Effect of Shionone on Neuron Apoptosis After Spinal Cord Injury in Mice / 中国医学科学院学报

Objective To explore the effect of shionone(SHI)on motor function in the mouse model of spinal cord injury(SCI)and probe into the underlying molecular mechanism.Methods C57BL/6 mice were treated to induce the SCI model and then assigned into a model group(SCI group),a SCI+SHI group,and a sham surgery(control)group.The Basso mouse scale(BMS)score was determined to evaluate the recovery of motor function in SCI mice.Hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining,Nissl staining,and immunofluorescence staining were employed to examine the fibrosis,morphological changes of neurons,and neuron apoptosis in the spinal cord tissue of SCI mice,respectively.The mouse hippocampal neuronal cell line HT22 was cultured in vitro and then classified into tumor necrosis factor α(TNF-α)induction and SHI groups.Western blotting was employed to determine the expression of apoptosis-associated proteins.Network pharmacology,gene ontology annotation,and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment were employed to predict the possible molecular targets and signaling pathways of SHI in promoting functional recovery from SCI.Furthermore,the prediction results were verified by in vitro and in vivo experiments.Results Compared with the SCI group,the SCI+SHI group showed increased BMS score on days 21,28,35,and 42(P=0.003,P=0.004,P=0.023,and P=0.007,respectively),reduced area of spinal cord fibrosis(P=0.021),increased neurons survived(P=0.001),and down-regulated expression of cleaved cysteine aspastic acid-specific protease 3(cleaved Caspase-3)(P=0.017).Compared with the TNF-α group,the SHI group presented down-regulated expression levels of cleaved Caspase-3 and Bax(P=0.010,P=0.001)and up-regulated expression level of Bcl-2(P=0.001).The results of bioinformatics analysis showed that SHI might improve the motor function of SCI mice via the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3K)/protein kinase B(Akt)signaling pathway.The results of in vivo and in vitro experiments showed that SHI inhibited the phosphorylation of PI3K and Akt in SCI mice or HT22 cells exposed to TNF-α(all P<0.05).The number of apoptotic HT22 cells after treatment with insulin-like growth factor 1 was higher than that in the SHI group(P=0.003).Conclusion SHI may inhibit neuron apoptosis via the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway,thereby promoting the recovery of motor function in SCI mice.

Role and research progress of circular RNA in Alzheimer’s disease / 解剖学报

[Abstract] The circular RNA (circRNA) is a class of endogenous expressed non-coding RNA that are formed by covalently closed cyclization through reverse splicing. In recent years, a variety of highly conserved and cell-type specific circRNA have been identified in eukaryotes. Alzheimer’ s disease (AD) is a common neurodegenerative disease and the most common cause of dementia in the elderly. Recent studies had shown that circRNA was involved in the pathogenesis and development of AD, such as amyloid β-protein (Aβ) metabolic, neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, autophagy and synaptic plasticity. The role and application value of circRNA in AD pathology are reviewed to provide a theoretical basis for the application of circRNA in the treatment and diagnosis of AD.

Clinical effect evaluation of immediate implant and immediate restoration with socket-shield technique in aesthetic area: a retrospective study with up to 5-year follow-up / 中华口腔医学杂志

Objective: To evaluate the clinical effect of socket-shield technique for 5 years after immediate implantation and immediate restoration in aesthetic area. Methods: The retrospective study was conducted between July, 2013 and July, 2020. A total of 29 patients, with 34 implants, who received immediate implantation and immediate restoration with socket-shield technique in the esthetic zone in Department of Fourth Clinical Division, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology were included in this study. The implants survival rate, complications and the pink esthetic score (PES) were evaluated (60.2±26.7) months (13-101 months) after operation. The digital models before treatment and at the final follow-up were obtained, to measure the changes of soft tissue. The labial alveolar bone recession was measured by cone-beam CT. Results: All 34 implants survived during follow-up. The PES was (12.80±1.05), there was no significant difference in PES scores between dental positions (F=1.77, P=0.150). The gingival margin recession was (0.12±0.09) mm, and labial contour change at 2 mm apical to the gingival zenith was (0.45±0.17) mm. The labial alveolar bone recession was (0.14±0.46) mm. Conclusions: Immediate implant with socket-shield technique could maintain the gingival margin and labial alveolar bone, and preserve the soft tissue contour well to achieve good esthetic outcome.

