The later-line efficacy and safety of immune checkpoint inhibitors plus anlotinib in EGFR-mutant patients with EGFR-TKI-resistant NSCLC: a single-center retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Effective treatment after EGFR-TKI resistance is of great clinical concern. We aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of anlotinib in combination with an anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibody in later-line therapy for EGFR-mutant NSCLC patients after TKI treatment failure and to explore the independent predictive factors of therapeutic efficacy. METHODS: A total of 71 patients with confirmed advanced EGFR-mutated NSCLC who progressed after previous standard EGFR-TKI therapy but still failed after multiline treatments were included retrospectively in this study. Most of the patients had previously received at least three lines of treatment. All were treated with anlotinib combined with anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 therapy. The safety of this combined treatment was assessed by the incidence of adverse events. The efficacy of the regimens was evaluated by survival analysis (OS, PFS, ORR, DCR). RESULTS: The median follow-up period was 28.6 months (range: 2.3-54.0 months), and the median number of treatment lines was 4. The overall response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) were 19.7% and 77.5%, respectively. The median PFS was 5.8 months (95% CI 4.2-7.4 months), and the median OS was 17.1 months (95% CI 12.0-22.3 months). Patients who received immune checkpoint inhibitors plus anlotinib had an encouraging intracranial ORR of 38.5% and a DCR of 80.8%. ECOG performance status < 2 at baseline was independent protective factors of PFS. Metastatic organs and ECOG performance status were independent parameters in predicting OS. Treatment-related adverse events occurred in 66 (93.0%) patients; most of the adverse events were Grade 1-2, and no increase in adverse events was observed compared to monotherapy. CONCLUSION: Anlotinib combined with an anti-PD-1/PD-L1-based regimen exhibited promising efficacy and tolerance in NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations after previous TKI failure. The efficacy of this combined regimen in patients with EGFR mutations should be further evaluated.

The greenhouse gas emissions from meat sheep production contribute double of household consumption in a Eurasian meadow steppe.

With the rapid development of the economy, household activities have emerged as an important source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, making them a crucial focal point for research in the pursuit of sustainable development and carbon emission reduction. Hulunber, as a typical steppe region in eastern Eurasia, is representative of studying the GHG emissions from household ranches, which are the basic production units in this region. In this paper, based on survey data of 2018 and 2019, we quantified and assessed GHG emissions from household ranches by combining life cycle assessment (LCA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) approaches, with LCA to define household ranches system boundary and SEM to determine the key driving factors of emissions. The results showed that GHG emissions of meat sheep live weight was 23.54 kg CO2-eq/kg. The major contributor to household GHG emissions was enteric methane (55.23 %), followed by coal use (20.80 %) and manure management systems (9.16 %), and other contributing factors (14.81 %). The SEM results indicated that the GHG emissions from household ranches were derived primarily by economic level, while the economic level was significantly affected by income. This study also found a significant positive and linear correlation between household GHG emissions and the number of meat sheep (R2 = 0.89, P < 0.001). The GHG emissions from meat sheep production (67.52 %) were double times greater than household livelihood consumption (32.48 %). These findings emphasized the importance of reducing emissions from meat sheep production and adjusting the energy mix of household livelihood, contributing to the establishment of a low-carbon household livelihood operation.

The use of Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children in schools to improve the ability of children with autism to complete tasks independently: A single-case meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of a Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH) intervention in schools for improving independent task performance in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). METHODS: We screened relevant studies published up to December 2022 from Web of science, ERIC, PsycINFO and other databases using predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria to identify suitable intervention studies for meta-analysis. Tau-U effect sizes were calculated for each A-B comparison extracted from the included experiments. Moderated analyses were conducted to examine the type of intervention (independent variable), intervention target behaviours (dependent variable), participant characteristics, setting characteristics and intervener characteristics. RESULTS: A total of 14 studies (38 participants) met the criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. The analysis results showed that TEACCH had a significant intervention effect, and the overall intervention effect size was Tau-U = 0.85[0.77, 0.91]. There were significant differences in the intervention target behaviour variables (p < 0.01), limited variation in the intervention type variables, but no differences in participant characteristics, setting characteristics and intervenor characteristics. CONCLUSION: The use of TEACCH is effective in improving independent task completion in children with ASD and provides evidence-based recommendations for its extended use in schools.

