HiTAD: detecting the structural and functional hierarchies of topologically associating domains from chromatin interactions.

A current question in the high-order organization of chromatin is whether topologically associating domains (TADs) are distinct from other hierarchical chromatin domains. However, due to the unclear TAD definition in tradition, the structural and functional uniqueness of TAD is not well studied. In this work, we refined TAD definition by further constraining TADs to the optimal separation on global intra-chromosomal interactions. Inspired by this constraint, we developed a novel method, called HiTAD, to detect hierarchical TADs from Hi-C chromatin interactions. HiTAD performs well in domain sensitivity, replicate reproducibility and inter cell-type conservation. With a novel domain-based alignment proposed by us, we defined several types of hierarchical TAD changes which were not systematically studied previously, and subsequently used them to reveal that TADs and sub-TADs differed statistically in correlating chromosomal compartment, replication timing and gene transcription. Finally, our work also has the implication that the refinement of TAD definition could be achieved by only utilizing chromatin interactions, at least in part. HiTAD is freely available online.

Topological Polymer Networks-Enabled Mechanically Strong Polyamide-Imide Aerogel Fibers for Thermal Insulation in Harsh Environments.

Aerogel fibers have sparked substantial interest as attractive candidates for thermal insulation materials. Developing aerogel fibers with the desired porous structure, good knittability, flame retardancy, and high- and low-temperature resistance is of great significance for practical applications; however, that is very challenging, especially by using an efficient method. Herein, mechanically strong and flexible aerogel fibers with remarkable thermal insulation performance are reported, which are achieved by constructing stiff-soft topological polymer networks and a multilevel hollow porous structure. The combination of polyamide-imide (PAI) with stiff chains and polyurethane (PU) with soft chains is first found to be able to form a topological entanglement architecture. More importantly, multilevel hollow pores can be constructed synchronously through just a one-step and green wet-spinning process. The resultant PAI/PU@340 aerogel fibers show an ultrahigh breaking strength of 94.5 MPa and superelastic property with a breaking strain of 20%. Furthermore, they can be knitted into fabrics with a low thermal conductivity of 25 mW/(m·K) and exhibit attractive thermal insulation property under extremely high (300 °C) and low temperatures (-191 °C), implying them as promising candidates for next-generation thermal insulation materials.

Ultra-fast ultrasound blood flow velocimetry for carotid artery with deep learning.

Accurate measurement of blood flow velocity is important for the prevention and early diagnosis of atherosclerosis. However, due to the uncertainty of parameter settings, the autocorrelation velocimetry methods based on clutter filtering are prone to incorrectly filter out the near-wall blood flow signal, resulting in poor velocimetric accuracy. In addition, the Doppler coherent compounding acts as a low-pass filter, which also leads to low values of blood flow velocity estimated by the above methods. Motivated by this status quo, here we propose a deep learning estimator that combines clutter filtering and blood flow velocimetry based on the adaptive property of one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1DCNN). The estimator is operated by first extracting the blood flow signal from the original Doppler echo signal through an affine transformation of the 1D convolution, and then converting the extracted signal into the desired blood flow velocity using a linear transformation function. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by simulation as well as in vivo carotid artery data. Compared with typical velocimetry methods such as high-pass filtering (HPF) and singular value decomposition (SVD), the results show that the normalized root means square error (NRMSE) obtained by 1DCNN is reduced by 54.99 % and 53.50 % for forward blood flow velocimetry, and 70.99 % and 69.50 % for reverse blood flow velocimetry, respectively. Consistently, the in vivo measurements demonstrate that the goodness-of-fit of the proposed estimator is improved by 8.72 % and 4.74 % for five subjects. Moreover, the estimation time consumed by 1DCNN is greatly reduced, which costs only 2.91 % of the time of HPF and 12.83 % of the time of SVD. In conclusion, the proposed estimator is a better alternative to the current blood flow velocimetry, and is capable of providing more accurate diagnosis information for vascular diseases in clinical applications.

Binary Polyamide-Imide Fibrous Superelastic Aerogels for Fire-Retardant and High-Temperature Air Filtration.

