[Investigate of the etiology and prevention status of liver cirrhosis].

Objective: To investigate the etiology, prevention and treatment status, and their corresponding regional differences of the patients with liver cirrhosis in China, in order to provide scientific basis for the development of diagnosis and control strategies in China. Methods: Clinical data of patients diagnosed with liver cirrhosis for the first time through January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2020 from 50 hospitals in seven different regions of China were collected and analyzed retrospectively, and the difference of etiology, treatment, and their differences in various regions were analyzed. Results: A total of 11 861 cases with liver cirrhosis were included in the study. Thereinto, 5 093 cases (42.94%) were diagnosed as compensated cirrhosis, and 6 768 cases (57.06%) had decompensated cirrhosis. Notably, 8 439 cases (71.15%) were determined as chronic hepatitis B-caused cirrhosis, 1 337 cases (11.27%) were alcoholic liver disease, 963 cases (8.12%) were chronic hepatitis C, 698 cases (5.88%) were autoimmune liver disease, 367 cases (3.09%) were schistosomiasis, 177 cases (1.49%) were nonalcoholic fatty liver, and 743 cases (6.26%) of other types of liver disease. There were significant differences in the incidence of chronic hepatitis B, chronic hepatitis C, alcoholic liver disease, fatty liver, schistosomiasis liver disease, and autoimmune liver disease among the seven regions (P<0.001). Only 1 139 cases (9.60%) underwent endoscopic therapy, thereinto, 718 cases (6.05%) underwent surgical therapy, and 456 cases (3.84%) underwent interventional therapy treatment. In patients with compensated liver cirrhosis, 60 cases (0.51%) underwent non-selective ß receptor blockers(NSBB), including 59 cases (0.50%) underwent propranolol and 1 case (0.01%) underwent carvedilol treatment. In patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis, 310 cases (2.61%) underwent NSBB treatment, including 303 cases (2.55%) underwent propranolol treatment and 7 cases (0.06%) underwent carvedilol treatment. Interestingly, there were significant differences in receiving endoscopic therapy, interventional therapy, NSBB therapy, splenectomy and other surgical treatments among the seven regions (P<0.001). Conclusion: Currently, chronic hepatitis B is the main cause (71.15%) of liver cirrhosis in several regions of China, and alcoholic liver disease has become the second cause (11.27%) of liver cirrhosis in China. The three-level prevention and control of cirrhosis in China should be further strengthened.

Detection of microorganisms in hospital air before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: Microorganisms present a global public health problem and are the leading cause of hospital-acquired infections. Therefore, it is essential to study the prevalence of microorganisms in hospital environments. The conclusion from such a study can contribute to identify the areas most likely to be contaminated in a hospital and appropriate measures that can decrease the exposure risk. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The prevalence of microorganisms in hospital air was examined in different departments by obtaining air samples with an impactor before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. A total of 2145 microorganisms were identified, and the corresponding data were jointly analyzed by area, sampling period, and concentration. RESULTS: The most frequently detected microorganisms in hospital air were Staphylococcus, Micrococcus, Neisseria, and fungi, and the more polluted departments were the hemodialysis department, respiratory department, treatment room, and toilet. Significant differences were found between the concentration of bacteria and fungi before and during the pandemic, which could be related to multiple environmental conditions. Furthermore, SARS-CoV-2 was negative in all the air samples. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, this study confirmed the existence and dynamic characteristics of airborne microorganisms in a hospital. The results contribute to the adaptation of specific measures which can decrease the exposure risk of patients, visitors, and staff.

