A brain functional network feature extraction method based on directed transfer function and graph theory for MI-BCI decoding tasks.

Background: The development of Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology has brought tremendous potential to various fields. In recent years, prominent research has focused on enhancing the accuracy of BCI decoding algorithms by effectively utilizing meaningful features extracted from electroencephalographic (EEG) signals. Objective: This paper proposes a method for extracting brain functional network features based on directed transfer function (DTF) and graph theory. The method incorporates the extracted brain network features with common spatial pattern (CSP) to enhance the performance of motor imagery (MI) classification task. Methods: The signals from each electrode of the EEG, utilizing a total of 32 channels, are used as input signals for the network nodes. In this study, 26 healthy participants were recruited to provide EEG data. The brain functional network is constructed in Alpha and Beta bands using the DTF method. The node degree (ND), clustering coefficient (CC), and global efficiency (GE) of the brain functional network are obtained using graph theory. The DTF network features and graph theory are combined with the traditional signal processing method, the CSP algorithm. The redundant network features are filtered out using the Lasso method, and finally, the fused features are classified using a support vector machine (SVM), culminating in a novel approach we have termed CDGL. Results: For Beta frequency band, with 8 electrodes, the proposed CDGL method achieved an accuracy of 89.13%, a sensitivity of 90.15%, and a specificity of 88.10%, which are 14.10, 16.69, and 11.50% percentage higher than the traditional CSP method (75.03, 73.46, and 76.60%), respectively. Furthermore, the results obtained with 8 channels were superior to those with 4 channels (82.31, 83.35, and 81.74%), and the result for the Beta frequency band were better than those for the Alpha frequency band (87.42, 87.48, and 87.36%). Similar results were also obtained on two public datasets, where the CDGL algorithm's performance was found to be optimal. Conclusion: The feature fusion of DTF network and graph theory features enhanced CSP algorithm's performance in MI task classification. Increasing the number of channels allows for more EEG signal feature information, enhancing the model's sensitivity and discriminative ability toward specific activities in brain regions. It should be noted that the functional brain network features in the Beta band exhibit superior performance improvement for the algorithm compared to those in the Alpha band.

Robot-assisted minimally invasive bronchial resection with primary anastomosis for schwannoma arising from left main bronchus: a case report.

Background: Tracheobronchial schwannomas are extremely rare, which account for lower than 0.2% in all pulmonary tumors. In large part because of the rarity and insufficient reported clinical details, tracheobronchial schwannoma lacks guidelines or expert consensus for diagnosis and treatment, and the delay in diagnosis can range from months to years. The main treatment option is surgery. Endoscopic intervention can also be selected. An increasing number of thoracic surgery cases were performed on the robotic platforms in recent years. With their assistance, surgeons can accomplish the high technique required surgical procedures with ease. Case Description: In this case, a 48-year-old female had a history of shortness of breath for more than 1 year. The chest computed tomography (CT) and bronchoscopy examination revealed a new growth of nodule in the left main bronchus. The nodule was considered a schwannoma by transbronchial biopsy, which was removed by robot-assisted bronchial resection with primary anastomosis. The application of Da Vinci Si robotic surgical system benefited the process of this surgery. Pathology and immunohistochemistry results confirmed the diagnosis of schwannomas. The patient tolerated the treatment without any complications. No sign of recurrence was discovered at present, 6 months after the intervention. Conclusions: We reported the first sleeve resection for bronchial schwannoma using Da Vinci robotic surgical system. The clinical details of tracheobronchial schwannoma should be revealed more specifically to achieve more systematic diagnosis and treatment.

