ObjectiveTo analyze the epidemiological trends and characteristics of brucellosis in humans (hereinafter referred to as brucellosis) in Tangshan City, Hebei Province from 2016 to 2023, and to provide a scientific basis for formulating brucellosis prevention and control strategies in the region. MethodsThe incidence data of human brucellosis in Tangshan City from 2016 to 2023 were collected from the China Disease Prevention and Control Information System. The diagnosis time, infection route, and clinical characteristics of the cases were obtained from the case investigation reports. Descriptive epidemiological methods were used to analyze the temporal, spatial, demographic distributions, and clinical characteristics of human brucellosis. Brucella species were identified using agglutination tests with bacterial suspension and A/M antigen-positive serum. ResultsA total of 2 193 cases of human brucellosis were confirmed and clinically diagnosed in Tangshan City from 2016 to 2023, with the peak incidence occured from March to August, and which exhibited distinct geographic distribution patterns. The highest incidence rate was found in people aged 60‒<70 years. The occupation of cases were primarily farmers. The incidence rate in males (528/100 000) was higher than that in females (184/100 000). All cases had confirmed exposure to infected animals or contaminated animal products. ConclusionThe epidemic of human brucellosis in Tangshan exhibited an overall steady downward trend from 2016 to 2023, except for a slight increase in 2016 and 2021, with the incidence rate controlled at 289/100 000‒335/100 000. The prevention and control situation of human brucellosis still remains severe, with the highest incidence rate in the eastern region of Tangshan, which are characterized by the breeding, slaughtering, and processing of cattle and sheep. Therefore, it it is necessary to enhance the prevention and control of human brucellosis among the personnel engaged in these industries in the eastern areas.

Due to the high similarity with the lipid layer between human skin keratinocytes, functional cosmetics with layered liquid crystal structure prepared by liquid crystal emulsification technology encapsulating natural active substances have become a hot research topic in recent years. This type of functional cosmetic often has a fresh and natural skin feel, excellent skin barrier repair function and efficient moisturizing effect, etc., showing great potential in cosmetic application. However, the present research on the application of liquid crystal emulsification technology to functional cosmetics is still in the initial stage, and there are fewer relevant reports with reference values. Based on the mentioned above, this review provides a comprehensive summary of functional cosmetics with layered liquid crystal structures prepared by liquid crystal emulsification technology from the following aspects: the structure of human skin, the composition of lamellar liquid crystal, the advantages of liquid crystal emulsification technology containing natural active substances used in the field of functional cosmetics, the preparation process, main components, influencing factors during the preparation and the market functional cosmetics with lamellar liquid crystal structure. Finally, the prospect of the application of liquid crystal emulsification technology in functional cosmetics is presented, to provide useful references for those engaged in the research of liquid crystal emulsification technology-related functional cosmetics.

Background Chronic excessive exposure to fluoride can cause damage to the central nervous system and a certain degree of learning and memory impairment. However, the associated mechanism is not yet clear and further exploration is needed. Objective Using 4D unlabelled quantitative proteomics techniques to explore differentially expressed proteins and their potential mechanisms of action in chronic excessive fluoride exposure induced brain injury. Methods Twenty-four SPF-grade adult SD rats, half male and half male, were selected and divided into a control group and a fluoride group by random number table method, with 12 rats in each group. Among them, the control group drank tap water (fluorine content<1 mg·L⁻¹), the fluoride group drank sodium fluoride solution (fluorine content 10 mg·L⁻¹), and both groups were fed with ordinary mouse feed (fluoride content<0.6 mg·kg⁻¹). After 180 d of feeding, the SD rats were weighed, and then part of the brain tissue was sampled for pathological examination by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and Nissl staining. The rest of the brain tissue was frozen and stored at −80 ℃. Three brain tissue samples from each group were randomly selected for proteomics detection. Differentially expressed proteins were screened and subcellular localization analysis was performed, followed by Gene Ontology (GO) function analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis, cluster analysis, and protein-protein interaction analysis. Finally, Western blotting was used to detect the expression levels of key proteins extracted from the brain tissue samples. Results After 180 d of feeding, the average weight of the rats in the fluoride group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). The brain tissue stained with HE showed no significant morphological changes in the cerebral cortex of the fluoride treated rats, and neuron loss, irregular arrangement of neurons, eosinophilic changes, and cell body pyknosis were observed in the hippocampus. The Nissl staining results showed that the staining of neurons in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of rats exposed to fluoride decreased (Nissl bodies decreased). The proteomics results showed that a total of 6927 proteins were identified. After screening, 206 differentially expressed proteins were obtained between the control group and the fluoride group, including 96 up-regulated proteins and 110 down-regulated proteins. The differential proteins were mainly located in cytoplasm (30.6%), nucleus (27.2%), mitochondria (13.6%), plasma membrane (13.6%), and extracellular domain (11.7%). The GO analysis results showed that differentially expressed proteins mainly participated in biological processes such as iron ion transport, regulation of dopamine neuron differentiation, and negative regulation of respiratory burst in inflammatory response, exercised molecular functions such as ferrous binding, iron oxidase activity, and cytokine activity, and were located in the smooth endoplasmic reticulum membrane, fixed components of the membrane, chloride channel complexes, and other cellular components. The KEGG significantly enriched pathways included biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, carbon metabolism, and microbial metabolism in diverse environments. The results of differential protein-protein interaction analysis showed that the highest connectivity was found in glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (Gpi). The expression level of Gpi in the brain tissue of the rats in the fluoride group was lower than that in the control group by Western blotting (P<0.05). Conclusion Multiple differentially expressed proteins are present in the brain tissue of rats with chronic fluorosis, and their functions are related to biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, carbon metabolism, and microbial metabolism in diverse environments; Gpi may be involved in cerebral neurological damage caused by chronic overdose fluoride exposure.

