[Study on the best entry region and trajectory of anterior transpedicular root screws]

Objective: To evaluate the best entry region and trajectory of anterior transpedicular root screws (ATPRS). Methods: From January 2018 to May 2019, 50 cervical CT date integral of healthy people were selected from Ningbo No. 6 Hospital and were confirmed no obvious defect. Of these, 24 cases were males and 26 were females, aged 20-49 (32±5) years. The CT data was imported into Mimics by DICOM format, then 3D reconstruction was performed. In the coronal plane, the area from the centreline of the anterior of C(3-7) to the left Z-line(marked a line through the intersection of the anterior of the luschak joint and upper endplates, parallel to the centralline of the anterior of the vertebral body) was divided into nine areas. Then virtual screw with diameter of 3.5 mm was inserted. Record the length of screw of each area (L), the angle between screw and the posterior of the vertebral body in horizontal plane(α), the angle between screw and the anterior of the vertebral body in sagittal plane (β), individually. The data between groups were compared by independent sample t test. Results: The best regions were zone 9 of C(3), C(4); zone 8, 9 of C(5); zone 2-3, 5-9 of C(6); zone 1-9 of C(7) in men. And these were zone 9 of C(3); zone 3, 6, 8 and 9 of C(4), C(5); zone 2-3, 5-9 of C(6); zone 1-9 of C(7) in women. The distribution of best region was almost the same in men and women, zone 9 of each segment was the best region, and the screw length was the longest. It increased gradually from C(3) to C(7). C(3) had the least region, C(4) and C(5) had less, while C(6) and C(7) had the most. The horizontal angle of C(3-7) in men and women were 44.0°-47.2°, 40.2°-45.3° in zone 1, 4 and 7, respectively; 35.1°-41.4°, 34.6°-38.7° in zone 2, 5 and 8, respectively; 30.0°-37.2°, 30.2°-34.5° in zone 3, 6 and 9, respectively; and it demonstrated a gradually decreased trend. The sagittal angle of C(3-7) in men and women was 85.3°-97.4°, 80.5°-88.9° in zone 1-3, respectively; 101.2°-113.7°, 101.0°-109.3° in zone 4-6, respectively; 116.6°-128.8°, 119.9°-125.3° in zone 7-9, respectively; and it demonstrated a gradually increased trend. There was no significant difference in the horizontal and sagittal angle between men and women (both P>0.05). Conclusions: Anterior transpedicular root screw is a feasible internal fixation technique. It has wide region and the Z-line can be used as a reference for screw placement.

Community diversity and abundance of ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria in shrimp pond sediment at different culture stages

AIMS

Ammonia oxidation is a significant process of nitrogen cycles in a lot of ecosystems sediments while there are few studies in shrimp culture pond (SCP) sediments. This paper attempted to explore the community diversity and abundance of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in SCP sediments at different culture stages.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We collected SCP sediments and analysed the community diversity and abundance of AOA and bacteria in shrimp pond sediment at different culture stages using the ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) gene with quantitative PCR (qPCR) and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The AOB-amoA gene abundance was showed higher than AOA-amoA gene abundance in SCP sediments on Day 50 and Day 60 after shrimp larvae introducing into the pond, and the diversity of AOA in SCP sediments was higher than that of AOB. The phylogenetic tree revealed that the most of AOA were the member of Nitrosopumilus and Nitrososphaera, and the majority of AOB sequences were clustered into Nitrosospira, Nitrosomonas clusters 6a and 7. The AOA community has close relationship with total organic carbon (TOC), pH, total phosphorus (TP), nitrate reductase, urease, acid phosphatase and β-glucosidase. The AOB community was related to TOC, C/N and nitrate reductase.

CONCLUSIONS

AOA and AOB play the different ecological roles in SCP sediments at different culture stages.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

Our results suggested that the different community diversity and abundance of AOA and AOB in SCP sediments, which may improve our ecological cognition of shrimp culture stages in SCP ecosystems.

