Correlation analysis of smell and taste loss with COVID-19 outbreak trend based on big data of internet / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

Objective: To analyze the correlation between loss of smell/taste and the number of real confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide based on Google Trends data, and to explore the guiding role of smell/taste loss for the COVID-19 prevention and control. Methods: "Loss of smell" and "loss of taste" related keywords were searched in the Google Trends platform, the data were obtained from Jan. 1 2019 to Jul. 11 2021. The daily and newly confirmed COVID-19 case number were collected from World Health Organization (WHO) since Dec. 30 2019. All data were statistically analyzed by SPSS 23.0 software. The correlation was finally tested by Spearman correlation analysis. Results: A total of data from 80 weeks were collected. The retrospective analysis was performed on the new trend of COVID-19 confirmed cases in a total of 186 292 441 cases worldwide. Since the epidemic of COVID-19 was recorded on the WHO website, the relative searches related to loss of smell/taste in the Google Trends platform had been increasing globally. The global relative search volumes of "loss of smell" and "loss of taste" on Google Trends was 10.23±2.58 and 16.33±2.47 before the record of epidemic while 80.25±39.81 and 80.45±40.04 after (t value was 8.67, 14.43, respectively, both P<0.001). In the United States and India, the relative searches for "loss of smell" and "loss of taste" after the record of epidemic were also much higher than before (all P<0.001). The correlation coefficients between the trend of weekly new COVID-19 cases and the Google Trends of "loss of smell" in the global, United States, and India was 0.53, 0.76, and 0.82 respectively (all P<0.001), the correlation coefficients with Google Trends of "loss of taste" was 0.54, 0.78, and 0.82 respectively (all P<0.001). The lowest and highest point of loss of smell/taste search curves of Google Trends in different periods appeared 7 to 14 days earlier than that of the weekly newly COVID-19 confirmed cases curves, respectively. Conclusions: There is a significant positive correlation between the number of newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide and the amount of keywords, such as "loss of smell" and "loss of taste", retrieved in Google Trends. The trend of big data based on Google Trends might predict the outbreak trend of COVID-19 in advance.

A Study on the Relationship between Family Health and Negative Psychology of Primary and Secondary School Students during Epidemic Prevention and Control / 中国医学伦理学

To know the current status of family health and negative psychology of primary and secondary school students, and to explore the correlation between them during the prevention and control of COVID-19. From January 15 to 30, in 2022, a total of 19 343 urban and rural primary and secondary school students in X city were selected. The short form of the family health scale, center for epidemiologica survey-depression scale and student burnout inventory for junior middle school students were used to conduct a cross-sectional survey. The Pearson correlation was used to analyze the relationship between the family health and negative psychology. The family health of primary and secondary school students is at the medium level or above, and more than half of students may/must be depressed. There are significant differences in study burnout in different learning stages and epidemic management in different places of residence. It is recommended that family members and schools staff should give more psychological and social support to primary and secondary school students to reduce the negative impact of COVID-19 on them.

The expression and clinical significance of pepsin and pepsinogen in patients with otitis media with effusion / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To analyze the role and significance of pepsin and pepsinogen in the pathogenesis of OME in children.@*METHOD@#Pediatric patients with otitis media aged 2-8 years who enrolled in our department of the hospital from May of 2012 to December of 2012 were set as experimental group (38 cases, 48 ears) which should be underwent tympanic membrane puncture/tube insertion. Meanwhile, pediatric patients waiting for cochlear implant without otitis media (10 ears), were set as control group. Middle ear lavage fluid and plasma samples from the two groups were collected and detected using enzyme-linked immune method for pepsin and pepsinogen.@*RESULT@#The concentrations of pepsin and pepsinogen in the middle ear lavage fluid of OME group [(48.8 ± 415.99) ng/ml and 676.32 ± 336.71)ng/ml] were significantly higher than those in the control group [(8.20 ± 4.59)ng/ml and (77.27 ± 50.33) ng/ml] (P 0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Pepsin and pepsinogen in the middle ear cavity of OME patients maybe originated from laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR), indicating that LPR is associated with the pathogenesis of OME in children.

