Effects of alfentanil on myocardial fibrosis in rats with acute myocardial infarction by regulating the SphK1/S1P signaling pathway / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE To explore the effects of alfentanil （ALF） on myocardial fibrosis in rats with acute myocardial infarction （AMI） by regulating sphingosine kinase 1 （SphK1）/sphingosine 1-phosphate （S1P） signaling pathway. METHODS Male SD rats were collected to construct AMI model by the ligation of anterior descending branch of left coronary artery. The successfully modeled rats were randomly divided into AMI model group （Model group）， ALF low-dose group （ALF-L group， 0.25 mg/kg ALF）， ALF high-dose group （ALF-H group， 0.5 mg/kg ALF）， high dose of ALF+SphK1 activator group （ALF-H+K6PC-5 group， 0.5 mg/kg ALF+1 μg/g K6PC-5）. At the same time， a sham operation group （Sham group） was set up to perform only chest opening/closing operations without ligating the anterior descending branch of left coronary artery， with 15 rats in each group. Rats in each drug group were intraperitoneally injected with the corresponding drug solution， once a day， for 4 consecutive weeks. Twelve hours after the last medication， cardiac function indicators [left ventricular systolic pressure （LVSP）， left ventricular ejection fraction （LVEF）， left ventricular systolic diameter （LVSD）， left ventricular fractional shortening （LVFS）] of rats were detected in each group； the condition of myocardial infarction， pathological changes in myocardial tissue， and degree of fibrosis were observed； serum levels of brain natriuretic peptide （BNP） and cardiac troponin Ⅰ （cTnⅠ） in rats were detected. The protein expressions of collagen Ⅰ ， collagen Ⅲ ， matrix metalloproteinase-2 （MMP-2）， SphK1 and S1P were alsodetected in the myocardial tissue of rats. RESULTS Compared with the Sham group， the arrangement of myocardial cells in the Model group was disordered， with a large number of inflammatory cells infiltrating. The levels of LVSP， LVFS and LVEF in the Model group were significantly reduced （P＜0.05）； LVSD level， myocardial infarction area， collagen volume fraction， serum levels of BNP and cTnⅠ， the protein expressions of collagen Ⅰ， collagen Ⅲ， MMP-2， SphK1 and S1P in myocardial tissue were significantly increased or enlarged （P＜0.05）. Compared with the Model group， the pathological changes and degree of fibrosis in the myocardial tissue of rats in each dose group of ALF were improved or relieved， while the quantitative indicators of rats in the ALF-H group were significantly improved and significantly better than those in ALF-L group （P＜0.05）. K6PC-5 could significantly reverse the improvement effect of high-dose ALF on the above quantitative indicators in rats （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS ALF can reduce myocardial fibrosis and improve cardiac function in AMI rats， and the effect may be related to the inhibition of the SphK1/S1P signaling pathway.

Relationship between job stress, job crafting, and job burnout among college counselors / 环境与职业医学

