The Effect of COVID-19 Infection on Orofacial Pain: A Cross-sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 infection shows variant symptoms apart from respiratory symptoms, including the orofacial pain. We aim to research the morbidity, characteristics and potential risk factors of orofacial pain associated with COVID-19 pandemic in China from December 2022 to early 2023. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Fujian Province, China. The demographic and characteristic data of the subjects were collected and analysed. RESULTS: A total of 1526 subjects responded to the survey. The morbidity of orofacial pain increased significantly before and after COVID-19 infection. (42.26% vs. 46.52%, P < .001) A total of 217 (14.22%) subjects with orofacial pain before COVID-19 infection reported the phenomenon of "COVID-19 infection with orofacial pain" (CIOP). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression showed that male (OR = 1.761, P < .001) and other symptoms of COVID-19 (OR = 1.494, P < .001) may be the risk factors for the aggravation of CIOP, while the time of first infection (OR = 0.580, P = .004) and preference for drinking tea or coffee (OR = 0.610, P = .003) may be the protective factors for the aggravation of CIOP. While, the subjects who did not concern about the spread of COVID-19 in oral treatment (OR = 0.639, P = .001), female (OR = 0.749, P = .03), education level (OR = 1.687, P < .001) and income level (OR = 1.796, P < .001), higher PSS-10 score (OR = 1.076, P < .001), and more drugs taken for infection (OR = 1.330, P < .001) were more willing to seek medical treatment. CONCLUSION: The morbidity of orofacial pain appears to have increased significantly due to the COVID-19 epidemic; a number of factors can influence the CIOP including gender, infection period, and beverage preference' psychological factors, gender, education and income level can also influence the intent to seek a dentist.

Wireless Optogenetic Targeting Nociceptors Helps Host Cells Win the Competitive Colonization in Implant-Associated Infections.

The role of nociceptive nerves in modulating immune responses to harmful stimuli via pain or itch induction remains controversial. Compared to conventional surgery, various implant surgeries are more prone to infections even with low bacterial loads. In this study, an optogenetic technique is introduced for selectively activating peripheral nociceptive nerves using a fully implantable, wirelessly rechargeable optogenetic device. By targeting nociceptors in the limbs of awake, freely moving mice, it is found that activation induces anticipatory immunity in the innervated territory and enhances the adhesion of various host cells to the implant surface. This effect mediates acute immune cell-mediated killing of Staphylococcus aureus on implants and enables the host to win "implant surface competition" against Staphylococcus aureus. This finding provides new strategies for preventing and treating implant-associated infections.

Newborn screening and genetic diagnosis of 3-methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase deficiency in Quanzhou,China.

Background and aims: 3-Methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase deficiency (3-MCCD) is an autosomal recessive leucine catabolism condition caused by 3-methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase (3-MCC) deficiency due to MCCC1/MCCC2 variants. We investigated its incidence and features in Quanzhou, China. Materials and methods: We screened 643,606 newborns (January 2014 to December 2022) for elevated 3-hydroxyisovalerylcarnitine (C5OH) levels using tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Molecular analyses identified MCCC1/MCCC2 variants in suspected 3-MCCD cases. Results: Seventeen neonates, two maternal patients, and one paternal patient had 3-MCCD. Its incidence in the Quanzhou study population was 1/37,859 newborns. All patients and neonates with 3-MCCD exhibited increased C5OH concentrations. Most patients [76.5%(13/17)] had increased urinary 3-methylcrotonylglycine (3-MCG) and 3-hydroxyisovaleric acid (3-HIVA) levels. Eight neonates and all adults with 3-MCCD had secondary carnitine deficiency. We identified seventeen variants, including 6 novel ones.MCCC1and MCCC2 variants were found in 47.1% and 52.9% of patients,with c.1331G > A (31.3%) and c.351_353delTGG (50.0%) being the most prevalent, respectively. Clinical symptoms were observed in 11.8% of patients. Conclusion: We identified six new MCCC1/MCCC2 variants, enhancing our understanding of the 3-MCCD molecular profile. Secondary carnitine deficiency occurred in eight neonates and all adult patients. Although clinical symptoms were observed in 11.8% of patients, whether they were related to 3-MCCD remain unclear. Therefore, further studies are required to decide whether 3-MCCD and C5OH indicators should continue to be used.