Biotransformation and disposition characteristics of HSK7653, a novel long-acting dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

AIM: To investigate the metabolism and disposition characteristics of HSK7653 in healthy male Chinese participants. METHODS: A single oral dose of 80 µCi (25 mg) [14C]HSK7653 capsules was administered to six healthy participants, and blood, plasma, urine and faeces were collected. Quantitative and qualitative analysis was conducted to investigate the pharmacokinetics, blood-to-plasma ratio, mass balance and metabolism of HSK7653. RESULTS: The drug was well absorbed and reached a maximum concentration at 1.25 h. The drug-related components (HSK7653 and its metabolites) were eliminated slowly, with a half-life (t1/2) of 111 h. Unchanged HSK7653 contributed to more than 97% of the total radioactivity in all plasma samples. The blood-to-plasma ratio (0.573-0.845) indicated that HSK7653 did not tend to distribute into blood cells. At 504 h postdose, up to 95.9% of the dose was excreted, including 79.8% in urine and 16.1% in faeces. Most of the radioactivity (75.5% dose) in excreta was unchanged HSK7653. In addition, nine metabolites were detected in urine and faeces. The most abundant metabolite was M6-2, a dioxidation product of HSK7653, which accounted for 4.73% and 2.63% of the dose in urine and faeces, respectively. The main metabolic pathways of HSK7653 in vivo included oxidation, pyrrole ring opening and sulphonamide hydrolysation. CONCLUSION: HSK7653 was well absorbed, slightly metabolized and slowly excreted in humans. The high plasma exposure and long t1/2 of HSK7653 may contribute to its long-lasting efficacy as a long-acting dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor.

A fused multi-subfrequency bands and CBAM SSVEP-BCI classification method based on convolutional neural network.

For the brain-computer interface (BCI) system based on steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP), it is difficult to obtain satisfactory classification performance for short-time window SSVEP signals by traditional methods. In this paper, a fused multi-subfrequency bands and convolutional block attention module (CBAM) classification method based on convolutional neural network (CBAM-CNN) is proposed for discerning SSVEP-BCI tasks. This method extracts multi-subfrequency bands SSVEP signals as the initial input of the network model, and then carries out feature fusion on all feature inputs. In addition, CBAM is embedded in both parts of the initial input and feature fusion for adaptive feature refinement. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, this study uses the datasets of Inner Mongolia University of Technology (IMUT) and Tsinghua University (THU) to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. The experimental results show that the highest accuracy of CBAM-CNN reaches 0.9813 percentage point (pp). Within 0.1-2 s time window, the accuracy of CBAM-CNN is 0.0201-0.5388 (pp) higher than that of CNN, CCA-CWT-SVM, CCA-SVM, CCA-GNB, FBCCA, and CCA. Especially in the short-time window range of 0.1-1 s, the performance advantage of CBAM-CNN is more significant. The maximum information transmission rate (ITR) of CBAM-CNN is 503.87 bit/min, which is 227.53 bit/min-503.41 bit/min higher than the above six EEG decoding methods. The study further results show that CBAM-CNN has potential application value in SSVEP decoding.

Increased ROS levels in mitochondrial outer membrane protein Mul1-deficient oocytes result in abnormal preimplantation embryogenesis.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are associated with oocyte maturation inhibition, and N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) partially reduces their harmful effects. Mitochondrial E3 ubiquitin ligase 1 (Mul1) localizes to the mitochondrial outer membrane. We found that female Mul1-deficient mice are infertile, and their oocytes contain high ROS concentrations. After fertilization, Mul1-deficient embryos showed a DNA damage response (DDR) and abnormal preimplantation embryogenesis, which was rescued by NAC addition and ROS depletion. These observations clearly demonstrate that loss of Mul1 in oocytes increases ROS concentrations and triggers DDR, resulting in abnormal preimplantation embryogenesis. We conclude that manipulating the mitochondrial ROS levels in oocytes may be a potential therapeutic approach to target infertility.

Annexin A2 combined with TTK accelerates esophageal cancer progression via the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.

Annexin A2 (ANXA2) is a widely reported oncogene. However, the mechanism of ANXA2 in esophageal cancer is not fully understood. In this study, we provided evidence that ANXA2 promotes the progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) through the downstream target threonine tyrosine kinase (TTK). These results are consistent with the up-regulation of ANXA2 and TTK in ESCC. In vitro experiments by knockdown and overexpression of ANXA2 revealed that ANXA2 promotes the progression of ESCC by enhancing cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Subsequently, animal models also confirmed the role of ANXA2 in promoting the proliferation and metastasis of ESCC. Mechanistically, the ANXA2/TTK complex activates the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway and accelerates epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), thereby promoting the invasion and metastasis of ESCC. Furthermore, we identified that TTK overexpression can reverse the inhibition of ESCC invasion after ANXA2 knockdown. Overall, these data indicate that the combination of ANXA2 and TTK regulates the activation of the Akt/mTOR pathway and accelerates the progression of ESCC. Therefore, the ANXA2/TTK/Akt/mTOR axis is a potential therapeutic target for ESCC.

