Role of Comprehensive Vestibular Rehabilitation Based on Virtual Reality Technology in Residual Symptoms After Canalith Repositioning Procedure.

BACKGROUND:  We aimed to explore the role of comprehensive vestibular rehabilitation based on virtual reality (VR) technology in residual symptoms after canalith repositioning procedure. METHODS:  A total of 124 patients, who were diagnosed with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo from September 2020 to July 2023 and had residual symptoms 24 hours after the canalith repositioning procedure, were selected as the subjects. They were randomly divided into a normal control (NC) group, a Cawthorne-Cooksey exercise group (n=41), a Brandt-Daroff exercise group (n=41), and a VR group (n=42). The NC group received no intervention, the Cawthorne-Cooksey exercise group underwent Cawthorne-Cooksey exercise, the Brandt-Daroff exercise group was subjected to Brandt-Daroff exercise, and the VR group was given comprehensive vestibular rehabilitation based on VR technology. RESULTS:  After treatment, the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) and vestibular symptom index (VSI) scores of the virtual reality (VR), Cawthorne-Cooksey exercise, and Brandt-Daroff exercise groups were significantly lower than those of the NC group (P <.05). The scores of the VR group were lower than those of the Cawthorne-Cooksey exercise and Brandt-Daroff exercise groups (P < .05). The abnormality rates of ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (oVEMP) and cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMP) in VR, Cawthorne-Cooksey exercise, and Brandt-Daroff exercise groups were lower than those of the NC group (P <05). The rates of the VR group were lower than those of the Cawthorne-Cooksey exercise and Brandt-Daroff exercise groups (P <05). CONCLUSION:  Comprehensive vestibular rehabilitation based on VR technology can cure the residual symptoms after the canalith repositioning procedure, reduce the abnormality rates of oVEMP and cVEMP, and reconstruct the balance ability.

Integrating depression and acute coronary syndrome care in low resource hospitals in China: the I-CARE randomised clinical trial.

Background: Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) often co-occurs with depression, which adversely affects prognosis and increases medical costs, but effective treatment models are lacking, particularly in low-resource settings. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of an ACS and depression integrative care (IC) model compared to usual care (UC) in improving depression symptoms and other health outcomes among patients discharged for ACS in Chinese rural hospitals. Methods: A multicentre, randomised controlled trial was conducted in sixteen rural county hospitals in China, from October 2014 to March 2017, to recruit consecutively all ACS patients aged 21 years and older after the disease stablised and before discharge. Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either the IC or UC, stratified by hospital and depression severity. Patients allocated to IC received an ACS secondary prevention program and depression care including case screening, group counselling, and individual problem-solving therapy. Patients allocated to UC received usual care. The primary outcome was change in Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) from baseline to 6 and 12 months. Main secondary outcomes included major adverse events (MAEs) composed of all-cause death, non-fatal myocardial infarction and stroke, and all-cause re-hospitalisation. Participants were followed up till March 2018. All data were collected in person by trained assessors blinded to treatment group and MAEs were adjudicated centrally. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02195193. Findings: Among 4041 eligible patients (IC: 2051; UC: 1990), the mean age was 61 ± 10 years and 63% were men. The mean PHQ-9 score lowered at both 6 and 12 months in both groups but was not lower in IC compared to UC at 6 months (mean difference (MD): -0.04, 95% confidence interval (CI): -0.20, 0.11) or 12 months (MD: -0.06, 95% CI: -0.21, 0.09). There were no treatment group differences for MAEs or other secondary outcomes except for secondary prevention medications at 12 months (45.2% in IC vs 40.8% in UC; relative risk: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.05-1.40). Pre-specified subgroup analyses showed that IC, compared to UC, may be more effective in lowering PHQ-9 scores in women, older patients, and patients with low social support, but less effective in moderately and severely depressed patients (all p for interaction <0.05). Interpretation: The study found that the cardiology nurse-led ACS- and depression-integrated care, compared to usual care, did not improve depression symptoms in all patients discharged with ACS. Greater benefits in certain subgroups warrants further studies. Funding: R01MH100332 National Institute of Mental Health.