Coexisting of Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma and Talaromyces marneffei Brain Abscess in an AIDS Patient, A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Background: Talaromyces marneffei is prevalent in South Asia. Latent Talaromyces marneffei infection of travellers make the diagnosis difficult. There are similarities in clinical manifestations between Talaromyces marneffei infection and lymphoma. Brain abscess is a rare form of Talaromyces marneffei infection. Case Presentation: We reported a very rare case of a 19-year-old man with HIV infection who suffered from a brain mass and lymphadenopathy. His blood culture, bone marrow culture and sputum culture all grew Talaromyces marneffei. One month after treatment with voriconazole, the symptoms improved except brain mass. Surgical incision of the brain mass showed a compact mass, and pathological analysis showed the coexisting Talaromyces marneffei abscess and lymphoma. The patient is currently in a stable condition after receiving antifungal therapy and chemotherapy. Conclusion: Based on a case report of a traveller who suffered from a brain mass of Talaromyces marneffei abscess and lymphoma after a visit to an endemic area, this review summarized the cases where there was confusion between lymphoma and the brain abscess of Talaromyces marneffei. Talaromyces marneffei infection can be found globally due to the increasing number of international travels. Talaromyces marneffei infection and lymphoma had similar characteristics which is easy to misdiagnose in clinic. Infection may also be accompanied by tumors, especially in patients infected with HIV. The manifestations and imaging of brain abscess of Talaromyces marneffei were not characteristic in different patients.

Toxoplasma gondii eIF-5A Modulates the Immune Response of Murine Macrophages In Vitro.

Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is an obligate intracellular protozoan that can elicit a robust immune response during infection. Macrophage cells have been shown to play an important role in the immune response against T. gondii. In our previous study, the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (eIF-5A) gene of T. gondii was found to influence the invasion and replication of tachyzoites. In this study, the recombinant protein of T. gondii eIF-5A (rTgeIF-5A) was incubated with murine macrophages, and the regulatory effect of TgeIF-5A on macrophages was characterized. Immunofluorescence assay showed that TgeIF-5A was able to bind to macrophages and partially be internalized. The Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) level and chemotaxis of macrophages stimulated with TgeIF-5A were reduced. However, the phagocytosis and apoptosis of macrophages were amplified by TgeIF-5A. Meanwhile, the cell viability experiment indicated that TgeIF-5A can promote the viability of macrophages, and in the secretion assays, TgeIF-5A can induce the secretion of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and nitric oxide (NO) from macrophages. These findings demonstrate that eIF-5A of T. gondii can modulate the immune response of murine macrophages in vitro, which may provide a reference for further research on developing T. gondii vaccines.

Rapid Fog-Removal Strategies for Traffic Environments.

In a foggy traffic environment, the vision sensor signal of intelligent vehicles will be distorted, the outline of obstacles will become blurred, and the color information in the traffic road will be missing. To solve this problem, four ultra-fast defogging strategies in a traffic environment are proposed for the first time. Through experiments, it is found that the performance of Fast Defogging Strategy 3 is more suitable for fast defogging in a traffic environment. This strategy reduces the original foggy picture by 256 times via bilinear interpolation, and the defogging is processed via the dark channel prior algorithm. Then, the image after fog removal is processed via 4-time upsampling and Gaussian transform. Compared with the original dark channel prior algorithm, the image edge is clearer, and the color information is enhanced. The fast defogging strategy and the original dark channel prior algorithm can reduce the defogging time by 83.93-84.92%. Then, the image after fog removal is inputted into the YOLOv4, YOLOv5, YOLOv6, and YOLOv7 target detection algorithms for detection and verification. It is proven that the image after fog removal can effectively detect vehicles and pedestrians in a complex traffic environment. The experimental results show that the fast defogging strategy is suitable for fast defogging in a traffic environment.

