Background and purpose:Colorectal cancer(CRC)is one of the major malignant tumors threatening human health worldwide,with long-term high incidence and mortality rate.Potassium channel modulatory factor 1(KCMF1)is a member of the E3 ubiquitin ligase family.It binds to target proteins through the RING domain and participates in the regulation of a variety of biological processes in vivo.However,the function of KCMF1 in CRC remains unclear.This study aimed to investigate the expression level of E3 ubiquitin ligase KCMF1 in colorectal tumor,and to explore the effects of KCMF1 on the proliferation of CRC cells and its underlying molecular mechanism.Methods:The The Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA)and Genotype-Tissue Expression(GTEx)databases were used to analyze the expression level of KCMF1 in CRC tissues and adjacent tissues and the association between the KCMF1 expression and the prognosis of CRC patients.Furthermore,immunohistochemical staining was performed to detect the protein level of KCMF1 in 90 paired human CRC tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues.Lentiviral shRNA delivery system was employed to specifically target the KCMF1 gene(shKCMF1)in HCT116 and HCT15 CRC cell lines.The effects of KCMF1 knockdown on cell proliferation,apoptosis and cell cycle distribution were assessed by methyl thiazoyl terazolium(MTT)assay,colony formation assay,Western blot and flow cytometry.Changes in the transcriptional profile in HCT116 cells upon KCMF1 knockdown were identified by RNA sequencing(RNA-Seq),and the affected signaling pathways were evaluated by bioinformatics analysis.Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RTFQ-PCR),Western blot,luciferase reporter assay and cell immunofluorescence assay were utilized to validate the alteration of the affected signaling pathway.Results:The TCGA and GTEx databases and IHC results showed that the mRNA and protein expression levels of KCMF1 in CRC tissues were significantly upregulated compared with adjacent tissues(P＜0.01).KCMF1 expression level was negatively correlated with the survival time of patients with CRC(P＜0.01),and was positively associated with CRC clinical stage(P＜0.05).Compared with control cells,KCMF1 knockdown significantly inhibited the proliferation of HCT116 and HCT15 cells(P＜0.001),induced cell apoptosis(P＜0.001),and led to cell cycle arrest in G1 phase(P＜0.01).RNA-Seq analysis showed that KCMF1 was involved in the regulation of several signaling pathways,including nuclear factor-κB(NF-κB)signaling pathway.KCMF1 knockdown reduced the transcription levels of the target genes of NF-κB signaling pathway,including BCL-XL,XIAP and CIAP(P＜0.05),and suppressed the expression of phosphorylated p65 and nuclear translocation of p65(P＜0.01).Meanwhile,the activity of NF-κB reporter was reduced in tumor cells upon KCMF1 knockdown(P＜0.01).Conclusion:The expression of KCMF1 is significantly upregulated in human CRC tissues and positively associated with advanced clinical stage and poor prognosis.KCMF1 may promote the proliferation of CRC cells by activating the NF-κB signaling pathway.KCMF1 may be a potential new therapeutic target for CRC.

kV X-ray radiotherapy was the primary mode of radiotherapy widely used to treat many types of cancer, including deep tumors, before the invention of the Co-60 therapy machine and the electron linear accelerator, which gradually replaced kV X-ray radiotherapy. kV X-ray radiotherapy equipment requires less space and shielding, and still has application value in the treatment of skin lesions and superficial tumors. Especially in recent years, kV X-ray has been used in the treatment of keloid, and electronic brachytherapy equipment has been used in intracavitary, intraoperative, and superficial radiotherapy. Therefore, kV X-ray radiotherapy has seen renewed application. The quality control of kV X-ray radiotherapy equipment is the key to ensure the treatment effect and safety of patients. This paper reviews the current status of quality control of kV X-ray radiotherapy equipment and provides a reference for the formulation of quality control assessment standards for kV X-ray radiotherapy equipment.

