New generation fluoroquinolone sitafloxacin could potentially overcome the majority levofloxacin and moxifloxacin resistance in multidrug-resistant .

Pre-existing fluoroquinolones (FQs) resistance is a major threat in treating multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis. Sitafloxacin (Sfx) is a new broad-spectrum FQ. Sfx is more active against drug-resistant (Mtb) isolates.

The levels of soluble CD137 are increased in tuberculosis patients and associated with disease severity and prognosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) was the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent before the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, it is important to search for severity biomarkers and devise appropriate therapies. A total of 139 pulmonary TB (PTB) patients and 80 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited for plasma soluble CD137 (sCD137) detection through ELISA.

Development and clinical evaluation of a real-time multiple cross displacement amplification assay for rapid and sensitive detection of .

Molecular techniques of nucleic acid testing recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the sis (MTB) detection were considered to have the potential access to the accurate tuberculosis (TB) notifications. In this study, a new method, which coupled real-time (rt) fluorescence technique with multiple cross displacement amplification (MCDA), was developed for the rapid, sensitive and specific detection of MTB (termed MTB-rt-MCDA). According to the principle of the rt-MCDA test, a set of ten primers were designed for the MCDA reaction, of which one was engineered with a restrictive endonuclease recognition site, a fluorophore and a quencher for achieving the real-time fluorescence detection.

Interfacial Reactions between Sn-Based Solders and n-Type Bi(Te,Se) Thermoelectric Material.

This study investigated the interfacial reactions between n-type Bi(Te,Se) thermoelectric material, characterized by a highly-oriented (110) plane, and pure Sn and Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (wt.

Selection of prenatal screening with nuchal translucency > 95th centile and below 99th centile: a 4-year observational study with real-world data.

Objective: We sought to analyze the genetic outcomes of fetuses with nuchal translucency (NT) > 95th centile, and determine whether prenatal genetic counseling, chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) or non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) are truly beneficial for the outcomes of fetuses with increased NT > 95th centile and below 99th centile.

Materials And Methods: A total of 535 pregnant women were included in this study, with a fetal NT > 95th centile at 11-13 weeks of gestation from January 2017 to December 2020. 324 pregnant women with fetal NT > 95th centile and below 99th centile combined with other risk factors and NT > 99th centile received prenatal diagnostic karyotype analysis and CMA, and 211 pregnant women with fetal isolated increased NT > 95th centile and below 99th centile were selected to carry out NIPT.

Pure testicular choriocarcinoma, a rare and highly malignant subtype with challenging treatment: A case report and review of the literature.

Testicular choriocarcinoma (CC) is the rarest subtype of germ cell tumours (GCTs) of the testis, with a high malignant potential and early haematogenous metastasis. Radical surgical resection should be performed primarily for histological diagnosis, while chemotherapy remains the mainstay of therapy for advanced disease. In the present study, the case of a 65-year-old male patient diagnosed with metastatic testicular CC, who did not fully respond to chemotherapy is reported.

Application of non-invasive prenatal testing to 91,280 spontaneous pregnancies and 3477 pregnancies conceived by in vitro fertilization.

Background: Many clinical studies based on spontaneous pregnancies (SPs) have demonstrated the superiority of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT), and the question of whether this technology is suitable for offspring conceived by assisted reproductive technology has attracted attention. This study aimed to evaluate the application value of NIPT in screening for trisomy (T)21, T18, T13 and sex chromosome aneuploidy (SCA) in pregnant women who conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Results: In total, there were 804 high-risk cases [0.

Single-cell profiling reveals distinct immune response landscapes in tuberculous pleural effusion and non-TPE.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by () and remains a major health threat worldwide. However, a detailed understanding of the immune cells and inflammatory mediators in -infected tissues is still lacking. Tuberculous pleural effusion (TPE), which is characterized by an influx of immune cells to the pleural space, is thus a suitable platform for dissecting complex tissue responses to infection.

The species distribution and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Nocardia species in China: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Nocardia species can cause local or disseminated infection. Prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment of nocardiosis are required, because it can cause significant morbidity and mortality. Knowledge of local species distribution and susceptibility patterns is important to appropriate empiric therapy.

A CRISPR-Cas12a-based platform for ultrasensitive rapid highly specific detection of in clinical application.

Tuberculosis, caused by (MTB), is the second leading cause of death after COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we coupled multiple cross displacement amplification (MCDA) technique with CRISPR-Cas12a-based biosensing system to design a novel detection platform for tuberculosis diagnosis, termed MTB-MCDA-CRISPR. MTB-MCDA-CRISPR pre-amplified the specific gene of MTB by MCDA, and the MCDA results were then decoded by CRISPR-Cas12a-based detection, resulting in simple visual fluorescent signal readouts.

Clinical application value of expanded carrier screening in the population of childbearing age.

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the clinical utility of the implementation of expanded carrier screening (ECS) in Chinese population of childbearing age.

Materials And Methods: Based on capillary electrophoresis, a first-generation sequencing technology, a prospective screening study of carriers of 15 single-gene diseases was carried out in 327 subjects in Anhui Province, including 84 couples and 159 women of childbearing age, the disease carrier rate, types of screened pathogenic genes, and incidence of both partners carrying the same pathogenic genes were summarized and analyzed.

Results: In 320 people with normal phenotypes who underwent ECS for 15 genetic diseases and 7 spouses who underwent targeted gene sequencing, 65 carriers of at least one disease were detected, with a total carrier rate of 20.

Value of noninvasive prenatal testing in the detection of rare fetal autosomal abnormalities.