Comparison of the 3-D mesh and Sugarbaker repair for parastomal hernia: a single center experience in China.

Parastomal hernias (PSH) are difficult to manage and associated with high rates of postoperative recurrence and complications. Sugarbaker and three-dimensional (3-D) mesh repair are commonly used methods for the surgical treatment of PSH. However, the efficacy and safety of these surgical techniques have not been adequately compared. Patients with PSH who received 3-D mesh or Sugarbaker repair at our center from August 2012 to May 2023 were included. We retrospectively analyzed their demographic data and postoperative outcomes. The primary outcome measure was the recurrence rate at 1-year follow-up. A total of 86 patients were enrolled, involving 53 in the 3-D mesh (62%) group and 33 in the Sugarbaker (38%) group. Most cases (73%) involved were the laparoscopic approach. The recurrence rate at 1-year follow-up was 15% (eight cases) in the 3-D mesh group and 24% (eight cases) in the Sugarbaker group, with no statistical significance (P = 0.29). Additionally, no differences were observed between the 3-D mesh and Sugarbaker groups in the length of hospitalization or in short- and long-term complications. Sugarbaker and 3-D mesh repair have similar clinical efficacy in the surgical treatment of PSH. Further randomized controlled trials are required to confirm these results.Trial registration number.This study was retrospectively registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT06077318).

A transcriptomic analysis of incisional hernia based on high-throughput sequencing technology.

PURPOSE: Incisional hernia is a common postoperative complication; however, few transcriptomic studies have been conducted on it. In this study, we used second-generation high-throughput sequencing to explore the pathogenesis and potential therapeutic targets of incisional hernias. METHODS: Superficial fasciae were collected from 15 patients without hernia and 21 patients with an incisional hernia. High-throughput sequencing of the fascia was performed to generate an expression matrix. We analyzed the matrix to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and performed gene ontology and enrichment analyses of these DEGs. Additionally, an external dataset was utilized to identify key DEGs. RESULTS: We identified 1,823 DEGs closely associated with extracellular matrix (ECM) imbalance, bacterial inflammatory response, and fibrillar collagen trimerization. TNNT3, CMAY5, ATP1B4, ASB5, CILP, SIX4, FBN1 and FNDC5 were identified as key DEGs at the intersection of the two expression matrices. Moreover, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease-related, TNF, and IL-17 signaling pathways were identified as key enrichment pathways. CONCLUSIONS: We identified eight key DEGs and three pathways associated with incisional hernias. Our findings offer new insights into the pathogenesis of incisional hernias and highlight potential targets for their prevention and treatment.

Rapid detection of common variants and deletions of CYP21A2 using MALDI-TOF MS.

Newborn screening (NBS) for congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) based on hormonal testing is successfully implemented in many countries. However, this method cannot detect non-classic CAH and has high false positive rates. We have developed a novel MALDI-TOF MS assay that can identify common variants and deletions of CYP21A2 in the Chinese population. Thirty-seven clinical patients with CAH confirmed by Sanger sequencing and MLPA analysis were detected by MALDI-TOF MS assay. Two CYP21A2 variants were detected in 30 patients and one CYP21A2 variant was detected in 7 patients. The MALDI-TOF MS assay detected 67 mutant alleles in 37 patients with a detection rate of 90.5%. Sanger sequencing revealed that three variants in seven patients were not included in the designed panel. Eleven distinct CYP21A2 variants were identified, including five missense variants, two nonsense variants, two large gene deletions, one splice variant, and one frameshift variant. The most frequent variant was c.293-13C > G (37.84%), followed by c.518T > A (21.62%) and exon 1-7 deletion (17.57%). The high-throughput MALDI-TOF MS assay that can simultaneously detect common variants and deletions of CYP21A2. This assay can be used for population-based genetic screening and rapid detection of suspected patients, and is expected to be a valuable complement to biochemical-based testing for the detection of CAH.

A Novel Infrapatellar Fat Pad Preservation Technique in Total Knee Arthroplasty Reduced Postoperative Pain and Wound Complications.

