[Interpretation for the group standards in guidelines for personal protection against coronavirus disease 2019 for diseases control person]

As an emerging infectious disease, the COVID-19 threatened the safety of personnel in the prevention and control during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beijing Association of Preventive Medicine organizes the Beijing CDC and other organizations drafted the group standard entitled "Guidelines for personal protection against coronavirus disease 2019 for diseases control person (T/BPMA 0002-2020)" , according to years of scientific research on personal protection. Based on the principles of emphasizing the scientific, normative and safe nature, the standard was drafted to put forward the reasonable selection and correct use of personal protective equipment for disease control personnel, as well as the procedures for personal protective equipment. The standard provided a standardized basis for ensuring the safety of disease control personnel in contacting and handling of the new coronary pneumonia outbreaks with high risks.

Function of IL-33 in Wound Age Estimation of Skin Wounds in Mice

Abstract

Objective To explore the application value of interleukin-33 （IL-33） in wound age estimation in forensic practice by observing the sequential changes of IL-33 after skin wound. Methods Skin wound models were generated on the back of mice with a round file of 5 mm in diameter. Skin samples of the same size were taken from the same parts of mice in control group and injury group 1 h, 3 h, 6 h, 12 h, 1 d, 3 d, 5 d, 7 d and 10 d after skin wound. Hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining method was applied to observe the morphological changes in the recovering process after skin wound. Western blotting, immunohistochemistry staining and double immunofluorescence staining methods were applied to detect the expression changes of IL-33 in the skin wound samples. Results The results of Western blotting showed that the expression of IL-33 protein decreased slightly at 3 h after skin wound, increased gradually at 6 h after skin wound, and reached the peak value at 3 d, then decreased gradually. Immunohistochemistry staining results showed that faint positive expression of IL-33 was observed in epidermis, hair follicles, sebaceous glands and dermal resident cells of the control group skin. The positive cell rate of IL-33 increased at 3 h after skin wound and reached the peak value at 3 d, then decreased gradually. The results of double immunofluorescence staining showed that the majority of IL-33 positive cells from 1 d to 3 d after wound were macrophages, while the majority of IL-33 positive cells from 5 d to 7 d after wound were myofibroblasts. In addition, the results of HE staining showed that the wound healing process of the skin wound model was consistent with the pathological development law of inflammation. Conclusion IL-33 could become a reference index for wound age estimation of skin wound in forensic practice.

OP0016 GUT MICROBIOTA DYSBIOSIS IN THE HIGH-RISK INDIVIDUAL FOR RA TRIGGERS THE MUCOSAL IMMUNITY PERTURBATION AND PROMOTES RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS DEVELOPMENT

Background:

The early treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with better outcomes. In recent years, studies in our understanding of the preclinical events in RA help to define the “at-risk” populations who might go on to develop RA. Emerging evidence indicate that initiating events may occur at mucosal surfaces including oral cavity, lung and gut influenced by the local microbiome. Therefore, identifying the microbiome characteristics in prospective cohorts of at-risk individuals enables risk prediction or prevention of RA.

Objectives:

Here, we undertook this study to clarify the intestinal microbiota changes in individuals at high risk for RA. Meanwhile, we performed fecal transplantation study to investigate whereby the intestinal dysbiosis in the pre-RA population contributes to RA initiation and development, and provide a new prevention strategy for the treatment of this disease.

Methods:

42 high-risk for RA individuals (Pre-RA), who were defined as having a positive serum antibody for anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP), 31 RA patients and 38 healthy individuals (HC) were recruited in this study. The V3-V4 region of 16S ribosomal RNA of fecal samples from these individuals were sequenced. We evaluated the gut permeability and the gut barrier dysfuction using HE staining and RT-PCR in mice receiving fecal transplantation (FMT). Flow cytometry was applied to measure the proportions of T cell subsets in immune organs. The disease severity of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) was also evaluated after the mice receiving FMT.

Results:

Alpha diversity analysis showed a comparable community richness and a lower community diversity of the intestinal microbiota in Pre-RA compared to HC (Fig 1A). At the family level, the abundance ofBacteroidaceaegradually decreased from HC to Pre-RA individuals and to RA patients (Fig 1B). On the contrary, the enriched abundances ofStreptococcaceae, Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Weissellaandunclassified_o_Lactobacillaleswere observed in RA patients (Fig 1B). There was different intestinal microbiota construction between groups based on principal coordinate analysis (PCoA). The intestinal microbiota communities dynamically shifted from HC to Pre-RA and to RA patients (Fig.1C). Fecal transplantation study showed that gut microbiota from Pre-RA group (P) significantly increased the fluorescence intensity (Fig 2A), accompanied with a significantly decreased ZO-1 gene expression (Fig 2B), and injured epithelial microvilli of the small intestine (Fig 2C). Moreover, the percentages of Th17 cells in the mesenteric lymph nodes (mLN) and peyer patches (PP) were also significantly increased in P and R groups (Fig 2D, E). Importantly, in CIA models, the joints redness and swelling in the mice receiving Pre-RA faeces occurred earlier and were more severe compared to HC-transplanted mice (Fig 2F, G and H).