New research advances in the prospective cohort study of gestational diabetes mellitus / 中华预防医学杂志

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with an increased risk of suffering diverse adverse pregnancy outcomes, threating maternal and child health seriously, with an increasing incidence rate year by year. However, the exact cause of GDM is still unknown. Prospective cohort studies obtain data through follow-up, which is helpful to clarify the causal relationship, so as to draw more accurate and reliable conclusions. In recent years, numerous prospective cohort studies on the GDM have emerged. This article elaborates along the occurrence and development process of GDM, in order to provide useful reference for the establishment of relevant high-quality prospective cohort studies in China.

Association of hs-CRP with frailty and its components among the elderly over 65 years old in 9 longevity areas of China / 中华预防医学杂志

Objective: To investigate the association of the levels of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) with frailty and its components among the elderly over 65 years old in 9 longevity areas of China. Methods: Cross-sectional data from the Health Ageing and Biomarkers Cohort Study (HABCS, 2017-2018) were used and the elderly over 65 years old were included in this study. Through questionnaire interview and physical examination, the information including demographic characteristics, behavior, diet, daily activity, cognitive function, and health status was collected. The association between hs-CRP and frailty and its components in the participants was analyzed by multivariate logistic regression model and restrictive cubic spline. Results: A total of 2 453 participants were finally included, the age was (84.8±19.8) years old. The median hs-CRP level was 1.13 mg/L and the prevalence of frailty was 24.4%. Compared with the low-level group (hs-CRP<1.0 mg/L), the OR (95%CI) value of the high-level group (hs-CRP>3.0 mg/L) was 1.79 (1.35-2.36) mg/L. As for the components, the hs-CRP level was also positively associated with ADL disability, IADL disability, functional limitation and multimorbidity. After adjusting for confounding factors, compared with the low-level group, the OR (95%CI) values of the high-level group for the four components were 1.68 (1.25-2.27), 1.88 (1.42-2.50), 1.68 (1.31-2.14) and 1.39 (1.12-1.72), respectively. Conclusion: There is a positive association between the levels of hs-CRP and the risk of frailty among the elderly over 65 years old in 9 longevity areas of China. The higher hs-CRP level may increase the risk of frailty by elevating the risk of four physical functional disabilities, namely ADL disability, IADL disability, functional limitation and multimorbidity.

Clinical outcomes analysis of fertility-preserving therapy for atypical endometrial hyperplasia and early endometrial carcinoma / 中华肿瘤杂志

Objective: To analyze the clinical efficacy of fertility-preserving therapy in patients with atypical endometrial hyperplasia (AEH) and early endometrial carcinoma (EC). Methods: The general condition, pathological type, treatment plan, tumor outcomes and pregnancy outcomes of 110 patients with AEH and EC treated with fertility-preserving therapy in Peking University People's Hospital from December 2005 to September 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Kaplan-Meier and Log rank tests were used for survival analysis. Results: The response rate of 110 cases of AEH (62 cases) and EC (48 cases) was 94.5% (104/110) after fertility-preserving therapy. There were 93 cases (84.5%) achieved complete response and 11 cases (10.0%) achieved partial response, and the recurrence rate was 29.0% (27/93). The complete response rates of AEH and EC were 90.3% (56/62) and 77.1% (37/48), respectively, without significant difference (P=0.057). The recurrence rates of EC were significantly higher than that of AEH (40.5% vs 21.4%; P=0.022). Forty-one patients with complete response had pregnancy intention, the pregnancy rate was 70.7% (29/41), and the live birth rate was 56.1% (23/41). The live birth rate of AEH was 68.2% (15/22) and that of EC was 42.1% (8/19), the difference was statistically significant (P=0.032). The pathological type was related with the recurrence (P=0.044). Conclusions: Patients with AEH and EC can obtain high complete response rate and pregnancy rate after fertility-preserving therapy. The recurrence rate of EC is higher than that of AEH, while the live birth rate of AEH is higher than that of EC.

