Predicting abnormal C-reactive protein level for improving utilization by deep neural network model.

Background: C-reactive protein (CRP) is an inflammatory biomarker frequently used in clinical practice. However, insufficient evidence-based ordering inevitably results in its overuse or underuse. This study aims to predict its normal and abnormal levels using the deep neural network (DNN) models, helping clinicians order this item more appropriately and intelligently.

Specific humoral immune response and XBB variants re-infection risk of hemodialysis patients after Omicron BA.5 infection in China.

Background: Currently, there is limited understanding of the specific humoral immune response in BA.5-infected hemodialysis patients (BA.5-CHDPs) with previous COVID-19 vaccination.

Portable Near-Infrared to Near-Infrared Platform for Homogeneous Quantification of Biomarkers in Complex Biological Samples.

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based homogeneous immunoassay obviates tedious washing steps and thus is a promising approach for immunoassays. However, a conventional FRET-based homogeneous immunoassay operating in the visible region is not able to overcome the interference of complex biological samples, thus resulting in insufficient detection sensitivity and poor accuracy. Here, we develop a near-infrared (NIR)-to-NIR FRET platform (Ex = 808 nm, Em = 980 nm) that enables background-free high-throughput homogeneous quantification of various biomarkers in complex biological samples.

Specific immunological characteristics and risk factor of XBB variants re-infection in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients after BA.5 infection.

Objectives: The specific humoral immune response resulting from inactivated vaccination following by BA.5 infection, and predictors of XBB variants re-infection in BA.5 infection-recovered nasopharyngeal carcinoma (BA.

Rapid Quantitative Detection for Nitrofurantoin Based on Nitrogen-Doped Highly Photoluminescent Carbon Dots.

Nitrogen-doped carbon dots (NCD) with high fluorescence retention and good stability were successfully fabricated using citric acid and urea via a facile and eco-friendly one-step microwave method, which exhibited superior specificity for detection of nitrofurantoin (NFT). Upon the addition of NFT, the fluorescence intensity of NCD at 450 nm was significantly decreased. Besides, a satisfactory linear relationship between the fluorescence quenching efficiency and concentrations of NFT was obtained.

Lateral Flow Biosensor for On-Site Multiplex Detection of Viruses Based on One-Step Reverse Transcription and Strand Displacement Amplification.

Respiratory pathogens pose a huge threat to public health, especially the highly mutant RNA viruses. Therefore, reliable, on-site, rapid diagnosis of such pathogens is an urgent need. Traditional assays such as nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) have good sensitivity and specificity, but these assays require complex sample pre-treatment and a long test time.

Antibody Profiling of Pan-Cancer Viral Proteome Reveals Biomarkers for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Prognosis.

Diagnosing, predicting disease outcome, and identifying effective treatment targets for virus-related cancers are lacking. Protein biomarkers have the potential to bridge the gap between prevention and treatment for these types of cancers. While it has been shown that certain antibodies against EBV proteins could be used to detect nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), antibodies targeting are solely a tiny part of the about 80 proteins expressed by the EBV genome.

Nomogram Based on Liver Function Test Indicators for Survival Prediction in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Patients Receiving PD-1 Inhibitor Therapy.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic significance of PD-1 inhibitor therapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and to develop a nomogram to estimate individual risks.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 162 NPC patients who were administered the PD-1 inhibitor combined with radiotherapy and chemotherapy at the Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center. In total, 108 NPC patients were included in the training cohort and 54 NPC patients were included in the validation cohort.

Engineering highly efficient NIR-II FRET platform for Background-Free homogeneous detection of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies in whole blood.

Förster or fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) enables to probe biomolecular interactions, thus playing a vital role in bioassays. However, conventional FRET platforms suffer from limited sensitivity due to the low FRET efficiency and poor anti-interference of existing FRET pairs. Here we report a NIR-II (1000-1700 nm) FRET platform with extremely high FRET efficiency and exceptional anti-interference capability.

Clinical characteristics and host immunity responses of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant BA.2 with deletion of ORF7a, ORF7b and ORF8.

Background: The pathogenicity and virulence of the Omicron strain have weakened significantly pathogenesis of Omicron variants. Accumulating data indicated accessory proteins play crucial roles in host immune evasion and virus pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, the impact of simultaneous deletion of accessory protein ORF7a, ORF7b and ORF8 on the clinical characteristics and specific immunity in Omicron breakthrough infected patients (BIPs) need to be verified.

Blood unconjugated bilirubin and tacrolimus are negative predictors of specific cellular immunity in kidney transplant recipients after SAR-CoV-2 inactivated vaccination.

The immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines is poor in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). The factors related to poor immunogenicity to vaccination in KTRs are not well defined. Here, observational study demonstrated no severe adverse effects were observed in KTRs and healthy participants (HPs) after first or second dose of SARS-CoV-2 inactivated vaccine.

Handheld NIR-to-NIR Platform for on-site evaluating protective neutralizing antibody against SARS-CoV-2 ancestral strain and Omicron variant after vaccination or infection.

Lateral flow assays (LFAs) are promising points-of-care tests, playing a vital role in diseases screening, diagnosis and surveillance. However, development of portable, cheap, and smart LFAs platform for sensitive and accurate quantification of disease biomarkers in complex media is challenging. Here, a cheap handheld device was developed to realize on-site detection of disease biomarkers by Nd/Yb co-doped near-infrared (NIR)-to-NIR downconversion nanoparticles (DCNPs) based LFA.

Immunity against Delta and Omicron variants elicited by homologous inactivated vaccine booster in kidney transplant recipients.