Fibrous air filtration materials are highly desirable for particle removal from high-temperature emission sources. However, the existing commercial filter materials suffer from either low filtration efficiency or high pressure drop, due to the difficulty in achieving small fiber diameter and high porosity simultaneously. Herein, we report a facile strategy to fabricate mechanical robust fibrous aerogels by using dual-scale sized PAI/BMI filaments and fibers, which are derived from wet spinning and electrospinning technologies, respectively. The creativity of this design is that PAI/BMI filaments can serve as the enhancing skeleton and PAI/BMI fibers can assemble into high-porosity interconnected networks, enabling the improvement of both mechanical property and air filtration performance. The resultant dual-scale sized PAI/PBMI fibrous aerogels show a compressive stress of 8.36 MPa, a high filtration efficiency of 90.78% (particle diameter of 2.5 µm); for particle diameter over 5 µm, they have 99.99% ultra-high filtration efficiency, a low pressure drop of 20 Pa, and high QF of 0.12 Pa-1, as well as thermostable and fire-retardant properties (thermal decomposition temperature up to 342.7 °C). The successive fabrication of this material is of great significance for the govern of industrial dust.

Altered gut metabolome contributes to depression-like behaviors in rats exposed to chronic unpredictable mild stress.

The gut microbiota has been increasingly correlated with depressive disorder. It was recently shown that the transplantation of the gut microbiota from depressed patients to animals can produce depressive-like behaviors, suggesting that the gut microbiota plays a causal role in the development of depression. In addition, metabolic disorder, which is strongly associated with depression, is exacerbated by changes in the composition of the gut microbiota and is alleviated by treatment with antidepressants. However, the key players and pathways that link the gut microbiota to the pathogenesis of depression remain largely unknown. To evaluate the relationships between depression and metabolic disorders in feces and plasma, we monitored changes in fecal and plasma metabolomes during the development of depressive-like behaviors in rats exposed to chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS). In these animals, the fecal metabolome was altered first and subjected to changes in the plasma metabolome. Changes in the abundance of fecal metabolites were associated with depressive-like behaviors and with altered levels of neurotransmitters in the hippocampus. Furthermore, the analysis of the fecal metabolome and the fecal microbiota in CUMS rats demonstrated consistent changes in the levels of several amino acids, including L-threonine, isoleucine, alanine, serine, tyrosine, and oxidized proline. Finally, we observed significant correlations between these amino acids and the altered fecal microbiota. The results of this study suggest that changes in amino acid metabolism by the gut microbiota contribute to changes in circulating amino acids and are associated with the behavior indices of depression.

Correction: Altered gut metabolome contributes to depression-like behaviors in rats exposed to chronic unpredictable mild stress.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

The improving effect and mechanisms of Anshen Dingzhi Prescription on Alzheimer's disease-like behavior induced by D-galactose combined with AβO in mice / 药学学报