Associations of Multimorbidity with Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers for Neurodegenerative Disorders in Early Parkinson's Disease: A Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Study.

OBJECT: The study aims to determine whether multimorbidity status is associated with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers for neurodegenerative disorders. METHODS: A total of 827 patients were enrolled from the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) database, including 638 patients with early-stage Parkinson's disease (PD) and 189 healthy controls (HCs). Multimorbidity status was evaluated based on the count of long-term conditions (LTCs) and the multimorbidity pattern. Using linear regression models, cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses were conducted to assess the associations of multimorbidity status with CSF biomarkers for neurodegenerative disorders, including α-synuclein (αSyn), amyloid-ß42 (Aß42), total tau (t-tau), phosphorylated tau (p-tau), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and neurofilament light chain protein (NfL). RESULTS: At baseline, the CSF t-tau (p = 0.010), p-tau (p = 0.034), and NfL (p = 0.049) levels showed significant differences across the three categories of LTC counts. In the longitudinal analysis, the presence of LTCs was associated with lower Aß42 (ß < -0.001, p = 0.020), and higher t-tau (ß = 0.007, p = 0.026), GFAP (ß = 0.013, p = 0.022) and NfL (ß = 0.020, p = 0.012); Participants with tumor/musculoskeletal/mental disorders showed higher CSF levels of t-tau (ß = 0.016, p = 0.011) and p-tau (ß = 0.032, p = 0.044) than those without multimorbidity. CONCLUSION: Multimorbidity, especially severe multimorbidity and the pattern of mental/musculoskeletal/ tumor disorders, was associated with CSF biomarkers for neurodegenerative disorders in early-stage PD patients, suggesting that multimorbidity might play a crucial role in aggravating neuronal damage in neurodegenerative diseases.

Kinetics and mechanisms of thermal deterioration in silver carp (Hypophthalmichtys molitrix) surimi gel quality under high-temperature sterilization.

BACKGROUND: The gelation properties of surimi gel under various high temperatures (115, 118, and 121 °C) and sterilization intensities (F0 values of 3-7 min) were systematically investigated. A kinetic model detailed quality changes during heat treatment through mathematical analysis, elucidating mechanisms for gel quality degradation. RESULTS: Increased sterilization intensity significantly reduced the quality characteristics of surimi gel. Compared to the gel without sterilization treatment, when the sterilization intensity was increased to 7 min, the gel strength of the groups treated at 115 °C, 118 °C, and 121 °C decreased by 68.35%, 51.4%, and 51.71%, respectively, and the water-holding capacity decreased by 24.87%, 16.85%, and 22.5%, respectively. The hardness, chewiness, and whiteness of the gel also significantly decreased, and the changes in these indicators all conformed to a first-order kinetic model. Activation energy of 291.52 kJ mol-1 highlighted gel strength as the least heat-resistant. At equivalent sterilization intensities, 115 °C exhibited the poorest gel quality, followed by 121 °C, with 118 °C showing relatively better gel quality. Increased T22 and decreased PT22 suggested heightened water mobility and transition of immobilized water within the gel into free water. Protein degradation, weakened disulfide bonds and hydrophobic interaction, and protein conformation changes collectively led to a rough and incoherent gel network structure with large fissures, as verified by the results of scanning electron microscopy. Correlation analysis indicated potential for precise control over surimi gel quality by modulating physicochemical attributes. CONCLUSION: The outcomes may be beneficial to improve the production and quality control of ready-to-eat surimi-based products. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Trade-offs of reproductive growth and Cd remobilization regulated Cd accumulation in wheat grains (Triticum aestivum L.).