[Efficacy and safety of generic azacitidine in Chinese patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes: a multicenter, prospective, single-arm study]

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of the generic azacitidine in Chinese patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes(MDS). Methods: Between October 2013 and 2016, 72 patients were eligible for enrollment at 9 sites from China received generic subcutaneous azacitidine 75 mg·m(-2)·d(-1) for 7 days per 28-day cycle, for ≥6 cycles. Pharmacokinetic blood samples were collected on day 1 of a single-dose. Results: For each patient at cycle 6 or at the time of study discontinuation, whichever came first, the overall response rate, which included complete remission (CR)and partial remission(PR), was 6.9%(5/72), the rate of patients who had the best effect with CR or PR during the treatment was 12.5%(9/72). Patients who were dependent on red-blood-cell transfusions and platelet transfusions at baseline became transfusion independent were 46.3%(19/41)and 41.2% (7/17), respectively. The median time of treatment was 6 cycles, and the median OS was 16.1 months (95%CI 10.9-20.6 months). For 36 patients(50%)received treatment at ≥6 cycles, and the median OS was 22.3 months(95%CI 16.1- not evaluative). Most common grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ hematologic treatment-emergent adverse events were neutropenia(55%), leukopenia(47%), and thrombocytopenia(61%). Pharmacokinetic profiles were similar for generic and original azacitidine in Chinese patients. Conclusion: Generic azacitidine treatment was favorable and safe and can be used as a standard treatment for patients with higher-risk MDS.

Let-7 participates in the regulation of inflammatory response in spinal cord injury through PI3K/Akt signaling pathway

OBJECTIVE

To study the potential mechanism of let-7 in participating in the regulation of inflammatory response in spinal cord injury (SCI).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 40 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: group A (Sham, n=10), group B (SCI+NC, n=10), group C (SCI+antagomir, n=10), and group D (SCI+mimics, n=10). The SCI model was established via operation in all groups. After successful modeling, let-7-antagomir negative control (80 mg/kg) was intraperitoneally injected in SCI+NC group at 5 d, an equal amount of let-7-antagomir was intraperitoneally injected in SCI+antagomir group at 5 d, and an equal amount of let-7-mimics was intraperitoneally injected in SCI+mimics group at 5 d. The inflammatory cells in experimental groups and control group were observed via hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. At the same time, the expression of let-7 in the four groups was detected via Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR), the expressions of phosphatidylinositol 3-hydroxy kinase (PI3K) and protein kinase B (Akt) in all groups were detected via Western blotting, and the inflammatory index levels in each group were detected via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTS

In Sham group, it was observed via HE staining that there were only a few bleeding or inflammatory cells. In SCI+NC group, bleeding and inflammatory cells basically tended to be stable. There were a large number of inflammatory cells in SCI+mimics group, while there were some inflammatory cells in SCI+antagomir group, but showing a decreasing trend compared with SCI+NC group. It was found in the RT-PCR detection of let-7 expression level in all groups that the expression of let-7 significantly declined in SCI+antangomir group compared with that in Sham group and SCI+NC group, and there were significant differences (p<0.01). The expression of let-7 was significantly increased in SCI+mimics group compared with that in Sham group and SCI+NC group, and there were significant differences (p<0.01). The results of Western blotting revealed that the PI3K and Akt protein expressions were significantly decreased in SCI+mimics group compared with those in SCI+antagomir group, SCI+NC group, and Sham group (p<0.05). The ELISA results showed that the levels of inflammatory factors in SCI+mimics group, SCI+antagomir group, and SCI+NC group were significantly higher than those in Sham group. In SCI+mimics group, the levels of inflammatory factors were abnormally high and reached extremely significant levels (p<0.05), indicating that let-7 promotes the inflammatory response after SCI.

