Norepinephrine may promote the progression of Fusobacterium nucleatum related colorectal cancer via quorum sensing signalling.

Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum) is closely correlated with tumorigenesis in colorectal cancer (CRC). We aimed to investigate the effects of host norepinephrine on the carcinogenicity of F. nucleatum in CRC and reveal the underlying mechanism. The results revealed that both norepinephrine and bacterial quorum sensing (QS) molecule auto-inducer-2 (AI-2) were positively associated with the progression of F. nucleatum related CRC (p < 0.01). In vitro studies, norepinephrine induced upregulation of QS-associated genes and promoted the virulence and proliferation of F. nucleatum. Moreover, chronic stress significantly increased the colon tumour burden of ApcMin/+ mice infected with F. nucleatum (p < 0.01), which was decreased by a catecholamine inhibitor (p < 0.001). Our findings suggest that stress-induced norepinephrine may promote the progression of F. nucleatum related CRC via bacterial QS signalling. These preliminary data provide a novel strategy for the management of pathogenic bacteria by targeting host hormones-bacterial QS inter-kingdom signalling.

Association of Circulating Long-Chain Free Fatty Acids and Incident Diabetes Risk Among Normoglycemic Chinese Adults: A Prospective Nested Case-Control Study.

BACKGROUND: Long-chain free fatty acids (FFAs) are associated with risk of incident diabetes. However, comprehensive assessment of the associations in normoglycemic populations is lacking. OBJECTIVE: Our study aims to comprehensively investigate the prospective associations and patterns of FFA profiles with diabetes risk among normoglycemic Chinese adults. METHODS: This is a prospective nested case-control study from the China Cardiometabolic Disease and Cancer Cohort (4C) study. We quantitatively measured 53 serum FFAs using targeted metabolomics approach in 1707 incident diabetes subjects and 1707 propensity score-matched normoglycemic controls. Conditional logistic regression models were employed to estimate odds ratios (ORs) for associations. Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) penalty regression and quantile g-computation (qg-comp) analyses were implemented to estimate the association between multi-FFA exposures and incident diabetes. RESULTS: The majority of odd-chain FFAs exhibited an inverse association with incident diabetes, wherein the ORs per SD increment of all 7 saturated fatty acids (SFAs), monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) 15:1 and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) 25:2 were ranging from 0.79 to 0.88 (95%CIs ranging between 0.71 and 0.97). Even-chain FFAs comprised 99.3% of total FFAs and displayed heterogeneity with incident diabetes. SFAs with 18 to 26 carbon atoms are inversely linked to incident diabetes, with ORs ranging from 0.81 to 0.86 (95%CIs ranging between 0.73 and 0.94). MUFAs 26:1 (OR[95%CI]: 0.85[0.76-0.94]), PUFAs 20:4 (0.84[0.75-0.94]) and 24:2 (0.87[0.78-0.97]) demonstrated significant associations. In multi-FFA exposure model, 24 FFAs were significantly associated with incident diabetes, most of which were consistent with univariate results. The mixture OR was 0.78 [0.61-0.99] (P= 0.04159). Differential correlation network analysis revealed pre-existing perturbations in intraclass and interclass FFA coregulation before diabetes onset. CONCLUSIONS: These findings underscore the variations in diabetes risk associated with FFAs across chain length and unsaturation degree, highlighting the importance of recognizing FFA subtypes in the pathogenesis of diabetes.

Air dispersal of multidrug-resistant organisms including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii, and carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales in general wards: surveillance culture of air grilles.