The purpose of this study was to explore the improving effect of Anshen Dingzhi Prescription (ADP) on Alzheimer's disease (AD)-like behavior in mice and its mechanisms. The main chemical components of ADP were identified by ultra performance liquid chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS). The AD-like mouse model was induced by D-galactose (D-gal) combined with Aβ1-42 oligomer (AβO). The effect of ADP on AD-like behavior in mice was assessed using various behavioral experiments; pathomorphological changes in mouse hippocampal tissue were observed by Nissl staining and transmission electron microscopy; ELISA was used in the assessment of oxidative stress factors and inflammation-related factor levels; Western blot was performed to detect the expression of Aβ, Tau and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) proteins. The active components of ADP were screened according to TCMSP and HERB database, and the action targets of active components were predicted by Swiss Target Prediction platform. In addition, the targets of AD were predicted through DisGeNET database. Further, GO and KEGG enrichment analysis of common targets was carried out by Metascape database. Combined with the results of GO and KEGG analysis, in vivo experiments were carried out to explore the potential mechanism of ADP improving AD-like behavior in mice from the PI3K/Akt, calcium signal pathway and synaptic function. Finally, the core components of ADP were molecularly docked to the validated targets using Autodock Vina. Animal experiments were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine (approval number: AHUCM-mouse-2021080). The results showed that the five chemical components, including ginsenoside Rg1, ginsenoside Rb1, tenuifolin, poricoic acid B and α-asarone were found in the ADP. ADP significantly improved the anxiety-like behavior and memory impairment, protected hippocampal neurons, decreased the levels of oxidative stress and inflammation, and inhibited the expression of Aβ and p-Tau induced by D-galactose combined with AβO in mice. The results of network pharmacology suggested that PI3K/Akt, calcium signal pathway and cell components related to postsynaptic membrane might be the key factors for ADP to improve AD. Animal experiments revealed that ADP up-regulated N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor 2A (GluN2A), postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD95), calpain-1, phosphorylated protein kinase B (p-Akt), phosphorylated cAMP response element binding protein (p-CREB), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression and inhibited p-GluN2B and calpain-2 expression in the hippocampus of AD-like mice. The molecular docking results demonstrated that the core components of ADP, such as panaxacol, dehydroeburicoic acid, deoxyharringtonine, etc. had a high binding ability with the validated targets GRIN2A, GRIN2B, PSD95, etc. In summary, our results indicate ADP improves AD-like pathological and behavioral changes induced by D-galactose combined with AβO in mice, and the mechanism might be related to the NMDAR/calpain axis and Akt/CREB/BDNF pathway.

The Empirical Study on the Construction of Ethics Committee in Municipal Hospitals in Shanxi Province / 中国医学伦理学

To analyze the main factors influencing the ethical review work of municipal hospitals in Shanxi Province by investigating the current situation of the construction and operation of ethics committees, and to put forward reasonable suggestions for improving the work of ethics committees. Questionnaire surveys and interviews were used to investigate the composition of ethics committees, systems and standard operating procedures, personnel training, review project methods, time limits, etc. of 24 hospitals at municipal levels in Shanxi Province. The establishment and system of ethics committees in tertiary hospitals at prefecture and city level were basically reasonable, and they could actively play the role of ethics committees. At present, most hospitals do not pay enough attention to the work of ethics committees, lack of full-time staff and systematic training, resulting in insufficient ethics review capabilities. The construction of the ethics committee of the second-level hospital is a mere formality, and no substantive work has been carried out. It is recommended to strengthen the supervision, increase the training of ethics committees and researchers, improve the information management of ethics committees, and establish regional ethics committees to further improve the ability and efficiency of ethics review.

Impact of lithocholic acid on the osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation balance of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells / 中国修复重建外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To Investigate the effects of lithocholic acid (LCA) on the balance between osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs).@*METHODS@#Twelve 10-week-old SPF C57BL/6J female mice were randomly divided into an experimental group (undergoing bilateral ovariectomy) and a control group (only removing the same volume of adipose tissue around the ovaries), with 6 mice in each group. The body mass was measured every week after operation. After 4 weeks post-surgery, the weight of mouse uterus was measured, femur specimens of the mice were taken for micro-CT scanning and three-dimensional reconstruction to analyze changes in bone mass. Tibia specimens were taken for HE staining to calculate the number and area of bone marrow adipocytes in the marrow cavity area. ELISA was used to detect the expression of bone turnover markers in the serum. Liver samples were subjected to real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) to detect the expression of key genes related to bile acid metabolism, including cyp7a1, cyp7b1, cyp8b1, and cyp27a1. BMSCs were isolated by centrifugation from 2 C57BL/6J female mice (10-week-old). The third-generation cells were exposed to 0, 1, 10, and 100 μmol/L LCA, following which cell viability was evaluated using the cell counting kit 8 assay. Subsequently, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining and oil red O staining were conducted after 7 days of osteogenic and adipogenic induction. RT-qPCR was employed to analyze the expressions of osteogenic-related genes, namely ALP, Runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2), and osteocalcin (OCN), as well as adipogenic-related genes including Adiponectin (Adipoq), fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ).@*RESULTS@#Compared with the control group, the body mass of the mice in the experimental group increased, the uterus atrophied, the bone mass decreased, the bone marrow fat expanded, and the bone metabolism showed a high bone turnover state. RT-qPCR showed that the expressions of cyp7a1, cyp8b1, and cyp27a1, which were related to the key enzymes of bile acid metabolism in the liver, decreased significantly ( P<0.05), while the expression of cyp7b1 had no significant difference ( P>0.05). Intervention with LCA at concentrations of 1, 10, and 100 μmol/L did not demonstrate any apparent toxic effects on BMSCs. Furthermore, LCA inhibited the expressions of osteogenic-related genes (ALP, Runx2, and OCN) in a dose-dependent manner, resulting in a reduction in ALP staining positive area. Concurrently, LCA promoted the expressions of adipogenic-related genes (Adipoq, FABP4, and PPARγ), and an increase in oil red O staining positive area.@*CONCLUSION@#After menopause, the metabolism of bile acids is altered, and secondary bile acid LCA interferes with the balance of osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of BMSCs, thereby affecting bone remodelling.