CONCLUSIONS

Let-7 participates in the regulation of inflammatory response in SCI through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

LINC00968 accelerates the progression of epithelial ovarian cancer via mediating the cell cycle progression

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to clarify the potential role of LINC00968 in the progression of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and the underlying mechanism.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The relative expression level of LINC00968 in EOC tissues (n=40) and normal ovarian tissues (n=40) was determined by quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). LINC00968 expression in human-derived ovarian cancer cell lines was examined by qRT-PCR as well. After transfection of LINC00968 small-interfering RNA (siRNA) in ovarian cancer cells, cell cycle progression and cell proliferation were evaluated through flow cytometry, Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and colony formation assay, respectively. Tumor xenograft was conducted in nude mice to elucidate the function of LINC00968 in EOC tumorigenesis in vivo. Furthermore, the relative expression levels of cell cycle factors and protein kinase B/extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (AKT/ERK) in ovarian cancer cells influenced by LINC00968 were detected by Western blot.

RESULTS

LINC00968 was significantly up-regulated in EOC tissues when compared with normal control tissues. Meanwhile, LINC00968 expression was positively correlated with the prognosis of EOC. Transfection of LINC00968 siRNA in HEY and HO8910 cells markedly attenuated proliferative ability and arrested cell cycle in the G1 phase. Knockdown of LINC00968 remarkably suppressed tumor growth of EOC in nude mice. The silence of LINC00968 significantly downregulated Cyclin D, Cyclin E and CDK4, whereas upregulated p16 and p21. In addition, AKT and ERK pathways were inhibited by knockdown of LINC00968 in ovarian cancer cells.

CONCLUSIONS

LINC00968 expression is markedly upregulated in EOC. Meanwhile, it arrests the cell cycle in the G1 phase by inhibiting the ERK and AKT pathways, thus accelerating EOC progression.

[Blood pressure control and influencing factors in hypertension patients with metabolic syndrome]

Objective: To investigate the blood pressure control and its influencing factors in hypertension patients with MS. Methods: Between January 2017 and December 2018, more than 78 000 residents aged 35-75 years selected through convenient sampling were invited to participant in China Patient-Centered Evaluative Assessment of Cardiac Event Million Persons Project in Fujian province, physical and laboratory tests were conducted for them, and their basic information were recorded. A total of 5 281 hypertension patients with MS were included in the study. Results: The treatment rate of hypertension patients with MS was 55.5%, and the control rate was 7.2%. The control rate was higher in patients who were older, women, had advanced education level, had history or family history of cardiovascular disease. The results of multivariate analysis indicated that living area (urban or rural), cardiovascular history, diabetes, urine protein, BMI had impacts on both treatment and control of hypertension. Family history of cardiovascular disease, age, self-management of hypertension, dyslipidemia, waist circumference and drinking had impacts on the treatments, and gender had effects on the control. Conclusions: The treatment rate of hypertension patients with MS was unsatisfactory and the control rate was low. Intervention should be strengthened in rural area, males and young age groups, and activity of self-management group of hypertension should be conducted regularly.

[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.

Stillbirths in China: a nationwide survey

Objective

To estimate a stillbirth rate at 24 or more gestational weeks in 2015–2016 and to explore potentially preventable causes in China.

Design

A multi‐centre cross‐sectional study.

Setting

Ninety‐six hospitals distributed in 24 (of 34) provinces in China.

Population

A total of 75 132 births at 24 completed weeks of gestation or more.

Methods

COX Proportional Hazard Models were performed to examine risk factors for antepartum and intrapartum stillbirths. Population attributable risk percentage was calculated for major risk factors. Correspondence analysis was used to explore region‐specific risk factors for stillbirths.

Main outcome measures

Stillbirth rate and risk factors for stillbirth.

Results

A total of 75 132 births including 949 stillbirths were used for the final analysis, giving a weighted stillbirth rate of 13.2 per 1000 births (95% CI 7.9–18.5). Small for gestational age (SGA) and pre‐eclampsia/eclampsia increased antepartum stillbirths by 26.2% and 11.7%, respectively. Fetal anomalies increased antepartum and intrapartum stillbirths by 17.9% and 7.4%, respectively. Overall, 31.4% of all stillbirths were potentially preventable. Advanced maternal age, pre‐pregnant obesity, chronic hypertension and diabetes mellitus were important risk factors in East China; low education and SGA were major risk factors in Northwest, Southwest, Northeast and South China; and pre‐eclampsia/eclampsia and intrapartum complications were significant risk factors in Central China.