Objective To investigate the awareness of the Radiation Shielding Requirements for Radiotherapy Room–Part 2: Radiotherapy Room of Electron Linear Accelerators (GBZ/T 201.2—2011) among relevant practitioners in medical institutions as well as its implementation and application situation and collect relevant problems and suggestions for an evaluation of the scientificalness, standardization, and timeliness of the standard, and to provide a scientific basis for the further revision and implementation of the standard. Methods An online questionnaire survey was conducted among relevant employees in medical institutions providing medical linear accelerator radiotherapy across 22 provinces of China, which investigated the awareness, training, application, and revision suggestions related to GBZ/T 201.2—2011. The questionnaires were collected and analyzed. Results A total of 340 relevant practitioners filled out the questionnaire. Of the participants, 66.80% were physicists; 79.11% had an awareness of the standard; 56.18% ever participated in the standard-related training; but the survey results showed that the practitioners did not have a good knowledge of the standard’s content, and the training and promotion were not enough; 83.24% thought that the standard had been widely used; 17.60% thought that the standard needed to be revised; 76.76% thought that there was a need to add calculation examples; 88.82% thought that neutron shielding needed to be considered for the 10 MV X-ray accelerator room. Conclusion The standard has been widely known in the field of radiotherapy protection. With the development of radiotherapy technology, the standard should be revised to add calculation examples and consider neutron shielding in the 10 MV X-ray accelerator room. The standard is highly technical and difficult to grasp, so the promotion and implementation goals should be appropriate for different personnel groups, the training for employees at key posts should be strengthened, and the methods recommended in the standard should be uniformly used throughout the country.

Objective To investigate the awareness, implementation, and application of the Radiation Shielding Specification for Radiotherapy Room, Part 3: Radiotherapy Room of γ-Ray Sources (GBZ/T201.3—2014) by medical institution personnel, to collect problems and recommendations, and to provide a scientific basis for further amendments and implementation of the standard. Methods A questionnaire survey about the awareness, training and application situation and the modification advices of the standard was conducted among practitioners engaged in the production, use, and machine room design related to γ-ray source radiotherapy equipment (collectively referred to as medical institution personnel) in 12 provinces and direct-administered municipalities in China. The questionnaires were collected and a special Excel database was set up for statistical analysis using SPSS 22.0. Results A total of 126 practitioners responded and completed the questionnaire. Approximately 75.4% of respondents indicated that they either “understood” or “understood well” the standard; 42.86% received relevant training; 45.24% and 54.76% indicated that the standard “met” or “basically met” the requirements of detection of γ-ray radiotherapy equipment shielding or design of shielding room. The standard was highly evaluated for suitability. However, the awareness of the standard was inadequate, the rate of training participation was low, and its practical application was limited. Conclusion The standard generally aligns with the requirements for shielding room design in γ-ray radiotherapy. Some revisions should be done according to the current situation of γ-ray radiotherapy.

Objective:To investigate the expression of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), programmed cell death ligand 1(PD-L1), and lymphocyte-activation gene 3(LAG-3) in different subsets of lymphocytes and their relationship with the immunologic imbalance in preeclampsia.Methods:We enrolled 25 cases of singleton pregnant women with preeclampsia who were delivered by cesarean section in the Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University from May 2019 to January 2020 as the preeclampsia group. According to the allocation ratio of 1∶1 matched for the date of cesarean section and pregnancy week at delivery, another 25 healthy singleton pregnant women underwent elective cesarean section were selected as the normal group. The decidua tissue was obtained during cesarean section. The expression levels of PD-1, PD-L1, and LAG-3 on decidual T cells, natural killer (NK), and natural killer T (NKT) cells were measured by flow cytometry and compared between the two groups using two independent samples- t test. Results:(1) The expression of PD-1 on decidual T cells and NK cells of the preeclampsia group were lower than those of the normal group (37.84±3.82 vs 57.02±3.89, t=3.529, P<0.001; 3.28±0.48 vs 5.69±0.99, t=2.184, P=0.034), but did not differ significantly in the expression on decidual NKT cells ( P=0.461). PD-L1 expression on decidual NK cells of preeclampsia group was lower than that of the normal group (0.60±0.11 vs 1.32±0.19, t=3.319, P=0.002), but showed no significant difference in the expression level on T cells and NKT cells (both P>0.05). The preeclampsia group was noted for a lower expression of LAG-3 on decidual T cells and NKT cells compared with the normal group (2.32±0.36 vs 4.09±0.67, t=2.335, P=0.024; 35.40±4.97 vs 56.27±4.49, t=3.282, P=0.002), while showed no significant difference in the expression level of NK cells ( P=0.112). Conclusions:The decreased expression of PD-1, PD-L1, and LAG-3 in the decidual lymphocyte subsets may be involved in the immunologic imbalance of preeclampsia through the over-activation of immunocytes at the maternal-fetal interface.