BACKGROUND: The environmental surveillance of air grilles in clinical areas has not been systematically analyzed. METHODS: Samples were collected from frequently-touched items (n=529), air supply (n=295) and exhaust (n=184) grilles in six medical and eleven surgical wards for the cultures of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs): methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB), and carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE), and isolates were selected for whole-genome analysis (WGS). The contamination rates were correlated with the colonization pressures of the respective MDROs. RESULTS: From 3-October to 21-November 2023, 9.8% (99/1008) of the samples tested positive, with MRSA (24.2%,24/99), CRAB (59.6%,59/99), and CPE (2.0%,2/99), being the only detected MDROs. The contamination rate in air exhaust grilles (26.6%,49/184) was significantly higher than in air supply grilles (5.8%,17/295;p<0.001). The contamination rate of air exhaust grilles with any MDRO in acute medical wards (73.7%,14/19) was significantly higher than in surgical wards (12.5%,4/32;p<0.001). However, there was no difference in the contamination rate of air exhaust grilles between those located inside and outside the cohort cubicles for MDROs (27.1%,13/48 vs. 28.8%,30/104;p=0.823). Nevertheless, the weekly CRAB colonization pressure showed a significant correlation with the overall environmental contamination rate (r=0.878; 95%CI:0.136-0.986;p=0.004), as well as with the contamination rate in air supply grilles (r=0.960;95%CI:0.375-0.999;p<0.001) and air exhaust grilles (r=0.850;95%CI:0.401-0.980;p=0.008). WGS demonstrated clonal relatedness of isolates collected from patients and air exhaust grilles. CONCLUSIONS: Air grilles may serve as MDRO reservoirs. Cohort nursing in open cubicles may not completely prevent MDRO transmission through air dispersal, prompting the consideration of future hospital design.

Identification of potential biomarkers of leprosy: A study based on GEO datasets.

Leprosy has a high rate of cripplehood and lacks available early effective diagnosis methods for prevention and treatment, thus novel effective molecule markers are urgently required. In this study, we conducted bioinformatics analysis with leprosy and normal samples acquired from the GEO database(GSE84893, GSE74481, GSE17763, GSE16844 and GSE443). Through WGCNA analysis, 85 hub genes were screened(GS > 0.7 and MM > 0.8). Through DEG analysis, 82 up-regulated and 3 down-regulated genes were screened(|Log2FC| > 3 and FDR < 0.05). Then 49 intersection genes were considered as crucial and subjected to GO annotation, KEGG pathway and PPI analysis to determine the biological significance in the pathogenesis of leprosy. Finally, we identified a gene-pathway network, suggesting ITK, CD48, IL2RG, CCR5, FGR, JAK3, STAT1, LCK, PTPRC, CXCR4 can be used as biomarkers and these genes are active in 6 immune system pathways, including Chemokine signaling pathway, Th1 and Th2 cell differentiation, Th17 cell differentiation, T cell receptor signaling pathway, Natural killer cell mediated cytotoxicity and Leukocyte transendothelial migration. We identified 10 crucial gene markers and related important pathways that acted as essential components in the etiology of leprosy. Our study provides potential targets for diagnostic biomarkers and therapy of leprosy.

SFTSV nucleoprotein mediates DNA sensor cGAS degradation to suppress cGAS-dependent antiviral responses.

Cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) is an important DNA pattern recognition receptor that senses double-stranded DNA derived from invading pathogens or self DNA in cytoplasm, leading to an antiviral interferon response. A tick-borne Bunyavirus, severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV), is an RNA virus that causes a severe emerging viral hemorrhagic fever in Asia with a high case fatality rate of up to 30%. However, it is unclear whether cGAS interacts with SFTSV infection. In this study, we found that SFTSV infection upregulated cGAS RNA transcription and protein expression, indicating that cGAS is an important innate immune response against SFTSV infection. The mechanism of cGAS recognizing SFTSV is by cGAS interacting with misplaced mitochondrial DNA in the cytoplasm. Depletion of mitochondrial DNA significantly inhibited cGAS activation under SFTSV infection. Strikingly, we found that SFTSV nucleoprotein (N) induced cGAS degradation in a dose-dependent manner. Mechanically, N interacted with the 161-382 domain of cGAS and linked the cGAS to LC3. The cGAS-N-LC3 trimer was targeted to N-induced autophagy, and the cGAS was degraded in autolysosome. Taken together, our study discovered a novel antagonistic mechanism of RNA viruses, SFTSV is able to suppress the cGAS-dependent antiviral innate immune responses through N-hijacking cGAS into N-induced autophagy. Our results indicated that SFTSV N is an important virulence factor of SFTSV in mediating host antiviral immune responses. IMPORTANCE: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) is a tick-borne RNA virus that is widespread in East and Southeast Asian countries with a high fatality rate of up to 30%. Up to now, many cytoplasmic pattern recognition receptors, such as RIG-I, MDA5, and SAFA, have been reported to recognize SFTSV genomic RNA and trigger interferon-dependent antiviral responses. However, current knowledge is not clear whether SFTSV can be recognized by DNA sensor cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS). Our study demonstrated that cGAS could recognize SFTSV infection via ectopic mitochondrial DNA, and the activated cGAS-stimulator of interferon genes signaling pathway could significantly inhibit SFTSV replication. Importantly, we further uncovered a novel mechanism of SFTSV to inhibit innate immune responses by the degradation of cGAS. cGAS was degraded in N-induced autophagy. Collectively, this study illustrated a novel virulence factor of SFTSV to suppress innate immune responses through autophagy-dependent cGAS degradation.

Individual-centralized seeding strategy for influence maximization in information-limited networks.

Peer effects can directly or indirectly rely on interaction networks to drive people to follow ideas or behaviours triggered by a few individuals, and such effects can be largely improved by targeting the so-called influential individuals. In this article, we study the current most promising seeding strategy used in field experiments, the one-hop strategy, where the underlying interaction networks are generally too impractical or prohibitively expensive to be obtained, and propose an individual-centralized seeding approach to target influential seeds in information-limited networks. The presented strategy works by reasonable follow-up questions to respondents, such as Who do you think has more connections/friends?, and constructs the seeding set by those nodes with the most nominations. In this manner, the proposed method could acquire more information about the studied interaction network from the inference of respondents without surveying additional individuals. We evaluate our strategy on networks from various experimental datasets. Results show that the obtained seeds are much more influential compared to the one-hop strategy and other methods. We also show how the proposed approach could be implemented in field studies and potentially provide better interventions in real scenarios.

Response of soil organic carbon to straw return in farmland soil in China: A meta-analysis.

Straw return is an effective measure to promote sustainable agriculture by significantly improving soil fertility. At present, few studies have been conducted on the most effective carbon enhancing management measures for various crops. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis using data collected from 184 literature sources, comprising 3297 data sets to analyze the carbon increase effects of straw returning in three main crops (rice, maize, and wheat) in China and to explore the influence mechanism of natural factors, soil properties, straw return measures, and cropping systems on the carbon enhancement effect. The study showed that straw return significantly increased soil organic carbon and the rate of increase was higher for wheat at 15.88% (14.74%-17.03%) than for rice at 12.7% (11.5%-13.91%) and maize at 12.42% (11.42%-13.42%), with varying degrees of improvement in other soil physicochemical properties. Natural factors have the greatest impact on the carbon increasing effect of rice fields, reaching 28.8%, especially at temperature between 10 °C and 15 °C, less than 800 mm precipitation, low latitude, and short frost-free period. Maize and wheat are most affected by soil properties, reaching 41% and 34.5% respectively. Furthermore, field management practices also play a pivotal role, organic carbon increasing obviously was observed when the C/N ratio of exogenous nutrients is bigger than 20 with the low initial organic matter. Shallow tillage and less than 7.5 t hm-2 straw returning with 3-10 years to the field are ideal for rice and maize. Crop rotation, especially in drylands, increased soil organic carbon more significantly than continuous. The results of our analysis can provide valuable insights into the effect of straw return on carbon increase. In the future, the soil carbon can be improved by adopting rational cropping patterns and straw return measures with taking into account climate and soil characteristics for different crops.

Single-Pd-Site Catalyst Induced by Different Dimensional Nitrogen of N-Doping Carbon for Efficient Hydroaminocarbonylation of Alkynes.

