Association between ultrasound BI-RADS signs and molecular typing of invasive breast cancer.

Objective: To explore the correlation between ultrasound images and molecular typing of invasive breast cancer, so as to analyze the predictive value of preoperative ultrasound for invasive breast cancer.

Methods: 302 invasive breast cancer patients were enrolled in Heping Hospital affiliated to Changzhi Medical College in Shanxi, China during 2020 to 2022. All patients accepted ultrasonic and pathological examination, and all pathological tissues received molecular typing with immunohistochemical (IHC) staining.

Berberine blocks inflammasome activation and alleviates diabetic cardiomyopathy via the miR‑18a‑3p/Gsdmd pathway.

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a cardiovascular disease which has been reported as a major cause of mortality worldwide for several years. Berberine (BBR) is a natural compound extracted from a Chinese herb, with a clinically reported anti‑DCM effect; however, its molecular mechanisms have not yet been fully elucidated. The present study indicated that BBR markedly alleviated DCM by inhibiting IL‑1β secretion and the expression of gasdermin D (Gsdmd) at the post‑transcriptional level.

Dysgranular retrosplenial cortex modulates histaminergic and nonhistaminergic itch processing.

Itch is an unpleasant sensation followed by an intense desire to scratch. Previous researches have advanced our understanding about the role of anterior cingulate cortex and prelimbic cortex in itch modulation, whereas little is known about the effects of retrosplenial cortex (RSC) during this process. Here we firstly confirmed that the neuronal activity of dysgranular RSC (RSCd) is significantly elevated during itch-scratching processing through c-Fos immunohistochemistry and fiber photometry recording.

Comparison of the performance of HPV DNA chip test and HPV PCR test in cervical cancer screening in rural China.

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the performance of two different principles of HPV testing in primary cervical cancer screening and ASC-US triage in rural areas.

Methods: 3,328 and 3,913 women were enrolled in Shanxi, China in 2017 and 2018, respectively, and screened using liquid-based cytology and different HPV tests with a 4-year follow-up. Different screening methods commonly used in clinical practice were evaluated.

Comparison of primary cytology, primary HPV testing and co-testing as cervical cancer screening for Chinese women: a population-based screening cohort.

Objectives: We compared clinical performance of three strategies of primary human papillomavirus (HPV) testing, primary cytology and co-testing for cervical cancer screening.

Design: A population-based prospective cohort study of clinical performance of screening strategy.

Setting: Patients recruited from community in Changzhi County, Shanxi Province, China.

Effect of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid accumulation on Verticillium dahliae infection of upland cotton.

Background: Verticillium wilt of cotton is a serious disease caused by the infection of soil borne fungus Verticillium dahliae Kleb, and the infection mechanisms may involve the regulation of phytohormone ethylene. The precursor of ethylene biosynthesis is 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC), whose biosynthesis in vivo depends on activation of ACC synthase (ACS). Here, we investigated how ACS activation and ACC accumulation affected the infection of V.

B cell subsets were associated with prognosis in elderly patients with community acquired pneumonia.

Background: The role of B cell subsets remained to be elucidated in a variety of immune diseases, though which was used as an effective biomarker for anti-inflammatory or antiviral response. This study aimed to evaluate the early changes of B cell subtypes distribution in elderly patients with community acquired pneumonia (CAP), as well as the association between B cell subtypes and prognosis.

Methods: This prospective study included elderly patients with CAP, severe CAP (sCAP) and healthy elderly subjects between April 2016 and March 2018.

Myelin degeneration and diminished myelin renewal contribute to age-related deficits in memory.

Cognitive decline remains an unaddressed problem for the elderly. We show that myelination is highly active in young mice and greatly inhibited in aged mice, coinciding with spatial memory deficits. Inhibiting myelination by deletion of Olig2 in oligodendrocyte precursor cells impairs spatial memory in young mice, while enhancing myelination by deleting the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor 1 in oligodendrocyte precursor cells, or promoting oligodendroglial differentiation and myelination via clemastine treatment, rescues spatial memory decline during aging.

The endochitinase VDECH from Verticillium dahliae inhibits spore germination and activates plant defense responses.

Chitinases function in the digestion of chitin molecules, which are present principally in insects and fungi. In plants, chitinase genes play important roles in defense, and their expression can be triggered in response to both biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, we cloned and characterized an endochitinase (VDECH) from Verticillium dahliae, strain Vd080.

[Expression analysis of green fluorescent protein in tissues and organs in α-1,3 galactosyltransferase knockout pigs].

The pig is an ideal source to provide organs because its organ size and physiology are similar to humans. However, an acute rejection will ensue after pig-to-human xenotransplantation. The α-1,3 galactosyltransferase gene knockout (GTKO) pigs were generated in recent years, and could solve the problem of hyperacute rejection.

Small molecules enhance functional O-mannosylation of Alpha-dystroglycan.

Alpha-dystroglycan (α-DG), a highly glycosylated receptor for extracellular matrix proteins, plays a critical role in many biological processes. Hypoglycosylation of α-DG results in various types of muscular dystrophies and is also highly associated with progression of majority of cancers. Currently, there are no effective treatments for those devastating diseases.

VdCYC8, Encoding CYC8 Glucose Repression Mediator Protein, Is Required for Microsclerotia Formation and Full Virulence in Verticillium dahliae.

Verticillium dahliae is the primary causal agent for Verticillium wilt disease on a diverse array of economically important crops, including cotton. In previous research, we obtained the low-pathogenicity mutant T286 from the T-DNA insertional mutant library of the highly virulent isolate Vd080 derived from cotton. In this study, the target disrupted gene VdCYC8 was identified by TAIL-PCR, encoding a homolog of CYC8 proteins involved in glucose repression.

