Clinical research of ankle fusion with vascularised semi-split fibular flap via lateral approach / 中华显微外科杂志

Objective:To investigate the clinical efficacy of the vascularised semi-split fibular flap with lateral approach in ankle fusion.Methods:A total of 54 patients who underwent ankle fusion through the lateral menstrual approach by the Department of Trauma and Micro Orthopaedics, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University from June 2015 to December 2020 was retrospectively analysed. Of the 54 patients, 27 patients who underwent ankle fusion with a semi-split fibular flap carrying blood supply were assigned to the fibular flap group, while other 27 patients who had ankle fusion with lateral plate were assigned to the plate group. The ankle fusions for both groups were performed by the same surgical team. The clinical efficacy of the 2 groups was evaluated by the success rate of bone fusion, the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Surgery(AOFAS) Ankle-Hindfoot Score System, and the Visual analog score(VAS). All the patients entered the postoperative follow-up at outpatient clinic.Results:The follow-up lasted for 12-24 months, with an average of 15 months. At 6 months after surgery, 24 patients in the fibular flap group achieved osseous union with 88.9% in the success rate of bone fusion. While 17 patients in the plate group achieved osseous union, with the success rate of bone fusion at 63.0%. There was a statistically significant difference between the groups( P<0.05). At 1 year after surgery, all 27 patients in the fibular flap group achieved bony union, with a 100% of the success rate of bone fusion, while 23 patients in the plate group achieved bony union at a 85.2% success rate of bone fusion, with 4 patients failed to heal. The difference was statistically significant( P<0.05). The AOFAS scores of the fibular flap group were 41.3±12.0, 65.6±5.6, and 79.1±7.0 before operation, at 6 months after operation and 1 year after operation, respectively, while the scores for the plate group at the same time were 40.8±11.3, 64.5±4.1 and 69.3±7.2. There was no significant difference in the scores between the groups before surgery and at 6 months after the operation ( P>0.05). The scores at 1 year after surgery in the fibular flap group was significantly higher than the plate group, and there was a statistically significant difference( P<0.05). The preoperative VAS score in the fibular flap group was 7.6±1.3, while it was 7.5±1.1 in the plate group. There was no significant difference between the groups in VAS score( P>0.05). However, the VAS score at 1 year after surgery was found at 1.8±0.9 in the plate group, and 1.9±0.8 in the fibular flap group and the difference between groups was statistically significant( P<0.05). Conclusion:The surgical procedure of semi-split fibular flap through the lateral approach has lower complications and higher success rate in ankle fusion in comparison with those of the fusion with lateral plate. Thus, further clinical investigations can be considered.

Clinical controversy and research thoughts on lymphadenectomy of gastric cancer / 中华胃肠外科杂志

Lymphadenectomy, as one of the controversial foci in clinic, is an extremely important part of radical surgery for gastric cancer. So far, the preliminary consensus has been reached on the scope and number of lymph node dissection, based on the etiological mechanism, disease progression, diagnosis and treatment prognosis of gastric cancer. At present, some clinical issues of lymphadenectomy in curative gastrectomy are still need to be addressed. Firstly, standardized procedure in lymph node dissection for gastric cancer is a prerequisite to decrease the incidence of postoperative complications and to improve the prognosis of gastric cancer patients. Furthermore, the plausible treatment strategy in perioperative phase is also deemed as the other key method to offer a benefit of survival rate for advanced stage patients after lymphadenectomy. Last but not least, the technologies for enhancement the prediction accuracy of lymph node metastasis preoperatively or intraoperatively should be worthy in-depth study.

OCTA changes in blood flow density of patients with Alzheimer's disease: a Meta-analysis / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