Relation of smoking status to family health and personality traits in residents aged over 18 years in China / 北京大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the relation of smoking status to family health and personality traits in residents aged over 18 years in China by binary Logistic regression analysis, to identify the psychosocial factors that influence tobacco use, and to provide evidence to predict smoking susceptibility based on personality traits and prevent smoking at individual and family levels.@*METHODS@#Residents aged over 18 years in China were selected from "the Survey of Chinese Family Health Index (2021)". General characteristic questionnaire, short-form of family health scale, 10-item big five inventory were used to collect sociodemographic information, family health function and personality traits. And the relation of smoking status to family health and personality traits were analyzed by binary Logistic regression analysis.@*RESULTS@#Totally 10 315 adults were collected, of whom there were 2 171 smokers. The smoking rate was 21.05%, 41.76% of the residents were male, 3.69% female, 20.03% urban, 23.77% rural, 12.60% aged between 18 and 35 years, 27.11% aged between 36 and 59 years, 34.35% aged over 60 years, and the smoking rate varied in gender, location, age, education, marital status, family types, and average household monthly income (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the scores of family health, family social and emotional health processes, family healthy lifestyle, family health resources, family external social support, agreeableness, openness, and neuroticism among smokers were lower than those of the non-smokers (P < 0.05). The results of binary Logistic regression analysis showed that the residents over 35 years old, with low educational level and divorced were the risk factors to smoking (P < 0.05), while female, unmarried, nuclear family, high scores of family social and emotional health processes and family health resources, openness, neuroticism, and agreeableness were the protective factors to smoking (P < 0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Besides gender, age, location, education, marital status, family types and average household monthly income, family health, and personality traits were also important factors influencing smoking status. Tobacco control based on personality traits and family health is essential, and more convincing research is necessary to determine the relation of tobacco use, tobacco dependence and smoking cessation to family health and personality traits.

Comparison of Liver Transplantation and Liver Resection for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients with Portal Vein Tumor Thrombus Type I and Type II

Purpose@#The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of liver transplantation (LT) and liver resection (LR) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) and to investigate risk factors affecting prognosis. @*Materials and Methods@#A total of 94 HCC patients with PVTT type I (segmental PVTT) and PVTT type II (lobar PVTT) were involved and divided into LR (n=47) and LT groups (n=47). Recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared before and after inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW). Prognostic factors for RFS and OS were explored. @*Results@#Two treatment groups were well-balanced using IPTW. In the entire cohort, LT provided a better prognosis than LR. Among patients with PVTT type I, RFS was better with LT (p=0.039); OS was not different significantly between LT and LR (p=0.093). In subgroup analysis of PVTT type I patients with α-fetoprotein (AFP) levels >200 ng/mL, LT elicited significantly longer median RFS (18.0 months vs. 2.1 months, p=0.022) and relatively longer median OS time (23.6 months vs. 9.8 months, p=0.065). Among patients with PVTT type II, no significant differences in RFS and OS were found between LT and LR (p=0.115 and 0.335, respectively). Multivariate analyses showed treatment allocation (LR), tumor size (>5 cm), AFP and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels to be risk factors of RFS and treatment allocation (LR), AFP and AST as risk factors for OS. @*Conclusion@#LT appeared to afford a better prognosis for HCC with PVTT type I than LR, especially in patients with AFP levels >200 ng/mL.