An integrated assessment and spatial-temporal variation analysis of neonicotinoids in pollen and honey from noncrop plants in Zhejiang, China.

Recent studies have shown that neonicotinoids in pollen and honey (collected by honeybees) are likely to pose risks to honeybees. However, data on the integrated residue and spatial-temporal variation of neonicotinoids from noncrop plants, the principle sources of pollen for honey bees, are very limited, especially in China. In this study, we employed a novel assessment method based on the relative potency factor to calculate the integrated residue of seven neonicotinoids in pollen and honey samples collected from noncrop plants in 12 stations of Zhejiang province in three consecutive months. The integrated concentration of neonicotinoids (IMIRPF) ranged from no detected (ND) to 34.93 ng/g in pollen and ND to 8.51 ng/g in honey. Acetamiprid showed the highest detection frequency of 41.7%, followed by clothianidin (33.3%) and dinotefuran (22.2%). The highest IMIRPF occurred in April for stations in the fringe areas of Zhejiang province, whereas for stations in the central areas of Zhejiang province, the IMIRPF in May was relatively higher than the other two months. In terms of spatial change, the pollution variation of pollen samples in Lin'an-Tonglu-Pujiang was relative highly polluted-lightly polluted-highly polluted. For honey samples, spatial variation showed a single trend, and peak values were found in Wenzhou, which may be attributed to the local climate and farming practices. This fundamental information will be helpful to understand the effects of neonicotinoids on honeybees foraging habits.

Application of Gagne's teaching theory combined with scene teaching method in practice teaching of nursing students in department of respiratory and critical care medicine / 中华医学教育探索杂志

Objective:To explore the effects of practice teaching based on Gagne's teaching theory combined with scene teaching method on core competency of nursing students in department of respiratory and critical care medicine.Methods:A total of 42 nursing students from the Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Department of Beijing Jishuitan Hospital were enrolled and divided into observation group (21 cases) and control group (21 cases) using a random number table. Traditional teaching method was used in the control group, while Gagne's teaching theory combined with scene teaching method was used for teaching the observation group. After teaching, theoretical knowledge and actual operation ability of nursing students were assessed. The core competency of nursing students was evaluated by core competency assessment scale. The independent learning ability of nursing students was evaluated using an assessment tool. The self-evaluation of teaching effect in the two groups was compared. The t test or chi-square test was performed in SPSS 22.0. Results:The scores of theoretical knowledge and actual operation ability in the observation group were (88.10±7.52) and (90.81±4.88), respectively. These scores were significantly higher than those in the control group [(83.62±6.58) and (72.57±8.94), t=2.06, 8.21, P<0.05]. The scores of core competency and independent learning ability were significantly higher in the observation group than in the control group [(185.53±20.19) and (129.09±16.14) vs. (170.52±20.32) and (105.86±12.23), t=2.40, 5.10, P<0.05]. The score of self-evaluation on teaching effect was significantly higher in the observation group than in the control group [28 (25, 29) vs. 21 (20, 22), Z=5.39, P<0.05]. Conclusion:Gagne's teaching theory combined with scene teaching method in practice teaching of nursing students in the department of respiratory and critical care medicine should be promoted because this combined method improves the mastery of theoretical knowledge and actual operation skills, the independent learning ability and core competency of nursing students, and the effect of nursing teaching.