Minimization of cadmium (Cd) accumulation in wheat grain (Triticum aestivum L.) is an important way to prevent Cd hazards to humans. However, little is known about the mechanisms of varietal variation of Cd accumulation in wheat grain. This study explores the physiological mechanisms of Cd bioaccumulation through field and hydroponic experiments on two wheat varieties of low-Cd-accumulating variety (L-6331) and high-Cd-accumulating variety (H-6049). Field study showed that average Cd accumulative rates in spikes of H-6049 were 1.57-fold of L-6331 after flowering, ultimately grain-Cd of H-6049 was 1.70-fold of L-6331 in Cd-contaminated farmland. The hydroponic experiment further confirmed that more vegetative tissues of L-6331 were involved in the remobilization of Cd, which jointly mitigated the process of Cd loaded to grains when leaf-cutting conducted after Cd stress. Additionally, the L1 and N1 of L-6331 play an especially important role in regulating Cd remobilization, and the larger EVB areas in N1 have the morphological feature that facilitates the transfer of Cd to L1. Overall results implied that low-Cd-accumulating variety initiated more trade-offs of reproductive growth and Cd remobilizatoin under Cd-stress after flowering compared with high-Cd-accumulating variety, and provided new insights into the processes of Cd loaded into wheat grains among different varieties.

Treatment drop-in in a contemporary cohort used to derive cardiovascular risk prediction equations.

BACKGROUND: No routinely recommended cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk prediction equations have adjusted for CVD preventive medications initiated during follow-up (treatment drop-in) in their derivation cohorts. This will lead to underestimation of risk when equations are applied in clinical practice if treatment drop-in is common. We aimed to quantify the treatment drop-in in a large contemporary national cohort to determine whether equations are likely to require adjustment. METHODS: Eight de-identified individual-level national health administrative datasets in Aotearoa New Zealand were linked to establish a cohort of almost all New Zealanders without CVD and aged 30-74 years in 2006. Individuals dispensing blood-pressure-lowering and/or lipid-lowering medications between 1 July 2006 and 31 December 2006 (baseline dispensing), and in each 6-month period during 12 years' follow-up to 31 December 2018 (follow-up dispensing), were identified. Person-years of treatment drop-in were determined. RESULTS: A total of 1 399 348 (80%) out of the 1 746 695 individuals in the cohort were not dispensed CVD medications at baseline. Blood-pressure-lowering and/or lipid-lowering treatment drop-in accounted for 14% of follow-up time in the group untreated at baseline and increased significantly with increasing predicted baseline 5-year CVD risk (12%, 31%, 34% and 37% in <5%, 5-9%, 10-14% and ≥15% risk groups, respectively) and with increasing age (8% in 30-44 year-olds to 30% in 60-74 year-olds). CONCLUSIONS: CVD preventive treatment drop-in accounted for approximately one-third of follow-up time among participants typically eligible for preventive treatment (≥5% 5-year predicted risk). Equations derived from cohorts with long-term follow-up that do not adjust for treatment drop-in effect will underestimate CVD risk in higher risk individuals and lead to undertreatment. Future CVD risk prediction studies need to address this potential flaw.

IFITM3 reduces infectious bursal disease virus proliferation by regulating interferon expression.

Interferon-inducible transmembrane protein 3 (IFITM3), a member of the interferon-stimulating factor (ISG) family, has various antiviral functions. Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) mainly invades the bursa of Fabricius in chickens, causing a reduction in their immunity and resulting in death from secondary infections. Our previous study found that IBDV infection promotes the expression of chicken IFITM3. However, the role of chicken IFITM3 in IBDV infection remains unknown. To explore this role, the overexpression vector for IFITM3 was constructed and transfected into HD-11 and DF-1 cells. The results showed that the overexpression of IFITM3 significantly reduced IBDV proliferation. While the IBDV proliferation increased when IFITM3 was inhibited by using siRNA. To further explore the mechanism by which IFITM3 reduces IBDV proliferation, the effects of IFITM3 on interferon (IFN) were investigated. Transfecting the constructed IFITM3 vectors into HD-11 and DF-1 cells demonstrated that IFITM3 promoted the expression of IFN-α, IFN-ß, and IFN-γ. To investigate the mechanism by which IFITM3 regulates IFN expression, the effects of IFITM3 on IFN production were explored. The results showed that the IKB gene mainly affected the regulatory effects of IFITM3 on IFN. Taken together, IFITM3 may reduce viral proliferation by regulating changes in IFNs, and this process may involve a positive feedback effect of IFITM3 on IFN. IKB plays an important role in the regulation of IFN effects by IFITM3.