@#AIM: To explore the changes of retinal optical coherence tomography angiography(OCTA)vessel density in Patients with Alzheimer's disease(AD)by Meta-analysis, and to explore the value of OCTA in early diagnosis of AD patients.<p>METHODS: Embase, PubMed and Cochrane Library data were searched from January 2016 to September 2021 for relevant studies on vessel density in macular area of AD patients. Two researchers independently screened the literature, extracted the data, and evaluated the risk of inclusion bias using Newcastle-Ottawa Scale(NOS). Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software.<p>RESULTS: A total of 740 cases(eyes)were included in 10 literatures, including 321 cases from the AD group and 419 cases from the control group(age-matched people with normal cognitive abilities). The results of the Meta-analysis showed that the superficial vessel density in macular area of AD patients was lower than that in control group(<i>MD</i>=-1.58, 95%<i>CI</i> -2.60- -0.55, <i>P</i>=0.003). The deep vessel density in macular area of AD patients was lower than that in control group(<i>MD</i>=-2.72, 95%<i>CI</i> -4.36- -1.07, <i>P</i>=0.001). The parafoveal vessel density in AD patients was lower than that in control group(<i>MD</i>=-1.44, 95%<i>CI</i> -1.94- -0.94, <i>P</i><0.00001). The avascular area in the fovea of AD patients was slightly larger than that of the control group(<i>MD</i>=0.05, 95%<i>CI</i> -0.01-0.11, <i>P</i>=0.13).<p>CONCLUSION: The vessel density of each layer in macular area of AD patients were lower than that of control groups the difference was statistically significant. OCTA can assist in the early diagnosis of AD.

Interpretation of the second update to the ninth edition of antithrombotic therapy guidelines for venous thromboembolism disease published by American College of Chest Physicians / 中国胸心血管外科临床杂志

@#Venous thromboembolism (VTE), comprising both deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, is a chronic illness that contributes significantly to the global burden of disease. The American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) published the 9th edition of antithrombotic treatment guidelines for VTE (AT9) in 2012, which was first updated in 2016. In October 2021, ACCP published the 2nd update to AT9, which addressed 17 clinical questions related to VTE and presented 29 guidance statements in total. In this paper we interpreted the recommendations proposed in this update of the guidelines.

Pharmacological Effect and Mechanism of Andrographolide： A Review / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Andrographolide， a diterpene lactone， is the important material basis for the pharmacological effect of the Chinese medicinal Andrographis paniculata （Burm.f.）Nees. Modern pharmacological research has shown that andrographolide has many pharmacological activities such as anti-inflammation， bacteriostat， anti-virus， anti-tumor， protecting liver， promoting the function of gallbladder， and protecting the cardiovascular system and nervous system. It has significant anti-inflammatory activity which involves multiple targets. To be specific， it can inhibit nuclear factor-κB （NF-κB）， signal transduction and activator of transcription 3 （STAT3）， and other signaling pathways， reduce the synthesis and release of downstream inflammatory mediators， and regulate oxidative stress and immune response to achieve anti-inflammatory effect on various inflammatory diseases. At the same time， it suppresses a variety of tumor cells by inhibiting tumor cell proliferation， blocking cell cycle， and inducing tumor cell apoptosis. Its anti-tumor mechanism involves cellular signaling pathways such as Notch， phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B （PI3K/Akt）， NF-κB， and secreted glycoprotein/β-catenin （Wnt/β-catenin）. In addition， it can also alleviate diabetes by regulating glucose metabolism. According to related research， it often exerts pharmacological effects through multiple pathways and multiple targets， but the specific targets are unclear. Therefore， this article summarizes the relevant studies on the pharmacological effects and mechanisms of andrographolide in the past three years and puts forward the future research directions， which is expected to serve as a reference for the further in-depth research and development and utilization of andrographolide.

Anti-tumor Effect of Shikonin： A Review / 中国实验方剂学杂志

The incidence and mortality of cancer are increasing year by year， seriously threatening human health. At present， the chemotherapy-based treatment of cancer can prolong the survival time of patients， but its severe side effects and adverse reactions often lead to poor prognosis. Therefore， searching for anti-cancer drugs with high efficiency and low toxicity has become the focus of clinical attention from all over the world. The effective components of Chinese medicine have the advantages of mild side effect and multi-target regulation， and their anti-tumor activities are highly favored by many researchers. Shikonin， a naphthoquinone compound， is the main effective component of Arnebiae Radix， with anti-tumor， anti-inflammatory， antioxidant， and other pharmacological effect. Studies have shown that shikonin possesses significant anti-tumor activities against a variety of tumor cells， and it can inhibit the development of many cancers， such as breast cancer， lung cancer， liver cancer， cervical cancer， ovarian cancer， colon cancer， and prostate cancer. The anti-tumor mechanism of shikonin is mainly related to multi-pathway and multi-target inhibition of tumor cell proliferation， the promotion of reactive oxygen species （ROS） production， induction of tumor cell apoptosis， cell cycle arrest， and tumor cell autophagy， and the inhibition of tumor cell migration and invasion. In addition， shikonin can increase the sensitivity of tumor cells to anti-tumor drugs and reverse the drug resistance of tumor cells. The signaling pathways involved in the anti-tumor effect of shikonin include phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B （PI3K/Akt）， PI3K/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin （mTOR）， mitogen-activated protein kinase （MAPK）， pyruvate kinase M2/signal transducer and activator of transcription protein 3 （PKM2/STAT3）， and Kelch-like epichlorohydrin-related protein 1/nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 （Keap1/Nrf2）. The anti-tumor effects are mainly achieved through the regulation of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Based on the relevant literature on the anti-tumor effect and mechanism of shikonin in China and abroad， the present study reviewed the research progress in the past three years to provide useful references for the further study of the anti-tumor effect of shikonin and the research and development of new antineoplastic drugs.