Figure 1.Figure 2.

Conclusion:

The intestinal microbiota changed gradually during disease progression of human rheumatoid arthritis. The gut microbiota from Pre-RA individuals can trigger the gut barrier dysfunction and intestinal mucosal immunity imbalance, which may further contribute to the arthritis initiation and development.

References:

[1]Brusca, S. B., Abramson, S. B. & Scher, J. U. Microbiome and mucosal inflammation as extra-articular triggers for rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmunity.Curr Opin Rheumatol26, 101-107, doi:10.1097/bor.0000000000000008 (2014).

[2]Rogers, G. B. Germs and joints: the contribution of the human microbiome to rheumatoid arthritis.Nat. Med.21, 839-841, doi:10.1038/nm.3916 (2015).

[3]Holers, V. M.et al.Rheumatoid arthritis and the mucosal origins hypothesis: protection turns to destruction.Nature reviews. Rheumatology, doi:10.1038/s41584-018-0070-0 (2018).

Acknowledgments:

The work of the authors is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number: 81770101, 81403041) and Outstanding interdisciplinary project of West China Hospital, Sichuan University (Grant Number: ZYJC18024).

Disclosure of Interests:

None declared

Local structure of Ni80X20 (X: Cr, Mn, Pd) solid-solution alloys and its response to ion irradiation

The local structure of Ni₈₀X₂₀ (X: Cr, Mn, Pd) solid-solution alloys was investigated with x-ray absorption and total scattering x-ray diffraction methods. Atomic pair distribution function (PDF) analysis indicated that the local lattice distortion is strongly relevant to the atomic size mismatch, and the local lattice distortion in Ni₈₀Pd₂₀ alloy is obviously larger than that in other solid-solution alloys. The bond length of different atomic pairs was derived from the fitting of extended x-ray absorption fine structure spectra. Quantitative analysis of the local bonding environment in Ni₈₀Cr₂₀ during Ni ion irradiation suggested that Cr atoms tend to form clusters in Ni₈₀Cr₂₀ with the increase of ion dose.

The association of circulating irisin with metabolic risk factors in Chinese adults: a cross-sectional community-based study

BACKGROUND

Irisin is a myokine that leads to increased energy expenditure by stimulating the browning of white adipose tissue. We aimed to investigate the association of serum irisin levels with metabolic parameters in middle aged Chinese population.

METHODS

The study was based on a cross-sectional analysis of data from 524 nondiabetic subjects aged 40~65. All participants were recruited from a screening survey for Metabolic Syndrome in a community in Southwest China, including 294 subjects categorized as overweight (defined as BMI≧25 kg/m²) and 230 subjects as normal control (defined as 18.5≦BMI < 25 kg/m²). Serum irisin concentration was quantified by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The relationship of irisin with metabolic factors was determined by Pearson correlation. Multivariate linear regression was used to analyze the association of irisin with insulin resistance. Logistic regression was performed to assess the association of irisin with odds of overweight.

RESULTS

Serum irisin levels were significantly lower in nondiabetic overweight subjects compared with control (11.46 ± 4.11vs14.78 ± 7.03 μg/mL, p = 0.02). Circulating irisin was positively correlated with quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI, r = 0.178, p = 0.045) and triglycerides (r = 0.149, p = 0.022); while irisin was negatively correlated with waist circumference (WC, r = - 0.185, p = 0.037), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR, r = - 0.176, p = 0.047), fasting insulin (r = - 0.2, p = 0.024), serum creatinine (r = - 0.243, p = 0.006), homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR, r = - 0.189, p = 0.033). Multiple linear regression showed that irisin was inversely associated with HOMA-IR (β = - 0.342 ± 0.154, p = 0.029). Higher irisin was associated with decreased odds of being overweight (OR = 0.281, β = - 1.271, p = 0.024).

CONCLUSIONS

We found that serum irisin levels were lower in overweight subjects. Moreover, serum irisin levels were inversely correlated with adverse metabolic parameters including WC, WHR, creatinine, HOMA-IR and fasting insulin, suggesting that irisin may play a role in obesity related insulin resistance.