Lactiplantibacillus plantarum exerts strain-specific effects on malolactic fermentation, antioxidant activity, and aroma profile of apple cider.

This study aimed to investigate the impact of different strains of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum on malolactic fermentation (MLF), antioxidant activity, and aroma of ciders. A commercial strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and six indigenous L. plantarum strains were co-inoculated into apple juice to induce simultaneous alcoholic fermentation (AF) and MLF. The findings indicated that despite belonging to the same species, the different L. plantarum strains significantly differed (p < 0.05) in terms of antioxidant activity and aroma compounds in the ciders. MLF induced by L. plantarum resulted in the substantial consumption of malic acid and increased levels of lactic acid in the ciders, with strain-specific effects observed, particularly with L. plantarum SCFF284. In addition, ciders produced from mixed fermentations exhibited higher levels of antioxidant activity than those from pure S. cerevisiae fermentation (p < 0.05), especially for LAM284. Furthermore, ciders produced from mixed fermentations exhibited higher levels of aroma compounds, such as ethyl acetate and isoamyl alcohol, and also received higher sensory scores compared to ciders produced through pure S. cerevisiae fermentation (p < 0.05). These results highlight the effectiveness of MLF induced by L. plantarum in enhancing the antioxidant activity and aroma profile of ciders.

[Comparison of initiation of antihypertensive therapy strategies for primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases in Chinese population: A decision-analytic Markov modelling study].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the health benefits and intervention efficiency of different strategies of initiating antihypertensive therapy for the primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases in a community-based Chinese population from the Chinese electronic health records research in Yinzhou (CHERRY) study. METHODS: A decision-analytic Markov model was used to simulate and compare different antihypertensive initiation strategies, including: Strategy 1, initiation of antihypertensive therapy for Chinese adults with systolic blood pressure (SBP) ≥140 mmHg (2020 Chinese guideline on the primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases); Strategy 2, initiation of antihypertensive therapy for Chinese adults with SBP ≥130 mmHg; Strategy 3, initiation of antihypertensive therapy for Chinese adults with SBP≥140 mmHg, or with SBP between 130 and 140 mmHg and at high risk of cardiovascular diseases (2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guideline for the prevention, detection, evaluation, and management of high blood pressure in adults); Strategy 4, initiation of antihypertensive therapy for Chinese adults with SBP≥160 mmHg, or with SBP between 140 and 160 mmHg and at high risk of cardiovascular diseases (2019 United Kingdom National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline for the hypertension in adults: Diagnosis and management). The high 10-year cardiovascular risk was defined as the predicted risk over 10% based on the 2019 World Health Organization cardiovascular disease risk charts. Different strategies were simulated by the Markov model for ten years (cycles), with parameters mainly from the CHERRY study or published literature. After ten cycles of simulation, the numbers of quality-adjusted life years (QALY), cardiovascular events and all-cause deaths were calculated to evaluate the health benefits of each strategy, and the numbers needed to treat (NNT) for each cardiovascular event or all-cause death could be prevented were calculated to assess the intervention efficiency. One-way sensitivity analysis on the uncertainty of incidence rates of cardiovascular disease and probabilistic sensitivity analysis on the uncertainty of hazard ratios of interventions were conducted. RESULTS: A total of 213 987 Chinese adults aged 35-79 years without cardiovascular diseases were included. Compared with strategy 1, the number of cardiovascular events that could be prevented in strategy 2 increased by 666 (95% UI: 334-975), while the NNT per cardiovascular event prevented increased by 10 (95% UI: 7-20). In contrast to strategy 1, the number of cardiovascular events that could be prevented in strategy 3 increased by 388 (95% UI: 194-569), and the NNT per cardiovascular event prevented decreased by 6 (95% UI: 4-12), suggesting that strategy 3 had better health benefits and intervention efficiency. Compared to strategy 1, although the number of cardiovascular events that could be prevented decreased by 193 (95% UI: 98-281) in strategy 4, the NNT per cardiovascular event prevented decreased by 18 (95% UI: 13-37) with better efficiency. The results were consistent in the sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSION: When initiating antihypertensive therapy in an economically developed area of China, the strategy combined with cardiovascular risk assessment is more efficient than those purely based on the SBP threshold. The cardiovascular risk assessment strategy with different SBP thresholds is suggested to balance health benefits and intervention efficiency in diverse populations.

