Assessing and Comparing Potential Allergenicity of Two Partially Hydrolyzed Whey-Based Formulas for Infants: A Population-Based Study in China.

SCOPE: In cases where breast milk is unavailable or inadequate, hydrolyzed infant formula is recommended as the primary alternative. The aim of this study is to assess and compare the allergenicity of two partially hydrolyzed whey-based formulas (PHF-Ws) using serum samples from patients with cow's milk allergy (CMA). METHODS AND RESULTS: LC-MS/MS technology is used to investigate the peptide distribution in both samples. The immunoreactivity of two PHF-Ws in 27 serum samples from 50 Chinese infants (02 years) with CMA is analyzed. The results demonstrate that even with a similar a degree of hydrolysis (DH), primary protein sources, peptides with molecular weights <5 kDa, and differences in the number of residual allergenic epitopes in the hydrolyzed peptide segments can lead to varying immune responses. CONCLUSION: The two PHF-Ws have notably high intolerance rates, exceeding 10% among infants with CMA. Therefore, suggesting that PHF-Ws may not be suitable for infants and children with CMA in China.

A Long Photoperiod Promoted the Development, Reproduction, and Predation of Harmonia axyridis Pallas (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) at an Average Greenhouse Temperature during the Winter.

To explore the feasibility of adjusting the photoperiod to regulate the life parameters and predation ability of Harmonia axyridis Pallas in greenhouses during the winter, life tables were constructed for H. axyridis under the three following photoperiods: 9L:15D (light/dark), 12L:12D, and 16L:8D at 15 °C, an average greenhouse temperature during the winter when aphids severely damage vegetables. The effects of photoperiods on predation by this ladybird were tested in both laboratory and greenhouse settings. The results showed that increased illumination promoted the development and reproduction of H. axyridis; under medium and long photoperiods, the pre-adult periods were 3.61 days and 4.34 days shorter than that under the short photoperiod, respectively, and the fecundity increased by 1.78 and 2.41 times. Population parameters r, λ, and R0 increased as illumination time increased, whereas T decreased. Increased illumination also increased the predation by third- and fourth-instar larvae and adults. The amounts of predation by fourth-instar larvae and adults increased by 22.16% and 75.09% under the medium photoperiod, and those under the long photoperiod increased by 71.96% and 89.64%, respectively. The numbers of Myzus persicae Sulzer predated by H. axyridis under the long photoperiod were higher than those under the short photoperiod in a greenhouse, and the predation parameters were influenced.

Phosphotungstic Acid Clusters decorated Znln2S4 Nanoflowers as Molecular-scale S-scheme Heterojunctions for Simultaneous H2 Evolution and Benzyl Alcohol Upgrading.

Simultaneous utilization of photogenerated electrons and holes to achieve overall redox reactions is attractive but still far from practical application. The emerging step (S)-scheme mechanism has proven to be an ideal approach to inhibit charge recombination and supply photoinduced charges with highest redox potentials. Herein, a hierarchical phosphotungstic acid (H3PW12O40, HPW)@Znln2S4 (ZISW) heterojunction was prepared through one-pot hydrothermal method for simultaneous hydrogen (H2) evolution and benzyl alcohol upgrading. The fabricated HPW-based heterojunctions indicated much enhanced visible-light absorption, promoted photogenerated charge transfer and inhibited charge recombination, owing to hierarchical architecture based on visible-light responsive Znln2S4 microspheres, and S-scheme charge transfer pathway. The S-scheme mechanism was further investigated by free-radical trapping electron spin resonance (ESR) spectra. Moreover, the wettability of composite heterojunction was improved by the modification of hydrophilic HPW, contributing to gaining active hydrogen (H+) from water sustainably. The optimal ZISW-30 heterojunction photocatalyst indicated an enhanced hydrogen evolution rate of 27.59 mmol g-1 h-1 in benzyl alcohol (10 vol.%) solution under full-spectrum irradiation, along with highest benzaldehyde production rate is 8.32 mmol g-1 h-1. This work provides a promising guideline for incorporating HPW into S-scheme heterojunctions to achieve efficient overall redox reactions.

