Objective This study aimed to investigate the potential relationship between urinary metals copper (Cu), arsenic (As), strontium (Sr), barium (Ba), iron (Fe), lead (Pb) and manganese (Mn) and grip strength. Methods We used linear regression models, quantile g-computation and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) to assess the relationship between metals and grip strength.Results In the multimetal linear regression, Cu (β=-2.119), As (β=-1.318), Sr (β=-2.480), Ba (β=0.781), Fe (β= 1.130) and Mn (β=-0.404) were significantly correlated with grip strength (P < 0.05). The results of the quantile g-computation showed that the risk of occurrence of grip strength reduction was -1.007 (95％ confidence interval:-1.362, -0.652; P < 0.001) when each quartile of the mixture of the seven metals was increased. Bayesian kernel function regression model analysis showed that mixtures of the seven metals had a negative overall effect on grip strength, with Cu, As and Sr being negatively associated with grip strength levels. In the total population, potential interactions were observed between As and Mn and between Cu and Mn (Pinteractions of 0.003 and 0.018, respectively).Conclusion In summary, this study suggests that combined exposure to metal mixtures is negatively associated with grip strength. Cu, Sr and As were negatively correlated with grip strength levels, and there were potential interactions between As and Mn and between Cu and Mn.

Knowledge about the neuronal dynamics and the projectome are both essential for understanding how the neuronal network functions in concert. However, it remains challenging to obtain the neural activity and the brain-wide projectome for the same neurons, especially for neurons in subcortical brain regions. Here, by combining in vivo microscopy and high-definition fluorescence micro-optical sectioning tomography, we have developed strategies for mapping the brain-wide projectome of functionally relevant neurons in the somatosensory cortex, the dorsal hippocampus, and the substantia nigra pars compacta. More importantly, we also developed a strategy to achieve acquiring the neural dynamic and brain-wide projectome of the molecularly defined neuronal subtype. The strategies developed in this study solved the essential problem of linking brain-wide projectome to neuronal dynamics for neurons in subcortical structures and provided valuable approaches for understanding how the brain is functionally organized via intricate connectivity patterns.
Animals ; Neurons/physiology* ; Mice ; Brain/physiology* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Somatosensory Cortex/physiology* ; Neural Pathways/physiology* ; Hippocampus/physiology* ; Mice, Transgenic ; Male ; Brain Mapping ; Nerve Net/physiology* ; Substantia Nigra/physiology* ; Tomography, Optical/methods*

