Analysis of characteristics and related risk factors of systemic inflammatory response syndrome caused by wasp stings / 中华创伤杂志

Objective:To analyze the risk factors of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) caused by wasp stings.Methods:A prospective case-control study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 225 patients with wasp stings admitted to Taihe hospital of Shiyan City and Ankang Central Hospital from January 2014 to December 2018, including 131 males and 94 females, with the age of 49 (41, 60) years. The patients were divided into SIRS group ( n=62) and non-SIRS group ( n=163) according to the SIRS diagnostic criteria. The data were collected including gender, age, sting in the head, sting in waist and back, sting in the abdomen, sting in the limbs, number of stings, admission time, hospitalization day, and mortality. The plasma levels of interleukin(IL)-6 and IL-8 in peripheral blood of the patients were analyzed by ELISA method. The whole genome DNA was extracted from white blood cells, and the IL-6: -174G/C, -572G/C, -597G/A, -634C/G and IL-8: -251A/T, -738T/A, -845T/C, + 396T/G were selected for research. The PCR method was used to perform bidirectional sequencing and comparison after amplification, and record the genotyping and frequency. The risk factors of SIRS caused by wasp stings were investigated by univariate analysis and multivariate Logistics regression analysis. Results:(1) The two groups showed significant differences in sting in the limbs, sting in waist and back, sting in the abdomen, number of stings, hospitalization day and mortality ( P<0.01), while there were no significant differences in gender, age, sting in the head and admission time ( P>0.05). (2) ELISA test showed the plasma levels of IL-6 and IL-8 in SIRS group were higher than those in non-SIRS group ( P<0.01). (3) Three genotypes of CC, GC and GG were observed in IL-6-572G/C. There were significant differences in the frequencies of genotypes and alleles between SIRS group and non-SIRS group ( P<0.01). Three genotypes of AA, AT and TT were observed in IL-8 -251A/T. There were significant differences in the frequencies of genotypes and alleles between SIRS group and non-SIRS group ( P<0.01). (4)Univariate analysis showed sting in waist and back, sting in the abdomen, sting in the limbs, number of stings, IL-6-572G allele, IL-8-251T allele were related to SIRS caused by wasp stings ( P<0.01). (5)Multivariate Logistics regression analysis showed limb stings ( OR=2.15), number of stings ≥10 ( OR=11.10), IL-6-572G allele ( OR=3.91) and IL-8-251T allele ( OR=3.97) were significantly related to SIRS caused by wasp stings ( P<0.05 or 0.01). Conclusions:The plasma levels of IL-6 and IL-8 are increased in patients with SIRS after wasp stings. The limbs stings, number of stings ≥10, IL-6 -572G and IL-8 -251T are all independent risk factors for SIRS caused by wasp stings.

Assisting Scalable Diagnosis Automatically via CT Images in the Combat against COVID-19

Introductory paragraphThe pandemic of coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused enormous loss of life globally. 1-3 Case identification is critical. The reference method is using real-time reverse transcription PCR (rRT-PCR) assays, with limitations that may curb its prompt large-scale application. COVID-19 manifests with chest computed tomography (CT) abnormalities, some even before the onset of symptoms. We tested the hypothesis that application of deep learning (DL) to the 3D CT images could help identify COVID-19 infections. Using the data from 920 COVID-19 and 1,073 non-COVID-19 pneumonia patients, we developed a modified DenseNet-264 model, COVIDNet, to classify CT images to either class. When tested on an independent set of 233 COVID-19 and 289 non-COVID-19 patients. COVIDNet achieved an accuracy rate of 94.3% and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.98. Application of DL to CT images may improve both the efficiency and capacity of case detection and long-term surveillance.

