Objective:To investigate the molecular features of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) caused by coxsackievirus A10 (CVA10) in Qingdao and analyze the clinical features of mild and severe cases.Methods:A total of 6 677 cases of HFMD routinely monitored by Qingdao Women and Children Hospital from 2014 to 2021 were enrolled. Throat swab samples were collected. Clinical data of these cases were retrospectively analyzed. Virus nucleic acid was extracted from the samples and the serotypes of enteroviruses were identified. The VP1 genes of CVA10 strains were amplified and sequenced. A phylogenetic tree based on the VP1 gene sequences was constructed using MEGA7. 0 software. SPSS23.0 software was used for statistical analysis.Results:There were 285 cases positive for CVA10, including 183 males and 102 females, and children under five years old accounted for 89.8%. Most of CVA10 infection occurred between the months of April to September. The count of white blood cells, the percentage of neutrophils, the concentration of hemoglobin, and the levels of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine transaminase were significantly higher in severe patients than in mild patients. Besides, chest radiography and brain CT revealed more abnormalities in severe patients, and the duration of ECG monitoring was longer in them. Compared with mild cases, severe cases developed rash early than fever with rash mostly on buttocks ( P<0.05). Phylogenetic analysis showed that most of the CVA10 strains circulating in Qingdao between 2014 and 2021 belonged to clade Ⅰ, and there were two variations A23V and I283V in the amino acid sequence of clade Ⅰ. Conclusions:This study showed that children of all ages were susceptible to CVA10, especially those under five years old. CVA10 showed complex and diverse epidemic trends in different regions and years.

Silicosis is a leading cause of occupational disease-related morbidity and mortality worldwide, but the molecular basis underlying its development remains unclear. An accumulating body of evidence supports gasdermin D (GSDMD)-mediated pyroptosis as a key component in the development of various pulmonary diseases. However, there is little experimental evidence connecting silicosis and GSDMD-driven pyroptosis. In this work, we investigated the role of GSDMD-mediated pyroptosis in silicosis. Single-cell RNA sequencing of healthy and silicosis human and murine lung tissues indicated that GSDMD-induced pyroptosis in macrophages was relevant to silicosis progression. Through microscopy we then observed morphological alterations of pyroptosis in macrophages treated with silica. Measurement of interleukin-1β release, lactic dehydrogenase activity, and real-time propidium iodide staining further revealed that silica induced pyroptosis of macrophages. Additionally, we verified that both canonical (caspase-1-mediated) and non-canonical (caspase-4/5/11-mediated) signaling pathways mediated silica-induced pyroptosis activation, in vivo and in vitro. Notably, Gsdmd knockout mice exhibited dramatically alleviated silicosis phenotypes, which highlighted the pivotal role of pyroptosis in this disease. Taken together, our results demonstrated that macrophages underwent GSDMD-dependent pyroptosis in silicosis and inhibition of this process could serve as a viable clinical strategy for mitigating silicosis.

Objective:To investigate the whole genome characteristics of coxsackievirus A4 (CVA4) circulating in Qingdao city.Methods:Four CVA4 isolates circulating in Qingdao city during 2013 to 2015 were selected. Whole genome sequences of these strains were amplified by one-step reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis were performed using MEGA7.0 software package. Genetic recombination analysis was performed using similarity plots 3.5.1 software package.Results:Phylogenetic analysis showed that based on the sequences of the whole genome and P1, P2 and P3 regions, HS312/QD/CHN/2013 and HS605/QD/CHN/2014 strains together with the early domestic isolates belonged to the same clade, while FY218/QD/CHN/2015 strain and CV-A4/P1033/2013/China strain collected in Wenzhou in 2013 formed another clade in each phylogenetic tree. HS144/QD/CHN/2014 strain belonged to the same clade as HS312/QD/CHN/2014, HS605/QD/CHN/2014 and the early domestic CVA4 isolates in the phylogenetic tree based on the P1 region, but formed a separate clade in the phylogenetic trees based on the whole genome, P2 region and P3 region. Genetic recombination analysis revealed that there was genetic recombination between HS144/QD/CHN/2014 strain and the CVA2 strain of CV-A2/P373/2013/China isolated in mainland China in 2013 in the region of 2C-3D (5 081-7 301); FY218/QD/CHN/2015 and CV-A4/P1033/2013/China strains were highly homologous and recombination signal sequences were detected in the region of 2A-2B (3 821-4 161) between the two strains and the CVA2 strain of CV-A2/P373/2013/China.Conclusions:The CVA4 isolates circulating in Qingdao city presented obvious genetic diversity at the genome-wide level.