Selection of texture-associated biomarkers in chilled and iced grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) fillets via DIA-based proteomics.

Consumers care about the texture of fresh fish flesh, but a rapid quantitative analytical method for this has not been properly established. In this study, texture-associated biomarkers were selected by DIA-based proteomics for possible future application. Results indicated a significant decline in texture and moisture characteristics with extended storage under chilled and iced conditions, and flesh quality was categorized into three intervals. A total of 8 texture-associated biomarkers were identified in the chilled storage group, and 3 distinct ones in the iced storage group. Biomarkers were further refined based on their expression levels. Isobutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase, mitochondrial and [Phosphatase 2A protein]-leucine-carboxy methyltransferase were identified as effective texture-associated biomarkers for chilled fish, and Staphylococcal nuclease domain-containing protein 1 for iced fish. This study provided suitable proteins as indicators of fresh fish flesh texture, which could help establish a rapid and convenient texture testing method in future studies.

Effectiveness of narrowband ultraviolet B monotherapy versus combination therapy with systemic agents in patients with early-stage mycosis fungoides and the association with plaque lesions.

OBJECTIVE: Narrowband ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) has been recommended as first-line therapy for early-stage mycosis fungoides (MF) in international guidelines. NB-UVB can be used as monotherapy or part of a multimodality treatment regimen. There is limited evidence on the effectiveness and optimal patients of NB-UVB in combination with systemic therapies in MF. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of the combination versus NB-UVB monotherapy in early-stage MF and if plaque lesion status was related to these effects. METHODS: This observational cohort study included 247 early-stage MF patients who had received NB-UVB combined with systemic therapies vs. NB-UVB monotherapy from 2009 to 2021. The primary outcome was partial or complete response. Overall response rate and median time to response were calculated. Hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated using the Cox model. RESULTS: In 139 plaque-stage patients, the response rate for combination therapy group was higher than that of monotherapy group (79.0% vs. 54.3%, p = 0.006). The adjusted HR for combination therapy compared with NB-UVB monotherapy was 3.11 (95% CI 1.72-5.63). The combination therapy group also showed shorter time to response (4 vs. 6 months, p = 0.002). In 108 patch-stage patients, the response rate and time to response in two treatment groups showed no significant difference. There was therefore an observed interaction with patients' plaque lesion status for the effect size of NB-UVB combination therapy. No serious adverse events were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Adding systemic treatments to NB-UVB did not improve the treatment outcome of patch-stage patients, but it surpassed NB-UVB monotherapy for early-stage patients with plaques.

Physical frailty, genetic predisposition, and incident dementia: a large prospective cohort study.

Physical frailty and genetic factors are both risk factors for increased dementia; nevertheless, the joint effect remains unclear. This study aimed to investigated the long-term relationship between physical frailty, genetic risk, and dementia incidence. A total of 274,194 participants from the UK Biobank were included. We applied Cox proportional hazards regression models to estimate the association between physical frailty and genetic and dementia risks. Among the participants (146,574 females [53.45%]; mean age, 57.24 years), 3,353 (1.22%) new-onset dementia events were recorded. Compared to non-frailty, the hazard ratio (HR) for dementia incidence in prefrailty and frailty was 1.396 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.294-1.506, P < 0.001) and 2.304 (95% CI, 2.030-2.616, P < 0.001), respectively. Compared to non-frailty and low polygenic risk score (PRS), the HR for dementia risk was 3.908 (95% CI, 3.051-5.006, P < 0.001) for frailty and high PRS. Furthermore, among the participants, slow walking speed (HR, 1.817; 95% CI, 1.640-2.014, P < 0.001), low physical activity (HR, 1.719; 95% CI, 1.545-1.912, P < 0.001), exhaustion (HR, 1.670; 95% CI, 1.502-1.856, P < 0.001), low grip strength (HR, 1.606; 95% CI, 1.479-1.744, P < 0.001), and weight loss (HR, 1.464; 95% CI, 1.328-1.615, P < 0.001) were independently associated with dementia risk compared to non-frailty. Particularly, precise modulation for different dementia genetic risk populations can also be identified due to differences in dementia risk resulting from the constitutive pattern of frailty in different genetic risk populations. In conclusion, both physical frailty and high genetic risk are significantly associated with higher dementia risk. Early intervention to modify frailty is beneficial for achieving primary and precise prevention of dementia, especially in those at high genetic risk.