Real-time tracking of the intracellular delivery of a 2D nanosystem using a progressively activatable fluorescence platform for cancer diagnosis.

In this work, a smart nanoplatform responding to multiple biomarkers has been developed for the real-time tracking of the intracellular delivery of a 2D nanosystem. Our work provides a promising avenue for developing an optimized imaging nanoplatform for site-specific imaging and real-time tracking of the delivery process.

Administration study of recombinant erythropoietin on the carriers of variant c.577del in EPO gene.

The issue of misjudgment in recombinant erythropoietin (rEPO) detection caused by the variant c.577del in human EPO gene has been found in recent years. Though the method of analyzing de-N-glycosylated erythropoietins (EPO) in blood samples was developed for identifying both EPO_p.Arg193AspfsTer28 (VAR-EPO) and rEPO, it cannot be applied without the evaluation of excreted samples. For this purpose, five heterozygous carriers of the variant c.577del were recruited in an administration study of rEPO. Urine and blood samples were collected at different times before and after subcutaneous injection with a single-dose of 50 IU/kg. The urine samples were analyzed for intact EPO, while the serum samples were analyzed for both intact and de-N-glycosylated EPO. A typical mixed band was detected in all blank and wash-out urine samples, which all displayed a similar result with rEPO abuse. For the analysis of intact EPO in serum samples, a typical mixed band was detected in the wash-out samples from day 1 to day 3, which could be identified as rEPO directly, while double-band was observed in other samples with inconclusive results. The result of de-N-glycosylated EPO in all serum samples showed two separated bands, and the ratioL/U decreased along with wash-out periods. Also, compared with the intact EPO analysis, a longer detection window without false positive results was obtained when analyzing de-N-glycosylated EPO. Analysis of de-N-glycosylated EPO is not only able to recognize the variant carriers directly but also able to detect rEPO abuse in the blood samples from the variant carriers with higher efficiency than the analysis of intact EPO.

YOLO-GW: Quickly and Accurately Detecting Pedestrians in a Foggy Traffic Environment.

In practice, the object detection algorithm is limited by a complex detection environment, hardware costs, computing power, and chip running memory. The performance of the detector will be greatly reduced during operation. Determining how to realize real-time, fast, and high-precision pedestrian recognition in a foggy traffic environment is a very challenging problem. To solve this problem, the dark channel de-fogging algorithm is added to the basis of the YOLOv7 algorithm, which effectively improves the de-fogging efficiency of the dark channel through the methods of down-sampling and up-sampling. In order to further improve the accuracy of the YOLOv7 object detection algorithm, the ECA module and a detection head are added to the network to improve object classification and regression. Moreover, an 864 × 864 network input size is used for model training to improve the accuracy of the object detection algorithm for pedestrian recognition. Then the combined pruning strategy was used to improve the optimized YOLOv7 detection model, and finally, the optimization algorithm YOLO-GW was obtained. Compared with YOLOv7 object detection, YOLO-GW increased Frames Per Second (FPS) by 63.08%, mean Average Precision (mAP) increased by 9.06%, parameters decreased by 97.66%, and volume decreased by 96.36%. Smaller training parameters and model space make it possible for the YOLO-GW target detection algorithm to be deployed on the chip. Through analysis and comparison of experimental data, it is concluded that YOLO-GW is more suitable for pedestrian detection in a fog environment than YOLOv7.

Polysaccharides from Oudemansiella radicata residues attenuate carbon tetrachloride-induced liver injury.

The present work aimed to investigate the potential hepatoprotective effects of Oudemansiella radicata residues polysaccharides (RPS). Our results demonstrated that RPS showed significantly protective effects against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver injury, and the possible mechanisms may be related with the predominant bioactivities of RPS containing anti-oxidation by activating the Nrf2 signal pathways, anti-inflammation by inhibiting NF-κB signal pathways and reducing the release of inflammatory cytokines, anti-apoptosis by regulating Bcl-2/Bax pathway, and anti-fibrosis by inhibiting the expressions of TGF-ß1, Hyp and α-SMA, respectively. These findings suggested that RPS, a typical ß-type glycosidic pyranose, could be used as a promising diet supplement or medication for the adjunctive treatment of hepatic diseases, and also contributed to promoting the recyclable utilization of mushroom residues.