Validation and application of an artificial intelligence robot assisted diagnosis system for diabetic retinopathy / 中华实验眼科杂志

Objective To evaluate the performance of an artificial intelligence ( AI ) assisted diagnosis system for diabetic retinopathy ( DR) based on deep learning theory. Methods Diagnostic performance of a robot assisted diagnosis system called SongYue for DR was trained by using 25297 retinal images tagged by fundus doctors from multiple hospitals in China. Four types of DR detection model consisting of abnormal DR,referable DR,severe non-proliferative and proliferative DR as well as proliferative DR according to fundus leisions identification were established. The ability of the system to distinguish DR was determined by using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis,sensitivity and specificity of the system. Results SongYue system achieved an area under the ROC curve ( AUC) of 0. 920 for successfully distinguishing normal images from those DR with a sensitivity of 96. 0％at a specificity of 87. 9％. The AUC of SongYue for referable DR was 0. 925,sensitivity was 90. 4％,and specificity was 95. 2％. For severe non-proliferative and proliferative DR,AUC was 0. 845,sensitivity was 72. 7％,and specificity was 96. 2％. For proliferative DR, AUC was 0. 855, sensitivity was 73. 5％, and specificity was 97. 3％. Conclusions SongYue robot assisted diagnosis system has high AUC,sensitivity and specificity for identifying DR, showing good clinical applicable benefits.

rs4715986 in DTNBP1 is associatedwith paranoid schizophrenia in Chinese Han population / 基础医学与临床

Objective To investigate association of the DTNBP1 gene polymorphisms with paranoid schizophrenia in Chinese Han populations by a two-stage study.Methods In the discovery stage, 11 SNPs in DTNBP1 were tested in 532 patients with paranoid schizophrenia and 488 controls by Sanger sequencing.In the validation sample (1 111 cases and 1 435 controls), Taqman genotyping method was used to genotype SNP rs4715986.Results In the discovery stage, SNP rs4715986 showed disease association (χ2=11.02, P<0.01) with paranoid schizophrenia for analysis of 532 patients and 488 controls;such an association survived a correction with 10 000 permutations (corrected P<0.05).In the validation sample (1 111 cases and 1 435 controls), we confirmed the genotypic association (χ2=9.292, P=0.01) of rs4715986 with paranoid schizophrenia.Conclusions The present results suggest that the DTNBP1 gene may be mainly involved in the development of paranoid schizophrenia in the Chinese Han population.

Aminoglycoside gentamicin research: fundamental progress and new application prospects / 生物工程学报

As an important aminoglycosides antibiotic, gentamicin has been used clinically over decades. With the development in modern biological technology, the mechanisms of gentamicin action and resistance, its biosynthesis and structural modification were studied in great depth. Meanwhile, its emerging novel bioactivities and potential applications are also under extensive exploration. Here we summarize the latest progresses and prospects towards the future development of gentamicin for more efficient and effective uses.

Application of orthogonal analysis to the optimization of HPV16 E2 protein expression / 生物医学工程学杂志

This study was aimed to identify pET21b-HPV16E2/BL21(DE3) strain and to optimize the expression of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) E2 protein by orthogonal analysis. Four influence factors on two levels were selected to increase the target protein quantity. The four factors were induction time, induction temperature, inductor concentration and cell density. The quantity of HPV16 E2 protein was used as the evaluation parameter. Induced by IPTG, HPV16 E2 protein was analyzed by SDS-PAGE and Western Blot. Target protein was analyzed by GIS imaging system to quantify the protein level. SPSS13. 0 software was applied to analyze the result. Data showed that the expression strain pET211rHPV16 E2/BL21(DE3) was identified correctly. HPV16 E2 protein expressed mainly at insoluble form. The 42KD protein band was identified by SDS-PAGE and Western blot. Orthogonal test was applied on influence factor analysis and expression optimization successfully. Main influence factors were inductor concentration and induction temperature. The optimimum condition of maximum expression quantity was 37 degrees C, 7h, 1.0 mmol/L IPTG and OD600 1.0. In this experiment, orthogonal test could not only be used to analyze the influential factors and promote the target protein expression, but also be used to provide a better experiment method for molecular biological study.