Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) are major outer membrane components of Gram-negative bacteria. Unlike most Gram-negative bacteria, Acinetobacter baumannii can still survive and acquire polymyxin resistance after complete loss of LPS. Previous studies of LPS-deficient Acinetobacter baumannii mostly focused on LPS-deficient strains induced by polymyxin, whose background was complex and unstable. To investigate LPS loss-mediated polymyxin resistant-Acinetobacter baumannii, this study constructed a stable and clear background LPS-deficient strain by knocking out lpxC gene in Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 19606 with CIRSPR/Cas9, and then studied the phenotypic changes of the lpxC-deficient strain including morphology, growth rate, antibiotic susceptibility, virulence, membrane permeability, and membrane potential. Animal experiments were approved by the Animal Care and Welfare Committee Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, CAMS and PUMC (approval number: IMB-20240119D₉). The results indicated that the lpxC gene of Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 19606 was successfully knocked out. After losing the lpxC, the strain underwent the morphological change from rod-shaped to spherical. Furthermore, it leads to reduced growth rate, enhanced membrane permeability, decreased membrane potential, lower virulence, and increased antibiotic susceptibility to β-lactams, quinolones, aminoglycosides, macrolides, glycopeptides. The lpxC deletion results in significant changes in membrane homeostasis and adaptability of Acinetobacter baumannii. Understanding the phenotypic changes of colistin-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii mediated by LPS loss is useful for exploring the resistance mechanism of Acinetobacter baumannii and developing new therapeutic strategies.

Background/Aims: Four-week treatment of linvencorvir (RO7049389) was generally safe and well tolerated, and showed anti-viral activity in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. This study evaluated the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of 48-week treatment with linvencorvir plus standard of care (SoC) in CHB patients. Methods: This was a multicentre, non-randomized, non-controlled, open-label phase 2 study enrolling three cohorts: nucleos(t)ide analogue (NUC)-suppressed patients received linvencorvir plus NUC (Cohort A, n=32); treatment-naïve patients received linvencorvir plus NUC without (Cohort B, n=10) or with (Cohort C, n=30) pegylated interferon-α (Peg-IFN-α). Treatment duration was 48 weeks, followed by NUC alone for 24 weeks. Results: 68 patients completed the study. No patient achieved functional cure (sustained HBsAg loss and unquantifiable HBV DNA). By Week 48, 89% of treatment-naïve patients (10/10 Cohort B; 24/28 Cohort C) reached unquantifiable HBV DNA. Unquantifiable HBV RNA was achieved in 92% of patients with quantifiable baseline HBV RNA (14/15 Cohort A, 8/8 Cohort B, 22/25 Cohort C) at Week 48 along with partially sustained HBV RNA responses in treatment-naïve patients during follow-up period. Pronounced reductions in HBeAg and HBcrAg were observed in treatment-naïve patients, while HBsAg decline was only observed in Cohort C. Most adverse events were grade 1–2, and no linvencorvir-related serious adverse events were reported. Conclusions 48-week linvencorvir plus SoC was generally safe and well tolerated, and resulted in potent HBV DNA and RNA suppression. However, 48-week linvencorvir plus NUC with or without Peg-IFN did not result in the achievement of functional cure in any patient.