Construction of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains with espF gene deletion and complementation / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To construct enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7 strains with delection espF gene and its nucleotide fragment and with espF gene complementation.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A pair of homologous arm primers was designed to amplify the gene fragment of kanamycin resistance, which was transformed into EHEC O157:H7 EDL933w strain via the PKD46 plasmid by electroporation. The replacement of the espF gene by kanamycin resistance gene through the PKD46-mediated red recombination system was confirmed by PCR and sequencing. The entire coding region of espF along with its nucleotide fragment was amplified by PCR and cloned into pBAD33 plasmid, which was transformed into a mutant strain to construct the strain with espF complementation. RT-PCR was used to verify the transcription of espF and its nucleotide fragment in the complemented mutant strain.</p><p><b>RESULTS AND CONCLUSION</b>We established EHEC O157:H7 EDL933w strains with espF gene deletion and with espF gene complementation. Both espF and its nucleotide fragment were transcribed in the complemented mutant strain. The two strains provide a basis for further study of the regulatory mechanism of espF.</p>

Hypomethylation of 5'CpG island of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-related protein 1 is associated with its overexpression in colorectal cancer / 中华病理学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the methylation status of 5'CpG island of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-related protein 1 (IGFBP-rP1) in colorectal cancer and its relationship with gene expression and clinicopathologic parameters.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Semi-quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of IGFBP-rP1 in 46 cases of colorectal cancer and their matched normal mucosa. Methylation-specific PCR (MSP) was applied to evaluate the methylation status of 5'CpG island of IGFBP-rP1. Colon cancer cell lines LoVo and SW620 were treated with demethylation agent 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-aza-dC), followed by RT-PCR and MSP detection.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>At the mRNA level, the expression of IGFBP-rP1 was higher in colorectal cancer tissue than that in the matched normal mucosa (P < 0.05). IGFBP-rP1 was methylated in 28/46 (60.9%) cases of colorectal cancer and 37/46 (80.4%) matched normal mucosa samples (P < 0.05). A negative correlation was found between IGFBP-rP1 expression and its methylation status. The expression of IGFBP-rP1 was restored in LoVo and SW620 after treatment with 5-aza-dC and MSP confirmation of its demethylation status. No relationships was found between the methylation status and clinicopathologic parameters.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>IGFBP-rP1 expression is negatively correlated with its methylation status in colorectal cancer. DNA methylation is one of the mechanisms regulating the expression of IGFBP-rP1. Hypomethylation of IGFBP-rP1 gene with its overexpression plays an important role in the initiation and development of colorectal cancer.</p>

Study of B2 gene structure and its expression in colorectal cancer / 中华病理学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To get a complete cDNA sequence of B2 and evaluate the correlation on structure and expression between B2 and insulin like growth factor binding protein related protein 1 (IGFBP-rP1) in colorectal carcinomas, paired normal tissues, adenomas, tissues adjacent to the tumor, and colorectal carcinoma cell lines.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>5'RACE (rapid amplification of cDNA end) was applied to get the sequence of the 5' end of B2. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the expression of B2 in colorectal cancer tissues and cell lines (SW480, SW1116, SW620, HCT8, CoLo205 and LoVo).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A sequence of 1,125 bp was obtained by combining the sequence from 5'RACE product and the known sequence of B2. It shared 1,122/1,125 identities with IGFBP-rP1. At the level of mRNA, the expression of B2/IGFBP-rP1 was high in colorectal carcinomas, moderate in adenomas and tissues adjacent to tumor, low in normal tissues (P < 0.05). Five cell lines except SW480 showed no expression of B2/IGFBP-rP1. A significant difference was obtained in the immunoreactivity of B2/IGFBP-rP1 between normal tissue and cancer (P < 0.05). In 28.9% (22/76) samples, cancer cells locating at the invasive front of cancer nest had a stronger staining of B2/IGFBP-rP1 than those surrounding the lumen. These samples had also an increased frequency of lymph node metastases, increased depth of invasion and a stronger staining of B2/IGFBP-rP1 than in other samples (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>B2 is the same gene as IGFBP-rP1. Overexpression of B2/IGFBP-rP1 may play an important role in the initiation and promotion of colorectal cancer. Its overexpression in invading tumor cells may be linking with an increased potential of invasion.</p>