Background Job burnout has become an important factor affecting the mental and physical health and work efficiency of college counselors, and indirectly affects the quality and development of talent cultivation for college students. Objective To explore the relationship between job stress, job crafting, and job burnout among college counselors, and to test the mediating role of job crafting between job stress and job burnout, in order to take targeted measures to alleviate job stress and job burnout of college counselors, reduce associated health risks, and improve the effectiveness of higher education. Methods An anonymous questionnaire survey was conducted among 400 counselors from social network communication groups by convenience sampling. The Counselor Work Stress Scale, Job Crafting Scale, and Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey were used. Harman's single-factor method was used to evaluate common method bias in the survey data. One-way ANOVA was applied to test the difference in job stress, job crafting, and job burnout among college counselors by demographic characteristics, and chi-square test was used to analyze the difference in reporting job burnout. Partial correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between selected variables. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the relationship of job stress, job crafting, and job burnout among college counselors, and Bootstrap analysis was used to test if there was a mediating effect of job crafting on the relationship between job stress and job burnout. Results Of the 390 questionnaires recovered, there were 338 valid questionnaires (86.67%). Among the included subjects, the mean scores of job stress, job crafting, and job burnout were (2.70±0.62), (3.77±0.62), and (2.09±1.09), respectively. The positive rate of job burnout was 76.9% (260/338), with a positive rate of 72.8% in exhaustion dimension and 59.8% in cynicism dimension. There were significant differences in job crafting scores among the college counselors by different genders and professional titles (P<0.05). Female counselors had significantly higher job burnout scores and positive rates than male counselors (P<0.05). The partial correlation analysis showed that job stress, work load, school evaluation and expectation, and interpersonal relationship were positively correlated with job burnout (r=0.562, 0.442, 0.473, and 0.455, respectively, P<0.01), and negatively correlated with job crafting (r=−0.271, −0.169, −0.246, and −0.247, respectively, P<0.01); job crafting, cognitive crafting, relationship crafting, and task crafting were negatively correlated with job burnout (r=−0.447, −0.452, −0.366, and −0.340, respectively, P<0.01). The modified structural equation modeling indicated that job stress negatively affected job crafting (b=−0.348, P<0.001) and positively affected job burnout (b=0.454, P<0.001); job crafting negatively affected job burnout (b=−0.459, P<0.001), and played a partial mediating role in the relationship between job stress and job burnout, and the effect value was 0.160 (95%CI: 0.102, 0.230) that accounted for 26.10% of the total effect. Conclusion Job burnout among the college counselors is prominent. Job crafting presents an inhibitory effect on job burnout. Job stress indirectly affects the occurrence of job burnout by inhibiting the generation of job crafting.

Prediction of 1p/19q codeletion status in diffuse lower-grade glioma using multimodal MRI radiomics / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To develop a noninvasive method for prediction of 1p/19q codeletion in diffuse lower-grade glioma (DLGG) based on multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) radiomics.@*METHODS@#We collected MRI data from 104 patients with pathologically confirmed DLGG between October, 2015 and September, 2022. A total of 535 radiomics features were extracted from T2WI, T1WI, FLAIR, CE-T1WI and DWI, including 70 morphological features, 90 first order features, and 375 texture features. We constructed logistic regression (LR), logistic regression least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LRlasso), support vector machine (SVM) and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) radiomics models and compared their predictive performance after 10-fold cross validation. The MRI images were reviewed by two radiologists independently for predicting the 1p/19q status. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to evaluate classification performance of the radiomics models and the radiologists.@*RESULTS@#The 4 radiomics models (LR, LRlasso, SVM and LDA) achieved similar area under the curve (AUC) in the validation dataset (0.833, 0.819, 0.824 and 0.819, respectively; P>0.1), and their predictive performance was all superior to that of resident physicians of radiology (AUC=0.645, P=0.011, 0.022, 0.016, 0.030, respectively) and similar to that of attending physicians of radiology (AUC=0.838, P>0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Multiparametric MRI radiomics models show good performance for noninvasive prediction of 1p/19q codeletion status in patients with in diffuse lower-grade glioma.

Effectiveness of tofacitinib combined with iguratimod in the treatment of difficult-to-treat moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis / 北京大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the efficacy and safety of iguratimod combined with tofacitinib in patients with difficult-to-treat moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA).@*METHODS@#In this prospective clinical study, 30 patients with difficult-to-treat moderate-to-severe RA who attended the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology of Shanxi Province Fenyang Hospital from September 2021 to June 2022 were selected. Twenty-three patients enrollment had been treated with 2 or more conventional synthetic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) for more than 6 months. At least, methotrexate or leflunomide was included. Seven patients were treated with conventional synthetic DMARDs combined with tumor necrosis factor antagonists. Because all the patients had not reached the target of treatment, the combination treatment regimen of DMARDs was changed to iguratimod and tofacitinib. The observation period was 12 weeks. Clinical data were collected before and after treatment. At the end of 4 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks, the clinical data were collected such as swollen joints count (SJC), tender joints count (TJC), time of morning stiffness, clinical disease activity index (CDAI), health status assessment questionnaire (HAQ), and 28-joint disease activity score (DAS28) were included. We collected laboratory indicators, recorded the patient's medication, and observed some changes to see if any adverse drug reactions occurred during the treatment.@*RESULTS@#There were significant differences in erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), rheumatoid factor (RF), platelet (PLT), SJC, TJC, DAS28 based on ESR(DAS28-ESR), time of morning stiffness, HAQ, CDAI, and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody before and after treatment. The differences had statistical significance (P < 0.05). There was no statistical differences in globulin before and after treatment (P>0.05). During the treatment of iguratimod combined with tofacitinib, there was no serious adverse reactions such as leukopenia, significant elevation of liver enzymes, allergy or thromboemblolic events that occurred in all the patients.@*CONCLUSION@#Iguratimod combined with tofacitinib in the treatment of difficult-to-treat moderate-to-severe RA may have efficacy. The machanism was improving the patients' recent clinical symptoms by reducing inflammatory indexes. This combination treatment regimen with iguratimod and tofacitinib has a good safety profile.