The unsaturated amides are traditionally synthesized by acylation of carboxylic acids or hydration of nitrile compounds but are rarely investigated by hydroaminocarbonylation of alkynes using heterogeneous single-metal-site catalysts (HSMSCs). Herein, single-Pd-site catalysts supported on N-doping carbon (NC) with different nitrogen dimensions inherited from corresponding metal-organic-framework precursors are successfully synthesized. 2D NC-supported single-Pd-site (Pd1/NC-2D) exhibited the best performance with near 100% selectivity and 76% yield of acrylamide for acetylene hydroaminocarbonylation with better stability, superior to those of Pd1/NC-3D, single-metal-site/nanoparticle coexisting catalyst, and nanoparticle catalyst. The coordination environment and molecular evolution of the single-Pd-site during the process of acetylene hydroaminocarbonylation on Pd1/NC-2D are detailly illuminated by various characterizations and density functional theoretical calculations (DFT). DFT also showed the energy barrier of rate-determining step on Pd1/NC-2D is lower than that of Pd1/NC-3D. Furthermore, Pd1/NC-2D catalyst illustrated the general applicability of the hydroaminocarbonylation for various alkynes.

Bimetallic Cu@Ru Core-Shell Structures with Ligand Effects for Endo-Exogenous Stimulation-Mediated Dynamic Oncotherapy.

Dynamic therapies, which induce reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in situ through endogenous and exogenous stimulation, are emerging as attractive options for tumor treatment. However, the complexity of the tumor substantially limits the efficacy of individual stimulus-triggered dynamic therapy. Herein, bimetallic copper and ruthenium (Cu@Ru) core-shell nanoparticles are applied for endo-exogenous stimulation-triggered dynamic therapy. The electronic structure of Cu@Ru is regulated through the ligand effects to improve the adsorption level for small molecules, such as water and oxygen. The core-shell heterojunction interface can rapidly separate electron-hole pairs generated by ultrasound and light stimulation, which initiate reactions with adsorbed small molecules, thus enhancing ROS generation. This synergistically complements tumor treatment together with ROS from endogenous stimulation. In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrate that Cu@Ru nanoparticles can induce tumor cell apoptosis and ferroptosis through generated ROS. This study provides a new paradigm for endo-exogenous stimulation-based synergistic tumor treatment.

A causal analysis of the relationship between exposure to sunlight and colorectal cancer risk: A Mendelian randomization study.

Several observational studies have found that exposure to sunlight reduces the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, sun exposure remains ambiguous in its relationship to CRC. We carried out a Mendelian randomization (MR) study to explore the potential associations between them. We examined the exposure to sunlight summary statistics of the UK Biobank Consortium using a 2-sample MR analysis. Using data from the FinnGen consortium, we derived summary statistics for CRC. We conducted our analysis with various methods, incorporating inverse variance weighted (IVW) along with 4 other approaches. A Cochran Q statistic was used to measure the heterogeneity of instrumental variables (IVs). We screened 133 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (time spent outdoors in summer), 41 SNPs (time spent outdoors in winter), and 35 SNPs (frequency of solarium/sunlamp use) representing sunlight exposure for MR analysis. All selected SNPs had an F-statistic >20, indicating that IVs did not weakly bias the results. The summer outdoor activity trait exhibited significant heterogeneity (Cochran Q statistic = 183.795, P = .002 < 0.05), but we found no horizontal polymorphisms or significant heterogeneity for the other exposure traits. According to IVW estimates, no causal association exists between time spent outdoors in summer and CRC (Odds Ratio, OR = 0.735, 95% confidence interval, CI = 0.494-1.017, P = .128 > 0.017). No causal relationship existed between time spent outdoors in winter and CRC, as indicated by Bonferroni-corrected adjusted p-values. The OR was 0.877 with a 95% CI of 0.334-2.299, and the P value was .789, more significant than the significance threshold of 0.017. The solarium/sunlamp use frequency was not associated with CRC (OR = 1.567, 95%CI = 0.243-10.119, P = .637 > .017). Also, an IVW with random effects was applied to determine the causal relationship between summer outdoor time and CRC. No causal association between summer outdoor time and CRC was found (OR = 0.735, 95% CI = 0.494-1.017, P = .128 > .017). Additionally, 4 additional analyses yielded similar results. The findings of our study suggest that exposure to sunlight may reduce CRC risk, but the causal relationship remains unsolved. There is no evidence to suggest that exposure to sunlight prevents CRC. Randomized, controlled trials are needed to determine whether sunlight exposure protects against CRC.