Concentration and composition of odd-chain fatty acids in phospholipids and triacylglycerols in Chinese human milk throughout lactation.

Human milk represents the gold standard for infant nutrition, with approximately 50% of the energy in human milk derived from lipids. Odd-chain fatty acids (OCFAs) have been recognized as a category of bioactive milk fatty acids in recent research; however, limited data exist on OCFAs in human milk. This study collected human milk samples spanning the postpartum period from 0 to 400 days. Phospholipids containing OCFAs (PL-OCFAs) were determined in 486 human milk samples using hydrophilic liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-triquadrupole-mass spectrometry. Triacylglycerols containing OCFAs (TAG-OCFAs) were analyzed in 296 human milk samples using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The average total concentration of PL-OCFA ranged from 30.89 ± 14.27 mg L-1 to 93.48 ± 36.55 mg L-1 during lactation, and the average total TAG-OCFA content ranged from 103.1 ± 147.15 mg L-1 to 965.41 ± 651.67 mg L-1. Despite the lower absolute concentration of PL-OCFA, its relative concentration (8.75%-11.75%) was significantly higher than that of TAG-OCFA (0.37%-1.85%) throughout lactation. PC-OCFA, SM-OCFA and PE-OCFA are major sub-classes of PL-OCFA. Furthermore, C17:0 was the major chain length in both PL-OCFA and TAG-OCFA, followed by C15:0. C17:1 was characteristic of TAG-OCFA, while long-chain fatty acids C19:0, C21:0 and C23:0 were characteristic of PL-OCFA. Our findings highlighted the importance of bioactive lipids in human milk, suggesting that OCFAs could be targeted in future studies in relation to the health and development of infants.

Distribution and characteristics of bacteria on the hand during oropharyngeal swab collection: Which handwashing points are affected?

AIMS: To identify the contaminated areas of the hand collection and analyse the distribution characteristics of bacteria in the hand after swab collection. DESIGN: This study used a cross-sectional design. METHODS: A cross-sectional study sampling 50 pairs of hands (sampling hand and auxiliary hand) of healthcare workers was performed. Ten samples were collected from each participant. The optimal hand hygiene rates and bacterial colony counts of the whole hand and different hand sections without hand hygiene were identified as the primary outcomes. RESULTS: The optimal hand hygiene rates of the sampling hand and auxiliary hand were 88.8% (222/250) and 91.6% (229/250), respectively. The lowest optimal hand hygiene rates for the sampling hand and the auxiliary hand were both on the dorsal side of the finger and the dorsum of the hand (86.0%, 86.0% vs. 90.0%, 86.0%); the optimal hand hygiene rates for both sites of the sampling hand were 86.0% (43/50), and the optimal hand hygiene rates for the auxiliary hand were 90.0% (45/50) and 86.0% (43/50). The bacteria colony counts did not differ between the sampling hands and auxiliary hand. CONCLUSIONS: The dorsal side of the finger and dorsum of the hand were the most likely to be contaminated during oropharyngeal swab collection. Therefore, it is essential to pay extra attention to hand hygiene care of these two sites during the collection process to minimize the risk of cross-contamination. REPORTING METHOD: The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines were adopted in this study.

The role of the annexin A protein family at the maternal-fetal interface.

Successful pregnancy requires the tolerance of the maternal immune system for the semi-allogeneic embryo, as well as a synchrony between the receptive endometrium and the competent embryo. The annexin family belongs to calcium-regulated phospholipid-binding protein, which functions as a membrane skeleton to stabilize the lipid bilayer and participate in various biological processes in humans. There is an abundance of the annexin family at the maternal-fetal interface, and it exerts a crucial role in embryo implantation and the subsequent development of the placenta. Altered expression of the annexin family and dysfunction of annexin proteins or polymorphisms of the ANXA gene are involved in a range of pregnancy complications. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of the annexin A protein family at the maternal-fetal interface and its association with female reproductive disorders, suggesting the use of ANXA as the potential therapeutic target in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of pregnancy complications.