Anti-pathogen stainless steel combating COVID-19.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) exhibits strong stability on conventional stainless steel (SS) surface, with infectious virus detected even after two days, posing a high risk of virus transmission via surface touching in public areas. In order to mitigate the surface toughing transmission, the present study develops the first SS with excellent anti-pathogen properties against SARS-COV-2. The stabilities of SARS-CoV-2, H1N1 influenza A virus (H1N1), and Escherichia coli (E.coli) on the surfaces of Cu-contained SS, pure Cu, Ag-contained SS, and pure Ag were investigated. It is discovered that pure Ag and Ag-contained SS surfaces do not display apparent inhibitory effects on SARS-CoV-2 and H1N1. In comparison, both pure Cu and Cu-contained SS with a high Cu content exhibit significant antiviral properties. Significantly, the developed anti-pathogen SS with 20 wt% Cu can distinctly reduce 99.75% and 99.99% of viable SARS-CoV-2 on its surface within 3 and 6 h, respectively. In addition, the present anti-pathogen SS also exhibits an excellent inactivation ability for H1N1 influenza A virus (H1N1), and Escherichia coli (E.coli). Interestingly, the Cu ion concentration released from the anti-pathogen SS with 10 wt% and 20 wt% Cu was notably higher than the Ag ion concentration released from Ag and the Ag-contained SS. Lift buttons made of the present anti-pathogen SS are produced using mature powder metallurgy technique, demonstrating its potential applications in public areas and fighting the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens via surface touching.

[Pulmonary actinomycosis in children: a case report and literature review].

Objective: To summarize the clinical characteristics, imaging features, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of pulmonary actinomycosis in children. Methods: The clinical data of a child with pulmonary actinomycosis who was hospitalized in Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine in December 2019 was retrospectively analyzed. The related literature published from January 1975 to January 2020 was retrieved from Wanfang, CNKI and PubMed databases with "pulmonary" or "thoracic" and "actinomycosis" and "pediatric" or "children" or "child" as the keywords. And the characteristics of pediatric pulmonary actinomycosis were summarized based on the literature review. Results: The patient was a boy aged 12 years and 6 months. He was admitted due to cough and chest pain for more than 20 days, with fever on the first three days. The chest CT scan in local hospital found inflammatory lesions in the right middle lobe, which was also suspected to be cavitation. The flexible bronchoscopy showed congestion and edema of bronchial mucosa in the right middle lobe, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid smear was positive for acid-fast bacilli DNA, although both purfied protein derivatives tuberculin test and T-spot were negative. During the hospitalization, the child had persistent cough and chest pain, but no fever. Pathogen metagene sequencing of the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid detected Actinomyces (sequence number: 222) and Grevini Actinomycetes (sequence number: 185). The boy received intravenous cefoperazone sulbactam sodium for 2 weeks followed by oral amoxicillin clavulanate potassium for 6 weeks. Until April 2020, his clinical symptoms completely relieved, and the pulmonary lesions were significantly absorbed on the latest chest CT scan. Eight articles and 62 children with pulmonary actinomycosis were reported, but no related reports were retrieved from CNKI and Wanfang databases. The youngest case was 27 months old. The clinical presentations of this disease were nonspecific. The main symptoms included chest wall masses (8 cases), cough (23 cases), pain (chest, back, shoulders and armpits) (24 cases), fever (25 cases), weight loss (26 cases), etc. Conclusions: The clinical manifestations and imaging features of pediatric pulmonary actinomycosis are nonspecific, therefore it could easily be misdiagnosed. For children with pneumonia of unknown etiology and failing to respond to routine antibiotics, the pathogen metagene sequencing of the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid will be helpful for diagnosis. With appropriate course of antibiotic treatment, the prognosis is good in most cases.

Whale Optimization Algorithm for Multiconstraint Second-Order Stochastic Dominance Portfolio Optimization.

In the field of asset allocation, how to balance the returns of an investment portfolio and its fluctuations is the core issue. Capital asset pricing model, arbitrage pricing theory, and Fama-French three-factor model were used to quantify the price of individual stocks and portfolios. Based on the second-order stochastic dominance rule, the higher moments of return series, the Shannon entropy, and some other actual investment constraints, we construct a multiconstraint portfolio optimization model, aiming at comprehensively weighting the returns and risk of portfolios rather than blindly maximizing its returns. Furthermore, the whale optimization algorithm based on FTSE100 index data is used to optimize the above multiconstraint portfolio optimization model, which significantly improves the rate of return of the simple diversified buy-and-hold strategy or the FTSE100 index. Furthermore, extensive experiments validate the superiority of the whale optimization algorithm over the other four swarm intelligence optimization algorithms (gray wolf optimizer, fruit fly optimization algorithm, particle swarm optimization, and firefly algorithm) through various indicators of the results, especially under harsh constraints.