Objective To determine the acetylation level of nucleophosmin(NPM)in female breast cancer and to discuss its function through mutation of modified lysine sites.To construct positive and negative NPM mutants on its acetylated lysine sites and to express them in breast cancer cells.Methods Acetylation level and acetylated lysine sites of NPM in three breast cancer tissues and para-carcinoma tissues were detected by acetylome technology;NPM mutants were constructed by site-directed mutagenesis PCR,specific PCR products were digested by DpnI and transformed into Escherichia coli(E.coli)to obtain specific plasmids for mutants;The accuracy of mutants were verified by double restriction enzyme digestion and sequencing;The mutants were expressed in BT-549 cells by transient transfection and verified by RT-PCR method.Protein expression and acetylation level of NPM were validated by Western blotting;Function of NPM acetylation was analyzed by proteomic detection and bioinformatic analysis.Results The 27th and 32nd lysine of NPM were highly acetylated in breast cancer tissues,which were 2.76 and 2.22 times higher than those in adjacent normal tissues,respectively;The NPM mutants showed the same molecular weight as that of wild type NPM and contained expected mutation sites;Corresponding NPM mRNA levels of BT-549 cells transfected with NPM mutants were significantly increased.With the increase of wild type NPM expression level,NPM acetylation level increased,while decreased after 27th lysine underwent negative mutation.NPM acetylation can significantly change the expression levels of 101 proteins in BT-549 cells,which are enriched in regulation of cellular macromolecule biosynthesis,DNA-template transcription,RNA biosynthesis and RNA metabolism process.Conclusion NPM is highly acetylated in breast cancer and can play a key role in cellular macromolecule biosynthesis,DNA-templated transcription,RNA biosynthesis and RNA metabolism process.

Objective To investigate the infection status and changing trend of hepatitis C virus(HCV)infection in hospitalized patients in medical institutions,and provide reference for formulating HCV infection prevention and control strategies.Methods HCV infection surveillance results from cross-sectional survey data reported to China Healthcare-associated Infection(HAI)Surveillance System in 2020 were summarized and analyzed,HCV positive was serum anti-HCV positive or HCV RNA positive,survey result was compared with the survey results from 2003.Results In 2020,1 071 368 inpatients in 1 573 hospitals were surveyed,738 535 of whom underwent HCV test,4 014 patients were infected with HCV,with a detection rate of 68.93％and a HCV positive rate of 0.54％.The positive rate of HCV in male and female patients were 0.60％and 0.48％,respectively,with a statistically sig-nificant difference(x2=47.18,P＜0.001).The HCV positive rate in the 50-＜60 age group was the highest(0.76％),followed by the 40-＜50 age group(0.71％).Difference among all age groups was statistically signifi-cant(x2=696.74,P＜0.001).In 2003,91 113 inpatients were surveyed.35 145 of whom underwent HCV test,resulting in a detection rate of 38.57％;775 patients were infected with HCV,with a positive rate of 2.21％.In 2020,HCV positive rates in hospitals of different scales were 0.46％-0.63％,with the highest in hospital with bed numbers ranging 600-899.Patients'HCV positive rates in hospitals of different scales was statistically signifi-cant(X2=35.34,P＜0.001).In 2020,12 provinces/municipalities had over 10 000 patients underwent HCV-rela-ted test,and HCV positive rates ranged 0.19％-0.81％,with the highest rate from Hainan Province.HCV posi-tive rates in different departments were 0.06％-0.82％,with the lowest positive rate in the department of pedia-trics and the highest in the department of internal medicine.In 2003 and 2020,HCV positive rates in the depart-ment of infectious diseases were the highest,being 7.95％and 3.48％,respectively.Followed by departments of orthopedics(7.72％),gastroenterology(3.77％),nephrology(3.57％)and general intensive care unit(ICU,3.10％)in 2003,as well as departments of gastroenterology(1.35％),nephrology(1.18％),endocrinology(0.91％),and general intensive care unit(ICU,0.79％)in 2020.Conclusion Compared with 2003,HCV positive rate decreased significantly in 2020.HCV infected patients were mainly from the department of infectious diseases,followed by departments of gastroenterology,nephrology and general ICU.HCV infection positive rate varies with gender,age,and region.

