[HCV and Treponema pallidum infection status in HIV/AIDS cases in Yunnan province, January-June, 2020].

Objective: To understand the infection status of HCV and Treponema pallidum (TP) in HIV/AIDS cases in Yunnan province,and identify the risk factors. Methods: Between January 1 and June 30 in 2020,a cross-sectional survey was conducted in Yunnan. Two enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits were used to detect anti-HCV, the positive results of both two kits indicated HCV infection. ELISA and syphilis toluidine red untreated serum test were applied to identify TP infection. Both Excel 2016 and SPSS 22.0 software were used for statistical analysis, and logistic regression model was conducted to identify the relevant factors of HCV and TP infection. Results: A total of 5 922 HIV/AIDS cases were included in this study, the infection rates of HCV and TP were 6.5% (383/5 922) and 5.8% (344/5 922) respectively. The co-infection rate of HCV and TP was 0.4% (22/5 922). The risk for HCV infection in HIV/AIDS cases was higher in younger age groups compared with age group ≥50 years (15-19:aOR=3.53;20-29:aOR=3.02;30-39:aOR=2.91;40-49:aOR=3.61), in males than in females (aOR=2.31), in the married and unmarried than in the divorced or widowed (married:aOR=1.61;unmarried:aOR=1.63), in other ethnic groups than in Han ethnic group (aOR=1.70), in people with lower education level than in people with education level of college and above (primary school degree and below:aOR=4.69;middle school:aOR=3.96), in people living in the central and western Yunnan than in people living in eastern Yunnan (central Yunnan:aOR=2.46; western Yunnan:aOR=7.08), in injection drug users than in MSM (aOR=131.08). The risk of TP infection in HIV/AIDS cases was higher in people with education level of college and primary school than in middle school degree (primary school and below:aOR=1.73;college and above:aOR=1.77), in people with other occupations than in farmers (aOR=1.39), in people living in eastern Yunnan than in people living in western Yunnan (aOR=1.75); in MSM than in people with heterosex (aOR=9.75). Conclusions: A certain proportion of HIV/AIDS cases reported between January and June in 2020 in Yunnan were co-infected with HCV and TP, many factors were associated with the co-infection. It is suggested to strengthen HCV and TP tests in HIV/AIDS cases and conduct active treatment of the co-infection.

[Roles of detection, surveillance and early warning on outbreaks or epidemics of infectious diseases].

Infectious diseases are still one of the leading causes of morbidity and death globally, affecting public health and life, social and economic development, and even national security. Early detection focuses on detecting the abnormal information of infectious disease outbreaks or epidemics in a timely and sensitive way to conduct field investigation and verification. It is also a precursor to effective surveillance and early warning system. The effective surveillance and early warning system can fully and accurately understand the real conditions, driving forces, and transmission chain of the occurrence of a specific infectious disease outbreak and epidemic and put forward scientific and effective prevention and control strategies and measures. Due to the measurement of the resources support and the particular data collection value, it is not easy to obtain epidemiological, etiological, and other data information in a timely, complete and accurate manner. This paper summarized the theory and technology on early detection, effective surveillance, and early warning information on infectious diseases. It also integrated and utilized the multi-source data, including effective infectious disease surveillance and the country's early warning system, to better understand the outbreak epidemic, causes, risks, processes, and driving forces. Thus, it is possible to set up a sensitive, specific staging measurement innovative technical system to monitor, early warning, and timely respond to acute infectious diseases through multidisciplinary cooperation in China. It provides the basis for strengthening the surveillance and early warning of new emerging and major infectious diseases and public health emergencies, avoiding the spread of inadequate response to infectious disease, and preventing the resources waste of over-response.

[Cardiovascular toxicities associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors].

With the continuous development of cancer treatment, the immune checkpoint inhibitors have been applied to the treatment of a variety of malignant tumors, which improved the patient's survival time and quality of life. However, immune-related adverse reactions occur inevitably. Like chemotherapeutics and targeted drugs, immunosuppressants can also cause cardiovascular events that affect the mortality of cancer patients. With the extension of the survival time of cancer patients, it will increasingly become a key factor which affects the prognoses of these diseases. This review focuses on the cardiotoxic mechanism, clinical manifestation, and future direction of immune checkpoint inhibitors during cancer treatment.