[Effects of transgenic cotton expressing chitinase and glucanase genes on the diversity of soil bacterial community].

The transgenic cotton expressing chitinase and glucanase genes was studied using nontransgenic cotton as a control. Specifically, the effects of exogenous genes on bacterial community diversity in rhizospheres of cotton at stages of seedling, budding, boll forming and boll opening were evaluated through comparing the number of cultivable bacteria and analyzing 16S rRNA gene clone libraries. The results showed that the number of cultivable bacteria was not affected by exogenous genes but the cotton growth period, and the number peaked at the stage of boll forming with vigorous metabolism.

Isolation and functional analysis of the pathogenicity-related gene VdPR3 from Verticillium dahliae on cotton.

The fungal plant pathogen Verticillium dahliae is the causal agent of vascular wilt, a disease that can seriously diminish cotton fiber yield. The pathogenicity mechanism and the identity of the genes that interact with cotton during the infection process still remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the low-pathogenic, non-microsclerotium-producing mutant vdpr3 obtained in a previous study from the screening of a T-DNA insertional library of the highly virulent isolate Vd080; the pathogenicity-related gene (VdPR3) in wild-type strain Vd080 was cloned.

Detection of global DNA hypomethylation of peripheral blood lymphocytes in patients with infantile spasms.

The pathogenesis of infantile spasms remains unclear. DNA methylation may play a pivotal role in the development of some types of neurological diseases, such as epilepsy. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between global DNA methylation of peripheral blood leukocytes and cryptogenic infantile spasms.

Multiple injections of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stromal cells through the tail vein improve microcirculation and the microenvironment in a rat model of radiation myelopathy.

Background: At present, no effective clinical treatment is available for the late effects of radiation myelopathy. The aim of the present study was to assess the therapeutic effects of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (UC-MSCs) in a rat model of radiation myelopathy.

Methods: An irradiated cervical spinal cord rat model was generated.

Diversity of endophytic fungi from different Verticillium-wilt-resistant Gossypium hirsutum and evaluation of antifungal activity against Verticillium dahliae in vitro.

Cotton plants were sampled and ranked according to their resistance to Verticillium wilt. In total, 642 endophytic fungi isolates representing 27 genera were recovered from Gossypium hirsutum root, stem, and leaf tissues, but were not uniformly distributed. More endophytic fungi appeared in the leaf (391) compared with the root (140) and stem (111) sections.

Combined screening of cervical cancer, breast cancer and reproductive tract infections in rural China.

Objectives: To investigate the current prevalence and knowledge of cervical cancer, breast cancer and reproductive tract infections (RTIs) in rural Chinese women, and to explore the acceptance and feasibility of implementing a combined screening program in rural China.

Methods: A population-based, cross-sectional study was conducted among women aged 30 to 59 years old in Xiangyuan County, Shanxi Province from 2009 to 2010. Socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of cervical cancer, breast cancer and RTIs, and the attitude toward single or combined screening were collected by an interview questionnaire.

Spatial-temporal analysis of malaria and the effect of environmental factors on its incidence in Yongcheng, China, 2006-2010.

Background: In 2003, Plasmodium vivax malaria has re-emerged in central eastern China including Yongcheng prefecture, Henan Province, where no case has been reported for eleven years. Our goals were to detect the space-time distribution pattern of malaria and to determine significant environmental variables contributing to malaria incidence in Yongcheng from 2006 to 2010, thus providing scientific basis for further optimizing current malaria surveillance and control programs.

Methods: This study examined the spatial and temporal heterogeneities in the risk of malaria and the influencing factors on malaria incidence using geographical information system (GIS) and time series analysis.

[Evaluation of adrenocortical function in children with severe and critical enterovirus 71 infection].

Objective: To evaluate the adrenocortical function in children with severe and critical enterovirus 71 infection by using a high-dose (250 µg) adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) stimulation test. And to at provide experimental basis for glucocorticoid in the treatment of hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD).

Method: This was a prospective multi-center study which was carried out in PICUs of Beijing Children's Hospital, Zhengzhou Children's Hospital, Kaifeng Children's Hospital and Linyi People's Hospital in Shandong province.

Estimation of the costs of cervical cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment in rural Shanxi Province, China: a micro-costing study.

Background: Cost estimation is a central feature of health economic analyses. The aim of this study was to use a micro-costing approach and a societal perspective to estimate aggregated costs associated with cervical cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment in rural China.

Methods: We assumed that future screening programs will be organized at a county level (population ~250,000), and related treatments will be performed at county or prefecture hospitals; therefore, this study was conducted in a county and a prefecture hospital in Shanxi during 2008-9.

The abundance and host-seeking behavior of culicine species (Diptera: Culicidae) and Anopheles sinensis in Yongcheng city, People's Republic of China.

Background: The knowledge of mosquito species diversity and the level of anthropophily exhibited by each species in a region are of great importance to the integrated vector control. Culicine species are the primary vectors of Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus and filariasis in China. Anopheles sinensis plays a major role in the maintenance of Plasmodium vivax malaria transmission in China.

Large induces functional glycans in an O-mannosylation dependent manner and targets GlcNAc terminals on alpha-dystroglycan.

Alpha-dystroglycan (α-DG) is a ubiquitously expressed receptor for extracellular matrix proteins and some viruses, and plays a pivotal role in a number of pathological events, including cancer progression, muscular dystrophies, and viral infection. The O-glycans on α-DG are essential for its ligand binding, but the biosynthesis of the functional O-glycans remains obscure. The fact that transient overexpression of LARGE, a putative glycosyltransferase, up-regulates the functional glycans on α-DG to mediate its ligand binding implied that overexpression of LARGE may be a novel strategy to treat disorders with hypoglycosylation of α-DG.