Therapeutic effects of the extract of Sancao Formula, a Chinese herbal compound, on imiquimod-induced psoriasis via cysteine-rich protein 61 / 中西医结合学报

OBJECTIVE@#Psoriasis is a common chronic inflammatory skin disease that is prone to recurrence, and the proinflammatory factor, cysteine-rich protein 61 (Cyr61), is important in its pathophysiology. Long-term clinical practice has shown that Sancao Formula (SC), a Chinese herbal compound, is effective in the treatment of psoriasis, but the precise mechanism remains unknown. In this study, we investigate the mechanism by which SC extract alleviates imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriasis.@*METHODS@#The expression of Cyr61 in psoriatic lesions and normal healthy skin was detected using immunohistochemical analysis to investigate the biological role of Cyr61 in models of psoriatic inflammation. A psoriatic mouse model was established by topical application of IMQ, and the effect of topical application of SC extract was evaluated using the psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) score, hematoxylin-eosin staining, and histopathological features of the skin. Next, a HaCaT cell inflammation model was established using interferon-γ (IFN-γ), and the effect of SC extract on the mRNA and protein levels of Cyr61 and intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) was confirmed using Western blot and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analyses.@*RESULTS@#Immunohistochemical staining showed that the expression of Cyr61 in psoriatic lesions was higher than that in normal skin samples (78.26% vs 41.18%, P < 0.05), and the number of Cyr61-positive cells in psoriatic lesions was also significantly higher than in normal skin (18.66 ± 2.51 vs 4.33 ± 1.52, P < 0.05). Treatment in mice with IMQ-induced psoriasis showed that SC extract could significantly improve the inflammatory phenotype, PASI score (10.875 ± 0.744 vs 3.875 ± 0.582, P < 0.05), and pathological features compared with those in IMQ model group; SC treatment was also associated with decreased levels of Cyr61 and ICAM-1. In the IFN-γ-induced inflammatory cell model, the mRNA and protein levels of Cyr61 and ICAM-1 were upregulated, while the SC extract downregulated the levels of Cyr61 and ICAM-1.@*CONCLUSION@#The results provide a theoretical basis for the involvement of Cyr61 in the pathogenesis of psoriasis, and suggest that SC should be used to target Cyr61 for the prevention of psoriasis recurrence.

Engineering Saccharomyces cerevisiae for efficient production of glucaric acid / 生物工程学报

As an important dicarboxylic acids existing in nature, glucaric acid has been widely used in medical, health, and polymer materials industry, therefore it is considered as one of the "top value-added chemicals from biomass". In this study, using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a chassis microorganism, the effects of overexpression of myo-inositol transporter Itr1, fusional expression of inositol oxygenase MIOX4 and uronate dehydrogenase Udh, and down-expression of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase gene ZWF1 on the glucaric acid production were investigated. The results showed that the yield of glucaric acid was increased by 26% compared with the original strain Bga-3 under shake flask fermentation after overexpressing myo-inositol transporter Itr1. The yield of glucaric acid was increased by 40% compared with Bga-3 strain by expressing the MIOX4-Udh fusion protein. On these basis, the production of glucaric acid reached 5.5 g/L, which was 60% higher than that of Bga-3 strain. In a 5 L fermenter, the highest yield of glucaric acid was 10.85 g/L, which was increased 80% compared with that of Bga-3 strain. The application of the above metabolic engineering strategy improved the pathway efficiency and the yield of glucaric acid, which may serve as a reference for engineering S. cerevisiae to produce other chemicals.

