italic>Salvia apiana Jepson, commonly known as white sage, is a perennial sub-shrub of the Salvia genus in the Lamiaceae family with a long medicinal history. In this study, the complete chloroplast genome of S. apiana was sequenced using PacBio HiFi third-generation sequencing technology. The physical map of the genome was constructed, and the sequence structure features, codon preference, and repetitive sequences were analyzed. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of the chloroplast genome and phylogenetic evolution with closely related species within the same genus was conducted. The chloroplast genome of S. apiana was found to have a length of 151 701 bp (GenBank accession number: OR389048), with a typical quadripartite structure and a GC content of 38.06%. A total of 132 genes were annotated, including 87 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Among them, 17 genes contained introns, and 18 genes were present in duplicate copies. Codon preference analysis revealed a preference for codons ending with A or U. Analysis of repetitive structures in the S. apiana chloroplast genome identified 170 simple sequence repeat (SSR) sites and 65 scattered repeat sequences, with the majority of SSR sites composed of A and T. Phylogenetic analysis of the complete chloroplast genomes of 21 species within the same genus showed that S. apiana is most closely related to Salvia hispanica Ettling. ex Willk. & Lange, Salvia leucantha Cav., and Salvia tiliifolia Vahl. Comparative analysis of the chloroplast genomes revealed slight contraction and expansion of the inverted repeat (IR) boundaries in S. apiana, as well as multiple highly variable regions in the chloroplast genome sequence. This study establishes a method for de novo assembling the chloroplast genome of S. apiana using third-generation sequencing data and provides a comprehensive analysis of its chloroplast genome, which can serve as a theoretical basis for studies on chloroplast genetic engineering, genetic diversity analysis, molecular breeding, and species identification.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of integrated management during the perinatal period for fetuses diagnosed with total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC) by prenatal echocardiography. METHODS: Clinical data of 64 cases of TAPVC fetuses diagnosed by prenatal echocardiography and managed with integrated perinatal care in Qingdao Women and Children's Hospital from January 2017 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. Integrated perinatal care included multidisciplinary collaboration among obstetrics, fetal medicine, ultrasound, pediatric cardiology, pediatric anesthesia, and neonatology. RESULTS: Among the 64 TAPVC fetuses, there were 29 cases of supracardiac type, 27 cases of intracardiac type, 2 cases of infracardiac type, and 6 cases of mixed type. Chromosomal analysis was performed in 42 cases, and no obvious abnormalities were found. Among the 64 TAPVC fetuses, 37 were induced labor, and 27 were followed up until term birth. Among the 27 TAPVC cases, 2 cases accepted palliative care, 2 cases were referred to another hospital for treatment and lost to follow-up, while the remaining 23 cases underwent primary repair surgery. One case died within 6 months after the operation due to low cardiac output syndrome, while the other 22 cases were followed up for (2.1±0.3) years with good outcomes (2 cases underwent a second surgery within 1 year after the first operation due to anastomotic stenosis or pulmonary vein stenosis). CONCLUSIONS TAPVC fetuses can achieve good outcomes with integrated management during the perinatal period.
Female ; Humans ; Pregnancy ; Echocardiography ; Heart Defects, Congenital/surgery* ; Pulmonary Veins/surgery* ; Retrospective Studies ; Scimitar Syndrome/surgery* ; Infant, Newborn