LINC00707 accelerates the proliferation, migration and invasion of clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been well concerned in tumor researches, which are believed to influence tumorigenesis and tumor progression. This study aims to uncover the role of LINC00707 in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) and the underlying mechanism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Differentially expressed lncRNAs in ccRCC tissues and renal epithelial tissues were analyzed in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and LINC00707 was screened out. Expression level of LINC00707 in ccRCC cell lines was determined as well. Regulatory effects of LINC00707 on influencing proliferative, migratory, and invasive abilities of 786-O and 769-P cells were assessed. At last, relative levels of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related genes E-cadherin and N-cadherin in 786-O and 769-P cells were detected by quantitative real time-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot. RESULTS: LINC00707 was upregulated in ccRCC tissues and cell lines. Silence of LINC00707 attenuated proliferative, migratory, and invasive abilities of 786-O and 769-P cells. Moreover, knockdown of LINC00707 upregulated E-cadherin and downregulated N-cadherin in ccRCC cells at both mRNA and protein levels. CONCLUSIONS: LINC00707 is upregulated in ccRCC, which could promote cancer cells to proliferate, migrate, and invade. LINC00707 accelerates the progression of ccRCC by activating EMT pathway.

Making ultrastrong steel tough by grain-boundary delamination.

Developing ultrahigh-strength steels that are ductile, fracture resistant, and cost effective would be attractive for a variety of structural applications. We show that improved fracture resistance in a steel with an ultrahigh yield strength of nearly 2 gigapascals can be achieved by activating delamination toughening coupled with transformation-induced plasticity. Delamination toughening associated with intensive but controlled cracking at manganese-enriched prior-austenite grain boundaries normal to the primary fracture surface dramatically improves the overall fracture resistance. As a result, fracture under plane-strain conditions is automatically transformed into a series of fracture processes in "parallel" plane-stress conditions through the thickness. The present "high-strength induced multidelamination" strategy offers a different pathway to develop engineering materials with ultrahigh strength and superior toughness at economical materials cost.

High dislocation density-induced large ductility in deformed and partitioned steels.

A wide variety of industrial applications require materials with high strength and ductility. Unfortunately, the strategies for increasing material strength, such as processing to create line defects (dislocations), tend to decrease ductility. We developed a strategy to circumvent this in inexpensive, medium manganese steel. Cold rolling followed by low-temperature tempering developed steel with metastable austenite grains embedded in a highly dislocated martensite matrix. This deformed and partitioned (D and P) process produced dislocation hardening but retained high ductility, both through the glide of intensive mobile dislocations and by allowing us to control martensitic transformation. The D and P strategy should apply to any other alloy with deformation-induced martensitic transformation and provides a pathway for the development of high-strength, high-ductility materials.

[Clinical analysis of seven cases of pulmonary malignant tumors in children].