Conclusions

The prevalence of stillbirth was 13.2 per 1000 births in China in 2015–2016. Nearly one‐third of all stillbirths may be preventable. Strategies based on regional characteristics should be considered to reduce further the burden of stillbirths in China.

Tweetable abstract

The stillbirth rate was 13.2 per 1000 births in China in 2015–2016 and nearly one‐third of all stillbirths may be preventable.

The stillbirth rate was 13.2 per 1000 births in China in 2015–2016 and nearly one‐third of all stillbirths may be preventable.

Older age of childhood type 1 diabetes onset is associated with islet autoantibody positivity >30 years later: the Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications Study

AIMS

To examine the association between islet autoantibody positivity and clinical characteristics, residual β-cell function (C-peptide) and prevalence of complications in a childhood-onset (age <17 years), long-duration (≥32 years) type 1 diabetes cohort.

METHODS

Islet autoantibodies (glutamic acid decarboxylase, insulinoma-associated protein 2 and zinc transporter-8 antibodies) were measured in the serum of participants who attended the 2011-2013 Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications study follow-up examination (n=177, mean age 51 years, diabetes duration 43 years).

RESULTS

Prevalences of islet autoantibodies were: glutamic acid decarboxylase, 32%; insulinoma-associated protein 2, 22%; and zinc transporter-8, 4%. Positivity for each islet autoantibody was associated with older age at diabetes onset (glutamic acid decarboxylase antibodies, P=0.03; insulinoma-associated protein 2 antibodies, P=0.001; zinc transporter-8 antibodies, P<0.0001). Older age at onset was also associated with an increasing number of autoantibodies (P = 0.001). Glutamic acid decarboxylase antibody positivity was also associated with lower HbA_1c (P = 0.02), insulinoma-associated protein 2 antibody positivity was associated with lower prevalence of severe hypoglycaemic episodes (P=0.02) and both distal and autonomic neuropathy (P=0.04 for both), and zinc transporter-8 antibody positivity was associated with higher total and LDL cholesterol (P=0.01). No association between autoantibody positivity and C-peptide was observed.

CONCLUSIONS

The strong association between islet autoantibody positivity and older age at type 1 diabetes onset supports the hypothesis of a less aggressive, and thus more persistent, immune process in those with older age at onset. This observation suggests that there may be long-term persistence of heterogeneity in the underlying autoimmune process.

[Ovarian Sertoli-Leydig cell tumors: DICER1 hotspot mutations and associated clinicopathological features]

Objective: To investigate DICER1 hotspot mutations in ovarian Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor (SLCT) and its associated clinicopathological features. Methods: Forty-three SLCTs and 40 other sex cord-stromal tumors (SCSTs) diagnosed between 2010 and 2017 at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center were examined for somatic DICER1 hotspot mutations by Sanger sequencing. The associations between mutation status and clinicopathological features, including patient age, tumor differentiation and recurrence, were analyzed. Results: Somatic DICER1 mutations were found in 51% (22/43) of SLCTs, while none in the other 40 SCSTs. The most common mutation of DICER1 was p.D1709N in exon 24 (41%, 9/22) and the second most common mutation of DICER1 was p.E1813K in exon 25 (14%, 3/22). A novel frameshift mutation (c.5464delG, p.M1837fs*16) was identified in one SLCT with microcystic pattern. Mutations were more likely to occur in patients under forty years of age (P=0.046), whereas no significant associations were found between DICER1 mutations and clinical symptoms, morphology or tumor recurrence. Conclusions: Somatic DCIER1 hotspot mutations are specifically found in SLCT and may serve as an ancillary marker in differential diagnosis of SLCT from other SCST. The mutations occur more often in young patients (<40 years old). Additional studies are warranted to examine the associations between DICER1 mutations and clinicopathological features and prognosis of SLCT.