Analysis of volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath after radiotherapy / 浙江大学学报（英文版）（B辑：生物医学和生物技术）

Radiotherapy uses high-energy X-rays or other particles to destroy cancer cells and medical practitioners have used this approach extensively for cancer treatment (Hachadorian et al., 2020). However, it is accompanied by risks because it seriously harms normal cells while killing cancer cells. The side effects can lower cancer patients' quality of life and are very unpredictable due to individual differences (Bentzen, 2006). Therefore, it is essential to assess a patient's body damage after radiotherapy to formulate an individualized recovery treatment plan. Exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can be changed by radiotherapy and thus used for medical diagnosis (Vaks et al., 2012). During treatment, high-energy X-rays can induce apoptosis; meanwhile, cell membranes are damaged due to lipid peroxidation, converting unsaturated fatty acids into volatile metabolites (Losada-Barreiro and Bravo-Díaz, 2017). At the same time, radiotherapy oxidizes water, resulting in reactive oxygen species (ROS) that can increase the epithelial permeability of pulmonary alveoli, enabling the respiratory system to exhale volatile metabolites (Davidovich et al., 2013; Popa et al., 2020). These exhaled VOCs can be used to monitor body damage caused by radiotherapy.

Efficacy and safety of vitamin D as adjuvant therapy for childhood pneumonia: a Meta analysis / 中国当代儿科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To study the efficacy and safety of vitamin D as an adjuvant therapy for childhood pneumonia through a systematic review.@*METHODS@#Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMbase, CNKI, Wanfang Data, and Weipu Data were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of vitamin D as the adjuvant therapy for childhood pneumonia published up to August 2019. Literature screening, quality assessment, and data extraction were performed based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Revman 5.3 was used to perform the Meta analysis of outcome indicators.@*RESULTS@#A total of 7 RCTs with 1 527 children were included, with 762 children in the vitamin D adjuvant therapy group and 765 children in the control group. The results of the Meta analysis showed that vitamin D adjuvant therapy had no effect on recovery time (P=0.67), length of hospital stay (P=0.73), and time to relief of fever (P=0.43). Furthermore, it did not reduce the recurrence rate (P=0.14), rate of adverse events (P=0.20), and mortality rate (P=0.98) of childhood pneumonia.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Current evidence shows that vitamin D adjuvant therapy has no marked efficacy in the treatment of childhood pneumonia.