OBJECTIVE: The management of the infrapatellar fat pad (IPFP) during total knee arthroplasty (TKA) remains controversial. This study aimed to evaluate a novel IPFP preservation technique-"the medially pedicled IPFP flap"-for reducing postoperative pain, wound complications, and improving functional recovery after TKA. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on TKA cases at our institution from 2018 to 2021, including those with IPFP preservation (medially pedicled flap) versus IPFP complete resection. Patient demographics, perioperative parameters (blood loss, operative time, length of hospital stay, visual analogue scale [VAS] score, white cell count [WBC], C-reactive protein [CRP], erythrocyte sedimentation rate [ESR], and wound oozing), and postoperative follow-up data (VAS, Knee Society [KSS], or Knee Society functional assessment [KSFA] scores) were compared between groups. Independent sample t-tests were used to compare continuous data and chi-squared tests were used to compare categorical data between groups. RESULTS: Six hundred thirty patients were included, with 278 in the medial pedicled IPFP flap group (preservation group) and 352 in the IPFP resection group (resection group). The operative time was significantly shorter in the preservation versus resection group (125.5 ± 23.2 vs 130.3 ± 28.7 mins, p = 0.03), as was the length of hospital stay (8.4 ± 2.7 vs 9.2 ± 2.3 days, p < 0.01). Regarding pain, the preservation group had significantly lower VAS scores on postoperative day 2 (2.0 ± 0.8 vs 2.4 ± 1.2, p < 0.001) and day 3 (1.5 ± 0.5 vs 1.8 ± 1.0, p < 0.001). CRP and ESR levels on postoperative day 5 were also significantly lower in the preservation group. Wound oozing rates were significantly lower in the preservation versus resection group (0.7% vs 2.8%, p = 0.04). No significant differences existed in VAS, KSS, or KSFA scores at the last follow-up. CONCLUSION: The novel IPFP preservation technique significantly improved surgical exposure, shortened operative time and length of hospital stay. It also reduced wound pain and oozing compared to IPFP resection.

Risk factors of recurrence after incisional hernia preperitoneal repair: a long-term retrospective single-center cohort study.

PURPOSE: To explore the risk factors for incisional hernia (IH) recurrence following open prepertioneal repair. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with primary IH who underwent open preperitoneal repair at our hospital were enrolled. Patients were assessed, and perioperative factors were collected. Recurrence surveys were performed at regular intervals throughout the long-term postoperative follow-up. The risk factors for IH recurrence were identified using univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: This study included 145 patients. Significant differences were found between recurrence and non-recurrence patients regarding pulmonary ventilation function (PVT), age, body mass index (BMI), mesh materials, type of surgery (clean, clean-contaminated, or contaminated), surgical site infections (SSIs), maximum width of the hernia defect (MWHD), and site of incisional hernia (P < 0.01). The univariate survival analysis revealed that PVT abnormalities, age > 70 years, BMI > 27 kg/m2, porcine small intestine submucosal (PSIS) mesh, non-clean surgery, SSIs, MWHD > 10 cm, and location in the lateral zones were significant factors for IH recurrence after open preperitoneal repair. The multivariate survival analysis showed that PVT abnormalities, age > 70 years, BMI > 27 kg/m2, and PSIS mesh were independent risk factors for IH recurrence after open preperitoneal repair. CONCLUSIONS: We identified PVT abnormalities, age > 70 years, BMI > 27 kg/m2, and PSIS mesh as novel risk factors for IH recurrence after open preperitoneal repair.

Suture repair versus mesh repair in elderly populations with incarcerated or strangulated groin hernia.