Foliar uptake screening: A promising strategy for identifying wheat varieties with low lead accumulation.

Lead (Pb) contamination in wheat grain is of great concern, especially in North China. Atmospheric deposition is a major contributor to Pb accumulation in wheat grain. Screening low Pb accumulating wheat varieties has been an effective method for addressing Pb contamination in wheat grain. However, identifying wheat varieties with low Pb accumulation based on foliar uptake of atmospheric Pb has been neglected. Therefore, two field trials with distinct atmospheric Pb deposition were conducted to screen for stable varieties with low Pb accumulation. It was verified that YB700 and CH58, which have high thousand-grain weights and stable low Pb accumulation in field 1 (0.19 and 0.13 mg kg-1) and field 2 (0.17 and 0.20 mg kg-1), respectively, were recommended for cultivation in atmospheric Pb contaminated farmlands in North China. Furthermore, indoor experiments were conducted to investigate Pb uptake by the roots and leaves of different wheat varieties. Our findings indicate that Pb accumulation in different wheat varieties is primarily influenced by foliar Pb uptake rather than root Pb uptake. Interestingly, there was a positive correlation (p < 0.05) between the Pb concentrations in leaves and the stomatal width and trichome length of the adaxial epidermal surface. Additionally, there is a positive correlation (p < 0.01) between the Pb concentration in the wheat grain and trichome length. In conclusion, the screening of wheat varieties with narrower stomatal widths or shorter trichomes based on foliar uptake pathways is an effective strategy for ensuring food safety in areas contaminated by atmospheric Pb.

CAIDE Score, Alzheimer's Disease Pathology, and Cognition in Cognitively Normal Adults: The CABLE Study.

Background: Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Ageing and Dementia (CAIDE) risk score serves as a credible predictor of an individual's risk of dementia. However, studies on the link of the CAIDE score to Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology are scarce. Objective: To explore the links of CAIDE score to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers of AD as well as to cognitive performance. Methods: In the Chinese Alzheimer's Biomarker and LifestylE (CABLE) study, we recruited 600 cognitively normal participants. Correlations between the CAIDE score and CSF biomarkers of AD as well as cognitive performance were probed through multiple linear regression models. Whether the correlation between CAIDE score and cognitive performance was mediated by AD pathology was researched by means of mediation analyses. Results: Linear regression analyses illustrated that CAIDE score was positively associated with tau-related biomarkers, including pTau (p < 0.001), tTau (p < 0.001), as well as tTau/Aß42 (p = 0.008), while it was in negative association with cognitive scores, consisting of MMSE score (p < 0.001) as well as MoCA score (p < 0.001). The correlation from CAIDE score to cognitive scores was in part mediated by tau pathology, with a mediation rate varying from 3.2% to 13.2%. Conclusions: A higher CAIDE score, as demonstrated in our study, was linked to more severe tau pathology and poorer cognitive performance, and tau pathology mediated the link of CAIDE score to cognitive performance. Increased dementia risk will lead to cognitive decline through aggravating neurodegeneration.

Effect of different starch on masking fishy odor compounds.