Objective:To investigate the contamination status of SARS-CoV-2 in imported frozen seafood from a Russia cargo ship in Qingdao and to analyze the risk factors for infection in local stevedores.Methods:The method of "two-stage, full coverage and mixed sampling" was used to collect the seafood packaging samples for the nucleic acid detection of SARS-CoV-2 by real-time fluorescent quantitative RT-PCR. A unified questionnaire was designed to investigate 71 stevedores in two shifts through telephone interview. The stevedores were divided into two groups, with 23 in the shit with two infections was group A and 48 in the shift without infection was group B. Software Epi Info7.2 was used to identify the risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infections in the stevedores.Results:In the frozen seafood from a Russia cargo ship, the total positive rate of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid in the frozen seafood was 11.53% (106/919). The positive rate of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid in the frozen seafood unloaded by group A (14.29%,70/490) was significantly higher than that in the frozen seafood unloaded by group B (8.39%,36/429)( χ2=7.79, P=0.01) and the viral loads detected in the frozen seafood unloaded by group A were higher than those detected in the frozen seafood unloaded by group B. The scores of personal protection and behaviors in the stevedores in group A were significantly lower than those in group B ( P<0.05), and toilet use, smoking and improper hand washing before meals were the risk factors for the infection. Conclusions:The imported frozen seafood was contaminated by SARS-CoV-2 and the contamination distribution was uneven. Supervision and management of personal occupational protection and behaviors of workers engaged in imported frozen food transportation should be strengthened. It is suggested that a closed-loop monitoring and management system for the whole process of "fishing-transport- loading/unloading" should be established by marine fishery authority.

Objective:To investigate the mechanism of crush syndrome (CS) induced by crush injury on myocardial cells in rats.Methods:Thirty two male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into control group, CS-0 group, CS-12 group and CS-24 group with 8 rats in each group. CS model was made by self-made extruder and perfused with 4% paraformaldehyde for 0, 12 and 24 h. The morphological changes of myocardial tissue were observed by hematoxylin staining. The apoptosis of cardiomyocytes was detected by terminal dexynucleotide transferase-mediated nick end labeling (TUNEL). The levels and activities of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), lactose dehydrogenase (LDH), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1 β (IL-1 β), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF- α) in myocardial homogenate were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The expressions of Caspase-3, Bax, Bcl-2 and necrosis factor-κB (NF-κ B) were detected by Western blot.Results:Compared with the control group, the myocardial tissue of CS model group had different degrees of morphological damage; compared with the control group, the apoptosis rate, Caspase-3 and Bax protein expression levels of CS-0 group, CS-12 group and CS-24 group were significantly increased ( P<0.05), and the expression level of Bcl-2 protein was significantly decreased ( P<0.05); compared with the control group, the levels of MDA, LDH, IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α and p65 protein phosphorylation in the myocardial homogenate of CS-0 group, CS-12 group and CS-24 group were significantly increased ( P<0.05), and SOD activity was significantly decreased ( P<0.05). Conclusions:CS may inhibit oxidative stress and induce inflammatory reaction by activating NF-κ B pathway, thus damaging myocardial cells in rats.