Innovative integration of augmented reality and optical surface imaging: A coarse-to-precise system for radiotherapy positioning.

BACKGROUND: Traditional methods of radiotherapy positioning have shortcomings such as fragile skin-markers, additional doses, and lack of information integration. Emerging technologies may provide alternatives for the relevant clinical practice. PURPOSE: To propose a noninvasive radiotherapy positioning system integrating augmented reality (AR) and optical surface, and to evaluate its feasibility in clinical workflow. METHODS: AR and structured light-based surface were integrated to implement the coarse-to-precise positioning through two coherent steps, the AR-based coarse guidance and the optical surface-based precise verification. To implement quality assurance, recognition of face and pattern was used for patient authentication, case association, and accessory validation in AR scenes. The holographic images reconstructed from simulation computed tomography (CT) images, guided the initial posture correction by virtual-real alignment. The point clouds of body surface were fused, with the calibration and pose estimation of structured light cameras, and segmented according to the preset regions of interest (ROIs). The global-to-local registration for cross-source point clouds was achieved to calculate couch shifts in six degrees-of-freedom (DoF), which were ultimately transmitted to AR scenes. The evaluation based on phantom and human-body (4 volunteers) included, (i) quality assurance workflow, (ii) errors of both steps and correlation analysis, (iii) receiver operating characteristic (ROC), (iv) distance characteristics of accuracy, and (v) clinical positioning efficiency. RESULTS: The maximum errors in phantom evaluation were 3.4 ± 2.5 mm in Vrt and 1.4 ± 1.0° in Pitch for the coarse guidance step, while 1.6 ± 0.9 mm in Vrt and 0.6 ± 0.4° in Pitch for the precise verification step. The Pearson correlation coefficients between precise verification and cone beam CT (CBCT) results were distributed in the interval [0.81, 0.85]. In ROC analysis, the areas under the curve (AUC) were 0.87 and 0.89 for translation and rotation, respectively. In human body-based evaluation, the errors of thorax and abdomen (T&A) were significantly greater than those of head and neck (H&N) in Vrt (2.6 ± 1.1 vs. 1.7 ± 0.8, p < 0.01), Lng (2.3 ± 1.1 vs. 1.4 ± 0.9, p < 0.01), and Rtn (0.8 ± 0.4 vs. 0.6 ± 0.3, p = 0.01) while relatively similar in Lat (1.8 ± 0.9 vs. 1.7 ± 0.8, p = 0.07). The translation displacement range, after coarse guidance step, required for high accuracy of the optical surface component of the integrated system was 0-42 mm, and the average positioning duration of the integrated system was significantly less than that of conventional workflow (355.7 ± 21.7 vs. 387.7 ± 26.6 s, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The combination of AR and optical surface has utility and feasibility for patient positioning, in terms of both safety and accuracy.

A Real-Time Detection Method of Hg2+ in Drinking Water via Portable Biosensor: Using a Smartphone as a Low-Cost Micro-Spectrometer to Read the Colorimetric Signals.

This paper reported a real-time detection strategy for Hg2+ inspired by the visible spectrophotometer that used a smartphone as a low-cost micro-spectrometer. In combination with the smartphone's camera and optical accessories, the phone's built-in software can process the received light band image and then read out the spectral data in real time. The sensor was also used to detect gold nanoparticles with an LOD of 0.14 µM, which are widely used in colorimetric biosensors. Ultimately, a gold nanoparticles-glutathione (AuNPs-GSH) conjugate was used as a probe to detect Hg2+ in water with an LOD of 1.2 nM and was applied successfully to natural mineral water, pure water, tap water, and river water samples.

Establishment of a recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) fluorescence assay for the detection of swine acute diarrhea syndrome coronavirus (SADS-CoV).