A single 24 h maternal separation at PND 9 promotes behavioral resilience of female C57BL/6J mice and the possible role of hippocampal Homer1a.

Early life stress (ELS) has been thought to increase vulnerability to developing psychiatric disorders later in life, while some researchers have found that adversity early in life may promote stress resilience. Studies investigating the resilient effect of maternal separation (MS) are still relatively few, and the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. In the current study, the effect of a single 24 h MS paradigm at postnatal day 9 (PND 9) in female C57BL/6J mice was investigated by assessing behavioral performance in middle adolescence. We demonstrated that, mice in MS group displayed decreased anxiety-like behavior and increased exploratory behavior than controls in the open field test and elevated plus maze test. Furthermore, MS mice exhibited improved hippocampal-dependent spatial learning in the Morris water maze test. This performance indicated behavioral resilience to early life stress. The protein expression levels of Homer1 isoforms, which are implicated in a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders, were evaluated using Western blot analysis. A significant increase in hippocampal Homer1a protein expression was observed immediately after MS, which subsequently decreased until adolescence (PND 27-42), when a significant increase was observed again. This distinctive change of hippocampal Homer1a protein expression pattern indicated that hippocampal Homer1a might play a role in behavioral resilience to MS in female C57BL/6J mice. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that exposure to a single 24 h MS at PND 9 promoted behavioral resilience of female C57BL/6J mice in middle adolescence. This behavioral resilience might be related to increased expression of hippocampal Homer1a.

The accuracy of different calculation methods when identifying handgrip strength asymmetry among middle-aged and older Chinese adults.

At present, there is no uniform standard mean of identifying handgrip strength (HGS) asymmetry based on maximum or average HGS values. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the accuracy of different calculation methods in the evaluation of HGS asymmetry. Using the maximum reading of two trials from both hands (Method A) as the reference standard, the accuracy of the HGS asymmetry identified by the average value of two trials of both hands (Method B) was determined by using various indicators, including specificity, sensitivity, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), positive, and negative predictive values. Overall, 12,163 individuals were included in this study, of whom 47.61% (5791/12,163) were male. The percentages of individuals with HGS asymmetry differed as a function of age and sex when using these two different methods. When employing Method A, 38.52%, 41.57%, and 44.57% of males 45 ≤ age<60, 60 ≤ age<80, and ≥ 80 years of age exhibited HGS asymmetry as compared to 40.78%, 39%, and 39.63% of females. Using Method B, the corresponding proportions were 41.69%, 42.5%, and 40% in males and 42.01%, 41.18%, and 40.55% in females, respectively. When compared to Method A, Method B was found to be effective in identifying HGS asymmetry, with AUC values ranging from 0.844 to 0.877. However, there was only moderate agreement between the two methods in assessing HGS asymmetry. Specifically, the Kappa values for the two Methods were 0.692, 0.694, and 0.766 in males aged 45 to 60, 60 to 80, and 80 years and above, respectively. For females, the Kappa values were 0.674, 0.661, and 0.751, respectively. These results demonstrated that the maximal or average HGS values from two trials using both hands has a significant impact on the consequent identification of HGS asymmetry.

Isolation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) from endometriotic mice model and their immunomodulatory functions.

Endometriosis is a chronic, painful disease whose etiology remains unknown. The development of novel therapies and diagnostic tools for endometriosis has been limited due in part to challenges in studying the disease. Recently, a few reports have shown that immunosuppressive cells, such as myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC), may promote the progression of endometriosis. MDSCs are a heterogeneous group of myeloid cells with potent immunosuppressive and angiogenic properties. Here, in this chapter, we provide a detailed protocol to phenotype MDSC as well as to isolate and assess the functionality from the peritoneal cavity of a mouse model of surgically induced endometriosis. Importantly, the current mouse model has been widely used to study how the immune system, hormones, and environmental factors affect endometriosis as well as the effects of endometriosis on fertility and pain.

Assessment of sarcopenic obesity as a predictor of pneumonia in patients with stable schizophrenia-A prospective study.

