For the occurrence of PPCPs from source to tap: A novel approach modified in terms of sample preservation and SPE cartridge to monitor PPCPs in our water supply.

BACKGROUND: The ongoing infusion of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) into ecosystems sustains a perpetual life cycle and leads to multi-generational exposures. Limited understanding of their environmental impact and their intrinsic ability to induce physiological effect in humans, even at low doses, pose great risks to human health. Few scholarly works have conducted systematic research into the occurrence of PPCPs within potable water systems. Concurrently, the associated monitoring techniques have not been comprehensively examined with regards to the specific nature of drinking water, namely whether the significant presence of disinfectants may influence the detection of PPCPs. RESULTS: A modified approach in terms of detailed investigation of sample preservation and optimization of an in-lab fabricated solid phase extraction (SPE) cartridge filled with DVB-VP and PS-DVB sorbent was proposed. Favorable methodological parameters were achieved, with correlation coefficients spanning from 0.9866 to 0.9998. The LODs of the PPCPs fluctuated from 0.001 to 2 µg L-1, while the LOQs varied from 0.002 to 5 µg L-1. The analysis of spiked samples disclosed a methodological precision of 2.31-9.86 % and a recovery of 52.4-119 %. We utilized the established method for analyzing 14 water samples of three categories (source water, finished water and tap water) from five centralized water supply plants. A total of 24 categories encompassing 72 PPCPs were detected, with the concentrations of PPCPs manifested a marked decrease from source water to finished water and finally to tap water. SIGNIFICANCE: Our research meticulously examined the enhancement and purification effects of widely used commercial SPE cartridges and suggested the use of in-lab fabricated SPE cartridges packed with DVB-VP and PS-DVB adsorbents. We also conducted a systematic evaluation of the need to incorporate ascorbic acid and sodium thiosulfate as preservatives for PPCP measurement, in consideration of the unique characteristics of drinking water matrices, specifically, the significant concentration levels of disinfectants. Furthermore, the proposed method was effectively employed to study the presence of PPCPs in source water, finished water, and tap water collected from centralized water supply plants.

ASB6 as an Independent Prognostic Biomarker for Colorectal Cancer Progression Involves Lymphatic Invasion and Immune Infiltration.

Background: ASB6, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, mediates the proteasomal degradation of its substrate proteins via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. ASB6 has been reported to play significant roles in several biological processes, including tumor stemness and endoplasmic reticulum stress. However, the underlying role and mechanism of ASB6 in colorectal cancer, particularly its association with immune infiltration levels and its prognostic significance, remain to be fully elucidated. Methods: We identified key prognostic genes in CRC patients through LASSO-penalized Cox regression, Univariate and Multivariate Cox regression analyses. Subsequently, we comprehensively analyzed the prognostic value of hub genes and constructed a prognostic nomogram. Finally, we identified ASB6 interacting proteins through immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry (IP-MS) and constructed protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks and performed pathway enrichment analysis to explore the potential mechanisms of ASB6. Meanwhile, we evaluated the functions of ASB6 in CRC cells through in vitro cell experiments. Results: We identified ASB6 as a hub gene in CRC. ASB6 was highly expressed in CRC, and patients with high ASB6 expression had worse Disease-Free Interval (DFI), Disease-Specific Survival (DSS), Overall Survival (OS), and Progression-Free Interval (PFI). Correlation analysis showed that ASB6 expression were positively correlated with lymph node invasion and distal metastasis. Overexpression of ASB6 enhanced the migration ability of CRC cells. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that ASB6 was an independent prognostic factor for OS and DSS in CRC. The nomogram model constructed based on multivariate analysis results had good predictive effects, with C-indexes of 0.811 and 0.934 for OS and DSS, respectively. Furthermore, analysis of immune infiltration levels showed that ASB6 expression were positively correlated with M2-type macrophage infiltration levels in CRC, and patients with high levels of both ASB6 and M2-type macrophages had a worse prognosis. Furthermore, pathway enrichment analysis of ASB6 interacting proteins identified by IP-MS suggested that ASB6 may play a crucial role through the response to unfolded protein pathway and protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum pathway. Conclusions: ASB6 is significantly upregulated in CRC tissues and is a risk factor for prognosis in CRC patients. ASB6 enhances the migration ability of CRC cells. Therefore, ASB6 may be an independent prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target for CRC patients.

A nomogram for predicting cause-specific mortality among patients with cecal carcinoma: a study based on SEER database.