Selection of optimal qRT-PCR reference genes for Aconitum vilmorinianum / 中国中药杂志

Screening suitable reference genes is the premise of quantitative Real-time PCR(qRT-PCR)for gene expression analysis. To provide stable reference genes for expression analysis of genes in Aconitum vilmorinianum, this study selected 19 candidate re-ference genes(ACT1, ACT2, ACT3, aTUB1, aTUB2, bTUB, 18S rRNA, UBQ, eIF2, eIF3, eIF4, eIF5, CYP, GAPDH1, GAPDH2, PP2A1, PP2A2, ACP, and EF1α) based on the transcriptome data of A. vilmorinianum. qRT-PCR was conducted to profile the expression of these genes in the root, stem, leaf, and flower of A. vilmorinianum. The Ct values showed that 18S rRNA with high expression level and GAPDH2 with large expression difference among organs were not suitable as the reference genes. NormFinder and geNorm showed similar results of the expression stability of the other candidate reference genes and demonstrated PP2A1, EF1α, and CYP as the highly stable ones. However, BestKeeper suggested EF1α, ACT3, and PP2A1 as the top stable genes. In view of the different results from different softwares, the geometric mean method was employed to analyze the expression stability of the candidate re-ference genes, the results of which indicated that PP2A1, EF1α, and ACT3 were the most stable. Based on the comprehensive analysis results of geNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper, and geometric mean method, PP2A1 and EF1α presented the most stable expression in different organs of A. vilmorinianum. PP2A1 and EF1α were the superior reference genes for gene expression profiling in different organs of A. vilmorinianum.

Cloning and functional characterization of isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase genes from Panax vietnamensis var. fuscidiscus / 药学学报

Isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase (IDI) is a key enzyme in the regulation of triterpenes biosynthesis and plays an important role in ginsenoside biosynthesis. In this study, two IDI genes, PvfIDI1 (GenBank No. MZ736417) and PvfIDI2 (GenBank No. MZ736418) were cloned from Panax vietnamensis var. fuscidiscus. The open reading frame of both PvfIDI1 and PvfIDI2 was 924 bp encoding 307 amino acids. The molecular weights of PvfIDI1 and PvfIDI2 were 34.84 kDa and 34.66 kDa, respectively, with theoretical pIs of 6.01 and 5.66. Bioinformatic analysis indicated that PvfIDI1 and PvfIDI2 contained two conserved sequences: TNTCCSHPL and WGEHELDY. Phylogenetic analysis showed that PvfIDI1 and PvfIDI2 were closely related to Panax notoginseng IDI. Expression analysis showed that both PvfIDI1 and PvfIDI2 genes are expressed in root, rhizome, stem and leaf of P. vietnamensis var. fuscidiscus. However, PvfIDI1 is highly expressed in the rhizome and PvfIDI2 is highly expressed in the stem. PvfIDI1 and PvfIDI2 recombinant proteins were expressed in E. coli; a functional coloration experiment showed that PvfIDI1 and PvfIDI2 could promote the accumulation of lycopene, indicating that both PvfIDI1 and PvfIDI2 encode functional IDI enzymes. The cloning and functional studies on PvfIDI1 and PvfIDI2 provide a foundation for the further study of IDI and the regulation of ginsenoside biosynthesis in P. vietnamensis var. fuscidiscus.

Main chemical constituents in aerial parts of Glycyrrhiza uralensis by UPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap-MS / 中国中药杂志

Chemical constituents from aerial parts of Glycyrrhiza uralensis were analyzed and identified using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with hybrid quadrupole-orbitrap mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap-MS). The chromatographic column of Waters Acquity UPLC BEH-C_(18)(2.1 mm×100 mm, 1.7 μm) was adopted, with acetonitrile-water(0.5% formic acid) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.2 mL·min~(-1). Data was collected in positive and negative modes of electrospray ionization(ESI). A total of 55 compounds, including 42 flavonoids, 9 stilbenes, 2 coumarins, 1 lignin and 1 phenolic acid, which were characterized in the aerial parts of G. uralensis based on accurate molecular mass information of molecular and product ions provided by UPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap-MS based on comparison with standard substances and references. It is an effective and accurate method to provide chemical information of constituents in aerial parts of G. uralensis, and can provide a reference for further study on pharmacodynamic material basis and resources development and utilization.