Research on the diagnostic effect of PCT level in serum on patients with sepsis due to different pathogenic causes

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the diagnostic effect of procalcitonin level in serum for patients with sepsis due to different pathogenic causes.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The clinical data of 132 sepsis patients were analyzed. Those patients were admitted to the Affiliated Hospital of Medical School of Ningbo University from January 2014 to January 2017. According to the blood culture results before antimicrobial therapy, patients were divided into two groups: Gram-negative bacteria group (G- group) and Gram-positive bacteria group (G+ group). The indexes, such as SOFA score, APACHE II score, length of stay in hospital and mortality rate, were used to evaluate disease severity of the two groups. The procalcitonin, WBC, hs-CRP and NEU% were detected and compared between the two groups of patients.

RESULTS

A total of 132 pathogenic bacteria were detected in 132 patients, of which 44 patients were infected with G- bacteria and 88 patients were infected with G+ bacteria. Patients in G- group were mainly infected with Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Klebsiella pneumoniae, while patients in G+ group were mainly infected with Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus. The SOFA score, APACHE II score and mortality rate in G- group were higher than those in G+ group. The PCT levels in G- group and G+ group were (54.89±21.64) ng/mL and (21.13±1.30) ng/mL, respectively. The PCT level in G- group was higher than that in G+ group, and the difference was statistically significant between them (p<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in length of stay in hospital between the two groups (p>0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in WBC, hs-CRP and NEU% between the two groups (p>0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The procalcitonin level in serum of sepsis patients at early stage of bloodstream infection is significantly elevated and has diagnostic value for different pathogenic bacteria groups. It can also reflect the disease severity and predict the prognosis of sepsis patients.

[Comparison of the permeability between the rabbit cornea and sclera ex vivo]

Objective: Comparison of the permeability between the rabbit cornea and sclera ex vivo by determining the concentration of gatifloxacin using LC-MS/MS method, which may provide the basis for a new route of drug administration. Methods: Experimental study. The permeability of the cornea and sclera in healthy male New Zealand rabbits was evaluated by using Franz diffusion pool. We chose both gatifloxacin ophthalmic solution and gel as the test drugs, and calculated the cumulative permeation amounts (Qn), apparent permeability coefficient(P(app)). Results: The linear range of gatifloxacin was 5-1 000 ng/ml. The intra-day and inter-day precision was 1.7% -2.8% and 1.0% - 2.3%. Q(n) and P(app) of gatifloxacin ophthalmic solution in cornea and sclera ex vivo were 177.57, 517.52 μg/cm(2) and 4.34, 12.51 cm/s respectively, whereas that of gatifloxacin ophthalmic gel were 151.87, 411.05 μg/cm(2) and 3.66, 9.21 cm/s. Conclusion: This validated method could be applied to determine the gatifloxacin. The cumulative permeation amounts and apparent permeability coefficient of sclera are significantly higher than that of cornea for both ophthalmic solution and gel, suggesting that the development of a new route of drug administration based on sclera may have potential advantage. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2019, 55: 928-932).

Dominant Influence of Interface Roughness Scattering on the Performance of GaN Terahertz Quantum Cascade Lasers

Effect of interface roughness of quantum wells, non-intentional doping, and alloy disorder on performance of GaN-based terahertz quantum cascade lasers (QCL) has been investigated by the formalism of nonequilibrium Green's functions. It was found that influence of alloy disorder on optical gain is negligible and non-intentional doping should stay below a reasonable concentration of 10¹⁷ cm^-3 in order to prevent electron-impurities scattering degradation and free carrier absorption. More importantly, interface roughness scattering is found the dominating factor in optical gain degradation. Therefore, its precise control during the fabrication is critical. Finally, a gain of 60 cm^-1 can be obtained at 300 K, showing the possibility of fabricating room temperature GaN Terahertz QCL.

Identification of potential key genes associated with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma based on microarray gene expression profiling

