HCV Genotype Distribution and Clinical Characteristics of HCV Mono-Infected and HCV/HIV Co-Infected Patients in Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China.

Objective: The present study aimed to characterize the genotype distribution and clinical characteristics of HCV monoinfected and HCV/HIV coinfected patients in the Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China. Methods: All the patients were divided into HCV monoinfection and HCV/HIV coinfection groups according to whether they were complicated with HIV infection. The data from the two groups were collected. Results: In this study, HCV genotype 3 was the most common genotype in both groups, while HCV genotype 6 was significantly higher in the coinfection group than in the monoinfection group (p = 0.046). The white blood cell count, total bilirubin level, and HCV RNA were significantly higher in the HCV monoinfection group than that in the HCV/HIV coinfection group (p = 0.031; p < 0.001; p = 0.027, respectively). Conclusion: HCV prevalence was high in HIV-positive patients in the Liangshan Prefecture. Thus, incorporating screening and management of HCV monoinfection and HCV/HIV coinfection is needed in local region programs.

HIV-1 RNA and DNA Genotyping Drug Resistance Detection in Patients with Low-Level Viremia in Liangshan, China.

In this study, we characterized HIV-1 RNA and HIV-1 DNA genotyping drug resistance detection in patients with low-level viremia (LLV) in Liangshan, China. Whole blood samples were collected from HIV/AIDS patients who had received antiretroviral therapy (ART) for ≥6 months and whose HIV-1 RNA loads were 50-1,000 copies/mL for two consecutive times at least 1-month apart. The patients were enrolled from a county in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, between May 2021 and May 2022. Plasma and blood cells were separated. Plasma samples were tested for HIV-1 RNA genotyping drug resistance, while blood cell samples were tested for HIV-1 DNA genotyping drug resistance. Then, HIV-1 RNA and HIV-1 DNA genotyping drug resistance outcomes were compared. Among the 32 participants, 16 were males, while 16 were females, with the median age of 34.5 years. The main HIV-1 infection route was heterosexual transmission. The median ART duration was 3.9 years. Two types of nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) + one non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) were the main antiviral therapeutic options. Pol region genes for 28 HIV-1 DNA samples and 10 HIV-1 RNA samples were successfully amplified. The success rate of pol region gene amplification for HIV-1 DNA was significantly higher than that of HIV-1 RNA (χ2 = 20.988, p < .05). In HIV-1 RNA and HIV-1 DNA samples, M184 (4/8) and K103 (3/8) were the most frequent drug resistance mutation sites. Among the NNRTIs, the rates of drug resistance were highest to efavirenz (EFV) (6/8) and nevirapine (NVP) (6/8), while among the NRTIs, the rates of drug resistance were highest to abacavir (ABC) (4/8), emtricitabine (FTC) (4/8), and lamivudine (3TC) (4/8). In conclusion, detection of HIV-1 RNA genotyping drug resistance combined with HIV-1 DNA genotyping drug resistance can improve the success rate of drug resistance detection in patients with LLV.

Case Report: Rare Acute Abdomen: Focal Nodular Hyperplasia With Spontaneous Rupture.

Focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) of the liver is a benign lesion characterized by hypertrophic nodules with central star-shaped fibrous scars. The etiology and pathogenesis of FNH are not completely understood. A 43-year-old man was hospitalized because of acute abdominal pain. Emergency computed tomography(CT) showed hepatic tumor rupture and bleeding. The patient's condition improved following arteriographic embolization to stop bleeding. Laparotomy confirmed spontaneous rupture and hemorrhage of focal hyperplasia and the patient remains asymptomatic after an uneventful recovery. FNH with spontaneous rupture and bleeding is extremely rare. Currently, there is no unified management standard for FNH and most previous studies recommend observation and follow-up. We recommend consideration of surgical treatment of cases with spontaneous rupture and bleeding.

Collaborative driving style classification method enabled by majority voting ensemble learning for enhancing classification performance.