OBJECTIVE: The European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) and the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) recently released the first international consensus on the diagnostic criteria for Sarcopenic obesity (SO). The present study aimed to explore the ability of SO to predict the risk of pneumonia in patients with stable schizophrenia. METHODS: This was a prospective study involving hospitalized patients with schizophrenia aged ≥50 years from two mental health centers in western China. Baseline patient data were collected from September 1 to September 30, 2020. Follow-up data on pneumonia were collected from October 2020 to October 2022. The diagnosis of SO was based on the ESPEN/EASO criteria. Patients were assessed for handgrip strength (HGS), skeletal muscle mass/weight (SMM/W), and fat mass percentage (FM%). Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the effect of SO on the risk of pneumonia in patients with stable schizophrenia. RESULTS: A total of 320 patients with stable schizophrenia were included. Of these, 74 (23.13%) were diagnosed with SO, while 117 (36.56%) developed pneumonia. Compared with patients in the non-low HGS, non-low HGS + non-low SMM/W (or non-low HGS + low SMM/W or low HGS + non-low SMM/W) and non-SO groups, the proportions of patients with pneumonia in the low HGS (42.3% vs. 25.9%, p = 0.004), low HGS + low SMM/W (45.3% vs. 33.3%, p = 0.048), and SO (47.3% vs. 33.3%, p = 0.029) groups, respectively, were higher. However, there was no difference in the proportion of patients with pneumonia in the low SMM/W group and the obese group compared with the non-low SMM/W and non-obese groups. Further logistic regression analysis after adjustment for potential influencing factors showed that compared with the non-low HGS group, patients in the low HGS group had a higher risk of pneumonia (OR = 1.892, 95%CI: 1.096-3.264). CONCLUSION: SO defined according to the ESPEN/EASO criteria was not found to be significantly associated with the development of pneumonia in patients with stable schizophrenia. Further verification of these results is needed with larger sample sizes and the establishment of a cutoff value for this population.

Simultaneous determination of BGT-002 and its acyl glucuronide metabolite ZM326E-M2 in human plasma by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and its application to a pharmacokinetic study.

BGT-002, a new type of ATP-citrate lyase inhibitor, is a promising therapeutic for treatment of hypercholesterolemia. After an oral administration of BGT-002 to subjects, it underwent extensive metabolism and an acyl monoglucuronide (ZM326E-M2) on 1- carboxylic acid group was the major circulating metabolite. In this study, an LC-MS/MS method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of BGT-002 and ZM326E-M2 in plasma and the evaluation of their pharmacokinetic characteristics in humans. After extraction from the plasma by acetonitrile-induced protein precipitation, the analytes were separated on a Waters ACQUITY UPLC® BEH C18 column using acetonitrile and 2 mM ammonium acetate containing 0.1% formic acid as the mobile phase for gradient elution. Negative electrospray ionization was performed using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) of m/z 501.3→325.4 for ZM326E-M2 and m/z 507.3→331.2 for D6-ZM326E-M2, and pseudo-MRM of m/z 325.3→325.3 for BGT-002 and m/z 331.3→331.3 for D6-ZM326E, respectively. The method was validated with respect to accuracy, precision, linearity, stability, selectivity, matrix effect, and recovery. The analytical range in human plasma was linear over a concentration range of 0.0500-50.0 µg/mL for BGT-002 and 0.0100-10.0 µg/mL for ZM326E-M2. The pharmacokinetic results showed that after a single oral administration of 100 mg BGT-002, the parent drug was rapidly absorbed with a mean time to peak concentration (tmax) of 1.13 h, compared with BGT-002, the tmax (4.00 h) of ZM326E-M2 was significantly delayed. The peak concentration and plasma exposure of ZM326E-M2 were about 14.1% and 19.5% of the parent drug, suggesting that attention should be paid to the safety and efficacy of ZM326E-M2 in clinical research.

2H-Thiopyran-2-thione sulfine, a compound for converting H2S to HSOH/H2S2 and increasing intracellular sulfane sulfur levels.