Objective To improve the diagnosis and treatment of infective endocardits(IE)by exploring the causes,pathogenic microorganism,clinical characteristics and therapeutic results of patients with IE.Methods From January 2006 to January 2016,89 cases with IE in Ganzhou People's Hospital were collected,and the clinical charac-teristics were analyzed retrospectively.Results Among the IE patients,40.5%had congenital heart diseases,33.7%had rheumatic heart diseases,18.0% were post－PCI or operative endocarditis,and patients without basic cardiac diseases accounted for 7.9%.The most common clinical manifestations were fever (86.5%),followed by anemia (85.4%).The blood culture positive rate was 63.4%.Streptococci viridians were the most common causative organ-isms(44.2%),followed by coagulase －negative staphylococci(21.2%).Eighty－six patients received echocardio-graphy examination,vegetation was observed in 61cases (68.5%).The hospital mortality rate was 10.1%,mostly due to refractory congestive heart failure and sepsis.Conclusion Congenital heart disease showed an upward trend, rheumatic heart disease decreased significantly.Intermittent fever,anemia are the main clinical manifestations.Blood culture positive rate is not high,Streptococcus viridians is the most common causative organism.Echocardiography is the main basis for the diagnosis.

Objective To provide a comprehensive reference index for different mouse models of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) infection by investigating the related clinical manifestations, pathological features and characteristics of viral distribution in tissues and organs of BALB/c mice infected with different HSV-1 strains by using different strategies.Methods Acute infection models were established by challenging BALB/c mice at age three or six weeks with HSV-1 17+ and McKrae strains via intranasal and corneal administrations.Correspondingly, chronic infection models were established with BALB/c mice through subcutaneous and foot pad injections.Results Although all experimental mice showed trichiasis and roachback, there were differences in weight and fatality rate among different groups.Results of the quantitative PCR detection indicated that the proliferation of HSV-1 in the nervous tissues (brain, spinal cord, trigeminal ganglion) varied among different groups.The pathological examination indicated that in the acute infection groups, significant pathological changes only occurred in the brain tissues, while in the chronic infection groups, pathological injuries only occurred in the trigeminal ganglia.Although a key index latency-associated transcript (LAT) was not detected in the trigeminal nerve tissues of mice in the chronic infection groups, co-culturing the tissues with Vero cells resulted in infectious lesions in the cells.Conclusion This study indicates that there are significant differences in weight and fatality rate among different BALB/c mouse models of HSV-1 infection.Varied replication dynamics of HSV-1 were observed in different tissues or organs of the BALB/c mice in different groups.Therefore, different indexes should be adopted to evaluate different HSV-1 infection models.

Objective To evaluate the effect of polydatin on neuropathic pain in rats.Methods Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats,aged 6-8 weeks,weighing 200-230 g,were randomly divided into 5 groups (n =8 each) using a random number table:sham operation group (group S),neuropathic pain group (group NP),polydatin 5 mg/kg group (group P1),polydatin 10 mg/kg group (group P2),and polydatin 20 mg/kg group (group P3).Neuropathic pain was induced by chronic constriction injury in NP and P1-3 groups.In group S,the sciatic nerve was only exposed but not ligated.In S and NP groups,normal saline 0.1 ml was injected intraperitoneally immediately after operation and at 1,3,5 and 7 days after operation (T1-4).In P1-3 groups,polydatin 5,10 and 20 mg/kg (in normal saline 0.1 ml) were injected intraperitoneally immediately after operation and at T1-4.At 1 day before operation (T0) and T1-4,the mechanical paw withdrawal threshold (MWT) and thermal paw withdrawal latency (TWL) were measured.After measurement of pain threshold at T4,the rats were sacrificed,and L4-6 segments of the spinal cords were removed for determination of the expression of high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1),Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4),interleukin-1beta (IL-1β),tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) by Western blot.Results Compared with group S,the MWT was significantly decreased,and the TWL was significantly shortened at T1-4 in group NP,the MWT was significantly decreased at T1-4,and the TWL was significantly shortened at T2-4 in group P1,the MWT was significantly decreased at T1-4,and the TWL was significantly shortened at T3.4 in group P2,the MWT was significantly decreased at T1-4 in group P3,and the expression of HMGB1,TLR4,IL-1β,TNF-α and MCP-1 was significantly up-regulated in NP,P1 and P2 groups (P＜0.05).Compared with group NP,the MWT was significantly increased at Tt-4,and the TWL was significantly prolonged at T1,2 in group P2,the MWT was significantly increased,and the TWL was significantly prolonged at T1-4 in group P3,the expression of HMGB1,TLR4,IL-1β,TNF-α and MCP-1 was significantly down-regulated in P2 and P3 groups (P＜0.05),and no significant change was found in the parameters mentioned above in group P1 (P＞0.05).Compared with group P1,the MWT was significantly increased at T4 in group P2,and the MWT was significantly increased at T14,the TWL was significantly prolonged at T3,4,and the expression of HMGB1,TLR4,IL-1β,TNF-α and MCP-1 was significantly down-regulated in group P3 (P＜0.05).Compared with group P2,the MWT was significantly increased at T3,4,and the expression of TLR4,IL-1β,TNF-α and MCP-1 was significantly down-regulated in group P3 (P＜0.05).Conclusion Polydatin can alleviate neuropathic pain through inhibiting inflammatory responses in the spinal cord of rats.