Starch is a common ingredient to improve gel property of freshwater fish surimi, but the function of natural starch to mask fishy odor compounds in surimi products has not been investigated systematacially. Therefore, this study aimed to determine which natural starch could effectively mask fishy odor compounds and clarify their interaction by GC-MS, FT-IR spectroscopy, raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance. The results showed that when the concentration, crystal type, amylose content, and dispersion degree of starch was 1 %, type C, 48 % (w/v), and 200 mesh with 0.88 span, the starch had the strongest masking effect on typical fishy odor compounds, namely hexanal, 1-Octen-3-ol, (E,E)-2,4-Heptadienal and (E)-2-Octenal. It indicated that complexation and hydrogen bonding both occurred between the fishy odor compounds and starch.

Anti-synthase syndrome associated with SARS-Cov-2 infection.

BACKGROUND: Anti-synthetase syndrome (AS) is a rare autoimmune idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM) with diverse manifestations, including arthritis, interstitial lung disease (ILD), Raynaud's phenomenon, unexplained persistent fever, and mechanic's hands. CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a 72-year-old woman, previously healthy, who was admitted to our hospital for treatment of cough and rapid breathing. The patient had elevated white blood cells and C-reactive protein, and tested negative for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2). She was initially diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia and received tamoxifen for anti-infection treatment, but her dystonia worsened. She eventually required non-invasive ventilator support, tested positive for SARS-Cov-2 again, and started antiviral therapy, corticosteroids to reduce alveolar effusion, anticoagulation, and other treatments. However, her condition continued to deteriorate, with the lowest oxygenation index reaching only 80mmHg. Ultimately, she underwent tracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation. Chest CT revealed rapid progressive interstitial changes in her lungs, and her hands showed noticeable fraternization changes. At this point, we suspected that the novel coronavirus infection might be associated with autoimmune diseases. The patient's autoimmune antibody spectrum showed positive results for anti-recombinant RO-52 antibody and myositis-specific antibody anti-alanyl tRNA synthetase (anti-PL-12). The patient was treated with dexamethasone sodium phosphate for anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects. After successful extubation, the patient was discharged with only oral prednisone tablets at a dose of 30 mg. CONCLUSIONS: This case presents an early diagnosis and successful treatment of anti-synthetase syndrome combined with SARS-Cov-2 infection, emphasizing the importance of comprehensive physical examination. Additionally, it highlights the rapid progression of interstitial lung disease under SARS-Cov-2 infection, which is often difficult to distinguish on imaging. In cases where treatment for SARS-Cov-2 infection is ineffective, early screening for autoimmune diseases is recommended. As there is currently no standardized method for treating AS-ILD, the successful treatment of this case provides a reference for clinical research on anti-synthetase syndrome in the later stage.

A population-based cohort of drug exposures and adverse pregnancy outcomes in China (DEEP): rationale, design, and baseline characteristics.

The DEEP cohort is the first population-based cohort of pregnant population in China that longitudinally documented drug uses throughout the pregnancy life course and adverse pregnancy outcomes. The main goal of the study aims to monitor and evaluate the safety of drug use through the pregnancy life course in the Chinese setting. The DEEP cohort is developed primarily based on the population-based data platforms in Xiamen, a municipal city of 5 million population in southeast China. Based on these data platforms, we developed a pregnancy database that documented health care services and outcomes in the maternal and other departments. For identifying drug uses, we developed a drug prescription database using electronic healthcare records documented in the platforms across the primary, secondary and tertiary hospitals. By linking these two databases, we developed the DEEP cohort. All the pregnant women and their offspring in Xiamen are provided with health care and followed up according to standard protocols, and the primary adverse outcomes - congenital malformations - are collected using a standardized Case Report Form. From January 2013 to December 2021, the DEEP cohort included 564,740 pregnancies among 470,137 mothers, and documented 526,276 live births, 14,090 miscarriages and 6,058 fetal deaths/stillbirths and 25,723 continuing pregnancies. In total, 13,284,982 prescriptions were documented, in which 2,096 chemicals drugs, 163 biological products, 847 Chinese patent medicines and 655 herbal medicines were prescribed. The overall incidence rate of congenital malformations was 2.0% (10,444/526,276), while there were 25,526 (4.9%) preterm births and 25,605 (4.9%) live births with low birth weight.