Expression and significance of miR-223 in rats with pulmonary fibrosis.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the expression and significance of miR-223 in mice with pulmonary fibrosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The rats were separated into a control group (n=15), a sham operation group (n=15), and a model group (n=45) (which was then divided into a 3-day group, a 7-day group, and a 14-day group, with 15 rats in each group). The rat model of pulmonary fibrosis was established. The rats in the model group were injected with bleomycin solution, while those in the control group and sham operation group were given the same operation and injected with the same amount of normal saline. After observing the pulmonary function indexes of the rats on the 3rd, 7th and 14th days after modeling, the rats were sacrificed by cervical dislocation, the pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis of the rats were observed, and the HYP (hydroxyproline) content and miR-223 expression level were determined. Pearson correlation analysis was employed to analyze the correlation between miR-223 and HYP. RESULTS: The pulmonary inflammation score of the model group was significantly higher than that of the sham group and the control group, and the pulmonary inflammation of the model group significantly increased with the increase of time (p<0.05). The pulmonary fibrosis score in the model group was markedly higher than that in the rest two groups, and the pulmonary fibrosis in the model group elevated significantly with the passage of time (p<0.05). The relevant pulmonary function indexes of the model group rats were significantly lower than those of the other two groups, and the pulmonary function of the model group rats gradually decreased with time (p<0.05). As to the HYP, it presented notably higher content in the model group than in the remaining two groups, and its content in the model group rats increased significantly with time (p<0.05). The expression of miR-223 decreased with the increase of fibrosis (p<0.05), and the expression level of miR-223 was negatively correlated with the HYP content (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: MiR-572 targeted CDH1 to promote cell metastasis in WT by suppressing EMT.

[Analysis of internal quality control data of complete blood count from laboratories participating in national external quality assessment].

Objective: To investigate current status and problems of internal quality control (IQC) of complete blood count in China so as to perform IQC normally. Methods: The IQC data of complete blood count for five parameters were collected from laboratories participating in national external quality assessment during 2012-2017 (totally 12 times), including WBC, RBC, Hb, Hct and PLT. After confirmation of all data, data for the 12 times were analyzed as follows.The proportions of using different levels of quality control materials were calculated.The 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th percentiles CV of data collected for the 12 times were calculated respectively and the trends of CV were observed over time.The difference of CV among laboratories running three control levels was compared.The CV of each parameter in 2017 was compared with precision requirements based on biological variation, health standards and German Medical Association Directive; The proportions of laboratories using different control rules were calculated. Results: After invalid data was excluded from those IQC data of laboratories for the 12 times external quality assessment (up to 2 402, as low as 1 449) from 2012 to 2017, the residual data (up to 2 332, as low as 1 431, accounting for 96.0%-99.2%) was used for analysis. 61.9%-66.1%, 18.2%-23.6% and 14.3%-17.3% of laboratories ran one, two and three control levels respectively, and the proportions of laboratories running more than two control levels increased from 33.9% to 38.1%. The decrease trend of the 75th, 90th percentiles CV of WBC, RBC, Hb, Hct for three levels, PLT for normal level and the 90th percentiles CV of PLT low level had statistically significance over time (P<0.05); the decrease trend of the 75th percentiles CV of PLT low level and 75th, 90th percentiles CV of PLT high level had no statistically significance over time. The CV had significant difference between low and normal, low and high control level for WBC and PLT, while there were no difference between normal and high control levels. There were no significant difference of CV among three control levels for RBC, Hb, and Hct. Except for the CV of Hct low, normal level and PLT low level, 85% of laboratories for the other parameters could meet the minimum precision requirements based on biological variation; more than 85% laboratories met the requirements of health standards; except for the CV of PLT low level, more than 80% laboratories met the requirements of German Medical Association Directive. The proportion of laboratories using 1(3s)/2(2s) quality control rules increased from 59.2% to 76.0%. Conclusions: During the past 6 years, the CV for IQC has shown a decrease trend over time. However, the control level and quality control rules used by some laboratories do not meet management requirements. The CV of Hct and PLT in a few laboratories do not meet the minimum requirements of the health standards, and need to implement quality improvements fatherly.

Potassium contributes to zinc stress tolerance in peach (Prunus persica) seedlings by enhancing photosynthesis and the antioxidant defense system.

Zinc (Zn) is considered to be a major industrial pollutant because excessive amounts can impair plant growth. In this paper, we found that peach 'Yoshihime' seedlings are promising Zn tolerant plants. However, heavy Zn toxicity (2 mM) damaged plant performance by disrupting biochemical processes, including photosynthesis, proline production, and K(+) nutrition. Notably, elevated external K(+) supply (10 mM) alleviated peach seedlings from Zn toxicity, evidenced by enhanced photosynthesis, antioxidant defense systems, and plant K(+) nutritional status. Moreover, the transcript levels of KUP (K(+) uptake) genes involved in K(+) acquisition, transport, and homeostasis were significantly upregulated following supply of sufficient K(+) upon Zn toxicity. In general, K(+) favorably contributes to improvements in internal K(+) homeostasis, via the help of K(+) transporters, further protecting plant photosynthesis and the antioxidative defense system. Our findings further benefit the study of the mechanisms underpinning heavy metal tolerance in woody plants.