In the outbreak of COVID-19,triage procedures based on epidemiology were implemented in a local hospital in Changsha to control the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and avoid healthcare-associated infection.This re-trospective study analyzed the data collected during the triage period and found that COVID-19 patients were en-riched 7 folds into the Section A designated for patients with obvious epidemiological history.On the other side,nearly triple amounts of visits were received at the Section B for patients without obvious epidemiological history.8 COVID-19 cases were spotted out of 247 suspected patients.More than 50％of the suspected patients were submi-tted to multiple rounds of nucleic acid analysis for SARS-CoV-2 infection.Of the 239 patients who were diagnosed as negative of the virus infection,188 were successfully revisited and none was reported as COVID-19 case.Of the 8 COVID-19 patients,3 were confirmed only after multiple rounds of nucleic acid analysis.Besides comorbidities,delayed sharing of epidemiological history added complexity to the diagnosis in practice.The triaging experience and strategy will be helpful for the control of infectious diseases in the future.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate protective effect of Cordyceps sinensis (CS) through autophagy-associated adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway in acute kidney injury (AKI)-induced acute lung injury (ALI). METHODS: Forty-eight male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups according to a random number table, including the normal saline (NS)-treated sham group (sham group), NS-treated ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) group (IRI group), and low- (5 g/kg·d) and high-dose (10 g/kg·d) CS-treated IRI groups (CS1 and CS2 groups), 12 rats in each group. Nephrectomy of the right kidney was performed on the IRI rat model that was subjected to 60 min of left renal pedicle occlusion followed by 12, 24, 48, and 72 h of reperfusion. The wet-to-dry (W/D) ratio of lung, levels of serum creatinine (Scr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin- β and tumor necrosis factor- α, and biomarkers of oxidative stress such as superoxide dismutase, malonaldehyde (MDA) and myeloperoxidase (MPO), were assayed. Histological examinations were conducted to determine damage of tissues in the kidney and lung. The protein expressions of light chain 3 II/light chain 3 I (LC3-II/LC3-I), uncoordinated-51-like kinase 1 (ULK1), P62, AMPK and mTOR were measured by Western blot and immunohistochemistry, respectively. RESULTS: The renal IRI induced pulmonary injury following AKI, resulting in significant increases in W/D ratio of lung, and the levels of Scr, BUN, inflammatory cytokines, MDA and MPO (P<0.01); all of these were reduced in the CS groups (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Compared with the IRI groups, the expression levels of P62 and mTOR were significantly lower (P<0.05 or P<0.01), while those of LC3-II/LC3-I, ULK1, and AMPK were significantly higher in the CS2 group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). CONCLUSION CS had a potential in treating lung injury following renal IRI through activation of the autophagy-related AMPK/mTOR signaling pathway in AKI-induced ALI.
Rats ; Male ; Animals ; AMP-Activated Protein Kinases/metabolism* ; Cordyceps/metabolism* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Kidney/pathology* ; Acute Kidney Injury/metabolism* ; Signal Transduction ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism* ; Reperfusion Injury/metabolism* ; Cytokines/metabolism* ; Acute Lung Injury/drug therapy* ; Mammals/metabolism*

Objective: To explore the metabolite profile and metabolic pathways of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM). Methods: Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was employed for the high-throughput detection and identification of serum samples from 55 patients with MM and 37 healthy controls matched for age and sex from 2016 to 2017 collected at the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of quality control (QC) samples was employed to validate the reproducibility of GC-MS approach. The differential metabolites between patients with MM and healthy controls were detected by partial least squares discrimination analysis (PLS-DA), and t-test with false discovery rate (FDR) correction. Metabolomics pathway analysis (MetPA) was employed to construct metabolic pathways. Results: There were 55 MM patients, including 34 males and 21 females. The median age was 60 years old (42-73 years old). There were 30 cases of IgG type, 9 cases of IgA type, 1 case of IgM type, 2 cases of non-secreted type, 1 case of double clone type and 12 cases of light chain type, including 3 cases of kappa light chain type and 9 cases of lambda light chain type. The result of QC sample test showed that the proportion of compounds with the RSD of the relative content of metabolites < 15% was 70.21% obtained by the reproducibility of GC-MS experimental data, which implied that the experimental data were reliable. A total of 17 metabolites were screened differently with the healthy control group, including myristic acid, hydroxyproline, cysteine, palmitic acid, L-leucine, stearic acid, methionine, phenylalanine, glycerin, serine, isoleucine, tyrosine, valine, citric acid, inositol, threonine, and oxalic acid (VIP>1, P<0.05). Metabolic pathway analysis suggested that metabolic disorders in MM patients comprised mainly phenylalanine metabolism, glyoxylic acid and dicarboxylic acid metabolism, phosphoinositide metabolism, cysteine and methionine metabolism, glycerolipid metabolism, glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism. Conclusion: Compared with normal people, patients with newly diagnosed MM have obvious differences in metabolic profiles and metabolic pathways.
Male ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Aged ; Cysteine ; Multiple Myeloma/diagnosis* ; Reproducibility of Results ; Metabolome ; Metabolomics/methods* ; Metabolic Networks and Pathways ; Methionine ; Serine ; Phenylalanine ; Threonine ; Biomarkers