An update on renal fibrosis: from mechanisms to therapeutic strategies with a focus on extracellular vesicles

The increasing prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major global public health concern. Despite the complicated pathogenesis of CKD, renal fibrosis represents the most common pathological condition, comprised of progressive accumulation of extracellular matrix in the diseased kidney. Over the last several decades, tremendous progress in understanding the mechanism of renal fibrosis has been achieved, and corresponding potential therapeutic strategies targeting fibrosis-related signaling pathways are emerging. Importantly, extracellular vesicles (EVs) contribute significantly to renal inflammation and fibrosis by mediating cellular communication. Increasing evidence suggests the potential of EV-based therapy in renal inflammation and fibrosis, which may represent a future direction for CKD therapy.

Profiles and differences of submucosal microbial in peri-implantitis and health implants: A cross-sectional study / 北京大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To describe the submucosal microbial profiles of peri-implantitis and healthy implants, and to explore bacteria that might be correlated with clinical parameters.@*METHODS@#In the present cross-sectional study, 49 patients were recruited. Each patient contributed with one implant, submucosal biofilms were collected from 20 healthy implants and 29 implants with peri-implantitis. DNA was extracted and bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) genes were amplified. Submucosal biofilms were analyzed using 16S rRNA sequencing at Illumina MiSeq platform. Differences between the groups were determined by analyzing α diversity, microbial component and microbial structure. The potential correlation between the bacteria with pocket probing depth (PPD) of peri-implant calculated by Spearman correlation analysis.@*RESULTS@#The α diversity of submucosal microbial of health group was significantly lower than that in peri-implantitis group (Chao1 index: 236.85±66.13 vs. 150.54±57.43, P < 0.001; Shannon index: 3.42±0.48 vs. 3.02±0.65, P=0.032). Principal coordinated analysis showed that the submucosal microbial structure had significant difference between healthy and peri-implantitis groups [R2=0.243, P=0.001, analysis of similarities (ANOSIM)]. Compared with healthy implants, relative abundance of periodontal pathogens were higher in peri-implantitis, including members of the red complex (Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, Treponema denticola) and some members of orange complex (Precotella intermedia, Eubacterium nodatum, Parvimonas micra), as well as some new periodontal pathogens, such as Fillifactor alocis, Fretibacterium fastidiosum, Desulfobulbus sp._HMT_041, and Porphyromonas endodontalis. Spearman correlation analysis revealed that the relative abundance of Treponema denticola (r=0.686, P < 0.001), Tannerella forsythia (r=0.675, P < 0.001), Fretibacterium sp. (r=0.671, P < 0.001), Desulfobulbus sp._HMT_041 (r=0.664, P < 0.001), Filifactor alocis (r=0.642, P < 0.001), Fretibacterium fastidiosum (r=0.604, P < 0.001), Porphyromonas gingivalis (r=0.597, P < 0.001), Porphyromonas endodontalis (r=0.573, P < 0.001) were positive correlated with PPD. While the relative abundance of Rothia aeria (r=-0.615, P < 0.001) showed negatively correlation with PPD.@*CONCLUSION@#Marked differences were observed in the microbial profiles of healthy implants and peri-implantitis. The members of red and orange complex as well as some new periodontal pathogens seem to play an important role in peri-implant disease. Compared with healthy implants, the submucosal microbial of peri-implantitis were characterized by high species richness and diversity.