Objective: To analyze the molecular epidemiology of norovirus (NoV) genotype GⅡ.15 in Qingdao City. Methods: One thousand four hundred and twelve stool samples were collected from suspected NoV infected patients and detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Open reading frame (ORF)1-ORF2 and VP1 gene were amplified by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR and sequenced for genotyping, evolutionary analysis and homology modeling. Results: Seven cases of GⅡ.15 type were detected including four sporadic cases and one outbreak.The VP1 gene was highly homologous and had little variation compared with early strain J23/US/1999. The differences of amino acids between strains in Qingdao City were mainly asparagine/asparticacid(N/D)300 and proline/serine(P/S)302.Homology modeling suggested that VP1 of GⅡ.15 strain was composed of S domain and P domain (P1 subdomain included 224-276 and 431-555, P2 subdomain included 277-430). S domain contained eight anti-parallel β-sandwiches and two α-helixes, and P1 subdomain contained one α-helix and seven β-strands, and the P2 subdomain folded into a compact barrel-like structure consisting of six β-strands.Argnine (R)-glycine (G)-valine (V)-motif (289-291) and three specific loci including glutarnine (Q)313, asparagine (N)349 and Q389 were located in the P2 subdomain, with NGR-motif (265-267) located at 22nd upstream of RGV-motif.Site I (SNR-alanine(A)- histidine(H)357-361), Site Ⅱ (D388) and Site Ⅲ (G454, G455) were the main characteristic sites of histo-blood group antigens (HBGA) binding interface, which may be similar to the binding pattern of GⅡ.4 type VA387 and HBGA. Conclusion Although GⅡ.15 type NoV evolves very slowly, it may still have the risk to become an epidemic strain, which needs to be monitored and further studied.

Objective: To investigate the etiology spectrum of hand foot and mouth disease (HFMD) and to analyze the molecular characteristics of Coxsackievirus A10 and A6 in Qingdao in 2014. Methods: Throat swabs of HFMD cases were tested for total enteroviruses (EVs), EV-A71, CV-A16, CV-A10 and CV-A6 by multiplex real time RT-PCR. Other EV serotypes were identified through the sequences of partial VP1 gene. The full-length of VP1 gene of CV-A10 and CV-A6 were amplified and sequenced. The sequences were phylogenetically analyzed using MEGA 5.0 software package. Results: A total of 1727 HFMD patients were detected in 2014 and 11serotypes of enteroviruses were identified. EV-A71(38.0%, 410/1078), CV-A16(28.8%, 311/1078), CV-A10(14.1%, 152/1078)and CV-A6(3.2%, 34/1078)were the most dominant pathogen in 2014 in Qingdao. Proportions of CV-A10 in enterovirus infected children varied dramatically in different ages(χ²=15.19, P=0.001), showing a downtrend with age. Proportion of CV-A10 in inpatients was much higher than that in outpatients(χ²=49.1, P <0.001), while 60% of those inpatients showed nervous system damage symptoms, with pathological reflex or disappearance of physiological reflex. Phylogenetic analysis of complete VP1 sequences showed that all CV-A10 strains identied in this study belonged to genotype C, 71.7% of which located in branch C5; all CV-A6 strains belonged to genotype D while 83.3% of which located in branch D5. Conclusions EV-A71, CV-A16, CV-A10 and CV-A6 were the prevalent pathogens of HFMD in Qingdao in 2014. CV-A10 was more frequently detected in lower age group with HFMD, which can cause damage to nervous system. Strains of branch C5 in genotype C were the dominant strains of CV-A10 circulated in Qingdao in 2014 while strains of branch D5 in genotype D were the major strains of CV-A6.