Objective To explore the types and drug resistance of pathogens in patients with type Ⅰ incision surgical site infection in orthopedics department.Methods Patients with type Ⅰ incision surgical site infection in orthopedics department at Peking University Third Hospital from January 2005 to December 2013 were retrospectively collected.Clinical characteristics of patients,distribution and drug resistance of pathogens were analyzed.Results A total of 58.2 thousands patients with type Ⅰ incision surgical site were hospitalized from January 2005 to December 2013 in orthopedics department,and among them 442 patients had infection in the type Ⅰ incision surgical site.The infection rate was 0.8％.Infection was mainly observed in elderly patients.The most common diseases were lumbar canal stenosis (21.7％),cervical spondylosis (20.6％) and lumbar intervertebral disc herniation (14.0％).A total of 453 pathogenic strains were detected,of which 52.9％ were gram-positive bacteria,45.5％ were gramnegative bacteria and 1.6 ％ were fungi.The common pathogens were Staphylococcus aureus (25.2 ％),Staphylococcus epidermidis (14.1 ％),Escherichia coli (11.5 ％),Enterobacter cloacae (7.3 ％),Pseudomonas aeruginosa (6.2 ％) and Acinetobacter baumannii (6.0 ％).The percentage of Meticillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was 23.7％ and the percentage of Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis (MRSE) was 43.8％.Vancomycin or linezolid-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or Staphylococcus epidermidis were not detected.Proportion of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) producing strains in Escherichia coli was 53.8％,and proportion of ESBL-producing strains in Klebesiella pneumonia was 50.0％.The resistance rates to impenem and meropenem of the three different species in Enterobacteriaceae,including Escherichia coli,Enterobacter cloacae and Klebsiella pneumonia,were 0.Resistance rates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to cefoperazone-sulbactam,piperacillin-tazobactam were less than 10 ％.Resistance rate of Acinetobacter baumannii to minocyline was 11.1％ and resistance rates of it to other drugs were more than 20％.Conclusions The rate of type Ⅰ incision surgical site infection in orthopedics department is low.Gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria each account for half of the pathogens.The proportion of resistant pathogens is high and empirical treatment is needed to cover these pathogens.

Objective To explore the effect of radon released from water on the indoor radon activity concentration in groundwater supplies.Methods Two groundwater supplies in a city were chosen.Radon concentrations in three kinds of water samples were determined by using a continuous radon monitor with air-water exchanger,including source water,finished water and tap water.The solid track detector was used to analyze the indoor radon concentration in water supplies.Results The concentrations of radon in source water,finished water and tap water were (7.59 ± 1.36),(3.56 ±0.86),(3.68 ±0.81)Bq/L and (12.19 ±0.57),(7.87 ± 1.12),(9.50 t 1.12) Bq/L,respectively.The concentration of radon was the highest in source water and at less varying level in finished water and tap water.Aeration and filtration tank process significantly decreased radon activity in water.Radon concentrations in aeration and filtration rooms were 4 218 Bq/m3 and 1 937 Bq/m3,respectively,which exceeded the limit in work place (1 000 Bq/m3).Conclusions Aeration and filtration workplaces for groundwater supplies were found to contain elevated radon concentrations in air,which was released from groundwater.Radon issues in groundwater supplies in China should be paid more attention.