Reactive sulfane sulfur species such as persulfides (RSSH) and H2S2 are important redox regulators and closely linked to H2S signaling. However, the study of these species is still challenging due to their instability, high reactivity, and the lack of suitable donors to produce them. Herein we report a unique compound, 2H-thiopyran-2-thione sulfine (TTS), which can specifically convert H2S to HSOH, and then to H2S2 in the presence of excess H2S. Meanwhile, the reaction product 2H-thiopyran-2-thione (TT) can be oxidized to reform TTS by biological oxidants. The reaction mechanism of TTS is studied experimentally and computationally. TTS can be conjugated to proteins to achieve specific delivery, and the combination of TTS and H2S leads to highly efficient protein persulfidation. When TTS is applied in conjunction with established H2S donors, the corresponding donors of H2S2 (or its equivalents) are obtained. Cell-based studies reveal that TTS can effectively increase intracellular sulfane sulfur levels and compensate for certain aspects of sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase (SQR) deficiency. These properties make TTS a conceptually new strategy for the design of donors of reactive sulfane sulfur species.

Responses in reef-building corals to wildfire emissions: Heterotrophic plasticity and calcification.

Extreme wildfire events are on the rise globally, and although substantial wildfire emissions may find their way into the ocean, their impact on coral reefs remains uncertain. In a five-week laboratory experiment, we observed a significant reduction in photosynthesis in coral symbionts (Porites lutea) when exposed to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from wildfires. At low PM2.5 level (2 mg L-1), the changes in δ13C and δ15N values in the host and symbiotic algae suggest reduced autotrophy and the utilization of wildfire particulates as a source of heterotrophic nutrients. This adaptive strategy, characterized by an increase in heterotrophy, sustained some aspects of coral growth (total biomass, proteins and lipids) under wildfire stress. Nevertheless, at high PM2.5 level (5 mg L-1), both autotrophy and heterotrophy significantly decreased, resulting in an imbalanced coral-algal nutritional relationship. These changes were related to light attenuation in seawater and particulate accumulation on the coral surface during PM2.5 deposition, ultimately rendering the coral growth unsustainable. Further, the calcification rates decreased by 1.5 to 1.85 times under both low and high levels of PM2.5, primarily affected by photosynthetic autotrophy rather than heterotrophy. Our study highlights a constrained heterotrophic plasticity of corals under wildfire stress. This limitation may restrict wildfire emissions as an alternative nutrient source to support coral growth and calcification, especially when oceanic food availability or autotrophy declines, as seen during bleaching induced by the warming ocean.

Matrix metalloproteinase-8 regulates dendritic cell tolerance in late polymicrobial sepsis via the nuclear factor kappa-B p65/ß-catenin pathway.

Background: Tolerogenic dendritic cells (DCs) are associated with poor prognosis of sepsis. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been shown to have immunomodulatory effects. However, whether MMPs are involved in the functional reprogramming of DCs is unknown. The study aims to investigate the role of MMPs in sepsis-induced DCs tolerance and the potential mechanisms. Methods: A murine model of late sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). The expression levels of members of the MMP family were detected in sepsis-induced tolerogenic DCs by using microarray assessment. The potential roles and mechanisms underlying MMP8 in the differentiation, maturation and functional reprogramming of DCs during late sepsis were assessed both in vitro and in vivo. Results: DCs from late septic mice expressed higher levels of MMP8, MMP9, MMP14, MMP19, MMP25 and MMP27, and MMP8 levels were the highest. MMP8 deficiency significantly alleviated sepsis-induced immune tolerance of DCs both in vivo and in vitro. Adoptive transfer of MMP8 knockdown post-septic bone marrow-derived DCs protected mice against sepsis-associated lethality and organ dysfunction, inhibited regulatory T-cell expansion and enhanced Th1 response. Furthermore, the effect of MMP8 on DC tolerance was found to be associated with the nuclear factor kappa-B p65/ß-catenin pathway. Conclusions: Increased MMP8 levels in septic DCs might serve as a negative feedback loop, thereby suppressing the proinflammatory response and inducing DC tolerance.

Cone-beam computed tomographic evaluation of mandibular incisor alveolar bone changes for the intrusion arch technique: A retrospective cohort research.