Humans ; Gemcitabine ; Neoplasms

Objective: To investigate the regulatory relationship of Protein Phosphatase 2 Regulatory Subunit B"Alpha ( PPP2R3A) and hexokinase 1 ( HK1) in glycolysis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: In HepG2 and Huh7 cells, PPP2R3A expression was silenced by small interfering RNA (siRNA) and overexpression by plasmid transfection. The PPP2R3A-related genes were searched by RNA sequencing. Glycolysis levels were measured by glucose uptake and lactate production. QRT-PCR, ELISA, western blot and immunofluorescence assay were performed to detect the changes of PPP2R3A and HK1. Cell proliferation, migration and invasion assay were used to study the roles of HK1 regulation by PPP2R3A. Results: RNA sequencing data revealed that PPP2R3A siRNA significantly downregulated the expression of HK1. PPP2R3A gene overexpression promotes, while gene silencing suppresses, the level of HK1 and glycolysis in HCC cells. In HCC tissue samples, PPP2R3A and HK1 were colocalized in the cytoplasm, and their expression showed a positive correlation. HK1 inhibition abrogated the promotion of glycolysis, proliferation, migration and invasion by PPP2R3A overexpression in liver cancer cells. Conclusion Our findings showed the correlation of PPP2R3A and HK1 in the glycolysis of HCC, which reveals a new mechanism for the oncogenic roles of PPP2R3A in cancer.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/pathology* ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Glycolysis ; Hexokinase/metabolism* ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms/pathology* ; Protein Phosphatase 2/metabolism* ; RNA, Small Interfering/metabolism*

Objective: To investigate the safety and feasibility of caudal-medial approach combined with "page-turning" middle lymphadenectomy in the laparoscopic right hemicolectomy. Methods: A descriptive cohort study was conducted. Clinical data of 35 patients who underwent laparoscopic radical right hemicolectomy using caudal-medial approach combined with "page-turning" middle lymphadenectomy at Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Guangdong Hospital of Chinese Medicine from April 2018 to May 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. All operations were performed consecutively by the same surgeon. The caudal-medial approach was used to dissect the right Toldt's fascia and the anterior pancreaticoduodenal space in a caudal-to-cranial and medial-to-lateral manner guided by the duodenum. The "page-turning" middle lymphadenectomy was used to dissect the mesocolon along the superior mesenteric vein with ileocolic vein, Henle's trunk and pancreas exposed preferentially. Results: All the 35 patients completed the operation successfully, and there was no damage and bleeding of superior mesenteric vessels and their branches. The operative time was (186.9±46.2) minutes, and the blood loss was 50 (10-200) ml. The first time to flatus was (2.1±0.6) days, and the time to fluid intake was (2.5±0.8) days. The postoperative hospital stay was 6 (3-18) d. The overall morbidity of postoperative complication was 8.6% (3/35), including grade II in 1 cases (2.8%) and grade IIIa in 2 case (5.7%) according to the Clavien-Dindo grading standard. The total number of lymph node dissected was 30.2±5.6, and the positive lymph node was 0 (0-7). Tumor staging revealed 5 cases of stage I, 18 cases of stage II, 11 cases of stage III, and 1 case of stage IVA. In this study, the median follow-up time was 15 (4-29) months. One patient died due to cerebrovascular accident 12 months after surgery, and no tumor recurrence or metastasis was observed in all other patients. Conclusions: Laparoscopic radical right hemicolectomy using caudal-medial approach combined with "page-turning" middle lymphadenectomy is safe and feasible. The anterior pancreaticoduodenal space is preferentially mobilized, which reduces the difficulty of central vascular dissection.
Cohort Studies ; Colectomy ; Colonic Neoplasms/surgery* ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Lymph Node Excision ; Retrospective Studies