Dosimetric comparison and assessment of second cancer risk between helical tomotherapy and intensity-modulated radiotherapy in children with craniospinal irradiation / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Objective To investigate the dosimetric characteristics between helical tomotherapy ( HT) and intensity-modulated radiotherapy ( IMRT) plans in children receiving craniospinal irradiation and estimate the risk of radiogenic second cancer according to the excess absolute risk ( EAR) model. Methods Computer-tomography scans of 15 children who received craniospinal irradiation between 2012 and 2017 were selected. HT and IMRT plans were designed for each patient after contouring the volumes of tumors and organ at risks ( OARs) and then the homogeneous index ( HI) , conformity index ( CI) , the maximum dose and the mean dose of OAR,V10 and V20 were analyzed to optimize the clinical treatment plan. The second cancer risk was estimated by DVH of each organ and EAR model and statistically compared between HT and IMRT. Results Both two plans met the clinical requirements in target coverage ( 100％ dose≥95％ target volume).The HI in the HT group was significantly superior to that in the IMRT group (P=0. 000) whereas no significant difference was noted in CI between two groups. Compared with the IMRT plan, HT plan possessed absolute advantage in protecting hippocampus and the D2％ and Dmean were significantly lower ( P=0. 000).As for the protection of OAR, the Dmax, Dmean and V20 of thyroid (P=0. 001,0. 002 and 0. 014) and Dmax,V10 of heart ( P=0. 001 and 0. 003) in the HT plan were significantly lower than those in the IMRT plan. In terms of second cancer risk, HT plan yielded a significantly higher second cancer risk for thyroid and lung compared with IMRT the EAR in thyroid was 28. 666 vs. 26. 926 ( P=0. 010 ) and 20. 496 vs. 18.922( P=0. 003) in lung. Both plans yielded a relatively high second cancer risk for stomach ( P=0. 248), whereas a low second cancer risk for liver (P=0. 020). Conclusions HT plan is superior to IMRT plan in the hippocampus-sparing craniospinal irradiation in children. However, HT plan yields a high second cancer risk for thyroid and lung. Consequently, the balance between the carcinogenic risk and the effect on other normal tissues should be assessed in the establishment of therapeutic plan.

Development of Dipolar Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometer for Real-time Monitoring of Volatile Organic Compounds in Ambient Air / 分析化学

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in ambient air can participate in photochemical reactions, which lead to the generation of secondary pollutants such as ozone and aerosol. So real-time and accurate monitoring of atmospheric VOCs plays an important role in the study of the causes of air pollution. On the basis of proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) research, a novel dipolar proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer (DP-PTR-MS) for real-time and on-line monitoring atmospheric VOCs was developed. Compared with the conventional PTR-MS with one kind of reagent ion H3O+, DP-PTR-MS had three kinds of reagent ions H3O+, OH-, (CH)2COH+, which could be switched according to the actual detection need. So DP-PTR-MS can improve the qualitative ability and expand the detection range effectively. The reagent ion H3O+can be used for detecting VOCs whose proton affinities are greater than that of H2O. The reagent ion OH-can be used to identify VOCs cooperating with the reagent ion H3O+,and can also be used for detecting some inorganic substances such as CO2. The reagent ion (CH3)2COH+can be used for accurately detecting NH3under interference elimination circumstances. The limit of detection (LOD) and sensitivity of DP-PTR-MS were measured by using six kinds of standard gases. The results showed that the LOD for detecting toluene was 7×10-12(V/V) and the sensitivity for detecting ammonia has reached 126 cps/10-9 (V/V). The ambient air in Hefei city was on-line and real-time monitored for continuous 78 hours with DP-PTR-MS. The results showed that the newly developed DP-PTR-MS could be used for long-term and real-time monitoring atmospheric VOCs with the concentration of 10-12(V/V) level. DP-PTR-MS is an important tool for the study of the causes of atmospheric pollution and the monitoring of trace VOCs emissions.

Serum mannan-binding lectin levels in preschool children from Shenzhen / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>Mannan-binding lectin (MBL) is a C-type serum lectin that plays a central role in the innate immune response. At present there is no a reference range of serum MBL levels for children in China. This study investigated serum MBL levels in preschool children from Shenzhen.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 118 children (62 boys and 56 girls) at ages of 3-6 years and sampled randomly from three kindergartens of Shenzhen were enrolled in this study. Serum MBL concentrations were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The mean serum MBL concentration in these children was 779.07+/-268.98 ng/mL. There were no significant differences in the value of serum MBL between boys and girls (783.89+/-252.30 ng/mL vs 773.65+/-288.29 ng/mL) (P>0.05). Sixteen children (13.6%) had MBL concentrations less than 500 ng/mL (the low limited value used abroad), including 14 cases with 50-500 ng/mL and 2 cases with less than 50 ng/mL.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>This study provides a reference range of serum MBL concentration for preschool children. MBL may be a useful marker for the prevention of infection in children.</p>