Solar-Driven Drum-Type Atmospheric Water Harvester Based on Bio-Based Gels with Fast Adsorption/Desorption Kinetics.

Sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting is an attractive technology for exploiting unconventional water sources. A critical challenge is how to facilitate fast and continuous collection of potable water from air. Here, a bio-based gel (CAL gel), resulting from the integration of a whole biomass-derived polymer network with lithium chloride is reported. A fast adsorption/desorption kinetics, with a water capture rate of 1.74 kg kg-1 h-1 at 30% relative humidity and a desorption rate of 1.98 kg kg-1 h-1, was simultaneously realized in one piece of CAL gel, because of its strong hygroscopicity, hydrophilic network, abundant water transport channels, photothermal conversion ability, and ∼200-µm-thick self-supporting bulky structure caused by multicomponent synergy. A solar-driven, drum-type, tunable, and portable harvester is designed that can harvest atmospheric water within a brief time. Under outdoor conditions, the harvester with CAL gels operates 36 switches (180°) per day realizes a water yield of 8.96 kg kggel -1 (18.87 g kgdevice -1). This portable harvester highlights the potential for fast and scalable atmospheric water harvesting in extreme environments. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Persistent production of multiple active species with copper doped zinc gallate nanoparticles for light-independent photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants.

Photocatalysis is considered as an environmentally friendly and sustainable method as it can produce active species to degrade pollutants. However, its applications are hindered by the turbidity of pollutants and the requirements for continuous or repeated in situ irradiation. To avoid the need for continuous in situ irradiation in the photocatalytic process, herein we report the doping of Cu(II) ions into zinc gallate (ZnGa2O4) as traps to capture photo-generated electrons. In this way, long lifetime charge release and separation were effectively achieved for the persistent degradation of organic dyes in wastewater. The Cu(II) doped ZnGa2O4 (ZGC) nanoparticles with a small size about 7.7 nm synthesized via a hydrothermal method exhibited a persistent photocatalytic activity with continuous production of reactive oxygen species for at least 96 h without in situ irradiation due to its unique electronic structure and carrier transport path, and enabled to degrade 82.2 % of rhodamine B in 1 h. Further investigation revealed that the doped Cu(II) ions occupied the octahedral sites of ZGC and highly increased the persistent production and availability of active species for the persistent degradation of organic dyes under pre-illuminated conditions.

Anlotinib in Chinese patients aged ≥70 years with advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer without prior chemotherapy: a multicenter, single-arm pilot trial.

Background: Based on pharmacoeconomics, drug availability and actual treatment, optimal treatment regimens for Chinese non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) patients over 70 years old are needed. Methods: This multicenter, single-arm pilot trial enrolled patients with advanced non-squamous NSCLC who refused systemic chemotherapy. Eligible patients received anlotinib (12 mg/day, d1-14, Q3W) until disease progression, intolerant toxicities, or withdrawal from the study. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS). Results: Forty-nine patients were screened between January 2019 and September 2021, of whom 40 patients were eligible. The median age was 76 years. With a median follow-up period of 16.20 (95% CI: 8.77, 25.10) months, the median PFS was 5.45 months (95% CI: 3.52-9.23) and the median overall survival was 10.32 months (95% CI: 6.44-12.78). Three patients achieved a partial response and 34 had stable disease, with an objective response rate of 7.5% and a disease control rate of 92.5%. Thirty-three (82.5%; 33/40) patients reported treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) of any grade, and the incidence rate of grade ≥3 TRAEs was 35% (14/40). The most common grade ≥3 TRAEs were hypertension (4/40; 10.0%), hand-foot syndrome (3/40; 7.5%), and proteinuria (2/40; 5.0%). Conclusion: Anlotinib treatment was feasible and safe in Chinese elderly patients with advanced non-squamous NSCLC who did not receive any systemic chemotherapy.