Association of maternal weight gain in early pregnancy with congenital heart disease in offspring: a China birth cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: Little study has reported the association of maternal weight gain in early pregnancy with fetal congenital heart disease (CHD). We aimed to explore the potential relationship based on a China birth cohort while adjusting by multiple factors. DESIGN: Cohort study. SETTING: China birth cohort study conducted from 2017 to 2021. PARTICIPANTS: The study finally included 114 672 singleton pregnancies in the 6-14 weeks of gestation, without missing data or outliers, loss to follow-up or abnormal conditions other than CHD. The proportion of CHD was 0.65% (749 cases). PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Association between maternal pre-pregnancy weight gain and CHD in the offspring were analysed by multivariate logistic regression, with the unadjusted, minimally adjusted and maximally adjusted methods, respectively. RESULTS: The first-trimester weight gain showed similar discrimination of fetal CHD to that period of maternal body mass index (BMI) change (DeLong tests: p=0.091). Compared with weight gain in the lowest quartile (the weight gain less than 0.0 kg), the highest quartile (over 2.0 kg) was associated with a higher risk of fetal CHD in unadjusted (OR 1.36, 95% CI: 1.08 to 1.72), minimally adjusted (adjusted OR (aOR) 1.29, 95% CI: 1.02 to 1.62) and maximally adjusted (aOR 1.29, 95% CI: 1.02 to 1.63) models. The association remains robust in pregnant women with morning sickness, normal pre-pregnancy BMI, moderate physical activity, college/university level, natural conception or with folic acid (FA) and/or multivitamin supplementation. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Although the association of maternal pre-pregnancy weight gain on fetal CHD is weak, the excessive weight gain may be a potential predictor of CHD in the offspring, especially in those with morning sickness and other conditions that are routine in the cohort, such as normal pre-pregnancy BMI, moderate physical activity, college/university level, natural conception or with FA and/or multivitamin supplementation.

Mining Semantic Correlations Between Mispredictions and Corrections for Interactive Semantic Segmentation.

Interactive semantic segmentation pursues high-quality segmentation results at the cost of a small number of user clicks. It is attracting more and more research attention for its convenience in labeling semantic pixel-level data. Existing interactive segmentation methods often pursue higher interaction efficiency by mining the latent information of user clicks or exploring efficient interaction manners. However, these works neglect to explicitly exploit the semantic correlations between user corrections and model mispredictions, thus suffering from two flaws. First, similar prediction errors frequently occur in actual use, causing users to repeatedly correct them. Second, the interaction difficulty of different semantic classes varies across images, but existing models use monotonic parameters for all images which lack semantic pertinence. Therefore, in this article, we explore the semantic correlations existing in corrections and mispredictions by proposing a simple yet effective online learning solution to the above problems, named correction-misprediction correlation mining ( CM2 ). Specifically, we leverage the correction-misprediction similarities to design a confusion memory module (CMM) for automatic correction when similar prediction errors reappear. Furthermore, we measure the semantic interaction difficulty by counting the correction-misprediction pairs and design a challenge adaptive convolutional layer (CACL), which can adaptively switch different parameters according to interaction difficulties to better segment the challenging classes. Our method requires no extra training besides the online learning process and can effectively improve interaction efficiency. Our proposed CM2 achieves state-of-the-art results on three public semantic segmentation benchmarks.

Effects of rainfall patterns in dry and rainy seasons on the biomass, ecostoichiometric characteristics, and NSC content of Fraxinus malacophylla seedlings.

With global climate change and rising temperatures, rainfall will change. The impact of global rainfall changes on ecosystems has prompted people to delve deeper into how changes in rainfall affect plant growth; Plant biomass, nutrient element content, and non-structural carbohydrate content are very sensitive to changes in precipitation. Therefore, understanding the impact of rainfall changes on seedlings is crucial. However, it is currently unclear how the seedlings of Fraxinus malacophylla Hemsl in rocky desertification areas respond to changes in rainfall. In this study, the response of biomass, nutrient accumulation, and NSC content of Fraxinus malacophylla Hemsl seedlings to different rainfall intervals and rainfall during the dry and rainy seasons was studied. Use natural rainfall duration of 5 days (T) and extended rainfall duration of 10 days(T+) as rainfall intervals; average monthly rainfall was used as the control (W), with a corresponding 40% increase in rainfall (W+) and a 40% decrease in rainfall (W-) as rainfall treatments. The research results indicate that the biomass of roots, stems, and leaves, as well as the accumulation of C, N, and P in Fraxinus malacophylla Hemsl seedlings increase with the increase of rainfall, while the soluble sugar and starch content show a pattern of first increasing and then decreasing. The biomass and nutrient accumulation of each organ showed root>leaf>stem. Except for the beginning of the dry season, prolonging the duration of rainfall in other periods inhibits the biomass accumulation of Fraxinus malacophylla Hemsl seedlings, and promotes the accumulation of C, N, and P nutrients and an increase in soluble sugar and starch content. There was a significant positive correlation (P<0.05) between the nutrient contents of C, N, and P in various organs, as well as between soluble sugar and starch content; And N: P>16, plant growth is limited by P element. These results indicate that changes in rainfall can affect the growth and development of Fraxinus malacophylla Hemsl seedlings, increasing rainfall can promote biomass and nutrient accumulation of Fraxinus malacophylla Hemsl seedlings, and prolonging rainfall intervals and reducing rainfall have inhibitory effects on them. The exploration of the adaptation of Fraxinus malacophylla Hemsl seedlings to rainfall patterns has promoted a basic understanding of the impact of rainfall changes on the growth of Fraxinus malacophylla Hemsl. This provides a theoretical basis for understanding how Fraxinus malacophylla Hemsl can grow better under rainfall changes and for future management of Fraxinus malacophylla Hemsl artificial forests in rocky desertification areas.