BACKGROUND: Swine acute diarrhea syndrome coronavirus (SADS-CoV) causes acute vomiting and diarrhea in piglets, leading to significant financial losses for the pig industry. Recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) is a rapid nucleic acid amplification technology used under constant temperature conditions. The study established a real-time reverse transcription (RT)-RPA assay for early diagnosis of SADS-CoV.  RESULTS: The detection limit of the real-time RT-RPA was 74 copies/µL of SADS-CoV genomic standard recombinant plasmid in 95% of cases. The assay was performed in less than 30 min and no cross-reactions were observed with eight other common viruses that affect swine, including classical swine fever virus (CSFV), porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), pseudo rabies virus (PRV), swine influenza virus (SIV), seneca valley virus (SVA), transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) and porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV). The coefficient of variation (C.V.) values of the two standards dilutions and three positive clinical sample ranged from 2.95% to 4.71%. A total of 72 clinical fecal samples from swine with diarrheal symptoms were analyzed with the developed RT-RPA and quantitative RT-PCR. There was 98.61% agreement between the RT-RPA and the quantitative real-time PCR results. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicated that the developed RT-RPA assay had good specificity, sensitivity, stability and repeatability. The study successfully established a broadly reactive RT-RPA assay for SADS-CoV detection.

Development and feasibility evaluation of an AR-assisted radiotherapy positioning system.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to develop an augmented reality (AR)-assisted radiotherapy positioning system based on HoloLens 2 and to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of this method in the clinical environment. Methods: The obtained simulated computed tomography (CT) images of an "ISO cube", a cube phantom, and an anthropomorphic phantom were reconstructed into three-dimensional models and imported into the HoloLens 2. On the basis of the Vuforia marker attached to the "ISO cube" placed at the isocentric position of the linear accelerator, the correlation between the virtual and real space was established. First, the optimal conditions to minimize the deviation between virtual and real objects were explored under different conditions with a cube phantom. Then, the anthropomorphic phantom-based positioning was tested under the optimal conditions, and the positioning errors were evaluated with cone-beam CT. Results: Under the normal light intensity, the registration and tracking angles are 0°, the distance is 40 cm, and the deviation reached a minimum of 1.4 ± 0.3 mm. The program would not run without light. The hologram drift caused by the light change, camera occlusion, and head movement were 0.9 ± 0.7 mm, 1.0 ± 0.6 mm, and 1.5 ± 0.9 mm, respectively. The anthropomorphic phantom-based positioning errors were 3.1 ± 1.9 mm, 2.4 ± 2.5 mm, and 4.6 ± 2.8 mm in the X (lateral), Y (vertical), and Z (longitudinal) axes, respectively, and the angle deviation of Rtn was 0.26 ± 0.14°. Conclusion: The AR-assisted radiotherapy positioning based on HoloLens 2 is a feasible method with certain advantages, such as intuitive visual guidance, radiation-free position verification, and intelligent interaction. Hardware and software upgrades are expected to further improve accuracy and meet clinicalbrendaannmae requirements.

Molecular prevalence of Tetratrichomonas gallinarum and Trichomonas gallinae in three domestic free-range poultry breeds in Anhui Province, China.

Tetratrichomonas gallinarum and Trichomonas gallinae can colonize the alimentary tract of domestic birds. However, little information is available on the epidemiology of the two trichomonad species in domestic free-range poultry in China. In this study, the occurrence and genetic characteristic of T. gallinarum and T. gallinae among free-range chickens, ducks, and geese in Anhui Province, China, were investigated. The 1910 fecal samples collected from 18 free-range poultry farms throughout Anhui Province were examined for the presence of T. gallinarum and T. gallinae by PCR and sequence analysis of the small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene of T. gallinarum and ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 sequence of T. gallinae. The overall occurrence of T. gallinarum in poultry was 1.2% (22/1910), with infection rates of 2.1% (17/829) in chickens, 0.2% (1/487) in ducks, and 0.7% (4/594) in geese. The constructed phylogeny tree using the concatenated ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region and SSU rRNA indicated the T. gallinarum isolates detected in this study were closely related to previously defined genogroups A, D, and E, respectively. Nine (0.5%) fecal samples were positive for T. gallinae, with infection rates of 0.8% (7/829) in chickens, 0.4% (2/487) in ducks, and 0% (0/594) in geese. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis showed that four T. gallinae ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 sequences obtained from chicken feces and one duck fecal sample belonged to genotype ITS-OBT-Tg-1. This is the first report of the prevalence and genetic characterization of T. gallinarum and T. gallinae in free-range chickens, ducks, and geese in China.