Objective: To construct a cervical cancer risk prediction model based on nested case-control study design and Yinzhou Health Information Platform in Ningbo, and provide reliable reference for self-risk assessment of cervical cancer in local women. Methods: In local women aged 25-75 years old who had no history of cervical cancer registered in Yinzhou before October 31, 2018, a follow up was conducted for at least three years, the patients who developed cervical cancer during the follow up period were selected as the case group and matched with a control group at a ratio of 1∶10. The prediction indicators before the onset was used in model construction. Variables were selected by Lasso-logistic regression, the variables with non-zero β were selected to fit the logistic regression model and Bootstrap was used for internal validation. The discrimination of the model was evaluated by area under the receiver operating characteristic curve(AUROC), and the calibration was evaluated by calibration curve and Hosmer-Lemeshow test. Results: The prediction indicators included in the final model were age, smoking status, history of cervicitis, history of adenomyosis, HPV testing, and thinprep cytologic test. The AUROC calculated in the internal validation was 0.740 (95%CI:0.739-0.740), and the calibration curve was almost identical with the ideal curve, P=0.991 in Hosmer-Lemeshow test, indicating that the model discrimination and calibration were good. Conclusions: In this study, a simple and practical cervical cancer risk prediction model was developed. The model can be used in general population with strong interpretability, good discrimination and calibration in internal validation, which can provide a reference for women to assess their risk of cervical cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between drinking habits and pathological characteristics of patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). METHODS: A preoperative questionnaire survey was conducted to understand the drinking habits of UTUC patients who were admitted to the Department of Urology, Peking University First Hospital for radical nephroureterectomy within one year from August 2020 to July 2021, and statistical analysis was performed in combination with their postoperative pathological characteristics. The statistical procedure was performed using SPSS 22.0 software, and firstly, the preliminary analysis was performed one by one using the columnar χ² test on the pathological characteristics of UTUC tumors as the dependent variable and the factors related to patients' general information, past history and drinking habits as the independent variables, and the independent variables that met P < 0.2 between the case and control groups for each dependent variable were specified for screening. The screened variables were included in the binary Logistic regression analysis. A difference of P < 0.05 was used to indicate a statistically significant difference. RESULTS: A total of 239 patients, 134 males and 105 females, with a mean age of (68.1±9.98)years and a median disease duration of 4.8 months, were included in this study. Multifactorial Logistic regression results suggested that after adjusting for the effects of other variables, UTUC patients who had the habit of drinking at least once every hour during the daytime had a significantly increased risk of high grade (G3) tumors(OR=1.941, 95%CI: 0.352-1.029, P < 0.01); these patients also had a significantly decreased risk of multifocal UTUC tumors (OR=0.344, 95% CI: 1.18-5.582, P=0.004). The patients who had the habit of drinking over 100 mL water each time had a significantly decreased risk of mutifocal UTUC incidence (OR=0.477, 95%CI: 0.225-1.012, P=0.046). Patients who pay attention to daily water intakes had a significantly increased risk of renipelvic carcinoma (OR=2.530, 95%CI: 1.434-4.463, P=0.001) and a significantly decreased risk of ureteral carcinoma (OR=0.314, 95%CI: 0.172-0.573, P < 0.01). Other variables included in the regression model did not differ significantly in their effects on the occurrence of tumor pathological characteristics. CONCLUSION Having the awareness of drinking water every 1 h during the day, drinking over 100 mL water each time, having the awareness of daily drinking habits correlated significantly with pathological characteristics of UTUC such as the presence of G3 tumor, multifocal tumors and location of the tumor. This conclusion still needs to be verified by subsequent trials with higher levels of evidence.
Carcinoma, Transitional Cell/surgery* ; Female ; Habits ; Humans ; Male ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/epidemiology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Ureteral Neoplasms/surgery* ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/surgery* ; Water

"Treatment in accordance with time factor" is one of the key principles of acupuncture and moxibustion treatment. In clinical practice of acupuncture and moxibustion, the connotation of "timing/time factor" should be fully understood and the temporal rule on physiology and pathology affected by the changes of four seasons and day and night be grasped. Based on the change law of
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Moxibustion ; Needles ; Time Factors

This study aimed to establish nomograms to preoperatively predict the possibility of testicular salvage (TS) in patients with testicular torsion. The clinical data of 204 patients with testicular torsion diagnosed at Xijing Hospital and Tangdu Hospital (Xi'an, China) between August 2008 and November 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to determine the independent predictors of TS. Based on multivariate regression coefficients, nomograms to predict possibility of TS were established. The predictive ability of the nomograms was internally validated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and calibration plots. The duration of symptoms ranged from 2 h to 1 month, with a median of 3.5 days. Thirty (14.7%) patients underwent surgical reduction and contralateral orchiopexy, while the remaining 174 (85.3%) underwent orchiectomy and contralateral orchiopexy. Finally, long symptom duration was an independent risk predictor for TS, while visible intratesticular blood flow and homogeneous testicular echotexture under color Doppler ultrasound were independent protective predictors. Internal validation showed that the nomograms, which were established by integrating these three predictive factors, had good discrimination ability in predicting the possibility of TS (areas under the ROC curves were 0.851 and 0.828, respectively). The calibration plots showed good agreement between the nomogram-predicted possibility of TS and the actual situation. In conclusion, this brief preoperative prediction tool will help clinicians to quickly determine the urgency of surgical exploration.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of lysosomal-associated protein transmembrane-4 Beta(Laptm4b) deletion on hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) homeostasis in mice. METHODS: The hematopoietic system specific Laptm4b-deficient mice were constructed. The number and proportion of HSPCs (LSK, LT, ST, MPP, etc) in Laptm4b-deficient mice were analyzed by flow cytometry. Single SLAM-HSC cell was sorted by flow sorter and cultured in vitro to measure the effect of Laptm4b deletion on the colony forming ability of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). The effect of Laptm4b-deficient on the reconstitution ability of HSCs in mice was detected by competitive transplantation experiment of SLAM-HSC cells. RESULTS: Laptm4b deficiency could moderately upregulate the proportion of T cells in the peripheral blood of the mice, but showed no significant effect on the proportion and number of HSPCs. Laptm4b deletion showed no effect on the reconstruction ability of HSCs after competitive transplantation, but it could inhibit the colony formation of HSCs in vitro. CONCLUSION LAPTM4B may play a role in HSCs under the proliferation stress. Laptm4b-deficient in mice hematopoietic system showed no significant effect on the HSPCs homeostasis maintenance and reconstruction ability.
Animals ; Cell Proliferation ; Flow Cytometry ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; Homeostasis ; Mice ; Transcription Factors

Radiation therapy plays an important role in the adjuvant treatment of patients with early endometrial carcinoma. Vaginal stump is a common site of disease failure for early endometrial carcinoma patients with intermediate-high risk factors for recurrence. Compared with external beam radiotherapy, vaginal brachytherapy (VBT) can achieve comparable local control rate with fewer toxicities. In this article, research progresses upon the application of VBT in patients with early endometrial carcinoma after hysterectomy were investigated from multiple perspectives of the selection of patients, the selection of vaginal applicator, factors influencing dose distribution, image-guided adaptive brachytherapy, the design and implementation of radiotherapy regime. In addition, the application of intensity-modulated VBT and the usage of novel quality assurance equipment were also discussed.