Chronic stress increases metastasis via neutrophil-mediated changes to the microenvironment.

Chronic stress is associated with increased risk of metastasis and poor survival in cancer patients, yet the reasons are unclear. We show that chronic stress increases lung metastasis from disseminated cancer cells 2- to 4-fold in mice. Chronic stress significantly alters the lung microenvironment, with fibronectin accumulation, reduced T cell infiltration, and increased neutrophil infiltration. Depleting neutrophils abolishes stress-induced metastasis. Chronic stress shifts normal circadian rhythm of neutrophils and causes increased neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation via glucocorticoid release. In mice with neutrophil-specific glucocorticoid receptor deletion, chronic stress fails to increase NETs and metastasis. Furthermore, digesting NETs with DNase I prevents chronic stress-induced metastasis. Together, our data show that glucocorticoids released during chronic stress cause NET formation and establish a metastasis-promoting microenvironment. Therefore, NETs could be targets for preventing metastatic recurrence in cancer patients, many of whom will experience chronic stress due to their disease.

Swieteliacates S-U, phragmalin limonoids, from the leaves of Swietenia macrophylla.

Three novel phragmalin-type limonoids, swieteliacates S-U (1-3), were isolated from Swietenia macrophylla leaves, alongside four previously identified limonoids (4-7). The structures, encompassing absolute configurations, were delineated through 1D and 2D NMR analyses, high-resolution mass spectrometry (HR-MS), and NMR and ECD calculations. Swieteliacate S (1) is a distinctive cryptate comprising a tricyclo[4.2.110,30.11,4]decane fragment and an additional five-membered oxygen ring. Compounds 3 and 5 exhibited inhibition rates of 26.08 ± 2.26% and 15.42 ± 3.66%, respectively, on triglyceride (TG) production in Hep G2 cells at 40 µM.

Regulating the Heme Active Site by Covalent Modifications: Two Case Studies of Myoglobin.

Using myoglobin (Mb) as a model protein, we herein developed a facial approach to modifying the heme active site. A cavity was first generated in the heme distal site by F46 C mutation, and the thiol group of Cys46 was then used for covalently linked to exogenous ligands, 1H-1,2,4-triazole-3-thiol and 1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dione. The engineered proteins, termed F46C-triazole Mb and F46C-phenol Mb, respectively, were characterized by X-ray crystallography, spectroscopic and stopped-flow kinetic studies. The results showed that both the heme coordination state and the protein function such as H2 O2 activation and peroxidase activity could be efficiently regulated, which suggests that this approach might be generally applied to the design of functional heme proteins.

Development and testing of a questionnaire assessing knowledge, attitudes, and practices to prevent unplanned oral extubation.