First Detection and Molecular Identification of Entamoeba bovis in Farm-Raised Sika Deer from Anhui Province, China.

BACKGROUND: Protozoans of Entamoeba spp. are one of the most common enteric parasites that infect humans and diverse animals including deer. PURPOSE: However, data regarding the prevalence and species/genotypes of Entamoeba spp. in deer in China is scarce. This study investigated the prevalence and species distribution of Entamoeba spp. in sika deer (Cervus nippon) in Anhui Province. METHODS: In our survey, 336 fecal samples were collected from five sika deer farms in different regions of Anhui Province. All samples were examined for the presence of Entamoeba spp. by PCR and phylogenetic analysis of the conserved 18S rRNA gene. RESULTS: 106/336 (31.5%) fecal samples were positive for Entamoeba spp. A statistically significant difference in the prevalence of Entamoeba spp. infection was observed between sampling farms (p < 0.001), and the prevalence of Entamoeba spp. in male and female sika deer showed no significant difference (p > 0.05). Sequence and phylogenetic analysis revealed the single species, E. bovis, was identified in this study. CONCLUSION: This is the first report about the identification of E. bovis in farm-raised sika deer in China, and these results expand our understanding of host range and species distribution of Entamoeba spp. in ruminants.

COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake Among a Nationwide Sample of People Living With HIV During the Early Phase of Vaccine Rollout in China.

People living with HIV (PLWH), if infected with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), had an increased risk of mortality compared to people without HIV infection. They are considered as a priority group to receive COVID-19 vaccination. This cross-sectional online survey investigated the prevalence of and factors associated with COVID-19 vaccination uptake among 2740 PLWH aged 18-65 years in eight Chinese metropolitan cities between January and February 2021. As validated by requesting participants to send an image of receipt hiding personal identification, 6.2% of PLWH had taken up COVID-19 vaccination. Participants living in cities where individuals could make an appointment to receive COVID-19 vaccination reported significantly higher uptake than those living in cities without such allowance (11.0 vs. 2.9%, p < 0.001). Being a member of priority groups to receive vaccination, concerning about the side effects of COVID-19 vaccination and its interaction with HIV treatment, and exposing to information on the Internet/social media supporting PLWH to receive COVID-19 vaccination were significantly associated with COVID-19 vaccination uptake in both groups of participants. Receiving advice from the staff of community-based organizations supporting COVID-19 vaccination was associated with higher uptake among participants living in cities where individuals could make an appointment to receive such vaccination, while a shortage in COVID-19 vaccine supply was associated with a lower uptake among participants living in other cities. Our findings presented a snapshot of COVID-19 vaccination uptake among PLWH in the early phase of vaccine rollout in China. It provided a knowledge basis to formulate interventions promoting COVID-19 vaccination for PLWH.

Prevalence and Molecular Identification of Entamoeba spp. in Non-human Primates in a Zoological Garden in Nanjing, China.

Objective: Entamoeba spp. are globally distributed zoonotic parasites that infect various hosts, among which non-human primates (NHPs) have been identified as one of the most common hosts of these parasites. Consequently, the infections of Entamoeba spp. in captive NHPs from Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo in China were investigated in order to assess their zoonotic potential. Methods: A total of 120 fresh fecal samples, including 19 species of NHPs, were collected from four breeding bases of the zoo from May to June 2019. The infections of six species of Entamoeba spp. were detected by PCR using the 16S or 18S rDNA-specific primers, and the positive samples were sequenced and analyzed. Results: Entamoeba spp. were detected as positive in 59 NHPs fecal samples (49.17%), including five Entamoeba species: Entamoeba histolytica (7.50%), E. dispar (22.50%), E. coli (22.50%), E. chattoni (10.00%) and E. nuttalli (1.67%). Infection with one Entamoeba species was more common (35%) than co-infections (13.33%) or infections with three Entamoeba species (0.83%). There was a significantly higher prevalence rate of Entamoeba spp. in the species Pongo pygmaeus and Macaca mulatta than in Papio sp., Mandrillus sphinx, and Saimiri sciureus. Conclusion: Entamoeba spp. are highly prevalent in the NHPs raised in Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo. Therefore, attention should be paid to the development of containment strategies of Entamoeba spp. in this zoological garden.