Objective: To understand the clinical manifestation, imaging characteristics and outcomes of pulmonary malignant tumors in children. Method: We retrospectively collected information about seven cases of pulmonary malignant tumors in children in our hospital from Jan 2010 to Dec 2016. The information included clinical manifestation, imaging characteristics, pathologic results, and treatment. Result: (1) All the seven patients firstly visited pediatric internal medicine departments. Symptoms included cough (n=6), dyspnea (n=4), fever (n=2), anorexia (n=2), chest tightness (n=1), chest pain (n=1), lameness (n=1), abdominal distension and constipation (n=1). We did not find hemoptysis, wheezing or weight loss in those patients. Physical examinations revealed unilateral reduced breath sounds (n=5), moist rales and wheezes (n=1), and normal (n=1). Extrapulmonary signs included abdominal distension (n=2), left hip tenderness (n=1), and mass in left scrotum. We did not identify clubbing finger, anemic appearance, lymph node enlargement, or hepatosplenomegaly etc. (2) Laboratory examination results: complete blood count showed white blood cells in normal range except one case (17.44×10(9)/L). Neutrophil percentage ranged from 0.348 to 0.767. C reactive protein ranged between<1 and 162 mg/L. Hemoglobin was normal. Three out of four cases had abnormal blood tumor markers.(3) Imaging results showed multiple nodes (n=3), multiple cystic lesions in lungs (n=2) (both with pleuropulmonary blastoma), endobronchial soft tissue mass (n=1), pulmonary round-shaped mass (n=1), and mediastinal mass (n=1). Imaging results also found atelectasis (n=3), pneumonia (n=2), pneumothorax (n=2), longitudinal diaphragmatic hernia (n=2), pleural effusion (n=1), subcutaneous emphysema (n=1). (4) All the patients underwent tumor puncture biopsy or tumor resection. Pathology revealed the final diagnosis of pleuropulmonary blastoma (n=3), endodermal sinus tumors (n=2), squamous cell carcinoma of lung (n=1), and thyroid papillary carcinoma (n=1). All of them were malignant tumors. We followed up them. Two patients died (both with pleuropulmonary blastoma) after their parents refused any medical help. Two cases were lost to follow-up. Three patients survived (followed up for 19 months, 11 months and tow months, respectively). One case with thyroid papillary carcinoma pulmonary metastasis underwent right thyroid cancer radical plus left thyroid lobe resection plus modified selective central lymph node dissection, then iodine (131) treatment. One case with endodermal sinus tumor pulmonary metastasis underwent three times of chemotherapies, resection of left retroperitoneal tumor and left testicular tumor, and six additional chemotherapies. Another one case of endodermal sinus tumor pulmonary metastasis underwent three times of chemotherapies and was discharged. Conclusion: Pulmonary malignant tumors are rare diseases in children. Clinical signs are often non-specific. For those with chest CT showing multiple cystic lesions, endobronchial soft tissue mass or multiple nodes, but no significant infection manifestation or no response to anti-infection therapy, pulmonary malignant tumors should be considered. Biopsy may be needed to confirm the final diagnosis.

Salivary gland tumours in a northern Chinese population: a 50-year retrospective study of 7190 cases.

The aims of this study were to investigate the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of epithelial salivary gland tumours in a northern Chinese population and to evaluate the current TNM classification system. A demographic and descriptive analysis of 7190 epithelial salivary gland tumours was performed. There were 4654 benign tumours and 2536 malignant tumours. The percentage of tumours located in the parotid, submandibular, sublingual, and minor salivary glands was 62.66%, 9.92%, 2.57%, and 24.85%, respectively; 22.26%, 35.76%, 92.97%, and 61.89% of the tumours, respectively, were malignant. Over 90% in the tongue and maxillary sinus were malignant. Warthin tumour, salivary duct carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma were predominant in males, while basal cell adenoma, myoepithelioma, and pleomorphic adenoma were predominant in females. Further, 2.55% of the tumours were in children and adolescents: 44.81% of the tumours were malignant, as opposed to 35.02% in adults. According to the 7th TNM classification, the percentages of T3 and stage III tumours were approximately 10%. Salivary gland tumours show distribution patterns according to histological type, location, and patient age and sex. The limitations of the current TNM classification of salivary gland carcinoma should be considered and revisions made.

First Report of Brown Culm Streak of Phyllostachys praecox Caused by Arthrinium arundinis in Nanjing, China.