Evaluation of blood pressure lowering effect by generic and brand-name antihypertensive drugs treatment: a multicenter prospective study in China / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

BACKGROUND@#Generic drugs are bioequivalent to their brand-name counterparts; however, concerns still exist regarding the effectiveness and safety of generic drugs because of small sample sizes and short follow-up time in most studies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term antihypertensive efficacy, cost-effectiveness and cardiovascular outcomes of generic drugs compared with brand-name drugs.@*METHODS@#In a multicenter, community-based study including 7955 hypertensive patients who were prospectively followed up for an average of 2.5 years, we used the propensity-score-matching method to match the patients using brand-name drugs to those using generic drugs in a ratio of 1:2, 2176 patients using brand-name drugs and 4352 patients using generic drugs.@*RESULTS@#There were no significant differences between generic drugs and brand-name drugs in blood pressure (BP)-lowering efficacy, BP control rate, and cardiovascular outcomes including coronary heart disease and stroke. The adjusted mean (95% confidence interval [CI]) of systolic BP (SBP)-lowering was -7.9 mmHg (95% CI, -9.9 to -5.9) in the brand-name drug group and -7.1 mmHg (95% CI, -9.1 to -5.1) in the generic drug group after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, number of antihypertensive drugs and traditionally cardiovascular risk factors. Among patients aged <60 years, brand-name drugs had a higher BP control rate (47% vs. 41%; P = 0.02) and a greater effect in lowering SBP compared with generic drugs, with the between-group difference of 1.5 mmHg (95% CI, 0.2-2.8; P = 0.03). BP control rate was higher in male patients using brand-name drugs compared with those using generic drugs (46% vs. 40%; P = 0.01). Generic drugs treatment yielded an average annual incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $315.4 per patient per mmHg decrease in SBP compared with brand-name drugs treatment.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Our data suggested that generic drugs are suitable and cost-effective in improving hypertension management and facilitating public health benefits, especially in low- and middle-income areas.

NLRP3 inflammasome and development of diabetic cardiomyopathy / 中国药理学通报

Diabetic cardiomyopathy(DCM) is a specific cardiac complication of diabetes, which occurs independently of coronary artery disease, hypertension or valvular heart disease. Although diabetic cardiomyopathy is increasingly recognized, the underlying mechanisms are still under controversial. Recently, the putative pathological mechanism involves hyperglycemia, protein nonenzymatic glycosylation, oxidative stress, abnormal calcium ion transport, etc. Inflammation is an independent risk factor for left ventricular diastolic dysfunction. NLRP3 inflammation is the most common inflammasome, which can secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β, IL-18, and mediate pyroptosis after activated. It manifests a high level of NLRP3 inflammasomes in DCM animal model, which aggravates the damage of pancreatic β-cell function, myocardial injury and the process of myocardial fibrosis. It has been confirmed that Chinese herbal medicine can affect the initiation and activation of NLRP3 inflammasomes, as well as the expression of downstream genes, and then improve the cardiac function of diabetic cardiomyopathy. In this paper, we have summarized the involvement of NLRP3 inflammasomes in the process of diabetic cardiomyopathy and the therapeutic effects of Chinese herbal medicine.

Medical English teaching design based on Production-oriented Approach:An example in educating graduate students / 上海预防医学

Living with internationalization, it becomes increasingly important to develop the ability of acquiring knowledge from and publishing professional articles international medical journals.However, current English teaching in colleges is predominantly by cramming method and without clear aims.As a result, students make little learning progress.Production-oriented Approach, proposed by Professor Qiufang Wen, is an important theory to reform the modern English Teaching.Based on this theory, we designed and performed the course of Medical English Writing and Literature Reading for graduate students.For the aim of literature writing, we matched the teaching content with the pertinent language ability to achieve the goal.The process of teaching was initiated with output, followed by input, then tested by another output.As a result, students′ writing was improved effectively in correctness and in awareness of the rules.In addition, their ability to comprehend difficult and long sentences was also found to be improved.We believe Production-oriented Approach conforms to the requirements of English Teaching in college and can contribute to the teaching goal.