Chronic psychological stress can promote vascular diseases, such as hypertension and atherosclerosis. This study aims to explore the effects and mechanism of chronic psychological stress on aortic medial calcification (AMC). Rat arterial calcification model was established by nicotine gavage in combination with vitamin D₃ (VitD₃) intramuscular injection, and rat model of chronic psychological stress was induced by humid environment. Aortic calcification in rats was evaluated by using Alizarin red staining, aortic calcium content detection, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity assay. The expression levels of the related proteins, including vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) contractile phenotype marker SM22α, osteoblast-like phenotype marker RUNX2, and endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) markers (GRP78 and CHOP), were determined by Western blot. The results showed that chronic psychological stress alone induced AMC in rats, further aggravated AMC induced by nicotine in combination with VitD₃, promoted the osteoblast-like phenotype transformation of VSMCs and aortic ERS activation, and significantly increased the plasma cortisol levels. The 11β-hydroxylase inhibitor metyrapone effectively reduced chronic psychological stress-induced plasma cortisol levels and ameliorated AMC and aortic ERS in chronic psychological stress model rats. Conversely, the glucocorticoid receptor agonist dexamethasone induced AMC, promoted AMC induced by nicotine combined with VitD₃, and further activated aortic ERS. The above effects of dexamethasone could be inhibited by ERS inhibitor 4-phenylbutyrate. These results suggest that chronic psychological stress can lead to the occurrence and development of AMC by promoting glucocorticoid synthesis, which may provide new strategies and targets for the prevention and control of AMC.
Rats ; Animals ; Glucocorticoids/metabolism* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Nicotine/metabolism* ; Hydrocortisone/metabolism* ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular ; Dexamethasone/metabolism* ; Vascular Calcification/metabolism* ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle/metabolism* ; Cells, Cultured

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the epidemiological characteristics of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) in young men in Chengdu and explore the characteristics and risks of violence. METHODS: Stratified random sampling was used to conduct a self-assessment questionnaire survey in 4 108 males aged from 18 to 34 in Chengdu, including general demographic characteristics, structured clinical interview for the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders-Ⅳ axis Ⅱ disorders (SCID-Ⅱ) personality disorder screen questionnaire, violence questionnaire, psychosis screening questionnaire (PSQ), Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and drug use. χ² test, univariate and multivariate logistic regression were used for analysis and odds ratio (OR) was calculated. RESULTS: The positive rate of ASPD was 5.91%, which was associated with young age, unmarried, unemployment state, low educational level, violent behavior, psychotic symptoms, alcohol and drug use (P<0.05). Young men with ASPD also had a risk (P<0.05) of violence (OR was 8.51), multiple violence (OR was 16.57), injury (OR was 6.68), intentional violence (OR was 11.41), etc., the risk decreased after controlling for psychotic symptoms and substance abuse, but was still statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS The risk of violence, severe violence and intentional violence in young men in Chengdu is high, and psychotic symptoms and substance abuse increase the risk of ASPD violence and relate characteristics.
Alcoholism/epidemiology* ; Antisocial Personality Disorder/epidemiology* ; Comorbidity ; Humans ; Male ; Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