Analysis of acupoint-symptom relationship in CHENG Dan-an's Note About Treatise on Cold-Attack based on complex network / 中国针灸

Acupoint-symptom relationship in CHENG Dan-an's Note About Treatise on Cold-Attack was analyzed based on complex network, acupoint names and indications were extracted from the book, which provided ideas and methods for promoting the modernization of acupuncture and moxibustion by using complex network technology. A total of 112 acupoints in 201 acupuncture prescriptions were included, and the total frequency of acupoints was 880 times, forming 42 034 acupoint pairs. In terms of network indexes, compared with the complex network of comprehensive acupuncture books, such as Meridian and Acupoint Science, Zhenjiu Dacheng, Acupuncture A and B Meridians formed based on the same mathematical method, the complex network model for CHENG Dan-an's Note About Treatise on Cold-Attack shows more typical small world effect, which is characterized by higher network density (6.762) and shorter average path length (1.064). This phenomenon may be related to the tongue and pulse which added the link between acupoints. For the node indexes, the analysis of topological indexes such as Page Rank shows that acupoints represented by Dazhui (GV 14) has higher compatibility value in the treatment of exogenous diseases, which further demonstrates the clinical value of eigenvector centrality in guiding intelligent compatibility of points.

Research Progress in Treatment of Chemical Liver Injury with Chinese Medicine Based on Metabolomics / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Liver， as a critical organ of metabolism and detoxification， can be damaged by viral infection， drug abuse， and heavy drinking. Liver diseases pose a serious threat to people's health and life in China.At present， drug therapy has been primarily adopted clinically in the treatment of the liver injury.In-depth investigation of the mechanism of liver-protective drugs is of great significance to the prevention and treatment of clinical liver diseases.In recent years， with the development of the medical industry in China， an increasing number of studies have focused on the treatment of liver injury with Chinese medicine.Compared with western medicine， Chinese medicine is advantageous in few side effects and overall regulation， which plays a pivotal role in liver protection.However， its underlying mechanism in liver protection still needs to be further studied due to its complex compositions and diverse targets.Metabolomics， a new approach to studying the metabolic pathway of biological systems， provides integral and systematic views in the investigation of liver protection with Chinese medicine. By virtue of metabolomics， the mechanism of Chinese medicine in multi-target and multi-pathway liver protection can be analyzed comprehensively， and the corresponding biomarkers can also be screened out. The authors analyzed the studies of the treatment of chemical liver injury models induced by carbon tetrachloride （CCl4）， dimethylnitrosamine （DMN）， α-naphthyl isothiocyanate （ANIT）， and alcohol by Chinese medicinal compounds， single herbal medicines， and monomers of Chinese medicine based on metabolomics， and summarized the biomarkers and related metabolic pathways of Chinese medicine in the intervention of each type of liver injury， aiming at providing a reference for the further research and clinical application in the treatment of different types of liver injuries by Chinese medicine.