Application of brain functional connectivity and nonlinear dynamic analysis in brain function assessment for infants with controlled infantile spasm / 中国当代儿科杂志

OBJECTIVES@#To investigate the role of brain functional connectivity and nonlinear dynamic analysis in brain function assessment for infants with controlled infantile spasm (IS).@*METHODS@#A retrospective analysis was performed on 14 children with controlled IS (IS group) who were admitted to the Department of Neurology, Anhui Provincial Children's Hospital, from January 2019 to January 2023. Twelve healthy children, matched for sex and age, were enrolled as the control group. Electroencephalogram (EEG) data were analyzed for both groups to compare the features of brain network, and nonlinear dynamic indicators were calculated, including approximate entropy, sample entropy, permutation entropy, and permutation Lempel-Ziv complexity.@*RESULTS@#Brain functional connectivity showed that compared with the control group, the IS group had an increase in the strength of functional connectivity, and there was a significant difference between the two groups in the connection strength between the Fp2 and F8 channels (P<0.05). The network stability analysis showed that the IS group had a significantly higher network stability than the control group at different time windows (P<0.05). The nonlinear dynamic analysis showed that compared with the control group, the IS group had a significantly lower sample entropy of Fz electrode (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Abnormalities in brain network and sample entropy may be observed in some children with controlled IS, and it is suggested that quantitative EEG analysis parameters can serve as neurological biomarkers for evaluating brain function in children with IS.

Characteristics of sleep disorders in patients with Parkinson disease and its relationship with hypotonia during rapid eye movement sleep / 中国医师进修杂志

Objective:To analyze the characteristics of sleep disorders in patients with Parkinson disease (PD) and to explore the relationship between respiratory events and rapid eye movement sleep with hypotonia.Methods:Thirty-nine PD patients compared with 75 controls matched with gender, age and body mass index(BMI) were collected in the Dalian Municipal Central Hospital from January 1, 2019 to September 31, 2019. Both groups underwent polysomnography monitoring. The characteristics of sleep disorders were analyzed and discussed.Results:Apnea and hypopnea index (AHI) during total sleep, AHI during non-rapid eye movement(NREM) sleep, AHI during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, obstructive apnea index, mixed apnea index, central apnea index, total apnea index, hypopnea index, the time with pulse oximetry <90% and oxygen desaturation index in the PD group were lower than those in the control group: 3.70(0.80, 20.00) /h vs. 17.30(7.30, 28.20)/h, 2.30(0.70, 13.90)/h vs. 15.20(4.90, 27.50)/h, 2.30(0.00, 29.80)/h vs. 16.90(5.70, 39.50)/h, 0.30(0.00, 5.10)/h vs. 3.10(0.50, 7.80)/h, 0.00(0.00, 0.20)/h vs. 0.20(0.00, 0.60)/h, 0.00(0.00, 0.30)/h vs. 0.30(0.00, 0.80)/h, 0.70(0.00, 6.00)/h vs. 3.90(0.80, 10.70)/h, 1.70(0.50, 8.90)/h vs. 8.70(2.70, 14.90)/h, 0.00(0.00, 0.40)min vs. 0.20(0.00, 1.70)min, 4.10(1.10, 18.40)% vs. 16.50(9.30, 30.80)%, and the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.05). The mean pulse oximetry and minimum pulse oximetry in the PD group were higher than those in the control group: 96.00(95.00, 97.00)% vs. 95.00(94.00, 96.00)%, 89.00(82.00, 91.00)% vs. 85.00(81.00, 89.00)%, and the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.05). PD group was divided into PD with RSWA group (PD + RSWA) and PD without RSWA group (PD-RSWA) according to whether there was atonia or not. AHI during REM sleep in the PD+RSWA group was lower than that in the PD-RSWA group: 0.00(0.00, 5.40)/h vs. 5.75(0.52, 34.57)/h, and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.05). Conclusions:PD has a protective effect on nocturnal respiratory events, which may be due to the increased muscle tone of upper airway.

The Empirical Study on the Construction of Ethics Committee in Municipal Hospitals in Shanxi Province / 中国医学伦理学

To analyze the main factors influencing the ethical review work of municipal hospitals in Shanxi Province by investigating the current situation of the construction and operation of ethics committees, and to put forward reasonable suggestions for improving the work of ethics committees. Questionnaire surveys and interviews were used to investigate the composition of ethics committees, systems and standard operating procedures, personnel training, review project methods, time limits, etc. of 24 hospitals at municipal levels in Shanxi Province. The establishment and system of ethics committees in tertiary hospitals at prefecture and city level were basically reasonable, and they could actively play the role of ethics committees. At present, most hospitals do not pay enough attention to the work of ethics committees, lack of full-time staff and systematic training, resulting in insufficient ethics review capabilities. The construction of the ethics committee of the second-level hospital is a mere formality, and no substantive work has been carried out. It is recommended to strengthen the supervision, increase the training of ethics committees and researchers, improve the information management of ethics committees, and establish regional ethics committees to further improve the ability and efficiency of ethics review.