Circular RNA DGKB Promotes the Progression of Neuroblastoma by Targeting miR-873/GLI1 Axis

Accumulated evidences suggested that circular RNAs (circRNA) played critical roles in tumorigenesis and progression. To our knowledge, no study reported the function of circular RNA DGKB (circDGKB, circRNA ID: hsa_circ_0133622) on progression of neuroblastoma (NB). Here, we showed that circDGKB was upregulated in NB tissues compared to the normal dorsal root ganglia. Moreover, the expression level of circDGKB was negatively correlated with the survival rate of NB patients. Mechanically, overexpression of circDGKB promoted the proliferation, migration, invasion, and tumorigenesis of NB cells and reduced cell apoptosis, and vice versa. In addition, qRT-PCR and/or Western blot results showed that circDGKB overexpression inhibited the expression level of miR-873 and enhanced GLI1 expression. Moreover, miR-873 functioned an opposite role to circDGKB and significantly weakened circDGKB role in promoting NB progression. Furthermore, GLI1 upregulation also rescued the miR-873 role in inhibiting NB progression. In conclusion, our work proved that circDGKB promoted NB progression via targeting miR-873/GLI1 axis in vitro and in vivo. Our study provided a new target for NB treatment and indicated that circDGKB could act as a novel diagnostic marker for NB.

Rapid determination of aflatoxin B1 by an automated immunomagnetic bead purification sample pretreatment method combined with high-performance liquid chromatography

We aimed to establish an automated versatile sample preconcentration method based on the modified immunomagnetic beads, which was utilized to enrich for aflatoxin B1 from the matrices. The critical main parameters affecting the extraction efficiency, such as usage amount of immunomagnetic beads, reaction time, elution time, and blending way were investigated. Under the optimized conditions, the content of aflatoxin B1 was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography, the mobile phase consists of water-acetonitrile-methanol (42:18:10, v/v/v), and fluorescence detection was performed with excitation and emission wavelengths at 360 and 440 nm, respectively. Moreover, the performance of preconcentration method was compared with the conventional method based on the immunoaffinity column. The accuracy of two clean-up methods was within the error range. In addition, the stability and recyclability of the immunomagnetic beads was studied by recycling them five times. The results for the respective analysis in various samples demonstrated that the developed extraction platform provides a promising approach that is simple, rapid, sensitive, and easy to use.

AB0474 CAROTID CONTRAST ENHANCED ULTRASOUND IN CASES OF TAKAYASU ARTERITIS COMPLICATED WITH BEHCET’S DISEASE

Background:

Carotid contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is used for diagnosis and activity determination of patients with Takayasu’s arteritis (TA). However, very little is known about the carotid CEUS features of TA complicated with Behcet’s disease (BD).

Objectives:

This study reports the carotid CEUS features in cases of TA complicated with BD (TBD).

Methods:

A total of 10 carotid CEUS examinations were performed on 4 patients of TBD. 10 TA patients complicated with no rheumatoid disease were included as control group. For each carotid artery lesion, the carotid CEUS features was graded as follows: Grade 0, artery wall shows no microbubbles, Grade 1, artery wall shows limited or moderate microbubbles, Grade 2, artery wall shows severe microbubbles.

Results:

2/10 patients in TBD group has oral ulcer during the CEUS examination, while all the other patients included in our study showed no clinical symptoms related to active TA or BD. The carotid wall thickness was greater of CEUS grade 2 than grade 1 in both group(TBD: 2.62±0.74mm vs 1.66±0.22mm,p=0.001; TA:1.84±0.31mm vs 1.53±0.5mm,p=0.136). The carotid wall thickness was significantly greater in TBD group than TA group, but there was no significant differences between the two groups in clinical data and CEUS grade (table 1).

Table 1.

Clinical data and carotid CEUS features of both groups

TBDTApAge (year)32.5±3.4430.5±9.20.487Male320.605ESR (mm/h)4(2, 10)7(3.5, 11)0.406CRP (mg/L)6.42(0.55, 15.38)0.58(0.44, 5.05)0.168Wall thickness (mm)2.10±0.701.67±0.440.030CEUS grade 29120.527

Conclusion:

This study first shows carotid CEUS features in cases of TA complicated with BD, which may help with the comprehensive treatments of the disease.

Disclosure of Interests: :

None declared