Genome-wide analysis and identification of KT/HAK/KUP potassium transporter gene family in peach (Prunus persica).

The KT/HAK/KUP family members encoding high-affinity potassium (K(+)) transporters mediate K(+) transport across the plasma membranes of plant cells to maintain plant normal growth and metabolic activities. In this paper, we identified 16 potassium transporter genes in the peach (Prunus persica) using the Hidden Markov model scanning strategy and searching the peach genome database. Utilizing the Arabidopsis KT/HAK/KUP family as a reference, phylogenetic analysis indicates that the KT/HAK/KUP family in the peach can be classified into 3 groups. Genomic localization indicated that 16 KT/HAK/KUP family genes were well distributed on 7 scaffolds. Gene structure analysis showed that the KT/HAK/KUP family genes have 6-9 introns. In addition, all of the KT/HAK/KUP family members were hydrophobic proteins; they exhibited similar secondary structure patterns and homologous tertiary structures. Putative cis-elements involved in abiotic stress adaption, Ca(2+) response, light and circadian rhythm regulation, and seed development were observed in the promoters of the KT/HAK/KUP family genes. Subcellular localization prediction indicated that the KT/HAK/KUP members were mainly located in the plasma membrane. Expression levels of the KT/HAK/ KUP family genes were much higher in the fruit and flower than those in the other 7 tissues examined, indicating that the KT/HAK/KUP family genes may have important roles in K(+) uptake and transport, which mainly contribute to flower formation and fruit development in the peach.

Commissioning and operation of the deuteron injector for PKUNIFTY project.

PKUNIFTY (PeKing University Neutron Imaging FaciliTY), a thermal neutron imaging facility based on a 2 MeV RFQ accelerator, has been constructed at Peking University. Its deuteron injector, which consists of a 2.45 GHz permanent magnet electron cyclotron resonance (PMECR) deuteron ion source and a two-solenoid low energy beam transport (LEBT), aims at producing and delivering 50 mA, 50 keV deuteron beam with a duty factor of 10% (1 ms, 100 Hz). In the preliminary tests of RFQ accelerator, the ECR ion source and LEBT are required to operate at various duty factors (from 1% to 10%). The deuteron ion source has been tested with different pulse widths for this reason. In order to optimize the transmission parameters, the beam current at the exit of RFQ as a function of solenoids tuning and steering magnets tuning are carefully studied. The beam emittance at the entrance of RFQ has been measured with space charge compensation by different argon gas (RG) pressure from 1.6 × 10(-4) Pa to 4.7 × 10(-3) Pa. The measuring results show the best compensating pressure is 3.5 × 10(-3) Pa with a minimal normalized rms emittance of 0.12 pi mm mrad. During the commissioning, we found the purity of deuteron gas is an important factor which severely affects ECR discharge and plasma intensity inside the ion source chamber. The detailed experimental results obtained during the commissioning are discussed in this paper.

Deuteron injector for Peking University Neutron Imaging Facility project.

The deuteron injector developed for the PKUNIFTY (Peking University Neutron Imaging Facility) has been installed and commissioned at Peking University (PKU). The injector system must transfer 50 keV 50 mA of D(+) ion beam to the entrance of the 2 MeV radio frequency quadrupole (RFQ) with 10% duty factor (1 ms, 100 Hz). A compact 2.45 GHz permanent magnet electron cyclotron resonance (PMECR) ion source and a 1.36 m long low energy beam transport (LEBT) line using two solenoids was developed as the deuteron injector. A φ5 mm four-quadrant diaphragm was used to simulate the entrance of RFQ electrodes. The beam parameters are measured after this core with an emittance measurement unit (EMU) and a bending magnet for ion fraction analysis at the end of injector. During the commissioning, 77 mA of total deuteron beam was extracted from PMECR and 56 mA of pure D(+) beam that passed through the φ5 mm four-quadrant diaphragm was obtained at the position of RFQ entrance with the measured normalized rms emittance 0.12-0.16π mm mrad. Ion species analysis results show that the deuteron fraction is as high as 99.5%. All of the parameters satisfy PKUNIFTY's requirements. In this paper, we will describe the deuteron injector design and report the commissioning results as well as the initial operation.

Preliminary studies on space charge compensation by analyzing residual argon gas ion signals.