Objective To investigate the molecular epidemiological characteristics of hemaggluti-nin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) of influenza B viruses (IBV) isolated in Qingdao from 2011 to 2018. Methods A total of 12236 samples of influenza-like cases in Qingdao from 2011 to 2018 were collected to extract viral RNAs. All samples were screened for influenza A viruses ( IAV) and IBV by one-step multiplex real-time RT-PCR. Lineages of IBV were identified. One hundred and eighty-two strains of IBV were select-ed to amplify HA and NA genes by RT-PCR and then analyzed by sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis and variation analysis of genes and amino acids were carried out. Results IBV was detected almost every year in Qingdao from 2011 to 2018. The positive rate was only slightly lower than that of IAV ( 4. 99％ vs 6. 21％). B/Victoria linkage had two prominent epidemic years (2011-2012, 2015-2016), while B/Yama-gata linkage had three (2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2017-2018). Most of the infected people were children un-der 10 years old, and the people infected with the two lineages had similar age characteristics. Phylogenetic analysis of HA genes showed clusters in Victoria clades of 1A and 1B and Yamagata clades of 2 and 3. IBV of Yamagata lineage had more amino acid mutation sites than those of Victoria lineage in HA genes with grea-ter genetic diversity. The B/Yamagata strains had 12 amino acid mutations and the B/Victoria strains had seven in four major epitopes. In the receptor binding sites, two amino acid mutations were detected in the B/Yamagata strains and three in the B/Victoria strains. In Qingdao, 26 strains of IBV were intra-lineage reas-sortments, mostly of the B/Victoria lineage, and 23 strains were inter-lineage reassortments, mostly between HA-B/Yamagata and NA-B/Victoria strains. A possible resistant strain to NA inhibitor was found. Conclu-sions The significance of IBV in seasonal influenza should not be neglected. Amino acid substitution, in-sertion/deletion and gene reassortment were the main strategies for the natural evolution of IBV. Influenza surveillance was of great importance and influenza vaccine strains needed to be updated in time.

OBJECTIVE: The aims of the present study were to explore the occurrence of childhood trauma and importantly to determine the impacts of childhood trauma on psychosocial features in a Chinese sample of young adults. METHODS: A survey was carried out in a group of 555 university students by using Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Dysfunctional Attitudes Questionnaire (DAS), Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), and Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS). The moderate-severe cut-off scores for CTQ were used to calculate the prevalence of childhood trauma, and then psychosocial features were compared between individuals with and without childhood trauma. RESULTS: A proportion of 18.6% of university students had self-reported childhood trauma exposures. Subjects with childhood trauma reported higher scores of SDS, SAS, DAS, and psychoticism and neuroticism dimensions of EPQ (t=4.311–5.551, p < 0.001); while lower scores of SSRS and extraversion dimension of EPQ (t=-4.061– -3.039, p < 0.01). Regression analyses further revealed that scores of SAS and DAS were positively (Adjusted B=0.211–0.230, p < 0.05), while scores of SSRS were negatively (Adjusted B=-0.273– -0.240, p < 0.05) associated with specific CTQ scores. CONCLUSION: Childhood trauma is still a common social and psychological problem. Individuals with childhood trauma show much more depression, anxiety, distorted cognition, personality deficits, and lower levels of social support, which may represent the social and psychological vulnerability for developing psychiatric disorders after childhood trauma experiences.
Anxiety ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Cognition ; Depression ; Extraversion (Psychology) ; Humans ; Prevalence ; Young Adult*

Objective: To illuminate the gene characteristics and clinical characterization of Coxsackievirus B5 (CV-B5) strains isolated from patients with sevre hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in Qingdao city. Methods: A total of 1 844 patients of HFMD were consecutively admitted to Qingdao Women and Children's Hospital from 2013 to 2014. Information of the study population described above was collected retrospectively. The samples were collected from at least 1 site (throat swab, cerebrospinal fluid), which viral nucleic acid extracted and the entire VP1 gene sequences of CV-B5 isolates were amplified and sequenced, then the homology and phylogeny analysis were conducted by MEGA7.0. The prototype Faulkner strain and other VP1 amino acid sequences were derived from the GenBank database. Results: A total of 8 CV-B5 positive cases were obtained, including 4 males and 4 females; 6 severe hospitalized cases and 2 outpatients. The age of 6 hospitalized patients ranged from 3 to 48 months, with a median of 26 months. For the six inpatients, fever, convulsions vomiting, diarrhea and rash were the main clinical manifestation, and all combined with viral encephalitis. Compared with the prototype strain Faulkner, in the VP1 region,the nucleotide and the amino acid homologies was 77.3%-78.8% and 95.5%-97.0% respectively. Five out of the six severe cases with substitution of serine (S) to asparagine (N) at amino acid site 95 in the VP1 region. The sequences of 8 CV-B5 strains were classified into genogroup D. Conclusion Hand, foot and mouth disease associated with CV-B5 virus infection can result in nervous system involvement and the main complication was viral encephalitis. The CV-B5 strains associated with severe hand, foot and mouth disease had high nucleotide homology and present a certain regional aggregation.