Effect of Stemona tuberosa Alkaloids on Apoptosis of SMMC-7721 Cells and Expression of Bcl-2， Bax， and Cleaved Caspase-3 / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To investigate the effect of<italic> Stemona tuberosa</italic> alkaloids on the apoptosis of human hepatoma SMMC-7721 cells and the expression of apoptosis-related proteins including B lymphocytoma-2 （Bcl-2）， Bcl-2-associated X protein （Bax）， and cleaved cysteinyl aspartate-specific protease-3 （cleaved Caspase-3）. Method:SMMC-7721 cells were routinely cultured， passaged， and treated with various concentrations （50， 75， 112， 167， and 250 mg·L^-1） of <italic>S. tuberosa </italic>alkaloids， while those in the blank control group were only treated with 10% fetal bovine serum. The cell proliferation was determined by tetrazolium bromide （MTT） colorimetry and colony assay and the cell apoptosis by Hoechst 33258 staining. The protein expression levels of Bcl-2， Bax， and cleaved Caspase-3 were detected by Western blot. Result:<italic>S. tuberosa</italic> alkaloids inhibited the proliferation of SMMC-7721 cells， and the inhibition rate was significantly increased in comparison with that in the blank control group （<italic>P</italic><0.01）， with the half maximal inhibitory concentrations （IC₅₀） at 24 h， 48 h， and 72 h being （173.36±8.75）， （112.14±16.50）， and （96.41±2.60）mg·L^-1， respectively. The cell colony-inhibitory activity was significantly increased in a dose-dependent manner （<italic>P</italic><0.01）. Compared with the blank control group， <italic>S. tuberosa</italic> alkaloids promoted the apoptosis of SMMC-7721 cells， manifested as increased number of apoptotic cells and elevated apoptotic rate （<italic>P</italic><0.01）. The typical morphological changes such as brightly blue-fluorescent condensed nuclei， cytoplasmic shrinking， and karyopyknosis were found under the upright fluorescence microscope. As revealed by comparison with the blank control group， the expression of Bcl-2 was significantly down-regulated （<italic>P</italic><0.01）， while the protein expression levels of pro-apoptotic protein Bax and cleaved Caspase-3 in the 75， 112， 167， and 250 mg·L^-1 <italic>S. tuberosa</italic> alkaloids groups were significantly up-regulated （<italic>P</italic><0.01）. Conclusion:<italic>S. tuberosa </italic>alkaloids inhibit the proliferation of SMMC-7721 cells and promote their apoptosis possibly by inhibiting Bcl-2 protein expression and promoting Bax and cleaved Caspase-3 protein expression.

Research Progress on Pharmacological Effect and Mechanism of Polydatin / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Polydatin， a polyphenolic compound， is the main active component of Chinese medicine Polygoni Cuspidati Rhizoma et Radix and has a variety of pharmacological activities. In recent years， there are more studies on the pharmacological effects and mechanisms of polydatin. Modern pharmacological studies show that polydatin has protective effects on the nervous system， cardio-cerebral vascular system， and respiratory system， and also has significant effects on the liver， kidney， lung， and other organs. Its effect of regulating blood glucose and blood lipid on atherosclerosis is significant， and the anti-fibrosis effect is significant on the liver and kidney. Polydatin can inhibit many types of tumor cells， suppress proliferation and induce apoptosis of tumor cells. Polydatin can also resist inflammation and radiation， protect bone marrow， and promote wound healing. Based on the literature on the pharmacological effects of polydatin， the authors found that the single pharmacological mechanism of polydatin is often regulated by multi-target proteins and multiple pathways， but the most of action targets are unclear， which needs to be further investigated. This study summarized the research progress on the pharmacological action and mechanism of polydatin in the past five years and put forward some suggestions on its present research situation and future research direction to broaden the research ideas of researchers and speed up the identification of the targets of its pharmacological effect. This study is expected to provide a scientific theoretical basis for the further development and utilization of polydatin.

Arthroscopic treatment of tibial avulsion fracture of posterior cruciate ligament with a knot-free anchor and Endobuton titanium plate / 中国骨伤

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the clinical effect of arthroscopic fixation of tibial avulsion fracture of posterior cruciate ligament with a knot-free anchor and Endobuton titanium plate.@*METHODS@#From October 2019 to October 2020, 12 patients with tibial avulsion fracture of posterior cruciate ligament were treated with the arthroscopic knot-free anchor and Endobuton titanium plate, including 9 males and 3 females. The age ranged from 23 to 58 years old. The time from injury to operation ranged from 2 to 9 days. There were 2 cases of Meyers typeⅡand 10 cases of Meyers type Ⅲ. There were 2 cases of meniscus injury and 1 case of partial injury of medial collateral ligament. The fracture healing and knee range of motion were evaluated after operation, and the clinicalefficacy was evaluated by Lysholm function score.@*RESULTS@#All patients were followed up for 12 months. All patients healed within 6 months, and there were no complications such as incision infection, lower extremity deep venous thrombosis and internal fixation falling off. The knee flexion range of motion recovered from 50°-90° before operation to 115°-130° 6 months after operation, and no patient had straightening disorder. Lysholm functional score recovered from preoperative 29-54 scores to 86-100 scores 12 months after operation.@*CONCLUSION@#Arthroscopic reduction and fixation of tibial avulsion fracture of posterior cruciate ligament with the knot-free anchor and Endobuton titanium plate has less complications, high fracture healing rate, good extension and flexion angle and early function recovery of knee joint.