Background: A third mRNA vaccine booster is recommended to improve immunity against SARS-CoV-2 in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). However, the immunity against SARS-CoV-2 Ancestral strain and Delta and Omicron variants elicited by the third dose of inactivated booster vaccine in KTRs remains unknown.

Methods: The blood parameters related to blood cells count, hepatic function, kidney function, heart injury and immunity were explored clinically from laboratory examinations.

Omicron variants breakthrough infection elicited higher specific memory immunity than third dose booster in healthy vaccinees.

Homologous booster, heterologous booster, and Omicron variants breakthrough infection (OBI) could improve the humoral immunity against Omicron variants. Questions concerning about memory B cells (MBCs) and T cells immunity against Omicron variants, features of long-term immunity, after booster and OBI, needs to be explored. Here, comparative analysis demonstrate antibody and T cell immunity against ancestral strain, Delta and Omicron variants in Omicron breakthrough infected patients (OBIPs) are comparable to that in Ad5-nCoV boosted healthy volunteers (HVs), higher than that in inactivated vaccine (InV) boosted HVs.

Ad5-nCoV booster and Omicron variant breakthrough infection following two doses of inactivated vaccine elicit comparable antibody levels against Omicron variants.

Little information is available for antibody levels against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern induced by Omicron breakthrough infection and a third booster with an inactivated vaccine (InV) or Ad5-nCoV in people with completion of two InV doses. Plasma was collected from InV pre-vaccinated Omicron-infected patients (OIPs), unvaccinated OIPs between 0 and 22 days, and healthy donors (HDs) 14 days or 6 months after the second doses of an InV and 14 days after a homogenous booster or heterologous booster of Ad5-nCoV. Anti-Wuhan-, Anti-Delta-, and Anti-Omicron-receptor binding domain (RBD)-IgG titers were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Evaluation of GeneXpert vanA/vanB in the early diagnosis of vancomycin-resistant enterococci infection.

Purpose: Vancomycin-resistant enterococci infection is a worrying worldwide clinical problem. To evaluate the accuracy of GeneXpert vanA/vanB in the diagnosis of VRE, we conducted a systematic review in the study.

Methods: Experimental data were extracted from publications until May 03 2021 related to the diagnostic accuracy of GeneXpert vanA/vanB for VRE in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library.

Low Innate Immunity and Lagged Adaptive Immune Response in the Re-Tested Viral RNA Positivity of a COVID-19 Patient.

Recent studies have highlighted observations regarding re-tested positivity (RP) of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in discharged COVID-19 patients, however, the immune mechanisms underlying SARS-CoV-2 RNA RP in immunocompetent patients remain elusive. Herein, we describe the case of an immunocompetent COVID-19 patient with moderate symptoms who was twice re-tested as positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA, and the period between first and third viral RNA positivity was 95 days, longer than previously reported (18-25 days). The chest computed tomography findings, plasma anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody, neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) titer, and whole blood transcriptic characteristics in the viral RNA RP patient and other COVID-19 patients were analyzed.

Longitudinal Peripheral Blood Transcriptional Analysis Reveals Molecular Signatures of Disease Progression in COVID-19 Patients.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by a novel coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), with some patients developing severe illness or even death. Disease severity has been associated with increased levels of proinflammatory cytokines and lymphopenia. To elucidate the atlas of peripheral immune response and pathways that might lead to immunopathology during COVID-19 disease course, we performed a peripheral blood RNA sequencing analysis of the same patient's samples collected from symptom onset to full recovery.

Emergence and characterization of a putative novel human adenovirus recombinant HAdV-C104 causing pneumonia in Southern China.

In 2017, a survey of the molecular epidemiology of human adenovirus (HAdV) infections in Southern China based on hexon and fiber genotype demonstrated that the most prevalent genotypes of HAdV were HAdV-3 ( = 62), HAdV-2 ( = 21), and HAdV-7 ( = 16). In addition, two patients were co-infected with two genotypes of HAdV. Interestingly, a novel human adenovirus C recombinant genotype strain was isolated from one of the pneumonia patients in this survey.

Background-Free Chromatographic Detection of Sepsis Biomarker in Clinical Human Serum through Near-Infrared to Near-Infrared Upconversion Immunolabeling.

Luminescence nanomaterial-based lateral flow assay (LFA) is promising for point-of-care tests. However, the detection sensitivity and accuracy are often affected by the interferences of autofluorescence and photon scattering from nitrocellulose membrane and colored plasma. Here, we describe a near-infrared to near-infrared upconversion nanoparticle (UCNP) immunolabeled LFA for background-free chromatographic detection of sepsis biomarker procalcitonin (PCT) in clinical human plasma.

Evaluation of the Diagnostic Efficacy of Xpert CT/NG for and .

Background: (CT) and (NG) are widely spread across the world. Asymptomatic or inconspicuous CT/NG infections are difficult to diagnose and treat. Traditional methods have the disadvantages of low detection rate, inaccurate results, and long detection time.

Detection of COVID-19: A review of the current literature and future perspectives.

The rapid spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide pandemic. This unprecedented situation has garnered worldwide attention. An effective strategy for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic is to develop highly accurate methods for the rapid identification and isolation of SARS-CoV-2 infected patients.

Development of a droplet digital PCR method for detection of Streptococcus agalactiae.

Background: Streptococcus agalactiae (GBS) is the causative pathogen of puerperal sepsis in pregnant women and pneumonia, sepsis and meningitis in infants. Infection of GBS is responsible for the increased morbidity in pregnant women and the elderly, and bring challenges to clinical diagnosis and treatment. However, culture-based approaches to detect S.