Early spring shoot bamboo (Phyllostachys praecox) is profitable for the production of bamboo shoots and is widely cultivated in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in China. In recent years, a new disease named brown culm streak has commonly occurred in bamboo plantations. During initial stages, small yellow or sandy beige spots (1 to 2 mm diameter) develop on the culm. Spots expand and develop into fine brown streaks (10 to 15 × 1 to 2 mm), and the quantity of spots increases greatly at the mid-stage of the disease. The streaks continue to expand (10 to 30 × 2 to 3 mm) and may coalesce into brown patches that cover 70% of the culm surface in late stages of disease. Color of the internal bamboo cavity gradually changes from white to brown without an alcoholic odor, and plants eventually die. Diseased tissues (1 × 1.5 cm) were taken from the edges of brown streaks, surface disinfected in 0.1% HgCl2 for 3 min, rinsed in distilled water three times, and incubated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) at 25°C. Based on colony and conidial morphology, six different fungi (ZBY01, ZBY02, ZBY03, ZBY04, ZBY05, and ZBY06) were isolated. A suspension of hyphal fragments (106 pieces/ml) of each of the fungi was used to inoculate plants in the field. Healthy bamboo culms were stabbed with alcohol-sterilized needles after surface disinfection and wounds of each bamboo were inoculated with 3 ml hypha fragment suspensions by paintbrush, then covered with a piece of sterile plastic film. A control treatment was inoculated with sterile water. Each treatment had two replicates. Twenty days after inoculation, only fungus ZBY01 caused similar symptoms with the diseased bamboo in the field and was re-isolated from necrotic tissue of inoculated plants, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. Mycelium of fungus ZBY01 covered entire PDA plates (90 mm diameter) after incubating for 6 days at 25°C and was white, flat, and floccose with moderate aerial mycelium. Mycelium consisted of smooth, hyaline, branched, septate hyphae, 2 to 3 µm diameter. Conidiophores were erect, septate, pale brown, smooth, and reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells were pale brown, smooth, ampulliform, 6 to 9 µm long; the apical neck was 1 to 3 µm long, basal part 5 to 6 µm long. Conidia were 1-celled, dark brown to black, smooth, lenticular, 5 to 7 µm in diameter, 2 to 4 µm wide, lemon-shaped in side view, and spherical from top view with an equatorial ring. Based on morphological characteristics, it was identified as Arthrinium arundinis (Corda) Dyko & B. Sutton (1). The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region from the isolate ZBY01 was amplified with PCR using ITS1-ITS4 primer pairs and the amplicon sequenced. Size of the sequenced region was 540 bp and had 99% identity with A. arundinis, which was in accord with morphological identification. The sequence was deposited in Gen Bank under accession number KF850624. To our knowledge, brown culm streak of P. praecox is a new disease of bamboo that has not been reported in other countries; however, A. arundinis has been reported as a pathogen on barley in Fairfield, Montana. Reference: (1) P. W. Crous and J. Z. Groenewald. A phylogenetic re-evaluation of Arthrinium. IMA Fungus. 4:133, 2013.

Clinicopathological study of distant metastases of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma.

Most studies of the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients with distant metastasis of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma (SACC) have used small patient samples. To further explore this issue, a descriptive and prognostic study of 467 patients with SACC who were treated from 1963 to 2009 was conducted at a single institution. One hundred and forty-five patients (31.0%) had distant metastases. At least 20% of patients who presented with the early-stage disease and no recurrence developed distant metastasis. The overall 5-, 10-, and 20-year survival rates were 85.6%, 67.4%, and 50.4%, respectively, for patients without distant metastasis, and 69.1%, 45.7%, and 14.3%, respectively, for patients with distant metastasis. The median survival time after distant metastasis was 36 months (range 1-112 months). The prognosis was similar between patients who received treatment for metastasis and those who did not. Patients who were diagnosed with early-stage disease and without local recurrence of the primary tumours could also develop distant metastases. The biological characteristics of adenoid cystic carcinoma were different from those of squamous cell carcinoma. At present, the effectiveness of treatment for distant metastases is not ideal and further research is needed.

Conservation of salivary secretion and facial nerve function in partial superficial parotidectomy.