WRKY transcription factor is a type of transcription factor unique to plants and plays an important role in various physiological processes of plants. This study is based on the transcriptome data of Atractylodes lancea, the correlation between the FPKM values of the AlWRKY gene and the AlTPS gene of Atractylodes lancea was analyzed. Combined with the analysis results, the candidate gene AlWRKY65 with a significant positive correlation with the expression levels of AlTPS1 and AlTPS6 genes and a relatively high FPKM value was screened. The candidate gene was cloned to obtain the open reading frame ORF of the AlWRKY65 gene, and the related information of its encoded protein was analyzed and the gene expression was studied. The results showed that AlWRKY65 contains a 681 bp open reading frame and encoding 226 amino acids. Through amino acid sequence homology analysis, it was found that AlWRKY65 amino acid sequence had high homology with several plants such as HaWRKY65 and LsWRKY65; AlWRKY65 protein had a typical WRKYGQK domain, belonging to IIe subgroup of WRKY transcription factor family; phylogenetic analysis indicated that AlWRKY65 protein had the higher homology with CcWRKY65 protein; the expression of AlWRKY65 gene in different tissues of two producing areas of Atractylodes lancea were assayed via real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR, and the results showed that all of them were highly expressed in leaves and also has tissue differences. The expression level of AlWRKY65 gene was down-regulated within 48 h of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) induction; subcellular localization and transcriptional activation assay suggested that AlWRKY65 was located in the nucleus and had no transcriptional activation activity. This study provides a reference for further elucidating the biological function of AlWRKY65 in Atractylodes lancea.

Objective This study aimed to evaluate whether the onset of the plateau phase of slow hepatitis B surface antigen decline in patients with chronic hepatitis B treated with intermittent interferon therapy is related to the frequency of dendritic cell subsets and expression of the costimulatory molecules CD40,CD80,CD83,and CD86. Method This was a cross-sectional study in which patients were divided into a natural history group(namely NH group),a long-term oral nucleoside analogs treatment group(namely NA group),and a plateau-arriving group(namely P group).The percentage of plasmacytoid dendritic cell and myeloid dendritic cell subsets in peripheral blood lymphocytes and monocytes and the mean fluorescence intensity of their surface costimulatory molecules were detected using a flow cytometer. Results In total,143 patients were enrolled(NH group,n = 49;NA group,n = 47;P group,n = 47).The results demonstrated that CD141/CD1c double negative myeloid dendritic cell(DNmDC)/lymphocytes and monocytes(%)in P group(0.041[0.024,0.069])was significantly lower than that in NH group(0.270[0.135,0.407])and NA group(0.273[0.150,0.443]),and CD86 mean fluorescence intensity of DNmDCs in P group(1832.0[1484.0,2793.0])was significantly lower than that in NH group(4316.0[2958.0,5169.0])and NA group(3299.0[2534.0,4371.0]),Adjusted P all<0.001. Conclusion Reduced DNmDCs and impaired maturation may be associated with the onset of the plateau phase during intermittent interferon therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Objective To explore characteristics of clinical parameters and cytokines in patients with drug-induced liver injury(DILI)caused by different drugs and their correlation with clinical indicators. Method The study was conducted on patients who were up to Review of Uncertainties in Confidence Assessment for Medical Tests(RUCAM)scoring criteria and clinically diagnosed with DILI.Based on Chinese herbal medicine,cardiovascular drugs,non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs(NSAIDs),anti-infective drugs,and other drugs,patients were divided into five groups.Cytokines were measured by Luminex technology.Baseline characteristics of clinical biochemical indicators and cytokines in DILI patients and their correlation were analyzed. Results 73 patients were enrolled.Age among five groups was statistically different(P=0.032).Alanine aminotransferase(ALT)(P=0.033)and aspartate aminotransferase(AST)(P=0.007)in NSAIDs group were higher than those in chinese herbal medicine group.Interleukin-6(IL-6)and tumor necrosis factor alpha(TNF-α)in patients with Chinese herbal medicine(IL-6:P<0.001;TNF-α:P<0.001)and cardiovascular medicine(IL-6:P=0.020;TNF-α:P=0.001)were lower than those in NSAIDs group.There was a positive correlation between ALT(r=0.697,P=0.025),AST(r=0.721,P=0.019),and IL-6 in NSAIDs group. Conclusion Older age may be more prone to DILI.Patients with NSAIDs have more severe liver damage in early stages of DILI,TNF-α and IL-6 may partake the inflammatory process of DILI.