An experimental method is related to research the space charge compensation (SCC) effect in low energy intense proton beams by analyzing residual gas (RG) ion signals. The signal curves were measured with an energy spectrometer under the RG pressure from 1.2x10(-3) to 1.6x10(-2) Pa. Most of the data showed a similar trend with our theoretical predicts. From the RG ion energy spectra the potential distribution in the beam was calculated both with and without the SCC effect. Moreover, as a preliminary result, a best compensating point is achieved for the low energy beam transport transmission of 40 KeV, 60 mA H(+) beam in Peking University.

The deuteron injector progress of the Peking University Neutron Imaging Facility project.

A deuteron radio frequency quadrupoles injector h has been developed at Peking University. A permanent magnetic electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source is used in the injector system. A 50 keV 100 mA proton beam has been extracted from the ECR ion source and the measured normalized rms emittance is 0.11-0.14pi mm mrad. A deuteron beam has also been extracted at 50 kV with 83 mA total current and its emittance is less than 0.18pi mm mrad. The proton beam transmission has been investigated on a low energy beam transport test bench, and up to 93% transmission can be reached. The new injector with two solenoids has been designed and is being constructed. All the development results will be presented in this paper.

Upgrade of the extraction system of permanent magnet electron cyclotron resonance ion source.

A set of new ion extraction electrodes have been designed for the permanent magnetic electron cyclotron resonance ion source at Peking University to improve beam quality and transmission. PBGUNS has been used to optimize the extraction electrodes and simulate the beam behavior at the extraction region. The experiments showed that with the new system, the beam half divergence angle can be less than 40 mrad and the normalized rms emittance is about 0.13pi mm mrad when the extracted current is 100 mA at 50 keV in pulse mode. The voltage of the suppression electrode has great effect on beam divergence. The effect of the microwave power and gas flow is also studied.

Isolated left ventricular noncompaction diagnosed by transthoracic threedimensional echocardiography.

A 55-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of chest distress, associated with activity. Two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) demonstrated a suspected trabeculation versus false tendon of the left ventricular apex cordis but not meeting the diagnostic criteria of noncompaction of the ventricular myocardium (NVM). Threedimensional echocardiography (3DE) revealed more prominent trabeculations and deeper intertrabecular recesses of the left ventricular apex, which were consistent with the diagnostic criteria of NVM. In contrast to 2DE, 3DE provides wide, pyramid-shaped datasets that encompass the entire left ventricle. (Neth Heart J 2009;17:208-10.).

The influence of magnetic field configuration on an electron cyclotron resonance ion source.

In an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source, the magnetic field along the axis of the plasma chamber and extraction system is a key parameter. At Peking University, a new 2.45 GHz ECR ion source (PMECR III), dedicated to proton production, has been developed to investigate the influence of the magnetic field on the gas discharge and beam characteristics. The magnetic configuration is provided by two permanent magnet rings independently tunable along the source axis. Moreover, the beam extraction position changes by moving the whole magnetic system along the source axis and by using different lengths of plasma electrode. A brief description of the source is reported and the magnetic field influence results are presented.

Experimental results of an electron cyclotron resonance oxygen source and a low energy beam transport system for 1 MeV integral split ring radio frequency quadruple accelerator upgrade project.

To meet the requirements of developing separated function radio frequency quadruple (rfq) and upgrading the 1 MeV integral split ring rfq accelerator, an electron cyclotron resonance O(+) ion source and low energy beam transport (LEBT) system have been developed. Using two Einzel lenses to focus the beam, more than 6 mA O(+) peak beam current with energy of 22 keV can be easily obtained at the end of LEBT when the duty faction is at 1/6. The normalized root-mean-square emittance of 90% of the beam is about 0.12pi mm mrad. By changing the focusing power of lenses, the beam waist can be shifted from 80 mm before the beam diaphragm 2 to 80 mm after it. The experimental results will be presented in this article.

Study on proton fraction of beams extracted from electron cyclotron resonance ion source.

A permanent magnet electron cyclotron resonance ion source PMECR II is used to generate proton ions for radio frequency quadrupole (RFQ) injection at Peking University (PKU). The proton fractions of the extracted beam were measured at the positions both after extraction system of ion source and the end of low energy beam transport line (LEBT). Experiments show that the proton fraction has a rise time within a beam pulse, and its value varies with pulse width and microwave power. The proton fractions measured at different positions are comparable.

[Studies on the chemical constituents of Arisaema fargesii Buchett].

Heptatriacontane, benzoic acid, succinic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol, daucosterol, D-mannitol, D-glucose, sucrose and choline chloride were isolated from the roots of Arisaema fargesii collected from Gansu Province. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods and a few chemical transformations. The twelve compounds have not been reported before as constituents of Arisaema fargesii.