Advances in denitrification microorganisms and processes / 生物工程学报

Denitrification is an indispensable part of most sewage treatment systems. The biological denitrification process has attracted much attention in the past decades due to the advantages such as cost-effectiveness, process simplicity, and absence of secondary pollution. This review summarized the advances on biological denitrification processes in recent years according to the different physiological characteristics and denitrification mechanisms of denitrification microorganisms. The pros and cons of different biological denitrification processes developed based on nitrifying bacteria, denitrifying bacteria, and anaerobic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria were compared with the aim to identify the best strategy for denitrification in a complex wastewater environment. The rapid development of synthetic biology provides possibilities to develop highly-efficient denitrifying strains based on mechanistic understandings. Combined with the applications of automatic simulation to obtain the optimal denitrification conditions, cost-effective and highly-efficient denitrification processed can be envisioned in the foreseeable future.

Progress of evaluation scales in chronic cough / 国际儿科学杂志

With the further understanding and the accumulation of experiences in diagnosis and treatment for chronic cough, a growing number of evaluation scales about chronic cough are used in clinical practice.Medical workers try to quantitatively evaluate chronic cough and accurately guide clinical practices with evaluation scales.At present, the evaluation scales of chronic cough mostly focus on health-related quality of life, because chronic cough will seriously affect the quality of life for patients, and further affect the psychology, daily life and family members of patients.

Epidemiological characteristics of respiratory syncytial virus in hospitalized children with acute lower respiratory tract infection in Chongqing, China, from 2013 to 2018: an analysis of 2 066 cases / 中国当代儿科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To study the detection rate, epidemic pattern, and clinical features of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in hospitalized children with acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI).@*METHODS@#Nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected from children with ALRI, aged < 2 years, who were hospitalized in Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from June 2013 to May 2018. Multiplex PCR was used to detect 16 common respiratory viruses. The epidemiological characteristics of RSV were analyzed.@*RESULTS@#A total of 2 066 hospitalized children with ALRI were enrolled. Among the children, 1 595 (77.20%) tested positive for virus and 826 (39.98%) tested positive for RSV [410(49.6%) positive for RSV-A, 414 (50.1%) positive for RSV-B, and 2 (0.2%) positive for both RSV-A and RSV-B]. RSV-B was the main subtype detected in 2013-2014 and 2016-2017, while RSV-A was the main subtype in 2014-2015 and 2017-2018, and these two subtypes were prevalent in 2015-2016. The highest detection rate of RSV was noted in winter. RSV + human rhinovirus was the most common combination of viruses and was detected in 123 children. These children were more likely to develop wheezing than those with single RSV detected (@*CONCLUSIONS@#In Chongqing in 2013-2018, RSV-A and RSV-B not only can predominate alternately, but also can co-circulate during a season. RSV is the major viral pathogen of hospitalized children with ALRI and can cause severe lower respiratory tract infection. There are no differences in clinical manifestations between children with RSV-A infection and those with RSV-B infection, but boys are more susceptible to RSV-A infection.

Progress in transcription factor-based metabolite biosensors / 生物工程学报

Transcription factor-based biosensors (TFBs) play an essential role in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology. TFBs sense the metabolite concentration signals and convert them into specific signal output. They hold high sensitivity, strong specificity, brief analysis speed, and are widely used in response to target metabolites. Here we reviewe the principles of TFBs, the application examples, and challenges faced in recent years in microbial cells, including detecting target metabolite concentrations, high-throughput screening, adaptive laboratory evolutionary selection, and dynamic control. Simultaneously, to overcome the challenges in the application, we also focus on reviewing the performance tuning strategies of TFBs, mainly including traditional and computer-aided tuning strategies. We also discuss the opportunities and challenges that TFBs may face in practical applications, and propose the future research trend.

Preface for special issue on industrial microorganisms: innovation and breakthrough (2021) / 生物工程学报

Industrial microorganisms and their products are widely used in various fields such as industry, agriculture, and medicine, which play a pivotal role in economy. Efficient industrial strains are the key to improve production efficiency, and advanced fermentation technology as well as instrument platform is also important to develop microbial metabolic potential. In recent years, rapid development has been achieved in research of industrial microorganisms. Artificial intelligence, efficient genome-editing and synthetic biology technologies have been increasingly applied, and related industrial applications are being accomplished. In order to promote utilization of industrial microorganisms in biological manufacturing, we organized this special issue on innovation and breakthrough of industrial microorganisms. Progress including microbial strain diversity and metabolism, strain development technology, fermentation process optimization and scale-up, high-throughput droplet culture system, and applications of industrial microorganisms is summarized in this special issue, and prospects on future studies are proposed.