According to the polarity of different components in Sanpian Decoction, two fingerprints were established. Then the substance benchmark freeze-dried powder of 15 batches of Sanpian Decoction was prepared, followed by the determination of the fingerprints, index component content, and dry extract rates, the identification of attribution of characteristic peaks, and the calculation of similarities between these fingerprints and the reference(R), the content and transfer rate ranges of ferulic acid, sinapine thiocyanate, liquiritin, and glycyrrhizic acid, and the dry extract rate range. The results showed that the similarities of 15 batches of the substance benchmark fingerprints with R were all greater than 0.900.Further summarization of the characteristic peaks revealed that there were a total of 20 characteristic peaks in fingerprint 1, among which, eight were from Sinapis Semen, four from Paeoniae Radix Alba, six from Chuanxiong Rhizoma, and two from Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma. A total of 16 characteristic peaks were observed in fingerprint 2, including one from Sinapis Semen, three from Paeoniae Radix Alba, eight from Chuanxiong Rhizoma, and four from Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma. The average dry extract rate of 15 batches of substance benchmarks was 18.25%, with a dry extract rate range of 16.28%-20.76%. The index component content and transfer rate ranges were listed as follows: 0.15%-0.18% and 38.81%-58.05% for ferulic acid; 0.26%-0.42% and 36.51%-51.02% for sinapine thiocyanate; 0.09%-0.15% and 48.80%-76.61% for liquiritin; 0.13%-0.24% and 23.45%-35.61% for glycyrrhizic acid. The fingerprint, dry extract rate, and index component content determination was combined for analyzing the quality value transfer of substance benchmarks in the classic prescription Sanpian Decoction.The established quality evaluation method for the substance benchmarks was stable and feasible, which has provided a basis for the quality control of Sanpian Decoction and the follow-up development of related preparations.
Benchmarking ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Glycyrrhizic Acid/analysis* ; Paeonia ; Quality Control ; Thiocyanates

Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs), with a history of thousands of years, are widely used clinically with effective treatment. However, the drug delivery systems (DDSs) for TCMs remains major challenges due to the characteristics of multi-components including alkaloids, flavones, anthraquinones, glycosides, proteins, volatile oils and other types. Therefore, the novel preparations and technology of modern pharmaceutics is introduced to improve TCM therapeutic effects due to instability and low bioavailability of active ingredients. Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, the radix and rhizomes of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (Danshen in Chinese), is a well known Chinese herbal medicine for protecting the cardiovascular system, with active ingredients mainly including lipophilic tanshinones and hydrophilic salvianolic acids. In this review, this drug is taken as an example to present challenges and strategies in progress of DDSs for TCMs. This review would also summary the characteristics of active ingredients in it including physicochemical properties and pharmacological effects. The purpose of this review is to provide inspirations and ideas for the DDSs designed from TCMs by summarizing the advances on DDSs for both single- and multi-component from Danshen.

Malocclusion is one of the three most common oral diseases reported by World Health Organization(WHO). In China, its incidence rate is rising. Malocclusion seriously affects the dental and maxillofacial function, facial appearance and growth development of nearly 260 million children in China, and what is more, it affects their physical and mental health development. Malocclusion occurrence is related to genetic and environmental factors. Early treatment of malocclusion can create a good dental and maxillofacial development environment, correct abnormal growth and control the adverse effects of abnormal genetic factors. It can effectively reduce the prevalence of children's malocclusion and enhance their physical and mental health. This is an urgent need from the economic perspective of our society, so it has great practical and social significance. Experts from the project group "standard diagnose and treatment protocols for early orthodontic intervention of malocclusions of children" which initiated by China National Health Institute of Hospital Administration wrote the "China Experts' Consensus on Preventive and Interceptive Orthodontic Treatments of Malocclusions of Children", which aims to guide and popularize the clinical practice, improve the clinical theory and practice level, and accelerate the disciplinary development of early treatment of children's malocclusion in China. The consensus elaborates the harmfulness of malocclusion and the necessity of early treatment, and brings up the principles and fundamental contents. Based on the law of dental and maxillofacial development, this paper puts forward the guiding suggestions of preventive and interceptive treatments in different stages of dental development ranging from fetus to early permanent dentition. It is a systematic project to promote and standardize the early treatment of malocclusion. Through scientific and comprehensive stratified clinical practice and professional training, the clinical system of early treatment of malocclusion in China will eventually be perfected, so as to comprehensively care for children's dental and maxillofacial health, and improve their oral and physical health in China.
Child ; China/epidemiology* ; Consensus ; Dental Care ; Humans ; Malocclusion/prevention & control* ; Orthodontics, Interceptive