[Research progress on pathogenic mechanism of sepsis-induced liver injury and treatment with traditional Chinese medicine and its active components].

Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory response syndrome caused by infection, with high morbidity and mortality. Sepsis-induced liver injury(SILI) is one of the manifestations of sepsis-induced multiple organ syndrome. At present, there is no recommended pharmacological intervention for the treatment of SILI. traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), based on the holism and dialectical treatment concept, shows the therapeutic characteristics of multi-target and multi-pathway and can comprehensively prevent and treat SILI by interfering with inflammatory factors, inflammatory signaling pathways, and anti-oxidative stress and inhibiting apoptosis. This article reviewed the experimental studies on the treatment of SILI with TCM to clarify its pathogenic mechanism and therapeutic characteristics, so as to provide more ideas and directions for the development or preparation of new drugs.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy may be the best neoadjuvant therapy modality for non-metastatic pancreatic cancer: a population based study.

Objective: Currently, there are no studies showing which neoadjuvant therapy modality can provide better prognosis for patients after pancreatic cancer surgery. This study explores the optimal neoadjuvant therapy model by comparing the survival differences between patients with non-metastatic pancreatic cancer (cT1-4N0-1M0) who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) and neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NARCT). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 723 patients with cT1-4N0-1M0 pancreatic cancer who received neoadjuvant therapy before surgery from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. After propensity score matching (PSM), we compared the effects of NACT and NARCT on overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) in patients with non-metastatic pancreatic cancer, and then performed subgroup analyze. Finally, we used univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis to explore potential risk factors for OS and CSS in patients with non-metastatic pancreatic cancer treated with preoperative neoadjuvant therapy. Result: Before PSM, mOS (30.0 months VS 26.0 months, P=0.122) and mCSS (30.0 months VS 26.0 months, P=0.117) were better in patients with non-metastatic pancreatic cancer treated with NACT compared with NARCT, but this was not statistically significant (P>0.05). After PSM, mOS (30.0 months VS 25.0 months, P=0.032) and mCSS (33.0 months VS 26.0 months, P=0.028) were better in patients with non-metastatic pancreatic cancer treated with NACT compared with NARCT, and this difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analysis results showed that age, lymph node positivity, and NARCT were independent adverse prognostic factors for OS and CSS in patients with non-metastatic pancreatic cancer. Conclusion: The study results show that compared with NARCT, NACT is the best preoperative neoadjuvant therapy mode for patients with non-metastatic pancreatic cancer. This result still needs to be confirmed by more prospective randomized controlled trials.

Diagnostic accuracy and cellular origin of pleural fluid CXCR3 ligands for tuberculous pleural effusion.