The study aimed to screen potential key genes, and their targeted miRNAs and transcription factors (TFs) that were related to diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and explore potential therapeutic targets for the progression of DLBCL. Dataset GSE56315 extracted from human tonsils was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus. Limma package was used to identify differential expression genes (DEG) between DLBCL and normal human tonsils samples, and the function and pathway enrichment analyses were performed. Then, functional interaction (FI) networks analyses of DEGs were implemented, and modules were extracted. Additionally, DLBCL-related miRNAs were predicted based on miR2disease database. Thereafter, TF-target DEGs and miRNAs targeted genes were respectively obtained. Finally, the integrated network of TF-target-miRNA was constructed. A total of 4,495 DEGs were identified between DLBCL and NHT samples. Among them, 114 up-regulated DEGs were contained in 8 modules of FI network, while 189 down-regulated DEGs were contained in 12 sub-modules. In addition, most DEGs were enriched in the function of "DNA binding" and pathways of "chemokine signaling pathway", "phosphatidylinositol signaling system" and "RNA degradation". Moreover, 19 miRNAs related with DLBCL were downloaded from Mirwalk2. Furthermore, miRNAs of miR-21-5p, miR-155 and miR-17-5p, the TF of STAT1, and DEGs such as NUF2, CCR1, PIK3R1, SMC1A, FOXK1 and CNOT6L had high degrees in the integrated networks of TF-target-miRNA. DEGs like NUF2, CCR1, PIK3R1, SMC1A, FOXK1 and CNOT6L might be closely associated with the pathogenesis of DLBCL.

A cross-sectional analysis of factors associated with detection of oncogenic human papillomavirus in human immunodeficiency virus-infected and uninfected Kenyan women

Background

Cervical cancer is caused by oncogenic human papillomaviruses (HPV) and is one of the most common malignancies in women living in sub-Saharan Africa. Women infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have a higher incidence of cervical cancer, but the full impact on HPV detection is not well understood, and associations of biological and behavioral factors with oncogenic HPV detection have not been fully examined. Therefore, a study was initiated to investigate factors that are associated with oncogenic HPV detection in Kenyan women.

Methods

Women without cervical dysplasia were enrolled in a longitudinal study. Data from enrollment are presented as a cross-sectional analysis. Demographic and behavioral data was collected, and HPV typing was performed on cervical swabs. HIV-uninfected women (n = 105) and HIV-infected women (n = 115) were compared for demographic and behavioral characteristics using t-tests, Chi-square tests, Wilcoxon sum rank tests or Fisher’s exact tests, and for HPV detection using logistic regression or negative binomial models adjusted for demographic and behavioral characteristics using SAS 9.4 software.

Results

Compared to HIV-uninfected women, HIV-infected women were older, had more lifetime sexual partners, were less likely to be married, were more likely to regularly use condoms, and were more likely to have detection of HPV 16, other oncogenic HPV types, and multiple oncogenic types. In addition to HIV, more lifetime sexual partners was associated with a higher number of oncogenic HPV types (aIRR 1.007, 95% CI 1.007–1.012). Greater travel distance to the clinic was associated with increased HPV detection (aOR for detection of ≥ 2 HPV types: 3.212, 95% CI 1.206–8.552). Older age (aOR for HPV 16 detection: 0.871, 95% CI 0.764–0.993) and more lifetime pregnancies (aOR for detection of oncogenic HPV types: 0.706, 95% CI, 0.565–0.883) were associated with reduced detection.

Conclusion

HIV infection, more lifetime sexual partners, and greater distance to health-care were associated with a higher risk of oncogenic HPV detection, in spite of ART use in those who were HIV-infected. Counseling of women about sexual practices, improved access to health-care facilities, and vaccination against HPV are all potentially important in reducing oncogenic HPV infections.

Abstract P3-04-02: Not presented

This abstract was not presented at the conference.

Citation Format: Chen X, Tong Y, Chen W, Li Y, Shen K. Not presented [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2018 Dec 4-8; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-04-02.

Association between PPARs Gene Functional Polymorphisms and Ischemic Stroke in Chinese Uyghur Population

PPARγ and PPARα belong to a receptor family of ligand-activated transcription factors involved in the regulation of inflammation, cellular glucose uptake, protection against atherosclerosis and endothelial cell function. Through these effects, they might be involved with the ischemic stroke (IS). We recruited 100 IS patients diagnosed by CTs or/and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and 100 normal healthy controls from Chinese Uyghur Population to assess the nature of the functional polymorphisms of PPARs and any links with IS in this unique population which has 60% European ancestry and 40% East Asian ancestry. We found that the Ala allele of the PPARγ Pro12Ala polymorphism was more common in controls than IS subjects (P = 0.008, corrected for multiple testing) in the Uyghur Population. Pro/Ala carriage may be associated with a decreased risk of IS in Uyghurs (OR 0.542, 95% CI 0.346-0.850). Additionally, the 162Val allele frequency at the DNA-binding region of PPARα was extremely rare in Chinese Uguhur IS patients and controls. Our population and ethnic-based study demonstrates that the 162Val allele frequency was extremely low in the Chinese Uyghur Population different from Some European and African populations and the PPARγ 12 Pro/Ala resulting in an amino acid exchange in N-terminal sequence may be an independent protective factor for IS in the Chinese Uyghur Population.