Objective:To study the effect of Fushengong prescreption on the regulation-antagonism effect of angiotensin converting enzyme-angiotensin Ⅱ-angiotensin Ⅱ 1 receptor （ACE-AngⅡ-AT1R） axis and angiotensin converting enzyme 2-angiotensin （1-7）-Mas receptor［ACE2-Ang（1-7）-MASR］ axis of rats with chronic renal failure（CRF）， and to explore its mechanism of delaying the development of CRF. Method:The 65 male SD rats were randomly divided into normal group （n=10） and modeling group （n=55）. The normal group was routinely reared， while the modeling group were administered by gavage with 0.25 g·kg^-1d^-1 adenine suspension for 28 days. After the model was successfully established， the survival model rats were randomly divided into model group， benazepril group（0.01 g·kg^-1·d^-1）and low，medium and high dose of Fushengong prescreption groups （4，8，16 g·kg^-1·d^-1）. The normal group and model group were administered the same volume of normal saline by gavage， lasted for 28 days. After the experiment， systolic blood pressure （SBP） and diastolic blood pressure （DBP） of caudal artery were measured， and 24-hour urine was collected to determine 24-hour urine protein （24 h U-pro）. The content of serum creatinine（SCr） and blood urea nitrogen （BUN） in the serum were measured， the histological morphology was observed by hematoxylin eosin（HE）staining， and the degree of renal interstitial fibrosis was observed by Masson staining. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was used to determine the contents of AngⅡ， Ang （1-7） and Cystatin C （CysC） in serum and renal homogenate. The protein level of ACE， ACE2， AT1R and MASR were detected by Western blot. The expression of ACE and ACE2 protein in renal tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry. Result:Compared with normal group， the expression levels of SCr， BUN and CysC in model group were significantly increased（P<0.05）， the content of AngⅡ in serum and kidney tissues were significantly increased， the content of Ang （1-7） were significantly decreased（P<0.05）， the expression of ACE and AT1R protein in renal tissues were significantly increased（P<0.05）， and the expression of ACE2 and MASR protein were significantly decreased（P<0.05）. Compared with model group and benazepril group， after the intervention with Fushengong prescreption， the serum SCr，BUN and CysC decreased（P<0.05），the content of AngⅡ in serum and kidney tissues decreased significantly，Ang（1-7） increased significantly（P<0.05）， the expression of ACE and AT1R protein in renal tissues decreased significantly（P<0.05）， ACE2 and MASR protein increased significantly（P<0.05）. The high-dose Fushengong prescreption has the best effect. The high， medium and low-dose effects of Fushengong prescreption were dose-dependent. Conclusion:Fushengong prescreption improved renal function and pathological change of kidney in adenine-induced rats with chronic renal failure. The mechanism may be related to the inhibition of ACE-AngⅡ-AT1R axis and promotion of ACE2-Ang（1-7）-MASR axis ，which leads to the delaying of the progression of chronic renal failure.

ObjectiveTo understand the satisfaction and comfort level of the rail transit passengers regarding hygienic environment of one city， and provide a basis of hygienic management and suggestions for rail transit operations. MethodsPassengers who have lived in the city for the past 6 months and used rail transit as their main transportation tool were selected to conduct a questionnaire survey to collect basic information， satisfaction with environmental cleanliness， perception of crowdedness， air quality and noise， etc. The Chi-square， Pearson contingency coefficient and linear trend test of orderly grouped data were used for statistical analysis. ResultsA total of 820 valid questionnaires were collected， with a total effective rate of 94.0%. Passengers' overall satisfaction with the environmental cleanliness of each link of rail transit was between basic and relatively better satisfaction， with an average of 3.52. Passengers with different one-way trip times had different satisfaction with the cleanliness of each link （P<0.05）. Passengers generally thought that the rail transit was crowded and the carriages were more crowded than the station. The level of feeling congestion was correlated with the age and gender of passengers （P<0.05）. Passengers thought that the air quality of the rail transit was inferior in carriages during the evening rush hour， and experienced different symptoms such as drowsiness， dizziness， and headache. Passengers perceived that the rail transit was noisy， and much noisier in the carriages. ConclusionPassengers are basically satisfied with the hygienic environment of rail transit. It is necessary to focus on strengthening the hygiene and cleanliness of toilets and X-ray luggage inspection systems in the future rail transit hygienic design and management. Passengers are uncomfortable with the air quality， congestion and noise in the rail transit environment. Therefore， it is necessary to strengthen the management and control of the centralized air conditioning and ventilation systems， enhance fresh air volume， reduce ambient noise， and focus on controlling the hygiene environment in the carriages in order to improve the comfort and satisfaction of passengers in the rail transit environment.