The relationship between thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor and coronary heart disease / 预防医学

Objective@#To analyze the relationship between thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor ( TAFI ) and coronary heart disease ( CHD ), and to provide evidence for the prevention of CHD. @*Methods@#The patients with CHD in Fushun Central Hospital in Liaoning Province were selected as the case group, the patients without CHD in the same hospital and period were selected as the control group. The demographic information and clinical examination results ( serum TAFI, lipid, glucose, etc. ) were collected to analyze the association between TAFI and CHD by logistic regression models.The multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to explore the relationship between TAFI and CHD.@*Results@#There were 222 cases, including 100 cases of stable angina, 44 cases of unstable angina and 78 cases of acute myocardial infarction, and 222 controls. The median ages of cases and controls were 62 and 57 years old. The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that serum TAFI>22.88 μg/mL ( P75 of controls ) was associated with the risk of CHD ( OR=1.619, 95%CI: 1.011-2.593 ), unstable angina ( OR=2.917, 95%CI: 1.433-5.939 ) and acute myocardial infarction ( OR=2.626, 95%CI: 1.007-6.847 ). @*Conclusion@#The high level of TAFI is related to CHD, unstable angina and acute myocardial infarction.

Correlation between serum vitamin D and coronary artery lesion severity and short-term prognosis in patients with coronary artery disease / 上海交通大学学报（医学版）

Objective: To explore the relationship between serum vitamin D level and coronary artery lesion severity and short-term prognosis in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients. Methods: A total of 323 CAD patients diagnosed according to coronary angiogram were selected and the coronary artery lesion severity was evaluated by using Gensini score. Clinical data was collected and serum level of vitamin D and other indicators were determined for statistical analysis. Results: All patients were divided into tertile according to Gensini score. The level of serum vitamin D concentration was significantly different from the lowest tertile to the highest tertile (P=0.000). Serum vitamin D level was negatively correlated with Gensini score in CAD patients (r=-0.182, P=0.001). Multivariate linear analysis showed that vitamin D level was an independent predictor of Gensini score (β=-0.795, P=0.000). There was no difference in the incidence of major advanced cardiovascular events between vitamin D deficiency patients and normal vitamin D level patients (2.05% vs 3.17%, P=0.202) after (18.14±3.04) months' follow-up. Conclusion: There is an independently negative correlation between serum vitamin D and coronary artery lesion severity in CAD patients.

Investigation on a family cluster of COVID-19 in Ningbo / 预防医学

Objective@#To report an investigation of a family cluster of coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID-19 ) in Ningbo, so as to provide reference for the prevention and control measures.@*Methods@#According to the COVID-19 Prevention and Control Program ( fourth version ) , an epidemiological investigation was conducted to collect the demographic information, clinical features and exposure history, to find the close contacts, and to figure out the source and route of infection. @*Results@#Twelve confirmed cases and one asymptomatic case were reported. The attack rate was 16.05%. Among them, five were males and eight were females; the age ranged from 11 to 85 years old, with a median of 39 years old; most had mild symptoms. The incubation period was 2-13 days, with a median of 6.5 days. The first case ( Case 1 ) developed the symptoms on January 22, and had close contact with Zhang, an asymptomatic case, on January 20. Zhang was related to a cluster in the Buddhist assembly on January 19. Case 1, who caused the spread of the epidemic among family members, participated in several family visits and dinners from January 22 to 27 with other 24 families, resulting in six secondary cases and six third-generation cases. There were 54 close contacts except the family members, no infection was found. @*Conclusion@#This family cluster may result from the close contact with an asymptomatic case, and then spread within families through having dinners and living together.

Epidemiological characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 in Ningbo / 预防医学

Objective@#To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 （COVID-19） cases reported in Ningbo from January 22 to February 22, 2020, so as to provide guidance for the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic.@*Methods@#The confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported by Ningbo were selected from National Diseases Prevention and Control Information System to analyze the epidemiological characteristics by descriptive epidemiological method, including time, spatial and population distribution, clinical symptoms and exposure history.@*Results@#A total of 157 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported and there was no death. The first confirmed case was reported on January 22. On the incidence curve, the peak was from January 22 to February 4, with a maximum of 15 cases in a single day. The incidence curve presented sustained human-to-human transmission. The number of the cases showed a declining trend from February 5. The confirmed cases were reported in all 10 counties（cities or districts）,among which 69（43.95%）cases were reported in Haishu District. The confirmed cases were mainly 30-69 years old,accounting for 78.34%;were mainly farmers,household workers and retired people,accounting for 59.87%;and were mainly clinically mild,accounting for 87.90%.There were 51 imported cases, accounting for 32.48%. The initial confirmed case was a local case. In the early stage of the epidemic, local cases and imported cases prevalent together,which was due to the outbreak caused by the large-scale buddhist activity on January 19.This event resulted in 67 confirmed cases and 15 asymptomatic cases. There totally reported 22 clusters with 138 （87.90%）confirmed cases. @*Conclusions@# In the early stage of the COVID-19 epidemic in Ningbo, the imported cases and local cases prevalent at the same time. Most of the cases were female, aged from 30 to 69 years, and their occupation were farmers, household workers and retired people. With comprehensive measures taken, the epidemic of COVID-19 in Ningbo have been under control.