Tension-free hernia repair is the gold standard for groin hernia repair. However, the optimal surgical treatment for incarcerated or strangulated groin hernia in elderly populations is controversial. The aim of this study is to compare the clinical efficacy of mesh repair and suture repair in the treatment of incarcerated or strangulated groin hernia in elderly patients. Patients ≥ 65 years who underwent urgent surgical repair for incarcerated or strangulated groin hernia from January 2012 to June 2022 were included. Patients' demographic data and postoperative outcomes were retrospectively analyzed. Patients with limited life expectancy were screened from the elderly population for subgroup analysis. A total of 103 patients (median age: 84 years old, range 65-96; mean follow-up time: 36.8 ± 24.8 months) were included, involving 42 cases in the suture repair group and 61 cases in the mesh repair group. Suture repair and mesh repair had similar lengths of ICU and hospital stay, and rates of small bowel resection, chronic pain, surgical site infection, and surgical-related death. However, suture repair had a significantly higher recurrence rate than mesh repair (7% vs. 2%, P = 0.04). In our subgroup analysis, for patients with limited life expectancy (41 patients; median age: 88 years old, range: 80-96), suture repair had no statistical difference in postoperative outcomes compared with mesh repair. Mesh repair is suitable for elderly patients with acutely incarcerated or strangulated groin hernias. However, for elderly patients with limited life expectancy, suture repair and mesh repair showed similar clinical outcomes.

Newborn screening for fatty acid oxidation disorders in a southern Chinese population.

Background and aims: Fatty acid oxidation disorders (FAODs) are a group of autosomal recessive metabolic diseases included in many newborn screening (NBS) programs, but the incidence and disease spectrum vary widely between ethnic groups. We aimed to elucidate the incidence, disease spectrum, and genetic features of FAODs in a southern Chinese population. Materials and methods: The FAODs screening results of 643,606 newborns from 2014 to 2022 were analyzed. Results: Ninety-two patients were eventually diagnosed with FAODs, of which 61 were PCD, 20 were MADD, 5 were SCADD, 4 were VLCADD, and 2 were CPT-IAD. The overall incidence of FAODs was 1:6996 (95 % CI: 1:5814-1:8772) newborns. All PCD patients had low C0 levels during NBS, while nine patients (14.8 %) had normal C0 levels during the recall review. All but one MADD patients had elevated C8, C10, and C12 levels during NBS, while eight patients (40 %) had normal acylcarnitine levels during the recall review. The most frequent SLC22A5 variant was c.760C > T (p.R254*) with an allele frequency of 29.51 %, followed by c.51C > G (p.F17L) (17.21 %) and c.1400C > G (p.S467C) (16.39 %). The most frequent ETFDH variant was c.250G > A (p.A84T) with an allelic frequency of 47.5 %, followed by c.524G > A (R175H) (12.5 %), c.998A > G (p.Y333C) (12.5 %), and c.1657T > C (p.Y553H) (7.5 %). Conclusion: The prevalence, disease spectrum, and genetic characteristics of FAODs in a southern Chinese population were clarified. PCD was the most common FAOD, followed by MADD. Hotspot variants were found in SLC22A5 and ETFDH genes, while the remaining FAODs showed great molecular heterogeneity. Incorporating second-tier genetic screening is critical for FAODs.

Clinical and genetic analysis of 26 Chinese patients with neonatal intrahepatic cholestasis due to citrin deficiency.

BACKGROUND: Neonatal intrahepatic cholestasis due to citrin deficiency (NICCD) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by SLC25A13 genetic mutations. We retrospectively analyzed 26 Chinese infants with NICCD (years 2014-2022) in Quanzhou City. METHODS: The plasma citrulline (CIT) concentration analyzed by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), biochemical parameters and molecular analysis results are presented. RESULTS: Twelve genotypes were discovered. The relationship between the CIT concentration and genotype is uncertain. In total, 8 mutations were detected, with 4 variations, c.851_854delGTAT, c.615 + 5G > A, c.1638_1660dup and IVS16ins3kb, constituting the high-frequency mutations. Specifically, we demonstrated 2 patients with NICCD combined with another inborn errors of metabolism (IEM). Patient No. 22 possessed compound heterozygous mutations of c.615 + 5G > A and c.790G > A in the SLC25A13 gene accompanied by compound heterozygous variations of c.C259T and c.A155G in the PTS gene. Additionally, Patient No. 26 carried c.51C > G and c.760C > T in the SLC22A5 gene as well as c.615 + 5G > A and IVS16ins3kb in the SLC25A13 gene. CONCLUSIONS: We report a case of the simultaneous occurrence of primary carnitine deficiency (PCD) and NICCD.

Fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) induces chondrocyte degeneration via activation of the NF-κb signaling pathway.

The pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA) is still unclear. Fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4), a novel adipokine, has been found to play a role in OA. This study aimed to explore the role of NF-κB in FABP4-induced OA. In the in vivo study, four pairs of 12-week-old male FABP4 knockout (KO) and wild-type (WT) mice were included. The activation of NF-κB was assessed. In parallel, 24 6-week-old male C57/Bl6 mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) and randomly allocated to four groups: daily oral gavage with (1) PBS solution; (2) QNZ (NF-κB-specific inhibitor, 1 mg/kg/d); (3) BMS309403 (FABP4-specific inhibitor, 30 mg/kg/d); and (4) BMS309403 (30 mg/kg/d) + QNZ (1 mg/kg/d). The diet and treatment were sustained for 4 months. The knee joints were obtained to assess cartilage degradation, NF-κB activation, and subchondral bone sclerosis. In the in vitro study, a mouse chondrogenic cell line (ATDC5) was cultured. FABP4 was supplemented to stimulate chondrocytes, and the activation of NF-κB was investigated. In parallel, QNZ and NF-κB-specific siRNA were used to inhibit NF-κB. In vivo, the FABP4 WT mice had more significant NF-κB activation than the KO mice. Dual inhibition of FABP4 and NF-κB alleviated knee OA in mice. FABP4 has no significant effect on the activation of the JNK signaling pathway. In vitro, FABP4 directly activated NF-κB in chondrocytes. The use of QNZ and NF-κB-siRNA significantly alleviated the expression of catabolic markers of chondrocytes induced by FABP4. FABP4 induces chondrocyte degeneration by activating the NF-κB pathway.

Newborn screening for primary carnitine deficiency using a second-tier genetic test.

OBJECTIVES: Newborn screening (NBS) for primary carnitine deficiency (PCD) exhibits suboptimal performance. This study proposes a strategy to enhance the efficacy of second-tier genetic screening by adjusting the cutoff value for free carnitine (C0). METHODS: Between January 2021 and December 2022, we screened 119,898 neonates for inborn metabolic disorders. Neonates with C0 levels below 12 µmol/L were randomly selected for second-tier genetic screening, employing a novel matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) assay. RESULTS: In total, 2,515 neonates with C0 <12 µmol/L underwent further screening, including 206 neonates with C0 <8.5 µmol/L and 320 neonates with 8.5G, accounting for 25 % (7/28) of allelic frequencies. CONCLUSIONS: A novel MALDI-TOF MS assay targeting 21 SLC22A5 variants in a Chinese population was successfully established. This assay exhibits a high detection and diagnostic rate, making it suitable for population-based genetic screening. Combined genetic screening is recommended to enhance the efficiency of PCD-NBS.

TRPV1+ neurons alter Staphylococcus aureus skin infection outcomes by affecting macrophage polarization and neutrophil recruitment.

BACKGROUND: The interaction between the nervous system and the immune system can affect the outcome of a bacterial infection. Staphylococcus aureus skin infection is a common infectious disease, and elucidating the relationship between the nervous system and immune system may help to improve treatment strategies. RESULTS: In this study, we found that the local release of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) increased during S. aureus skin infection, and S. aureus could promote the release of CGRP from transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1 (TRPV1+) neurons in vitro. The existence of TRPV1+ neurons inhibited the recruitment of neutrophils to the infected region and regulated the polarization of macrophages toward M2 while inhibiting polarization toward M1. This reduces the level of inflammation in the infected area, which aggravates the local infection. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that TRPV1 may be a target for the treatment of S. aureus skin infections and that botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT/A) and BIBN4096 may reverse the inhibited inflammatory effect of CGRP, making them potential therapeutics for the treatment of skin infection in S. aureus. CONCLUSIONS: In S. aureus skin infection, TRPV1+ neurons inhibit neutrophil recruitment and regulate macrophage polarization by releasing CGRP. BoNT/A and BIBN4096 may be potential therapeutic agents for S. aureus skin infection.

Characterization of the Ang/Tie2 Signaling Pathway in the Diaphragm Muscle of DMD Mice.

In Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), angiogenesis appears to be attenuated. Local administration of angiopoietin 1 (Ang1) has been shown to reduce inflammation, ischemia, and fibrosis in DMD mice. Ang1 is a vital vascular stabilizing factor that activates the endothelial cell receptor Tie2, leading to downstream pro-survival PI3K/Akt pathway activation and eNOS phosphorylation. In this study, we aimed to characterize the Ang/Tie2 signaling pathway within the diaphragm muscle of mouse models of DMD. Utilizing ELISA, immunoblots, and RT-qPCR, we demonstrated that Ang1 was downregulated, while the antagonist angiopoietin 2 (Ang2) was upregulated, leading to a decreased Ang1/Ang2 ratio. This correlated with a reduction in the phosphorylated Tie2/total Tie2 ratio. Interestingly, no significant differences in Akt or eNOS phosphorylation were observed, although DMD murine models did have elevated total Akt protein concentrations. These observations suggest that Ang1/Tie2 signaling may be dysregulated in the diaphragm muscle of DMD and further investigations may lead to new therapeutic interventions for DMD.

Device-Performance-Driven Heterogeneous Multiparty Learning for Arbitrary Images.

Multiparty learning (MPL) is an emerging framework for privacy-preserving collaborative learning. It enables individual devices to build a knowledge-shared model and remaining sensitive data locally. However, with the continuous increase of users, the heterogeneity gap between data and equipment becomes wider, which leads to the problem of model heterogeneous. In this article, we concentrate on two practical issues: data heterogeneous problem and model heterogeneous problem, and propose a novel personal MPL method named device-performance-driven heterogeneous MPL (HMPL). First, facing the data heterogeneous problem, we focus on the problem of various devices holding arbitrary data sizes. We introduce a heterogeneous feature-map integration method to adaptively unify the various feature maps. Meanwhile, to handle the model heterogeneous problem, as it is essential to customize models for adapting to the various computing performances, we propose a layer-wise model generation and aggregation strategy. The method can generate customized models based on the device's performance. In the aggregation process, the shared model parameters are updated through the rules that the network layers with the same semantics are aggregated with each other. Extensive experiments are conducted on four popular datasets, and the result demonstrates that our proposed framework outperforms the state of the art (SOTA).

Multiplex PCR-based next generation sequencing as a novel, targeted and accurate molecular approach for periprosthetic joint infection diagnosis.

Objectives: Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) diagnosis remains challenging, and the identification of the causative microorganism is, by far, the most important aspect. Here, we use multiple PCR-based targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS) to detect pathogens in PJI. To explore 1. the ability of targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS) to detect pathogens in PJI; 2. the consistency of tNGS, metagenomic NGS (mNGS), and culture results; and 3. the ability of tNGS to detect drug resistance genes in PJI. Methods: PJI was diagnosed according to the Musculoskeletal Infection Society (MSIS) criteria. The microorganisms were detected by culture, mNGS and tNGS to compare the diagnostic effectiveness of the three methods for PJI and to compare their consistency in detecting microorganisms. Drug resistance genes were detected using tNGS. The costs and turnaround times of mNGS and tNGS were compared. Results: Forty-three patients with PJI, 21 patients without PJI and 10 negative control cases were included. The culture, tNGS, and mNGS sensitivities for PJI diagnosis were 74.41%, 88.37%, and 93.02%, respectively, with no significant differences. The specificities were 90.48%, 95.24%, and 95.24%, respectively, with no significant differences. tNGS detected drug resistance genes in 37.5% of culture-positive PJIs. tNGS was superior to mNGS for turnaround time (14.5 h vs. 28 h) and cost ($150 vs. $260). Conclusions: tNGS can effectively identify PJI pathogens and may provide drug resistance information, while tNGS is superior to mNGS regarding cost and turnaround time. A multidisciplinary, multi-technology based algorithm to diagnose PJI is appropriate. Highlights: 298 microorganisms and 86 drug resistance genes were included in the tNGS panel.Diagnostic efficacy of tNGS is not inferior to that of commonly used indicators.tNGS is superior to mNGS in cost and turnaround time.

Self-Supervised Video-Centralised Transformer for Video Face Clustering.