Etiology and clinical characteristics of fever of unknown origin in 357 pediatric patients / 中华儿科杂志

Objective: To explore the etiologies and clinical characteristics of fever of unknown origin (FUO) and to provide clues for early diagnosis of FUO. Methods: The data about etiology, age, sex, clinical course, length of hospital stays and the expression levels of inflammatory factors in fever phase of 357 pediatric inpatients who were diagnosed with FUO in Children's Hospital of Fudan University from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2020 were collected and retrospectively analyzed. Participants were grouped into infectious disease, inflammatory disease, malignancy and others and according to the classification of diseases and also grouped into those aged<1 year, 1-<3 years,3-<6 years, 6-<12 years and 12-<18 years. Comparisons between groups were performed using the Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis H test and χ² test. Results: Among the 357 patients (217 males and 140 females). The age of onset was 3.9 (1.3, 9.2) years and visiting age was 5.1 (2.0, 9.3) years. The time-consuming of diagnosis was 94 (66, 213) days. The hospital stay was 8 (6, 14) days. The most frequently identified cause of FUO was infectious diseases (163 cases, 45.7%), followed by non-infectious inflammatory diseases (133 cases, 37.2%), malignancy (21 cases, 5.9%) and others (40 cases, 11.2%). The patients at younger age were more likely to be attacked by malignancy, oncologic diagnoses, and others, nevertheless patients at older age were more likely to be attacked by non-infectious inflammatory diseases oppositely (9.8 (3.6, 11.5) vs. 3.0 (1.2, 7.0), 2.3 (1.0, 5.2), 0.9 (0.5, 1.8) years, U=41.30, 15.94, 37.08, all P<0.01);106 (65%) patients were male, and 57 (35%) patients were female. This result indicated that boys were more susceptible to infectious diseases (χ²=14.73, P<0.01). Analysis of inflammatory factors in serum among 103 patients, interleukin (IL)-6 level in 40 infectious diseases patients (9 (2, 38) ng/L) was significantly lower than those of 6 tumor patients (89 (64, 599) ng/L) and 57 non-infectious inflammatory diseases patients (25 (8, 78) ng/L, U=51.05, 15.70, both P<0.05), no significant difference was observed in IL-2, IL-4, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor α and interferon among the groups (all P>0.05). The patients grouped into those aged 1-<3 years and 3-<6 years were more likely to be attacked by infectious diseases (51.3% (59/115) and 57.1% (40/70)), while patients grouped into those aged 6-<12 years and 12-<18 years were more likely to be attacked by non-infectious inflammatory diseases (55.6% (65/117) and 72.4% (21/29)). Conclusions: Infectious disease is still the main cause of FUO in children and the boys are more susceptible to infectious diseases. However, the morbidity of non-infectious inflammatory diseases increases to number 1 in FUO of children over 6 years of age.