Visual analysis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) studies based on bibliometrics / 中国中药杂志

To analyze the development of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19), this study systematically retrieved relevant Chinese and English literatures from both CNKI and Web of Science database platforms by bibliometric research method and CiteSpace 5.5.R2 software to obtain information and visualize relevant literatures. A total of 695 Chinese and 446 English literatures were included in this paper. Statistics showed that China had published most of the literatures and established close cooperation with the United States and the United Kingdom. Through the analysis, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology and its affiliated hospitals published the largest number of the publications. Moreover, the highly productive journals including Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine and The Lancet covered eight major fields, such as medicine, medical virology, radiation medicine, infectious disease, and traditional Chinese medicine. Besides, a total of 35 special COVID-19 funds were recently established to subsidize these studies. The key words and themes analysis indicated that protein structure of COVID-19, receptor targets and mechanisms of action, integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine, screening and development of antiviral drugs from traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, vaccine research as well as epidemiological characteristics and prediction are current study hotspots. This study provides a reference for researchers to rapidly master main study directions of COVID-19 and screen out relevant literatures.

Correlation of sperm DNA fragmentation index with semen parameters / 中华男科学杂志

Objective@#To explore the relationship of sperm DNA fragmenation index (DFI) with semen parameters and assess its application value in the evaluation of semen quality.@*METHODS@#A total of 9 694 semen samples were collected and examined for sperm DFI and high DNA stainability (HDS) by flow cytometry-assisted sperm chromatin structure analysis (SCSA). According to the WHO Laboratory Manual for the Examination and Processing of Human Semen (5th Ed), the samples were divided into a normal group and abnormal groups A (sperm concentration ［SC］: ［11.3－14.0］ ×10⁶/ml, total sperm motility ［TSM］: 30%－39%, progressively motile sperm ［PMS］: 24%－31%), B (SC: ［7.5－11.2］ ×10⁶/ml, TSM: 20%－29%, PMS: 16%－23%), C (SC: ［3.8－7.4］ ×10⁶/ml, TSM: 10%－,19% PMS: 8%－15%) and D (SC: ［0－3.7］×10⁶/ml, TSM: 0－9%, PMS: 0－7%), and also into three sperm DFI groups (DFI 30%). The correlation between sperm DFI and seminal parameters was analyzed by Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression analyses.@*RESULTS@#DFI was dramatically lower in the normal than in the abnormal groups (P < 0.01), and increased in proportion to the decrease of semen parameters in the abnormal groups A, B, C and D (P < 0.01). Pearson correlation analysis showed that DFI was correlated positively with age (r = 0.15, P < 0.01), abstinence time (r = 0.10, P < 0.01), semen volume (r = 0.05, P < 0.01) and HDS (r = 0.15, P < 0.01), but negatively with semen pH (r = －0.06, P < 0.01), SC (r = －0.27, P < 0.01), TSM (r = －0.53, P < 0.01), PMS (r = －0.52, P < 0.01) and morphologically normal sperm (r = －0.16, P < 0.01). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that TSM, SC, age, abstinence time and semen pH were five important variables associated with DFI, with standardized regression coefficients of －0.47, －0.19, 0.12, 0.07, and －0.04, respectively (all P < 0.01).@*CONCLUSIONS@#There is a moderate correlation between sperm DFI and semen parameters, which can be used synergistically for the assessment of semen quality.