OBJECTIVE: Classical Cox proportional hazard models tend to overestimate the event probability in a competing risk setup. Due to the lack of quantitative evaluation of competitive risk data for colon cancer (CC), the present study aims to evaluate the probability of CC-specific death and construct a nomogram to quantify survival differences among CC patients. METHODS: Data on patients diagnosed with CC between 2010 and 2015 were collected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) database. Patients were divided into a training dataset for the establishment of the model and a validation dataset to evaluate the performance the model at a ratio of 7:3. To evaluate the ability of multiple variables to predict cause-specific death in CC patients, univariate and multivariate analyses with Fine-Gray models were performed to screen the predictors of cause-specific death, and a nomogram for predicting cause-specific mortality was constructed. Then, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the calibration curve were plotted to evaluate the prognostic performance of the nomogram. RESULTS: The dataset was randomly divided into a training (n = 16,655) dataset and a validation (n = 7,139) dataset at a ratio of 7:3. In the training dataset, variables including pathological subtypes of tumors, pathological grading (degree of differentiation), AJCC staging, T-staging, surgical type, lymph node surgery, chemotherapy, tumor deposits, lymph node metastasis, liver metastasis, and lung metastasis were identified as independent risk factors for cause-specific death of CC patients. Among these factors, the AJCC stage had the strongest predictive ability, and these features were used to construct the final model. In the training dataset, the consistency index (C-index) of the model was 0.848, and the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) at 1, 3, and 5 years was 0.852, 0.861, and 0.856, respectively. In the validation dataset, the C-index of the model was 0.847, and the AUC at 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years was 0.841, 0.862, and 0.852, respectively, indicating that this nomogram had an excellent and robust predictive performance. CONCLUSION: This study can help clinical doctors make better clinical decisions and provide better support for patients with CC.

Clinical Study on the Treatment of Female Stress Urinary Incontinence With Modified Buzhong Yiqi Decoction.

Purpose: To study the clinical application value of Modified Buzhong Yiqi Decoction in the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Methods: A total of 103 female patients with SUI were included in this study, 13 were lost to follow-up, and the final number of studies was 90. General information about the patients, including age, years of menopause, body mass index (BMI), reproductive history, chronic respiratory disease, hypertension, and diabetes, were recorded. All the patients were treated with Modified Buzhong Yiqi Decoction alone for 4 weeks. The Patient Global Impression of Improvement (PGI-I), the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICI-QSF) and 72-h voiding diary were used to evaluate the patients' subjective symptoms and urinary incontinence degree before treatment, 1 month after treatment and 1 year after treatment, the efficacy and efficacy-related factors of Modified Buzhong Yiqi Decoction in the treatment of female SUI were analyzed. Results: One month after Modified Buzhong Yiqi Decoction treatment, compared with before treatment, the PGI-I questionnaire was very much better (68.89%), much better (8.89%), a little better (12.33%), no change (8.89%), the ICI-QSF score decreased (P < 0.05), and 72-h urine leakage frequency decreased (P < 0.05); One year after treatment compared with before treatment, the PGI-I questionnaire was very much better (40.00%), much better (17.78%), a little better (12.22%), no change (30.00%), the ICI-QSF score decreased (P < 0.05), and 72-h urine leakage frequency decreased (P < 0.05); and 1 year after treatment compared with 1 month after treatment, the ratio of very much better at 1 year after treatment was significantly decreased (P < 0.05), the score of the ICI-QSF was significantly increased (P < 0.05), and 72-h urine leakage frequency was significantly increased (P < 0.05). The correlation analysis showed that the efficacy at 1 month after treatment was negatively correlated with the severity of SUI and chronic respiratory diseases, but was not significantly correlated with age, menopause status, BMI, number of pregnancies, and number of births. The efficacy at 1 year after treatment was negatively correlated with the severity of SUI, chronic respiratory disease, age, and number of births and was positively correlated with BMI, but not significantly correlated with menopause status and number of pregnancies. Conclusion: Modified Buzhong Yiqi Decoction can effectively treat SUI in women. The efficacy is related to the severity of SUI and chronic abdominal hypertension, but the long-term efficacy decreases.

Assessment of the iodine nutritional status among Chinese school-aged children.