Multicomponent intermetallic nanoparticles and superb mechanical behaviors of complex alloys

Alloy design based on single–principal-element systems has approached its limit for performance enhancements. A substantial increase in strength up to gigapascal levels typically causes the premature failure of materials with reduced ductility. Here, we report a strategy to break this trade-off by controllably introducing high-density ductile multicomponent intermetallic nanoparticles (MCINPs) in complex alloy systems. Distinct from the intermetallic-induced embrittlement under conventional wisdom, such MCINP-strengthened alloys exhibit superior strengths of 1.5 gigapascals and ductility as high as 50% in tension at ambient temperature. The plastic instability, a major concern for high-strength materials, can be completely eliminated by generating a distinctive multistage work-hardening behavior, resulting from pronounced dislocation activities and deformation-induced microbands. This MCINP strategy offers a paradigm to develop next-generation materials for structural applications.

[Clinical effect of electroencephalographic biofeedback therapy in treatment of memory disorders in patients with acute severe toxic encephalopathy]

Objective: To investigate the clinical effect and safety of electroencephalographic biofeedback therapy in improving memory disorders in patientsin the recovery stage of acute severe toxic encephalopathy. Methods: A total of 52 patients in the recovery stage of acute severe toxic encephalopathy who were hospitalized in our hospital from March 2013 to December 2016 were enrolled and randomly divided into observation group with 27 patients and control group with 25 patients. Both groups were given the drugs to promote the metabolism of brain cells,and the patients in the observation group were given electroencephalographic biofeedback therapy in addition. The Chinese revised version of Wechsler Memory Scale Type A was used to measure memory ability before and after each course of treatment. The treatment outcome was evaluated for both groups. Results: There were no significant differences in the scores of long-term memory,short-term memory, immediate memory, and memory quotient between the two groups before treatment(P>0.05).After the first course of treatment ended, the observation group had significant increases in the scores of forward task,backward task,association,and memory quotient(P<0.05); compared with the control group, the observation group had a significant reduction in the score of backward task(P<0.05).After the second course of treatmentended, the observation group had significant increases in the scores offorward task,backward task,memorization of pictures,reproduction,association,comprehension,and memory quotient,and the control group had significant increases in the scores of reproduction,association,comprehension,and memory quotient(P<0.05); compared with the control group, the observation group had significant increases in the scores of forward task,backward task,memorization of pictures, reproduction, association, comprehension, and memory quotient(P<0.05).Two patients experiencedchest distress, palpitation, and dysphoria during treatment, which did not affect the treatment. Conclusion: Electroencephalographic biofeedback therapy has a certain effect in the treatment of memory disorders in patients with acute severe toxic encephalopathy.

[Analyzing the mental health status and its impact factors among female nurses in China]

Objective: To analyze the mental health status and its impact factors among nurses, finding ways to improve the mental health of nurses. Methods: A total of 13 425 female healthcare workers aged from 18 to 65 were selected as study objects. The survey was conducted with unified design questionnaire. The survey included the basic situation of the individuals and SCL-90 questionnaire. Comparing the female doctors, the mental health status and its impact factors of nurses were analyzed. Results: The income, age, education and occupation, which include shift work, heavy work load and overtime work are different between nurses and doctors. The main mental health problems of nurses were obsessive-compulsive symptoms, depressive symptoms and somatization. The results of univariate analysis indicated that shift work, overtime work, and heavy work load affected the positive rate of each factor. The results of multivariate analysis showed that occupation, shift work, overtime work, and heavy work load have significant adverse effects on the positive rate of the total score in female healthcare workers (P<0.01) . The positive rate of each dimension of SCL-90 in nurses is significantly higher than that of doctors. Conclusion: The mental health problems of nurses are significantly higher than doctors. The main reasons are low occupational level and adverse workstyles which include shift work, heavy workload and so on. Health administration and hospital management departments should pay much more attention to the mental health of nurses, improving their mental health through a variety of ways.

Electrostatic Steepening of Whistler Waves

We present surprising observations by the NASA Van Allen Probes spacecraft of whistler waves with substantial electric field power at harmonics of the whistler wave fundamental frequency. The wave power at harmonics is due to a nonlinearly steepened whistler electrostatic field that becomes possible in the two-temperature electron plasma due to the whistler wave coupling to the electron-acoustic mode. The simulation and analytical estimates show that the steepening takes a few tens of milliseconds. The hydrodynamic energy cascade to higher frequencies facilitates efficient energy transfer from cyclotron resonant electrons, driving the whistler waves, to lower energy electrons.