Objectives: To evaluate the value of noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) in the screening of rare autosomal abnormalities and provide further support for the clinical application of NIPT.

Study Design: A total of 81,518 pregnant women who underwent NIPT at the Anhui Maternal and Child Health Hospital between May 2018 and March 2022 were selected. The high-risk samples were analyzed using amniotic fluid karyotype and chromosome microarray analysis (CMA), and the pregnancy outcomes were followed up.

High-resolution multi-shot diffusion-weighted MRI combining markerless prospective motion correction and locally low-rank constrained reconstruction.

Purpose: Subject head motion is a major challenge in DWI, leading to image blurring, signal losses, and biases in the estimated diffusion parameters. Here, we investigate a combined application of prospective motion correction and spatial-angular locally low-rank constrained reconstruction to obtain robust, multi-shot, high-resolution diffusion-weighted MRI under substantial motion.

Methods: Single-shot EPI with retrospective motion correction can mitigate motion artifacts and resolve any mismatching of gradient encoding orientations; however, it is limited by low spatial resolution and image distortions.

Trends and Species Diversity of Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria Isolated From Respiratory Samples in Northern China, 2014-2021.

Background: Pulmonary non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infection has become a public health concern in China and around the world. The objective of this study was to describe the longitudinal changes in the frequency and diversity of NTM in northern China.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data on mycobacterium species in Beijing Chest Hospital from January 2014 to December 2021.

Chromosomal microarray analysis versus noninvasive prenatal testing in fetuses with increased nuchal translucency.

Objective: To evaluate if the NT value of 2.5 mm ≤ NT < 3.0 mm is an appropriate indication for CMA tests among fetuses with isolated increased NT and NIPT is more suitable instead.

Expanding the application of non-invasive prenatal testing in the detection of foetal chromosomal copy number variations.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the detection efficiency and clinical application value of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) for foetal copy number variants (CNVs) in clinical samples from 39,002 prospective cases.

Methods: A total of 39,002 pregnant women who received NIPT by next-generation sequencing (NGS) with a sequencing depth of 6 M reads in our centre from January 2018 to April 2020 were enrolled. Chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) was further used to diagnose suspected chromosomal aneuploidies and chromosomal microdeletion/microduplication for consistency assessment.

Classical nucleation theory of ice nucleation: Second-order corrections to thermodynamic parameters.

Accurately estimating the nucleation rate is crucial in studying ice nucleation and ice-promoting and anti-freeze strategies. In classical nucleation theory, estimates of the ice nucleation rate are very sensitive to thermodynamic parameters, such as the chemical potential difference between water and ice Δμ and the ice-water interfacial free energy γ. However, even today, there are still many contradictions and approximations when estimating these thermodynamic parameters, introducing a large uncertainty in any estimate of the ice nucleation rate.

Performance of non-invasive prenatal testing for foetal chromosomal abnormalities in 1048 twin pregnancies.

Objective: To investigate the clinical value of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) to screen for chromosomal abnormalities in twin pregnancies and to provide further data on NIPT manifestations in twin pregnancies.

Materials And Methods: In a 4-year period, 1048 women with twin pregnancies were voluntarily prospectively tested by NIPT to screen for chromosomal abnormalities by sequencing cell-free foetal DNA (cffDNA) in maternal plasma. Positive NIPT results were confirmed by karyotyping, while negative results were followed up 42 days after delivery.

Clinical application of noninvasive prenatal testing in the detection of fetal chromosomal diseases.

Objective: To assess the detection efficiency of noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) for fetal autosomal aneuploidy, sex chromosome aneuploidy (SCA), other chromosome aneuploidy, copy number variation (CNV), and to provide further data for clinical application of NIPT.

Materials And Methods: 25,517 pregnant women who underwent NIPT testing in Anhui Province Maternity and Child Health Hospital from September 2019 to September 2020 were selected, and samples with high-risk test results were subjected to karyotype analysis for comparison by using amniotic fluid, with some samples subjected to further validation by chromosomal microarray analysis, and followed up for pregnancy outcome.

Results: A total of 25,517 pregnant women who received NIPT, 25,502 cases were tested successfully, and 294 high-risk samples (1.

Noninvasive prenatal testing for assessing foetal sex chromosome aneuploidy: a retrospective study of 45,773 cases.

Objective: To assess the positive predictive value (PPV) of noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) as a screening test for sex chromosome aneuploidy (SCA) with different maternal characteristics and prenatal decisions in positive cases.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively analysed 45,773 singleton pregnancies with different characteristics that were subjected to NIPT in the Maternity and Child Health Hospital of Anhui Province. The results were validated by karyotyping.

[Application of in situ amniocyte culture for prenatal diagnosis].

Objective: To explore the value of in situ amniocyte culture for prenatal diagnosis.

Methods: 2716 amniotic fluid samples were cultured in situ on slides. After the culture, the slides were stained, photographed and analyzed.

Multiple Interfacial FeO@BaTiO/P(VDF-HFP) Core-Shell-Matrix Films with Internal Barrier Layer Capacitor (IBLC) Effects and High Energy Storage Density.

Flexible nanocomposites composed of high dielectric constant fillers and polymer matrix have shown great potential for electrostatic capacitors and energy storage applications. To obtain the composited material with high dielectric constant and high breakdown strength, multi-interfacial composited particles, which composed of conductive cores and insulating shells and possessed the internal barrier layer capacitor (IBLC) effect, were adopted as fillers. Thus, FeO@BaTiO core-shell particles were prepared and loaded into the poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (P(VDF-HFP)) polymer matrix.