BACKGROUND: The prevention of unplanned endotracheal extubation (UEE) is significant for the critical care of intensive care unit (ICU) patients. AIM: To develop a questionnaire to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of the nurses regarding of the prevention of UEE in ICU patients with transoral endotracheal intubation (TEI) and to test the validity and reliability of the questionnaire. STUDY DESIGN: Items relevant to KAP were prepared following a literature review, and then screened using a Delphi expert consultation, pre-test, and factor analysis. The nursing staffs in four tertiary hospitals in Qinghai, Jiangsu, Gansu, and Shandong provinces were surveyed to test the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. RESULTS: The questionnaire contained 76 items, including 10, 37, and 29 in the dimensions of knowledge, attitude, and practice, respectively. The scale-level content validity index (S-CVI) of the questionnaire was 0.96. The results of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) showed that the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value was 0.956, indicating that the sample was adequate and suitable for factor analysis. The result of the Bartlett spherical test was significant (p < .001), indicating that the questionnaire was suitable for further EFA. A total of six common factors were extracted by EFA with a cumulative variance interpretation rate of 85.52%, indicating that the questionnaire had good structural validity. The Cronbach's alpha was 0.981 for the whole questionnaire; and was 0.966, 0.996, and 0.981 for the dimensions of knowledge, attitude, and practice, respectively. The test-retest reliability for the questionnaire was 0.843. CONCLUSIONS: The developed questionnaire has good reliability and validity and can be used as a scientific tool for the nursing leaders to prevent UEE in ICU patients with TEI. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The instrument provides a theoretical reference for establishing preventive strategies and management programs in clinical practice.

US of thyroid nodules: can AI-assisted diagnostic system compete with fine needle aspiration?

OBJECTIVES: Artificial intelligence (AI) systems can diagnose thyroid nodules with similar or better performance than radiologists. Little is known about how this performance compares with that achieved through fine needle aspiration (FNA). This study aims to compare the diagnostic yields of FNA cytopathology alone and combined with BRAFV600E mutation analysis and an AI diagnostic system. METHODS: The ultrasound images of 637 thyroid nodules were collected in three hospitals. The diagnostic efficacies of an AI diagnostic system, FNA-based cytopathology, and BRAFV600E mutation analysis were evaluated in terms of sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and the κ coefficient with respect to the gold standard, defined by postsurgical pathology and consistent benign outcomes from two combined FNA and mutation analysis examinations performed with a half-year interval. RESULTS: The malignancy threshold for the AI system was selected according to the Youden index from a retrospective cohort of 346 nodules and then applied to a prospective cohort of 291 nodules. The combination of FNA cytopathology according to the Bethesda criteria and BRAFV600E mutation analysis showed no significant difference from the AI system in terms of accuracy for either cohort in our multicenter study. In addition, for 45 included indeterminate Bethesda category III and IV nodules, the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of the AI system were 84.44%, 95.45%, and 73.91%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The AI diagnostic system showed similar diagnostic performance to FNA cytopathology combined with BRAFV600E mutation analysis. Given its advantages in terms of operability, time efficiency, non-invasiveness, and the wide availability of ultrasonography, it provides a new alternative for thyroid nodule diagnosis. CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT: Thyroid ultrasonic artificial intelligence shows statistically equivalent performance for thyroid nodule diagnosis to FNA cytopathology combined with BRAFV600E mutation analysis. It can be widely applied in hospitals and clinics to assist radiologists in thyroid nodule screening and is expected to reduce the need for relatively invasive FNA biopsies. KEY POINTS: • In a retrospective cohort of 346 nodules, the evaluated artificial intelligence (AI) system did not significantly differ from fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytopathology alone and combined with gene mutation analysis in accuracy. • In a prospective multicenter cohort of 291 nodules, the accuracy of the AI diagnostic system was not significantly different from that of FNA cytopathology either alone or combined with gene mutation analysis. • For 45 indeterminate Bethesda category III and IV nodules, the AI system did not perform significantly differently from BRAFV600E mutation analysis.

Radiation injury and gut microbiota-based treatment.

The exposure to either medical sources or accidental radiation can cause varying degrees of radiation injury (RI). RI is a common disease involving multiple human body parts and organs, yet effective treatments are currently limited. Accumulating evidence suggests gut microbiota are closely associated with the development and prevention of various RI. This article summarizes 10 common types of RI and their possible mechanisms. It also highlights the changes and potential microbiota-based treatments for RI, including probiotics, metabolites, and microbiota transplantation. Additionally, a 5P-Framework is proposed to provide a comprehensive strategy for managing RI.

