on refractive development.

Objective:To investigate the influence of varied oxygen (O 2) concentration environments on the phenotypic transformation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMC) and the mechanism of pulmonary hypertension. Methods:Primary rat PASMC were isolated and cultured through the process of enzymatic digestion. Following identification, the stable passaged PASMC were subjected to a 6-hour incubation in sealed containers with normal O 2 content (group C) and relative O 2 content comprising 55% (group H55), 75% (group H75), and 95% (group H95). mRNA and protein expression of α-Actin (α-SMA), smooth muscle 22α (SM22α), osteopontin (OPN), and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) were measured using real-time quantitative PCR and western blot analysis. Results:The H55 group displayed no significant difference from the C group in terms of mRNA and relative protein expression levels for α-SMA, SM22α, OPN, and MMP-2 (all P>0.05). On the other hand, groups H75 and H95 exhibited a reduction in mRNA and relative protein expression of α-SMA and SM22α, along with an increase in mRNA and relative protein expression of OPN and MMP-2 when compared with both the C and H55 groups (all P<0.05). The H95 group showed a higher relative mRNA expression of MMP-2 as compared to the H75 group ( P<0.05). Conclusions:Oxygen concentration environments of 75% or higher can serve as the foundation for the pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension, essentially by inducing a phenotypic transformation in PASMC towards adopting a robust secretory function. This induction is contingent upon the concentration of oxygen present.

Aim To investigate the effect of quercetin(Que)on podocyte inflammatory injury and the under-lying mechanism.Methods MPC5 cells were divided into normal glucose group(NG),mannitol group(MA),high glucose group(HG)and high glucose+quercetin group(HG+Que).Cell proliferation and apoptosis were detected by CCK-8 and flow cytometry.The expression of SIRT1,STAT3,apoptosis-related proteins(Bax,Bcl-2,caspase-3)and pyroptosis pro-tein GSDME was detected by Western blot.The ex-pression levels of inflammatory factors(IL-6,TNF-α,IL-18,IL-1β)in cell supernatants were detected by ELISA.Then small interfering RNA technology was used to knockdown SIRT1 expression.To further eval-uate the biological significance of SIRT1 in response to high glucose and Que treatment,negative control group(HG+si-NC+Que)and SIRT1 interference group(HG+si-SIRT1+Que)were added in the presence of high glucose and Que.Results Compared with the high glucose group,40 μmol·L-1 Que could alleviate the apoptosis of MPC5 cells induced by high glucose,decrease the expression of apoptosis related protein Bax and caspase-3,as well as increase the expression of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2;ELISA results showed that Que could decrease the expression of TNF-α,IL-6,IL-1 β and IL-18 induced by high glucose.Mechanical-ly,Que could alleviate the inhibitory effect of high glu-cose on the expression of SIRT1,and further decrease the activation of STAT3 and N-GSDME,and inhibit pyroptosis.Compared with the si-NC group,si-SIRT1 group could reverse the protective effect of Que on the high glucose induced inflammatory damage of podo-cytes,the expression of apoptotic proteins Bax and caspase-3 increased,while the expression of anti-apop-totic protein Bcl-2 decreased.At the same time,the levels of inflammatory cytokines TNF-α,IL-6,IL-1 βand IL-18 in supernatants increased,and the expres-sion of STAT3 and N-GSDME increased.Conclusion Que could inhibit pyroptosis and relieve the inflam-matory damage of podocytes through SIRT1/STAT3/GSDME pathway.

Aim To investigate the involvement of mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor(MANF)in rifampicin(RFP)-induced cholestatic liv-er injury.Methods We investigated the impact of MANF gene deletion on rifampicin-induced BAT ex-pression in mice by the MANF gene knockout mouse model.We investigated the influence of MANF knock-down on nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2(Nrf2)in HepG2 cells by the MANF knockdown cell model.Results Compared with the wild-type(WT)mice,the mRNA and protein expression levels of bile salt export pump(BSEP)and multidrug-resistant asso-ciated protein4(MRP4)significantly increased in WT mice treated with RFP.However,compared to the WT mice treated with RFP,the mRNA and protein expres-sion levels of BSEP,Multidrug resistance protein 1(MDR1),multidrug resistance associated proteins 2/3/4(MRP2/3/4),and organic solute transport pro-teins α(OST α)were significantly reduced.In cell experiments we found that MANF knockdown weakened the expression of Nrf2 and its nuclear translocation by RFP.Conclusion MANF may regulate adaptive BAT expression by modulating Nrf2 expression,thereby pla-ying a protective role in RFP-induced liver injury.

Objective:To explore the diagnosis and clinical characteristics of congenital meningocele combined with type 1 neurofibromatosis (NF1).Methods:Clinical data of a child with congenital meningoencephalocele complicated with NF1 diagnosed and treated by the Hunan Provincial Brain Hospital on July 12, 2021 were collected, and relevant literature was reviewed.Results:Patient, female, 9 years old, with milk coffee stains on the skin of the trunk and limbs, mostly with a length greater than 1.5 cm; A three-dimensional CT scan of the skull showed a skull defect in the left temporal occipital region (approximately 7.5 cm×6.7 cm) and below the right posterior occipital tuberosity (approximately 3 cm×3 cm). The patient′s clinical whole exome sequencing detected one pathogenic mutation (NF1: p. Arg681Ter), and underwent lumbar cistern drainage, cyst resection, occipital cistern ostomy, and titanium mesh repair and shaping surgery. The pathological result showed proliferation of arachnoid and fibrous tissue, and good postoperative recovery.Conclusions:Congenital meningoencephalocele combined with NF1 is extremely rare, and early surgery has more advantages than disadvantages. The use of titanium mesh with sliding groove can alleviate the limitation on skull growth to a certain extent. NF1 has diverse clinical manifestations and different onset ages, and should be followed up by a multidisciplinary team for a long time.