OBJECTIVE: The remarkable success of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) elimination in China has been achieved through a mandatory universal salt iodization (USI) program. The study aims to estimate the relationship between urinary iodine concentration (UIC) and iodine content in edible salt to assess the current iodine nutritional status of school aged children. METHODS: A total of 5565 students from 26 of 39 districts/counties in Chongqing participated in the study, UIC and iodine content in table salt were measured. Thyroid volumes of 3311 students were examined by ultrasound and goiter prevalence was calculated. RESULTS: The overall median UIC of students was 222 µg/L (IQR: 150-313 µg/L). Median UIC was significantly different among groups with non-iodized salt (iodine content <5 mg/kg), inadequately iodized salt (between 5 and 21 mg/kg), adequately iodized (between 21 and 39 mg/kg) and excessively iodized (>39 mg/kg) salt (P < 0.01). The total goiter rate was 1.9% (60/3111) and 6.0% (186/3111) according to Chinese national and WHO reference values, respectively. Thyroid volume and goiter prevalence were not different within the three iodine nutritional status groups (insufficient, adequate and excessive, P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The efficient implementation of current USI program is able to reduce the goiter prevalence in Chongqing as a low incidence of goiter in school aged children is observed in this study. The widened UIC range of 100-299 µg/L indicating sufficient iodine intake is considered safe with a slim chance of causing goiter or thyroid dysfunction. Further researches were needed to evaluate the applicability of WHO reference in goiter diagnose in Chongqing or identifying more accurate criteria of normal thyroid volume of local students in the future.

[Treatment of Chronic Endometritis by Penning Granule: a Clinical Randomized Controlled Trial].

Objective To observe the mechanism of Penning Granule ( PG) for treating chronic endometritis (CE). Methods Totally 38 CE patients in line with inclusive criteria were assigned to the PG group (23 cases) and the control group (15 cases) according to random digit table. PG (consisting of sargentgloryvine stem, Herba Patriniae, Hedyotis Diffusa, red peony root, Angelica Sinensis, prepared mastiche, prepared myrrh, common burreed tuber, zedoary root, Spina Gleditsiae, Danshen root, Radix Bupleuri, asarum , Astragalus, Pangolin) was administered to patients in the PG group, 105 g each time, twice per day for 4 successive weeks. Those in the control group took Levofloxacin (0.5 g, once per day) and Metronidazole Tablet (0. 5 g, twice daily for 1 successive week). They were followed-up for half a year after ending treatment. The morphological changes of uterine endometrium were observed by hyst- eroscopy before and after treatment, and endometrium biopsy performed at fixed position. The expres- sions of mucin-1 (MUC-1 ) and hypoxia induced facter-1 α (HIF-1α) in inflammatory endometrium were analyzed. The clinical effects were compared between PG and antibiotics from improvement of clinical symptoms, hysteroscopic manifestations, pathological analyses, and molecular levels. Results The markedly effective rate of clinical symptoms in the PG group was 91. 3% (21/23) , higher than that of the control group [60. 0% (9/15) ; P <-0. 05]. The plasma cell CD38 infiltration in endometrial stroma of the PG group were significantly decreased, showing better effect than antibiotics in the control group (P < 0.05). The positive expression of MUC-1 was increased and the expression of HIF-1 α was decreased in the PG group, showing better effect than antibiotics in the control group (P <0. 05). Conclusion PG showed obvious effects for treating chronic endometritis , and it was superior to that of antibiotics alone.

[Studies of the factors linked to the bacteriostatic ability of Lactobacillus in human vagina].

OBJECTIVE: To study the factors linked to the bacteriostatic ability of Lactobacillus in human vagina, and the relationship between the Lactobacillus and the Candida albicans. METHODS: The content of H2O2, in the upper culture mediums of Lactobacilli were detected at different incubation time. Selecting the strains with vary bacteriostatic ability by Oxford cup test, detecting pH of these strains cultured after different time. After co-cultivation of the Lactobacillus, which has the strongest bacteriostatic ability, Candida albicans and Staphylococci for different incubation time, quantities of these mixed cultures were investigated. RESULTS: The date of pH and the size of the bacteriostatic ring are negative correlation. There is not obvious relationship between the ability of producing H2O2 and the bacteriostatic ability of Lactobacillus. The study of the relationship between bacteria shows that the quantity of Staphylococci is as this: Staphylococci alone > Staphylococci + Lactobacillus > Staphylococci + Lactobacillus + Candida albicans. CONCLUSION: The bacteriostatic ability of Lactobacillus is positivly related to its acid producing ability, and is not obvious to H2O2 content. After 36 hours cultivation time, Candida albicans can boost up the bacteriostatic ability of Lactobacillus.