Assessment of left atrial function in patients with metabolic syndrome by four-dimensional automatic left atrial quantification.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed at assessing the changes of left atrial (LA) volume and strain function in metabolic syndrome (MS) patients using four-dimensional automatic left atrial quantification (4D-LAQ) and exploring independent correlative factors for LA function. METHODS: A total of 110 MS patients and 70 normal controls were selected and assigned into the MS group and the control group, respectively. Echocardiogram parameters were routinely examined and the thickness of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) were measured with a parasternal long axis of left ventricle(LV). The LA volume and strain parameters were determined using 4D-LAQ. The independent correlation factors for LA strain parameters in MS patients were investigated through linear regression analysis. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, LA volume parameters were increased in the MS group, LA strain parameters and LA emptying fraction (LAEF) were decreased (all P < 0.05). EAT thickness is associated with LA reservoir longitudinal strain (LASr), conduit longitudinal strain (LAScd), reservoir circumferential strain (LASr-c), and conduit circumferential strain (LAScd-c) (all P < 0.05). LA contraction longitudinal (LASct) and circumferential strain (LASct-c) were not statistically significant. Regression analysis results show that systolic blood pressure (SBP) and triglyceride (TG) are independent correlative factors. Intra-observer and inter-observer repeatability test showed that the LA parameters examined by 4D-LAQ had good agreement. CONCLUSIONS: 4D-LAQ is capable of effectively assessing the LA function in MS patients and providing a useful reference for clinical diagnosis. SBP and TG serve as the independent correlative factors for LA function.

Phosphate Transporter OsPT4, Ubiquitinated by E3 Ligase OsAIRP2, Plays a Crucial Role in Phosphorus and Nitrogen Translocation and Consumption in Germinating Seed.

Phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) are essential macronutrients necessary for plant growth and development. OsPT4 is a high-affinity phosphate (Pi) transporter that has a positive impact on nutrient uptake and seed development. In this study, the expression patterns of different Pi transporter genes in germinating seeds were determined, and the relative expression of OsPT4 was induced in Pi-deficient seeds and gradually increased with the passage of germination time. The analysis of P, N, Pi, and amino acid concentrations in germinating seeds of OsPT4 mutants showed that the OsPT4 mutation caused P and N retention and a continuous reduction in multiple amino acid concentrations in germinating seeds. Transcriptome analysis and qRT-PCR results also indicated that the OsPT4 mutation inhibits the expression of genes related to P and N transportation and amino acid synthesis in germinating seeds. In addition, the paraffin section and TUNEL assay of OsPT4 mutant germinating seeds suggests that OsPT4 mutation causes programmed cell death (PCD) delayed in the aleurone layer and inhibition of leaf outgrowth. Moreover, we also found that OsPT4 was ubiquitinated by OsAIRP2, which is a C3HC4-type RING E3 Ub ligase. Our studies illustrate that OsPT4 plays a crucial role in P and N collaborative translocation and consumption in germinating seeds. It also provides a theoretical basis for the molecules and physiological mechanisms of P and N cross-talk under suppressed Pi uptake conditions.

Establishing Reference Intervals for Normal Fetal Lung Biological Parameters at 21-40 Weeks of Gestation in the Chinese Population: A Cross-Sectional Study.

(1) Background: There is no reliable way to assess antenatal fetal pulmonary hypoplasia; however, the biological parameters of the fetal lung can help in evaluating fetal lung development. This study aimed to establish the reference intervals for normal fetal lung biological parameters at 21-40 weeks among the Chinese population. (2) Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of Chinese groups, and included a total of 1388 normal single pregnant women at 21-40 weeks' gestation. We selected 2134 images of a standard four-chamber view (4CV). ImageJ software (Release 2.14.0) was used to measure the left and right lung areas using a manual tracing method; the elliptic function key was used to measure the fetal thoracic circumference (TC), thoracic area (TA), head circumference (HC), heart area (HA), and abdominal circumference (AC). Based on the above measurements, the following parameters were calculated: lung area to head circumference ratio (LHR), total lung area (TLA), TLA/Weight (mm2/g), cardiothoracic ratio (CTR), lung-thoracic area ratio (TLA/TA), lung-heart area ratio (TLA/HA), TC/AC, and TC/HC. (3) Results: The left and right lung areas and LHRs positively correlated with gestational age (R2 = 0.85, 0.88, 0.66, 0.71, p < 0.001). From 21-40 weeks, the left and right lung areas and TLA increased by about 3.33 times, 3.16 times, and 3.22 times, respectively. The means of left and right LHRs increased by about 1.94 times and 1.84 times, respectively. TLA/Weight (mm2/g) was weakly correlated with gestational age, while CTR, TLA/TA, TLA/HA, TC/AC, and TC/HC had no significant correlation with gestational age. There was no statistically significant difference in fetal lung parameters between different genders of newborns, p > 0.05. (4) Conclusions: Our study establishes the reference intervals for normal Chinese fetal lung biological parameters at 21-40 weeks. Moreover, the reference intervals apply to fetuses of different genders. This paper can provide a reference for the prenatal non-invasive assessment of fetal pulmonary hypoplasia.