This article presents a novel method for face clustering in videos using a video-centralised transformer. Previous works often employed contrastive learning to learn frame-level representation and used average pooling to aggregate the features along the temporal dimension. This approach may not fully capture the complicated video dynamics. In addition, despite the recent progress in video-based contrastive learning, few have attempted to learn a self-supervised clustering-friendly face representation that benefits the video face clustering task. To overcome these limitations, our method employs a transformer to directly learn video-level representations that can better reflect the temporally-varying property of faces in videos, while we also propose a video-centralised self-supervised framework to train the transformer model. We also investigate face clustering in egocentric videos, a fast-emerging field that has not been studied yet in works related to face clustering. To this end, we present and release the first large-scale egocentric video face clustering dataset named EasyCom-Clustering. We evaluate our proposed method on both the widely used Big Bang Theory (BBT) dataset and the new EasyCom-Clustering dataset. Results show the performance of our video-centralised transformer has surpassed all previous state-of-the-art methods on both benchmarks, exhibiting a self-attentive understanding of face videos.

Newborn screening for inborn errors of metabolism in a northern Chinese population.

OBJECTIVES: Newborn screening (NBS) for inborn errors of metabolism (IEMs) has been successfully implemented in China. However, the data on the IEM profiles in many regions are lacking. This study aimed to report the incidence, disease spectrum, and genetic profile of IEMs in northern China. METHODS: A total of 36,590 newborns were screened using tandem mass spectrometry between January 2016 and April 2022. Newborns with positive results were referred for confirmatory testing. RESULTS: Ten patients were confirmed to have IEMs, with an overall incidence of 1:3,539 in the Rizhao region. Five types of IEMs were detected, including four patients with propionic acidemia (PA), three patients with methylmalonic acidemia (MMA), one of each with citrin deficiency, primary carnitine deficiency, and isobutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency. PA was the most common IEM, with an unexpectedly high incidence of 1:8,848, followed by MMA, with an incidence rate of 1:11,797. All patients had abnormal screening markers and harbored biallelic variants in their respective causative genes. Two novel PCCB variants (c.505G>A and c.1123_1124insG) were identified in patients with PA. In silico analyses predicted that these two variants were potentially pathogenic. CONCLUSIONS: This study preliminarily clarified the incidence, disease spectrum, and genetic profile of IEMs in the Rizhao region. PA is the most common IEM and MMA is the second most common in our region. The two novel identified PCCB variants further expand the variant spectrum of PA. More attention should be paid to NBS, early diagnosis, and management of PA and MA.

High-dose amoxicillin-proton pump inhibitor dual therapy as first-line treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection in Northwest China: A prospective, randomised controlled trial.

AIMS: We aimed to assess the eradication efficacy and factors that influencing it of high-dose dual therapy (HDDT) in Gansu region, Northwest China. METHODS: A total of 216 treatment-naive patients with Helicobacter pylori infection were randomly assigned to two groups for the 14-day eradication treatment: the HDDT group (amoxicillin 750 mg q.i.d. and esomeprazole 40 mg t.i.d.) and the amoxicillin and clarithromycin-containing bismuth quadruple therapy group (ACBQT: esomeprazole 20 mg, bismuth potassium citrate 2 g, amoxicillin 1 g, and clarithromycin 500 mg; b.i.d.). The eradication rates, adverse effects and patient compliance of these two groups were compared. Eradication efficacy was determined by 13 C urea breath test (13 C UBT) 4-8 weeks after finishing treatment. Antibiotic resistance was determined by the Epsilometer testing (E-test) method. RESULTS: The eradication rates for the HDDT and ACBQT groups were 71.0% and 74.7% (P = .552) by per-protocol analysis, and 65.7% and 68.5% (P = .664) by intention-to-treat analysis. The overall adverse event rates in the HDDT and ACBQT groups were 2.0% and 43.4% (P < .001), respectively. The resistance rates to amoxicillin, clarithromycin, tetracycline, levofloxacin and metronidazole were 15.2%, 42.0%, 5.4%, 35.7% and 83.0%, respectively. Amoxicillin resistance and delta over baseline (DOB) of 13 C UBT ≥ 20 before treatment significantly reduced the eradication rate in 112 participants with H. pylori cultured. CONCLUSION: The HDDT as first-line treatment for H. pylori was unsatisfactory in Gansu. Amoxicillin resistance and DOB of 13 C UBT ≥ 20 before treatment were significantly correlated with H. pylori eradication failure.