Identification of an immune-related signature as a prognostic classifier for patients with early-stage head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the most common type and accounts for 90% of all head and neck cancer cases. Despite advances in early diagnosis and treatment strategies-chemotherapy, surgical resection, and radiotherapy-5-year survival remains grim. For patients with early-stage HNSCC, accurately predicting clinical outcomes is challenging. Considering the pivotal role of the immune system in HNSCC, we developed a reliable immune-related gene signature (IRGS) and explored its predictive accuracy in patients with early-stage HNSCC. Methods: We examined immune gene expression profiles and clinical information from 230 early-stage HNSCC specimens, including 100 cases from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), 49 cases from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO; GSE65858), and 81 cases from an independent clinical cohort. The prognostic signature was constructed using Kaplan-Meier analysis and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox algorithm. We also explored the IRGS-related biological pathways and immune landscape using bioinformatics analysis. Results: A nine-immune-gene signature was generated to significantly stratify patients into high and low-risk groups. High risk patients exhibited shorter survival time [hazard ratio (HR) =13.795, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.275-58.109, P<0.001]. The signature demonstrated robust prognostic ability in the training and validation sets and could independently predict overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS). Subsequently, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and C-index confirmed the signature's predictive accuracy compared to clinical parameters. Additionally, cases classified as low risk showed more immune cell infiltration than high-risk cases. Conclusions: Our novel IRGS is a reliable and robust classifier for accurate patient stratification and prognostic evaluation. Future studies will attempt to affirm the signature's clinical application to early-stage HNSCC.

[The auxiliary diagnostic value of ECP and MPO expression in nasal secretions in different types of rhinitis].

Objective:To evaluate the expression of eosinophil cationic protein and myeloperoxidase in nasal secretions in different types of rhinitis, and to explore their values in the differential diagnosis of different types of rhinitis. Methods:Six hundred and eighty-four subjects were selected, including 62 subjects in the acute rhinitis group, 378 subjects in the allergic rhinitis group, 94 subjects in the vasomotor rhinitis group, 70 subjects in the eosinophilic non-allergic rhinitis group, and 80 subjects in the control group. Nasal secretion samples were collected from the five groups, and the percentages of inflammatory cells were counted by Rachel's staining, and the expression of ECP/MPO was detected by colloidal gold assay. The correlation between the clinical diagnosis, the inflammatory cells in the nasal secretions and the expression of ECP/MPO was analyzed. Results:Nasal cytological smears showed that compared with the control group, the percentage of eosinophils in the AR and NARES groups were significantly higher （P<0.05）, while the percentage of neutrophils was not different （P>0.05）; the percentage of neutrophils was significantly higher in the acute rhinitis group compared with the control group （P<0.05）, while the percentage of eosinophils was not statistically different （P>0.05）; in vasomotor rhinitis group, the eosinophils and neutrophils were not statistically different compared with the control group（P> 0.05）. The colloidal gold results showed that there were differences in the expression of ECP/MPO in different types of rhinitis, among which 49 cases （79.0%） in the acute rhinitis group expressed ECP+/MPO+; 267 cases （70.6%） in the AR group and 56 cases （75.7%） in the NARES group expressed ECP+/MPO-; 80 cases （85.1%） in the vasomotor rhinitis group and 69 cases （86.3%） in the control group expressed ECP-/MPO-. Conclusion:The differences in ECP and MPO expression between different types of rhinitis have certain reference value for the differential diagnosis of different types of rhinitis and the selection of treatment programs.

Pyroptosis: a new insight into intestinal inflammation and cancer.

Pyroptosis is an innate immune response triggered by the activation of inflammasomes by various influencing factors, characterized by cell destruction. It impacts the immune system and cancer immunotherapy. In recent years, the roles of pyroptosis and inflammasomes in intestinal inflammation and cancer have been continuously confirmed. This article reviews the latest progress in pyroptosis mechanisms, new discoveries of inflammasomes, mutual regulation between inflammasomes, and their applications in intestinal diseases. Additionally, potential synergistic treatment mechanisms of intestinal diseases with pyroptosis are summarized, and challenges and future directions are discussed, providing new ideas for pyroptosis therapy.