Objective To investigate the clinical application value of MRI Radiomics score(Radscore)combined with clinicopatho-logical features in predicting postoperative progression-free survival(PFS)of patients with endometrial cancer(EC).Methods A total of 127 patients with EC were selected.The radiomic features of the lesions were extracted from T2 WI,diffusion weighted imaging(DWI)and apparent diffusion coefficient(ADC)images.The features were screened by random forest model and Radscore was calcu-lated.Simultaneously,clinical and pathological characteristics of patients were collected and incorporated,and multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to screen the risk factors related to PFS.The MRI Radscore and clinicopathological features were mapped to the nomogram,and the performance of nomogram was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve and calibration curve.Results Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that progesterone receptor(PR),human epididymis protein 4(HE4)and MRI Radscore were independent risk factors for predicting PFS in patients with EC(P＜0.05).The area under the curve(AUC)of the predicted PFS at 1,3 and 5 years after surgery were 0.91,0.804 and 0.776,respectively.Calibration curves showed that nomogram had a good fit in predicting PFS in patients with EC 1,3 and 5 years after surgery.Conclusion The nomogram con-structed based on multi-sequence MRI Radscore and clinicopathological features has favorable accuracy and stability in predicting postoperative PFS in individuals diagnosed with EC.

Objective To investigate the effects of Tianma Jiannao Granules(derived from Banxia Baizhu Tianma Decoction)combined with hyperbaric oxygen on cognitive function,activities of daily living(ADL),and the expression levels of serum inflammatory factors,matrix metalloproteinase 9(MMP-9),homocysteine(Hcy)and superoxide dismutase(SOD)in patients with vascular dementia(VD).Methods A total of 100 VD patients with wind-phlegm and stasis obstruction type were randomly divided into a trial group and a control group,50 cases in each group.The patients in the two groups were given symptomatic treatment such as controlling blood pressure,lowering blood glucose and regulating blood lipid.Additionally,the control group was given Oxiracetam Capsules orally,and the trial group was given Tianma Jiannao Granules orally combined with hyperbaric oxygen therapy on the basis of treatment for the control group.The course of treatment covered 12 weeks.The changes of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)syndrome scores,Mini-Mental State Examination(MMSE)scores,ADL scores,and the expression levels of serum inflammatory factors,neurotransmitters,apoptosis-related factors,MMP-9,Hcy and SOD in the two groups were observed before and after treatment.Results(1)The scale scoring showed that after treatment,the TCM syndrome scores and ADL scores of the two groups were significantly decreased compared with those before treatment(P＜0.05),and the MMSE scores were significantly increased compared with those before treatment(P＜0.05).The decrease of TCM syndrome scores and ADL scores and the increase of MMSE scores in the trial group were significantly superior to those in the control group(P＜0.01).(2)After treatment,the serum levels of inflammatory factors such as tumor necrosis factor α(TNF-α),C-reactive protein(CRP)and interleukin 6(IL-6)in the two groups were significantly decreased compared with those before treatment(P＜0.05),and the decrease of serum TNF-α,CRP and IL-6 levels in the trial group was significantly superior to that in the control group(P＜0.01).(3)After treatment,the serum levels of neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine(NE),dopamine(DA)and 5-hydroxytryptamine(5-HT)in the two groups were significantly increased compared with those before treatment(P＜0.05),and the increase of serum NE,DA and 5-HT levels in the trial group was significantly superior to that in the control group(P＜0.01).(4)After treatment,the serum level of apoptosis-related factor of heme oxygenase-1(HO-1)in the two groups was significantly increased compared with that before treatment(P＜0.05),and the levels of serum soluble apoptosis-related factors(sFAS)and their ligands(sFASL)were significantly decreased compared with those before treatment(P＜0.05).The increase of serum HO-1 level and the decrease of serum sFAS and sFASL levels in the trial group were significantly superior to those in the control group(P＜0.01).(5)After treatment,the serum SOD level in the two groups was significantly increased compared with that before treatment(P＜0.05),and the levels of serum MMP-9 and Hcy were significantly decreased compared with those before treatment(P＜0.05).The increase of serum SOD level and the decrease of serum MMP-9 and Hcy levels in the trial group were significantly superior to those in the control group(P＜0.01).Conclusion Tianma Jiannao Granules combined with hyperbaric oxygen is effective on improving the cognitive function and ADL of VD patients,and has certain effects on counteracting inflammatory response and oxidation and on regulating the expression of neurotransmitters.