BACKGROUND: Pleural biomarkers represent potential diagnostic tools for tuberculous pleural effusion (TPE) due to their advantages of low cost, short turnaround time, and less invasiveness. This study evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of two CXCR3 ligands, C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 9 (CXCL9) and CXCL11, for TPE. In addition, we investigated the cellular origins and biological roles of CXCL9 and CXCL11 in the development of TPE. METHODS: This double-blind study prospectively enrolled patients with undiagnosed pleural effusion from two centers (Hohhot and Changshu) in China. Pleural fluid on admission was obtained and levels of CXCL9 and CXCL11 were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to evaluate their diagnostic accuracy and net benefit, respectively. THP-1 cell-derived macrophages were treated with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and ELISA were used to determine the mRNA and protein levels of CXCL9 and CXCL11. The chemoattractant activities of CXCL9 and CXCL11 for T helper (Th) cells were analyzed by a transwell assay. RESULTS: One hundred and fifty-three (20 TPEs and 133 non-TPEs) patients were enrolled in the Hohhot Center, and 58 (13 TPEs and 45 non-TPEs) were enrolled in the Changshu Center. In both centers, we observed increased CXCL9 and CXCL11 in TPE patients. The areas under the ROC curves (AUCs) of pleural CXCL9 and CXCL11 in the Hohhot Center were 0.70 (95 % CI: 0.55-0.85) and 0.68 (95 % CI: 0.52-0.84), respectively. In the Changshu Center, the AUCs of CXCL9 and CXCL11 were 0.96 (95 % CI: 0.92-1.00) and 0.97 (95 % CI: 0.94-1.00), respectively. The AUCs of CXCL9 and CXCL11 decreased with the advancement of age. The decision curves of CXCL9 and CXCL11 showed net benefits in both centers. CXCL9 and CXCL11 were upregulated in BCG-treated macrophages. Pleural fluid from TPE and conditioned medium from BCG-treated macrophages were chemotactic for Th cells. Anti-CXCL9 or CXCL11 neutralizing antibodies could partly block the chemotactic activity. CONCLUSIONS: Pleural CXCL9 and CXCL11 are potential diagnostic markers for TPE, but their diagnostic accuracy is compromised in elderly patients. CXCL9 and CXCL11 can promote the migration of peripheral Th cells, thus representing a therapeutic target for the treatment of TPE.

Osteoarthritis and hypertension: observational and Mendelian randomization analyses.

BACKGROUND: The association between osteoarthritis (OA) and hypertension is a subject of ongoing debate in observational research, and the underlying causal relationship between them remains elusive. METHODS: This study retrospectively included 24,871 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2013 to 2020. Weighted logistic regression was performed to investigate the connection between OA and hypertension. Additionally, Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was conducted to explore the potential causal relationship between OA and hypertension. RESULTS: In the NHANES data, after adjusting for multiple confounding factors, there was no significant relationship between OA and hypertension (OR 1.30, 95% CI, 0.97-1.73, P = 0.089). However, among males, OA appeared to be associated with a higher risk of hypertension (OR 2.25, 95% CI, 1.17-4.32, P = 0.019). Furthermore, MR results indicate no relationship between multiple OA phenotypes and hypertension: knee OA (IVW, OR 1.024, 95% CI: 0.931-1.126, P = 0.626), hip OA (IVW, OR 0.990, 95% CI: 0.941-1.042, P = 0.704), knee or hip OA (IVW, OR 1.005, 95% CI: 0.915-1.105, P = 0.911), and OA from UK Biobank (IVW, OR 0.796, 95% CI: 0.233-2.714, P = 0.715). Importantly, these findings remained consistent across different genders and in reverse MR. CONCLUSIONS: Our study found that OA patients had a higher risk of hypertension only among males in the observational study. However, MR analysis did not uncover any causal relationship between OA and hypertension.

Risk factors associated with false negative rate of sentinel lymph node biopsy in endometrial cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: Currently, sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is increasingly used in endometrial cancer, but the rate of missed metastatic lymph nodes compared to systemic lymph node dissection has been a concern. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the false negative rate (FNR) of SLNB in patients with endometrial cancer and to explore the risk factors associated with this FNR. Data sources: Three databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science) were searched from initial database build to January 2023 by two independent reviewers. Research eligibility criteria: Studies were included if they included 10 or more women diagnosed with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage I or higher endometrial cancer, the study technique used sentinel lymph node localization biopsy, and the reported outcome metrics included false negative and/or FNR. Study appraisal and synthesis methods: Two authors independently reviewed the abstracts and full articles. The FNR and factors associated with FNR were synthesized through random-effects meta-analyses and meta-regression. The results: We identified 62 eligible studies. The overall FNR for the 62 articles was 4% (95% CL 3-5).There was no significant difference in the FNR in patients with high-risk endometrial cancer compared to patients with low-risk endometrial cancer. There was no difference in the FNR for whether frozen sections were used intraoperatively. The type of dye used intraoperatively (indocyanine green/blue dye) were not significantly associated with the false negative rate. Cervical injection reduced the FNR compared with alternative injection techniques. Indocyanine green reduced the FNR compared with alternative Tc-99m. Postoperative pathologic ultrastaging reduced the FNR. Conclusions: Alternative injection techniques (other than the cervix), Tc-99m dye tracer, and the absence of postoperative pathologic ultrastaging are risk factors for a high FNR in endometrial cancer patients who undergo SLNB; therefore, we should be vigilant for missed diagnosis of metastatic lymph nodes after SLNB in such populations. Systematic review registration: http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD42023433637.