Conventional total superficial parotidectomy (TP) has commonly been used, but partial superficial parotidectomy (PP) offers the possibility of better preserving glandular function and avoiding palsy of the facial nerves. In this study, the extent to which saliva secretion and facial nerve function were conserved in patients who received TP vs. PP was compared. Data were collected from patients who received a PP (n=163) or a TP (n=105) for benign primary tumours in the superficial lobe of the parotid glands between 1995 and 2009 at a single hospital. The incidence of transient facial paralysis was significantly lower in patients who received PP than in those who received TP. Secretory function was preserved for patients with a conserved Stensen's duct, whereas patients in whom the duct had been ligated lost secretory function. Partial superficial parotidectomy reduces the incidence of postoperative facial nerve dysfunction and is conducive to preserving Stensen's duct and saliva secretion.

Commonalities and differences among vectorized beamformers in electromagnetic source imaging.

A number of beamformers have been introduced to localize neuronal activity using magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG). However, currently available information about the major aspects of existing beamformers is incomplete. In the present study, detailed analyses are performed to study the commonalities and differences among vectorized versions of existing beamformers in both theory and practice. In addition, a novel beamformer based on higher-order covariance analysis is introduced. Theoretical formulas are provided on all major aspects of each beamformer; to examine their performance, computer simulations with different levels of correlation and signal-to-noise ratio are studied. Then, an empirical data set of human MEG median-nerve responses with a large number of neuronal generators is analyzed using the different beamformers. The results show substantial differences among existing MEG/EEG beamformers in their ways of describing the spatial map of neuronal activity. Differences in performance are observed among existing beamformers in terms of their spatial resolution, false-positive background activity, and robustness to highly correlated signals. Superior performance is obtained using our novel beamformer with higher-order covariance analysis in simulated data. Excellent agreement is also found between the results of our beamformer and the known neurophysiology of the median-nerve MEG response.

Interpreting abnormality: an EEG and MEG study of P50 and the auditory paired-stimulus paradigm.

Interpretation of neurophysiological differences between control and patient groups on the basis of scalp-recorded event-related brain potentials (ERPs), although common and promising, is often complicated in the absence of information on the distinct neural generators contributing to the ERP, particularly information regarding individual differences in the generators. For example, while sensory gating differences frequently observed in patients with schizophrenia in the P50 paired-click gating paradigm are typically interpreted as reflecting group differences in generator source strength, differences in the latency and/or orientation of P50 generators may also account for observed group differences. The present study examined how variability in source strength, amplitude, or orientation affects the P50 component of the scalp-recorded ERP. In Experiment 1, simulations examined the effect of changes in source strength, orientation, or latency in superior temporal gyrus (STG) dipoles on P50 recorded at Cz. In Experiment 2, within- and between-subject variability in left and right M50 STG dipole source strength, latency, and orientation was examined in 19 subjects. Given the frequently reported differences in left and right STG anatomy and function, substantial inter-subject and inter-hemispheric variability in these parameters were expected, with important consequences for how P50 at Cz reflects brain activity from relevant generators. In Experiment 1, simulated P50 responses were computed from hypothetical left- and right-hemisphere STG generators, with latency, amplitude, and orientation of the generators varied systematically. In Experiment 2, electroencephalographic (EEG) and magnetoencephalographic (MEG) data were collected from 19 subjects. Generators were modeled from the MEG data to assess and illustrate the generator variability evaluated parametrically in Experiment 1. In Experiment 1, realistic amounts of variability in generator latency, amplitude, and orientation produced ERPs in which P50 scoring was compromised and interpretation complicated. In Experiment 2, significant within and between subject variability was observed in the left and right hemisphere STG M50 sources. Given the variability in M50 source strength, orientation, and amplitude observed here in nonpatient subjects, future studies should examine whether group differences in P50 gating ratios typically observed for patient vs. control groups are specific to a particular hemisphere, as well as whether the group differences are due to differences in dipole source strength, latency, orientation, or a combination of these parameters. Present analyses focused on P50/M50 merely as an example of the broader need to evaluate scalp phenomena in light of underlying generators. The development and widespread use of EEG/MEG source localization methods will greatly enhance the interpretation and value of EEG/MEG data.