Detection of de-N-glycosylated EPO with SDS-PAGE: A complementary confirmation procedure for recombinant EPO in blood samples.

Frameshift variant c.577del in the EPO gene can result in the extension of the amino acid sequence of EPO by invalidating the termination codon. As the molecular weight of its encoded protein EPO (VAR-EPO) is similar to that of rEPO, the World Anti-Doping Agency has published Annex B to the TD2022EPO in order to protect athletes with variant c.577del from the suspicion of rEPO administrations. However, it is still necessary to develop a confirmation method for rEPO that can discriminate rEPO from VAR-EPO. Based on the glycosylated characteristic of EPO, we selected the detection of de-N-glycosylated EPO as a complementary confirmation method for rEPO in blood samples. All samples were analyzed for both intact EPO and de-N-glycosylated EPO with SDS-PAGE, including rEPO spiked samples and blank samples. The results showed that, after de-N-glycosylation, a single-band was detected in samples collected from non-variant carriers, no matter whether the sample was spiked with rEPO. In samples collected from variant carriers, a double-band was detected. The ratio of lower band to upper band increased significantly corresponding to the concentration of rEPO. We calculated a series of cut-off values by normality distribution function to identify the presence of rEPO. Neither false positive results in blank samples nor false negative results in spiked samples at the applicable Minimum Required Performance Levels were found. This indicates that this method could be adopted as a complementary confirmation method for rEPO in blood samples. A revised testing strategy was also proposed, which would discriminate rEPO directly without further investigation.

Homeobox A1 Facilitates Immune Escape and Alleviates Oxidative Stress in Lung Adenocarcinoma.

Objective: Recent studies have demonstrated that homeobox A1 (HOXA1) is upregulated in lung cancer due to RNA modifications (N6-methyladenosine), but the specific function of HOXA1 in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remains indistinct. Herein, we investigated the role of HOXA1 in LUAD biology. Methods: This study presented pancancer analysis of associations of HOXA1 with prognosis, TMB, and immune checkpoints. The expression of HOXA1 was detected in LUAD and normal tissues with immunohistochemistry and western blot. Through least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) analysis, HOXA1-derived gene model was conducted in LUAD. Correlations of HOXA1 with immune cell infiltrations, immune checkpoints, HLAs, and chemotherapeutic sensitivity were evaluated. Colony formation, proliferation, and migration of LUAD cells with si-HOXA1 transfection were investigated, and the effects of HOXA1 on T cell exhaustion were assessed in vitro. Results: HOXA1 expression was a risk factor of overall survival, disease-specific survival, and progression-free interval of LUAD. HOXA1 exhibited prominent associations with immune cell infiltration, immune checkpoints, and HLAs. HOXA1-derived gene signature reliably and independently predicted LUAD outcomes. Also, high-risk cases presented increased sensitivity to cisplatin, paclitaxel, docetaxel, vinorelbine, and etoposide. HOXA1 knockdown exhibited an inhibitory effect on proliferation and migration abilities of LUAD cells. Silencing HOXA1 weakened the expression of antioxidative stress markers Nrf2/HO-1 and T cell exhaustion marker CD155 in LUAD cells. Moreover, LUAD cells with HOXA1 knockdown enhanced the CD8+ T cell response. Conclusion: Our data support the oncogenic function and prognostic significance of HOXA1 that facilitates immune escape and alleviates oxidative stress of LUAD.