Circulating small extracellular vesicles microRNAs plus CA-125 for treatment stratification in advanced ovarian cancer.

BACKGROUND: No residual disease (R0 resection) after debulking surgery is the most critical independent prognostic factor for advanced ovarian cancer (AOC). There is an unmet clinical need for selecting primary or interval debulking surgery in AOC patients using existing prediction models. METHODS: RNA sequencing of circulating small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) was used to discover the differential expression microRNAs (DEMs) profile between any residual disease (R0, n = 17) and no residual disease (non-R0, n = 20) in AOC patients. We further analyzed plasma samples of AOC patients collected before surgery or neoadjuvant chemotherapy via TaqMan qRT-PCR. The combined risk model of residual disease was developed by logistic regression analysis based on the discovery-validation sets. RESULTS: Using a comprehensive plasma small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) microRNAs (miRNAs) profile in AOC, we identified and optimized a risk prediction model consisting of plasma sEVs-derived 4-miRNA and CA-125 with better performance in predicting R0 resection. Based on 360 clinical human samples, this model was constructed using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and logistic regression analysis, and it has favorable calibration and discrimination ability (AUC:0.903; sensitivity:0.897; specificity:0.910; PPV:0.926; NPV:0.871). The quantitative evaluation of Net Reclassification Improvement (NRI) and Integrated Discrimination Improvement (IDI) suggested that the additional predictive power of the combined model was significantly improved contrasted with CA-125 or 4-miRNA alone (NRI = 0.471, IDI = 0.538, p < 0.001; NRI = 0.122, IDI = 0.185, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Overall, we established a reliable, non-invasive, and objective detection method composed of circulating tumor-derived sEVs 4-miRNA plus CA-125 to preoperatively anticipate the high-risk AOC patients of residual disease to optimize clinical therapy.

Crosstalk between gut microbiota and gut resident macrophages in inflammatory bowel disease.

Macrophages residing in the gut maintain gut homeostasis by orchestrating patho-gens and innocuous antigens. A disturbance in macrophages leads to gut inflamma-tion, causing conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Macrophages ex-hibit remarkable plasticity, as they are sensitive to various signals in the tissue micro-environment. During the recent decades, gut microbiota has been highlighted refer-ring to their critical roles in immunity response. Microbiome-derived metabolites and products can interact with macrophages to participate in the progression of IBD. In this review, we describe recent findings in this field and provide an overview of the current understanding of microbiota-macrophages interactions in IBD, which may lead to the development of new targets and treatment options for patients with IBD.

[Characterization and Source Apportionment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in PM2.5 in Lanzhou].

To study the pollution characteristics and sources of 16 PAHs in PM2.5 in Lanzhou, PM2.5 samples were collected in four seasons. GC-MS was employed to analyze the concentration of PAHs. Positive matrix factorization(PMF), trajectory cluster, and potential source contribution function(PSCF) were used to identify the sources of PAHs. The results indicated that the average concentration of PAHs in PM2.5 in Lanzhou decreased in the order of winter[(118±16.2) ng·m-3]>autumn[(50.8±21.6) ng·m-3]>spring[(22.2±8.87) ng·m-3]>summer[(4.65±1.32) ng·m-3]. The results of correlation analysis showed that PM2.5 and TPAHs in Lanzhou had an extremely significant negative correlation with temperature; an extremely significant positive correlation with atmospheric pressure; and a poor correlation with wind direction, wind speed, and relative humidity. The proportion of PAHs with 4-5 rings was much higher than that of those with 6 rings and 2-3 rings, with similar results across the four seasons. Source apportionment results illustrated that the contribution of industrial emissions and biomass and natural gas combustion were dominant in spring and summer seasons. Industrial emissions and coal combustion were dominant in autumn and winter, respectively. The vehicle emissions had no significant change across the four seasons. Trajectory cluster and PSCF analyses showed that the airflow coming from Mongolia, northeast Xinjiang, and Qinghai had important effects on the ambient air quality in Lanzhou.