Objective: : Alveolar bone loss is a common adverse effect of intrusion treatment. Mandibular incisors are prone to dehiscence and fenestrations as they suffer from thinner alveolar bone thickness. Methods: : Thirty skeletal class II patients treated with mandibular intrusion arch therapy were included in this study. Lateral cephalograms and cone-beam computed tomography images were taken before treatment (T1) and immediately after intrusion arch removal (T2) to evaluate the tooth displacement and the alveolar bone changes. Pearson's and Spearman's correlation was used to identify risk factors of alveolar bone loss during the intrusion treatment. Results: : Deep overbite was successfully corrected (P < 0.05), accompanied by mandibular incisor proclination (P < 0.05). There were no statistically significant change in the true incisor intrusion (P > 0.05). The labial and lingual vertical alveolar bone levels showed a significant decrease (P < 0.05). The alveolar bone is thinning in the labial crestal area and lingual apical area (P < 0.05); accompanied by thickening in the labial apical area (P < 0.05). Proclined incisors, non-extraction treatment, and increased A point-nasion-B point (ANB) degree were positively correlated with alveolar bone loss. Conclusions: : While the mandibular intrusion arch effectively corrected the deep overbite, it did cause some unwanted incisor labial tipping/flaring. During the intrusion treatment, the alveolar bone underwent corresponding changes, which was thinning in the labial crestal area and thickening in the labial apical area vice versa. And increased axis change of incisors, non-extraction treatment, and increased ANB were identified as risk factors for alveolar bone loss in patients with mandibular intrusion therapy.

Clinical Characteristics of Chlamydia psittaci Infection Diagnosed by Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing: A Retrospective Multi-Center Study in Fujian, China.

Objective: This study aimed to describe and compare the epidemiological, demographic, clinical, laboratory and radiological characteristics as well as the complications, treatments, and outcomes of these patients. Methods: We retrospectively investigated clinical data of patients with C. psittaci infection (psittacosis) in eight Grade IIIA hospitals of Fujian. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) was used identify C. psittaci in clinical samples of all included patients. Results: A total of 74 patients (39 severe/35 non-severe) was diagnosed with psittacosis, 25 (33.8%) of whom had history of poultry exposure. Common symptoms included high fever (98% [37/74]), fatigue (52.7% [39/74]), and dyspnea (51.4% [38/74]). Common manifestations in imaging included consolidation (89.2%), pleural effusion (77.0%), and air bronchogram (66.2%). Common complications included acute respiratory distress syndrome (55.4% [41/74]), type I respiratory failure (52.7% [39/74]), acute liver injury (41.9% [31/74]), and secondary infection (27.0% [20/74]). The in-hospital mortality rate was 8.11% (6/74). Conclusion: C. psittaci infection is represents an underestimated cause of CAP. For SCAP patients with poultry and bird contact history, specimens were encouraged to be sended for mNGS test in time. C. psittaci infection can lead to severe, multiple system involvement, and several complications. mNGS facilitate timely diagnosis of C. psittaci infection.

Chinese expert consensus on the diagnosis, treatment, and management of asthma in women across life.

Background: The epidemiology and severity of asthma vary by sex and age. The diagnosis, treatment, and management of asthma in female patients are quite challenging. However, there is hitherto no comprehensive and standardized guidance for female patients with asthma. Methods: Corresponding search strategies were determined based on clinical concerns regarding female asthma. Search terms included "sex hormones and lung development", "sex hormone changes and asthma", "hormones and asthma immune response", "women, asthma", "children, asthma", "puberty, asthma", "menstruation, asthma", "pregnancy, asthma", "lactation, asthma", "menopause, asthma", "obesity, asthma", and "women, refractory, severe asthma". Literature was retrieved from PubMed/Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, China Biology Medicine disc, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data with the search date of July 30, 2022 as the last day. This consensus used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation to evaluate the strength of recommendation and quality of evidence. Results: We collected basic research results and clinical evidence-based medical data and reviewed the effects of sex hormones, classical genetics, and epigenetics on the clinical presentation and treatment response of female patients with asthma under different environmental effects. Based on that, we formulated this expert consensus on the management of female asthma throughout the life cycle. Conclusions: This expert consensus on the management of asthma in women throughout the life cycle provides diagnosis, treatment, and research reference for clinical and basic medical practitioners.