Objective: Several COVID-19 patients have overlapping comorbidities. The independent role of each component contributing to the risk of COVID-19 is unknown, and how some non-cardiometabolic comorbidities affect the risk of COVID-19 remains unclear. Methods: A retrospective follow-up design was adopted. A total of 1,160 laboratory-confirmed patients were enrolled from nine provinces in China. Data on comorbidities were obtained from the patients' medical records. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratio ( Results: Overall, 158 (13.6%) patients were diagnosed with severe illness and 32 (2.7%) had unfavorable outcomes. Hypertension (2.87, 1.30-6.32), type 2 diabetes (T2DM) (3.57, 2.32-5.49), cardiovascular disease (CVD) (3.78, 1.81-7.89), fatty liver disease (7.53, 1.96-28.96), hyperlipidemia (2.15, 1.26-3.67), other lung diseases (6.00, 3.01-11.96), and electrolyte imbalance (10.40, 3.00-26.10) were independently linked to increased odds of being severely ill. T2DM (6.07, 2.89-12.75), CVD (8.47, 6.03-11.89), and electrolyte imbalance (19.44, 11.47-32.96) were also strong predictors of unfavorable outcomes. Women with comorbidities were more likely to have severe disease on admission (5.46, 3.25-9.19), while men with comorbidities were more likely to have unfavorable treatment outcomes (6.58, 1.46-29.64) within two weeks. Conclusion Besides hypertension, diabetes, and CVD, fatty liver disease, hyperlipidemia, other lung diseases, and electrolyte imbalance were independent risk factors for COVID-19 severity and poor treatment outcome. Women with comorbidities were more likely to have severe disease, while men with comorbidities were more likely to have unfavorable treatment outcomes.
Adult ; Aged ; COVID-19/virology* ; China/epidemiology* ; Comorbidity ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Severity of Illness Index ; Treatment Outcome

Serum samples were tested for IgG antibodies using indirect immunofluorescence assays. We then analyzed associated risk factors. Serum samples were considered positive when reactive at a dilution of more than 1:320. Differences between groups and risk factors associated with exposure were statistically analyzed using Chi-square tests and the generalized linear model. 122 of 1,260 samples (9.68%) were positive for infection. The infection rate ranged from 0% to 30.43% and differed significantly among age groups ( < 0.01); infection rate in the 50-59 years group was significantly higher than that in other age groups. The seroprevalence of varied significantly among sites within the four provinces, and the infection rate of field workers was significantly higher than that of urban workers.

To evaluate the therapeutic effect of traditional Chinese medicine( TCM) retention enema in treating ulcerative colitis( UC) by Meta-analysis method. Randomized controlled trials( RCTs) of TCM retention enema in treatment of UC were retrieved from databases as CNKI,Wan Fang,CBM,VIP and PubMed from inception to June 2019. The quality of RCTs was assessed by using the Cochrane collaboration's tool for assessing risk of bias,Meta-analysis were performed with Rev Man 5. 3 software and publication bias was tested by using Stata 15. 1 software. There were twenty-eight articles enrolled,and 2 477 patients were included. The result of Meta-analysis showed that retention enema with TCM had significantly better effectiveness in overall curative effect( RR_SASP= 1. 18,95%CI[1. 13,1. 22],Z = 8. 32,P < 0. 01; RR_5-ASA= 1. 13,95% CI[1. 03,1. 21],Z = 2. 61,P < 0. 01) symptom curative effect( RR =1. 44,95%CI[1. 22,1. 71],Z = 4. 25,P<0. 01) than those of the control group,and the treatment group was lower than the control group in terms of recurrence( RR = 0. 31,95% CI[0. 17,0. 56],Z = 3. 88,P< 0. 01) and adverse events( RR = 0. 38,95% CI[0. 18,0. 78],Z = 2. 64,P<0. 01),with statistically significant differences. However,there was no significant difference in Meta-analysis result of colonoscopic mucosal change between the two groups. TCM enema is an effective method to treat ulcerative colitis.
Colitis, Ulcerative ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Enema ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

ObjectiveTo investigate bacterial infection and the distribution of different bacterial species in the donor semen and the influence of different bacterial counts on semen quality.

METHODSBacterial colonies in the semen samples from 1 126 donors were counted with the Synbiosis Protocol 3 Automatic Colony Counter and the bacterial species with a colony count ≥10⁴ cfu/ml identified with the VITEK2 Compact Automatic Biochemical Analyzer. The Makler Sperm Counting Board was used to examine the semen quality of the semen samples with a colony count = 0 cfu/ml (n = 22, group A), those with a colony count <10⁴ cfu/ml (n = 22, group B) and those with a colony count ≥10⁴ cfu/ml (n = 22, group C). Univariate analysis was employed for comparison of semen quality among different groups.