Right ventricular volume and function by three-dimensional echocardiography: results of the echocardiographic measurements in normal Chinese adults (EMINCA) II.

Three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography is an emerging technique for assessing right ventricular (RV) volume and function, but 3D-RV normal values from a large Chinese population are still lacking. The aim of the present study was to establish normal values of 3D-RV volume and function in healthy Chinese volunteers. A total of 1117 Han Chinese volunteers from 28 laboratories in 20 provinces of China were enrolled, and 3D-RV images of 747 volunteers with optimal image quality were ultimately analyzed by a core laboratory. Both vendor-dependent and vendor-independent software platforms were used to analyze the 3D-RV images. We found that men had larger RV volumes than women did in the whole population, even after indexing to body surface area, and older individuals had smaller RV volumes. The normal RV volume was significantly smaller than that recommended by the American Society of Echocardiography/European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging guidelines in both sexes. There were significant differences in 3D-RV measurements between the two vendor ultrasound systems and the different software platforms. The echocardiographic measurements in normal Chinese adults II study revealed normal 3D-RV volume and function in a large Chinese population, and there were significant differences between the sexes, ages, races, and vendor groups. Thus, normal 3D-RV values should be stratified by sex, age, race, and vendor.

Measuring job stress of dental workers in China during the COVID-19 pandemic: reliability and validity of the hospital consultants' job stress questionnaire.

BACKGROUND: The Hospital Consultants' Job Stress Questionnaire (HCJSQ) has been widely used to assess sources and levels of job stress. However, its reliability and validity among Chinese dental workers have not been extensively studied. The objective of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of the HCJSQ specifically in Chinese dental workers. METHODS: The HCJSQ was used to explore the sources and the global ratings of job stress among Chinese dental workers. To assess the reliability and validity of the HCJSQ, various statistical measures were employed, including Cronbach's alpha coefficient, Spearman-Brown coefficient, Spearman correlation coefficient, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. RESULTS: Of the participants, 526 (17.4%) reported high levels of stress, while 1,246 (41.3%) and 1,248 (41.3%) reported moderate and low levels of stress, respectively. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the modified HCJSQ was 0.903, and the Spearman-Brown coefficient was 0.904. Spearman correlation coefficient between individuals' items and the total score ranged from 0.438 to 0.785 (p < 0.05). Exploratory factor analysis revealed that three factors accounted for 60.243% of the total variance. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated factor loadings between 0.624 and 0.834 on the specified items. The fit indices of the confirmatory factor analysis indicated good model fit, with a Root Mean Square Error of Approximation of 0.064, Normative Fit Index of 0.937, Comparative Fit Index of 0.952, Incremental Fit Index of 0.952, Tucker-Lewis index of 0.941, and Goodness of Fit Index of 0.944. Additionally, the convergent validity and discriminant validity showed a good fit for the three-factor model. CONCLUSION: The results of this study confirm that Chinese dental workers experience high levels of stress, and the three-factor model of the HCJSQ proves to be a suitable instrument for evaluating the sources and levels of job stress among Chinese dental workers. Therefore, it is imperative that relevant entities such as hospitals, medical associations, and government take appropriate measures to address the existing situation.