The classification of driving styles plays a fundamental role in evaluating drivers' driving behaviors, which is of great significance to traffic safety. However, it still suffers from various challenges, including the insufficient accuracy of the model, the large amount of training parameters, the instability of classification results, and some others. To evaluate the driving behaviors accurately and efficiently, and to study the differences of driving behaviors among various vehicle drivers, a collaborative driving style classification method, which is enabled by ensemble learning and divided into pre-classification and classification, is proposed in this paper. In the pre-classification process, various clustering algorithms are utilized compositely to label some typical initial data with specific labels as aggressive, stable and conservative. Then, in the classification process, other unlabeled data can be classified accurately and efficiently by the majority voting ensemble learning method incorporating three different conventional classifiers. The availability and efficiency of the proposed method are demonstrated through some simulation experiments, in which the proposed collaborative classification method achieves quite good and stable performance on driving style classification. Particularly, compared with some other similar classification methods, the evaluation indicators of the proposed method, including accuracy, precision, recall and F-measure, are improved by 1.49%, 2.90%, 5.32% and 4.49% respectively, making it the best overall performance. Therefore, the proposed method is much preferred for the autonomous driving and usage-based insurance.

Preparation and characterization of SnO2 and Carbon Co-coated LiFePO4 cathode materials.

The SnO2 and carbon co-coated LiFePO4 cathode materials were successfully synthesized by solid state method. The microstructure and morphology of LiFePO4 composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscope. The results showed that the SnO2 and carbon co-coated LiFePO4 cathode materials exhibited more uniform particle size distribution. Compared with the uncoated LiFePO4/C, the structure of LiFePO4 with SnO2 and carbon coating had no change. The existence of SnO2 and carbon coating layer effectively enhanced the initial discharge capacity. Among the investigated samples, the one with DBTDL:LiFePO4 molar ratios of 7:100 exhibited the best electrochemical performance.

The association between CYP2E1 polymorphisms and hepatotoxicity due to anti-tuberculosis drugs: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Although there have been previous studies on the potential association between cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) polymorphisms and the risk of anti-tuberculosis drug-induced hepatotoxicity (ATDH), the results have generally been controversial. METHODS: We searched Medline/PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library using the following key words: cytochrome P450 2E1, CYP2E1, polymorphism, tuberculosis and TB. The strength of the association between the CYP2E1 PstI/RsaI and DraI polymorphism and ATDH risk as measured by odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was studied. RESULTS: Compared with the wild genotype (c1/c1), the OR of ATDH was 1.41 (95% CI: 1.1-1.82, P=0.007) for the PstI/RsaI polymorphism, and 0.78 (95% CI: 0.51-1.18, P=0.23) for the DraI polymorphism. Compared with individuals with N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) fast or intermediate acetylator genotype and c1/c1 genotype patients who were NAT2 slow acetylators and carried the high activity CYP2E1 c1/c1 genotype had higher risk for ATDH (OR=3.10, P<0.0001). CONCLUSION: The present meta-analysis indicates that the CYP2E1 c1/c1 genotype may be a risk factor for ATDH, and the concomitant presence of the slow acetylator NAT2 genotype may further increase this risk.

Dipyrithione induces cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis in four cancer cell lines in vitro and inhibits tumor growth in a mouse model.

BACKGROUND: Dipyrithione (PTS2) is widely used as a bactericide and fungicide. Here, we investigated whether PTS2 has broad-spectrum antitumor activity by studying its cytotoxicity and proapoptotic effects in four cancer cell lines. METHODS: We used MTT assays and trypan blue staining to test the viability of cancer cell lines. Hoechst 33258 and DAPI staining were used to observe cell apoptosis. Cell-cycle percentages were analyzed by flow cytometry. Apoptosis was assayed using caspase-3 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) combined with Western blotting. Student's t-test was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: PTS2 inhibited proliferation in four cancer cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. Treated cells showed shrinkage, irregular fragments, condensed and dispersed blue fluorescent particles compared with control cells. PTS2 induced cycle-arrest and death. Cleavage of caspase-9, caspase-3, and PARP were detected in PTS2-treated cells. Antitumor activity of PTS2 was more effective against widely used cancer drugs and its precursor. CONCLUSIONS: PTS2 appears to have novel cytotoxicity and potent broad-spectrum antitumor activity, which suggests its potential as the basis of an anticancer drug.