RESULTSAmong the 1 126 donor semen samples cultured, 5 (0.44%) showed mixed bacterial contamination and 993 (88.58%) showed none but with growth of a certain species of bacteria, 2.22% (22/993) with a colony count ≥10⁴ cfu/ml, mainly including Streptococcus bovis, tiny bacilli, Staphylococcus epidermis, and Staphylococcus aureus, among which gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria accounted for 95.45% (21/22) and 4.54% (1/22), respectively. Compared with group A, groups B and C manifested significantly reduced total sperm count (［567.5 ± 327.6］ vs ［421.9 ± 155.9］ and ［389.9 ± 110.6］ × 106 per ejaculate, P <0.05) and percentage of progressively motile sperm (［65.0 ± 6.5］ vs ［61.0 ± 3.5］ and ［61.6 ± 4.3］ %, P <0.05). There were no statistically significant differences among the three groups in the semen liquefaction time, semen pH value, total sperm motility or percentage of morphologically normal sperm (P > 0.05). Of the 284 randomly selected semen samples, 34 (11.97%) were found positive for Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU) and no significant difference was observed in the semen quality between the UU-positive and UU-negative samples (P> 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe bacteria-positive rate is high in the donor semen and the bacterial species are varied, mainly including gram-positive bacteria. Semen quality is reduced with the increased number of bacterial colonies.

Analysis of Variance ; Bacteria ; classification ; isolation & purification ; Bacterial Load ; Humans ; Male ; Semen ; microbiology ; Semen Analysis ; Sperm Count ; Sperm Motility ; Spermatozoa ; Tissue Donors ; Ureaplasma urealyticum

ObjectiveTo evaluate the quality of the donor semen in Chongqing Human Sperm Bank and the influence of age on semen parameters.

METHODSWe collected semen samples from 899 donors in Chongqing Human Sperm Bank and divided them into five groups according to the age of the semen donors: 22－25, 26－30, 31－35, 36－40, and >40 years old. Using the Makler Counting Chamber, we measured the semen volume, percentage of progressively motile sperm (PMS), total motile sperm, sperm concentration, total sperm count per ejaculate, and percentage of morphologically normal sperm (MNS). Then, we compared the semen parameters obtained with the fifth percentile and median reference values published in the WHO Laboratory Manual for the Examination and Processing of Human Semen-5th Ed (WHO 5th Ed) and among different age groups using the Kruskall-Wallis H test.

RESULTSThe semen volume (1.8 ml), sperm concentration (25.0 × 10⁶/ml), total sperm count (100.7 × 106/ejaculate) and MNS (4.3%) in the semen samples of the 899 donors were obviously higher than the fifth percentile values published in the WHO 5th Ed, and so were the first three parameters (4.0 ml, 88.0 × 10⁶/ml, and 333.7 × 106/ejaculate) than the WHO median reference values. PMS (31.0%) and total motile (38.0%) were lower than the WHO fifth percentile values and so was MNS (11.6%) than the WHO median reference value. PMS (55.0%) and total motile sperm (61.0%), however, were coincident with the median reference values of WHO 5th Ed. Statistically significant differences were observed among the 22－25, 26－30, 31－35, 36－40 and >40 years old groups in perm concentration (88.0 ［1.0－270.0］ vs 96.0 ［5.0－335.0］ vs 100.0 ［3.0－200.0］ vs 105 ［15.0－225.0］ vs 90.0 ［22.0－159.0］ × 10⁶/ml, P < 0.05), but not in the semen volume, PMS, total sperm motility, total sperm count or MNS (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe donor semen in Chongqing Human Sperm Bank is generally of high quality. Sperm concentration significantly increases with age but decreases in men aged >40 years.