Effects of Bupleurum chinense on the diversity of intestinal flora in depressed mice / 中国中药杂志

Bupleuri Radix, serving as the sovereign medicinal in many antidepressant compound preparations, has been proved effective in treating depression in mice, but its effect on the intestinal flora remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of Bupleurum chinense(one of the original materials of Bupleuri Radix) on the behaviors and the diversity of intestinal flora of depressed mice. A depression mouse model was induced by repeated social defeat stress. Specifically, C57 BL/6 J male mice were exposed to the attack from the CD-1 mice. Then, C57 BL/6 J male mice were divided into a depression group and a B. chinense group, with normal saline and B. chinense administered(ig) respectively. Sucrose preference test and tail suspension test were conducted during and after the experiment respectively, to analyze the effects of B. chinense on the behaviors of the depressed mice. The feces were collected after the experiment. The V3-V4 16 S rDNA regions of intestinal flora of mice in each group were sequenced by Ion S5 TMXL for the analysis of the number of operational taxonomic units(OTUs), richness, alpha and beta diversity indexes, and differential phyla and genera. The results indicated that B. chinense could decrease depressive-like behaviors of mice, increase sucrose preference, and shorten the time of immobility in tail suspension test. After B. chinense intervention, the relative abundance of Firmicutes was significantly decreased, while that of Bacteroidetes was increased at the phylum level. At the genus level, the relative abundance of Lactobacillus and Lachnoclostridium decreased(P<0.05), while that of Bacteroides, Alistopes, etc. was elevated(P<0.05). The findings demonstrate that B. chinense can regulate the intestinal flora and improve the depressive-like behaviors of mice with depression.

Value of radiomics nomogram based on T 1WI for pretreatment prediction of relapse within 1 year in osteosarcoma: a multicenter study / 中华放射学杂志

Objective:To explore the value of a radiomics nomogram based on T 1WI for prediction of the relapse of osteosarcoma after surgery within 1 year from multicenter data. Methods:The imaging and clinical data of 107 patients with pathologica1ly confirmed osteosarcoma who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy before surgery from 6 hospitals from January 2009 to October 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. A training cohort consisted of 75 patients from firstly enrolled 4 hospitals and an independent validation cohort of 32 patients from other 2 hospitals. Pretreatment T 1WI was used to extract radiomics features. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was applied to reduce the dimension and then the radiomics signature was constructed to predict the relapse of osteosarcoma after surgery within 1 year in training cohort. Independent clinical risk factors were screened using one-way logistic regression, and then a radiomics nomogram incorporated the radiomics signature and MRI characteristics was developed by multivariate logistic regression. The predictive nomogram was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve in the training cohort, and validated in the independent validation cohort. The calibration curve was used to evaluate the agreement between prediction and actual observation and the decision curve was used to demonstrate the clinical usefulness. Results:Based on T 1WI from multicenter institutions, the radiomics signature was built using 2 valuable selected features that were significantly associated with relapse within 1 year. Two selected features included 1 gray-level co-occurrence matrices (GLCM) feature (L_G_1.0_GLCM_homogeneity1, LASSO coefficient 3.122) and 1 gray-level run length matrix (GLRLM) feature (GLRLM_RP, LASSO coefficient -2.474). The prediction nomogram including radiomics signature and MRI characteristics (joint invasion and perivascular involvement) showed good discrimination with the area under the ROC curve of 0.884 and 0.821 in the training and validation cohorts, respectively. The calibration curve showed that the nomogram achieved good agreement between prediction and actual observation. Decision curve analysis demonstrated that the radiomics nomogram was clinically useful when the threshold probability was greater than 21%. Conclusion:The radiomics nomogram based on T 1WI can be used as a non-invasive quantitative tool to predict relapse of osteosarcoma within 1 year before treatment, which provides support for clinical decision-making in osteosarcoma.