Efficacy of combined application of glycine powder air-polishing in non-surgical treatment of peri-implant diseases / 北京大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To compare the clinical efficacy of combined application of glycine powder air-polishing and mechanical submucosal debridement in non-surgical treatment of peri-implant diseases.@*METHODS@#A randomized controlled clinical study was carried out on patients diagnosed with peri-implant diseases in the Department of Periodontology, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, between May of 2020 and June of 2021.Twenty-eight patients with totally sixty-two implants were enrolled.The patients were randomly divided into the test group and control group. The patients in the test group (13 subjects/32 implants) received mechanical submucosal debridement using titanium curettes combined with application of glycine powder air-polishing, while the control group (15 subjects/30 implants) received mechanical submucosal debridement using titanium only. Clinical parameters, such as plaque index (PLI), pocket probing depth (PPD), bleeding index (BI) and the percentage of suppuration on probing on implants' level (SoP%) were measured at baseline and 8 weeks after non-surgical intervention. Changes and group differences of clinical parameters of the implants before and 8 weeks after non-surgical intervention were compared.@*RESULTS@#Mean PLI, PPD, BI of both the test group and control group significantly reduced 8 weeks after non-surgical intervention (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the test group achieved lower BI (2.7±0.8 vs. 2.2±0.7, P < 0.05), more reduction of BI (0.6±0.7 vs. 1.1±0.6, P < 0.01) and more reduction of SoP% (21.9% vs. 10%, P < 0.05) after non-surgical intervention. Both the control and test groups exhibited comparable PLI and PPD reductions (P>0.05). For the implants diagnosed with peri-implant mucositis, the test group revealed more signi-ficant reduction in BI and SoP% than the control group (1.0±0.7 vs. 0.4±0.7, P=0.02; 6.3% vs. 0, P=0.012). There was no significant difference existing in PLI and PD improvement between the control group and test group (P>0.05). For the implants diagnosed with peri-implantitis, there was no significant difference existing in PLI, PPD, BI and SoP% improvement values between the test and control groups (P>0.05). No complications or discomforts were reported during the study.@*CONCLUSION@#Both treatment procedures could relieve the inflammation of peri-implant soft tissue. Non-surgical mechanical submucosal debridement combined application of glycine powder air-polishing is associated with significant reduction of soft tissue bleeding and suppuration on probing especially in the implants diagnosed with peri-implant mucositis.

Jujuboside A inhibits oxidative stress damage and enhances immunomodulatory capacity of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells through up-regulating IDO expression / 中国天然药物

Impaired immunomodulatory capacity and oxidative stress are the key factors limiting the effectiveness of mesenchymal stem cell transplantation therapy. The present study was aimed to investigate the effects of jujuboside A (JuA) on the protective effect and immunomodulatory capacity of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs). Hydrogen peroxide was used to establish an oxidative damage model of hUC-MSCs, while PBMCs isolated from rats were used to evaluate the effect of JuA pre-treatment on the immunomodulatory capacity of hUC-MSCs. Furthermore, Hoechst 33258 staining, lactate dehydrogenase test, measurement of malondialdehyde, Western blot, high-performance liquid chromatography; and flow cytometry were performed. Our results indicated that JuA (25 μmol·L-1) promoted the proliferation of hUC-MSCs, but did not affect the differentiating capability of these cells. JuA pre-treatment inhibited apoptosis, prevented oxidative damage, and up-regulated the protein expression of nuclear factor-erythroid factor 2-related factor 2 and heme oxygenase 1 in hUC-MSCs in which oxidative stress was induced with H2O2. In addition, JuA pre-treatment enhanced the inhibitory effect of hUC-MSCs against abnormally activated PBMCs, which was related to stimulation of the expression and activity of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that JuA pre-treatment can enhance the survival and immunomodulatory ability through pathways related to oxidative stress, providing a new option for the improvement of hUC-MSCs in the clinical setting.

Effect of histone methylation and its inhibitors on the progression of colorectal cancer / 国际生物医学工程杂志

Colorectal cancer is a malignant tumor occurring in the colon or rectum, which has a high incidence rate. In order to improve the prognosis of colorectal cancer, the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer still needs to be further clarified. Epigenetics can directly affect the progression and metastasis of colorectal cancer, and histone methylation is an important means of histone modification, which can regulate the transcriptional activation and inhibition of downstream genes. A large number of studies have confirmed the effects of histone methylation on the progression of colorectal cancer, and inhibitors of related methylation and demethylation may play a role as potential therapeutic drugs for colorectal cancer. In this article, the colorectal cancer and its related methylation regulation were introduced, the types of histone methylation modifications and their regulation were summarized, and the regulation of histone methyltransferases and demethylases involved in the progression of colorectal cancer was demonstrated. In addition, the potential significance of histone methylation inhibitors for the treatment of colorectal cancer was summarized, and the possibility of related inhibitors as treatment drugs for colorectal cancer was explored.