[Disease burden of acute viral hepatitis in Guangdong Province, 1990-2019].

Objective: To examine the burden and trends of acute viral hepatitis in Guangdong Province from 1990 to 2019, and provide reference evidences for hepatitis prevention and control in the province. Methods: Data on acute viral hepatitis (hepatitis A, B, C, and E) in Guangdong from 1990 to 2019 were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 database. The incidence, prevalence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALY) data were analyzed by age and gender, and the estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) was calculated to describe the changing trends in disease burden. Results: From 1999 to 2019, the standardized incidence, prevalence, mortality, and DALY of acute viral hepatitis in Guangdong were higher than the national averages. In 2019, 51.43% (2 245 087/4 365 221) of acute viral hepatitis cases in Guangdong Province were mainly attributed to hepatitis B, and 77.18% (106/138) of deaths were due to acute hepatitis B. In different age groups, except for acute hepatitis B, which was more common in adults, the incidence rates of other types of viral hepatitis such as hepatitis A, B, and E showed an overall decreasing trend with age. The mortality rates of different types of acute viral hepatitis, except for the <5 age group, increased with age. The overall incidence and mortality rates of acute viral hepatitis were higher in men than in women. Conclusions: The overall burden of acute viral hepatitis in Guangdong declined in 2019, but remained higher than the national level. Further efforts are needed to strengthen hepatitis prevention and screening in different population in Guangdong Province, especially in children and the elderly.

[Analysis and prediction of disease burden of cirrhosis and other chronic liver diseases due to alcohol use in China from 1990 to 2030].

Objective: To comprehensively understand the disease burden of liver cirrhosis and other chronic liver diseases caused by alcohol use in China from 1990 to 2019, as well as to predict the trends in disease burden from 2020 to 2030. Methods: The analysis utilized data from the Global Burden of Disease study in 2019 (GBD2019). Key indicators such as incidence rate, mortality rate, disability-adjusted life years (DALY), years of life lost due to premature mortality, and years lived with disability were selected to describe the disease burden of alcohol-related liver cirrhosis and other chronic liver diseases in China from 1990 to 2019. The estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) was used to depict the temporal trends in disease burden. Furthermore, a Bayesian age-period-cohort (BAPC) model was constructed using R software to predict the age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) and age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) of alcohol-related liver cirrhosis and other chronic liver diseases in China from 2020 to 2030. Results: From 1990 to 2019, the incidence of alcohol-related liver cirrhosis and other chronic liver diseases in China showed an upward trend, with an EAPC of 0.31% (95%CI: 0.10%-0.52%). However, the DALY declined, with an EAPC of -2.81% (95%CI: -2.92% - -2.70%). The ASMR showed a downward trend, with an EAPC of -2.55% (95%CI: -2.66% - -2.45%). The highest incidence of cirrhosis of liver caused by alcohol and other chronic liver diseases was reported in the age group of 35-49 years, while the ASMR increased gradually with age, with a significant rise after the age of 30. The age-standardized DALY rate peaked between the ages of 55 and 64. The disease burden indicators for males were consistently higher than those for females during the same period. According to the predictions of the BAPC model, from 2020 to 2030, the ASIR for cirrhosis of liver caused by alcohol and other chronic liver diseases in the entire population of China was projected to increase from 3.45/100 000 in 2020 to 3.78/100 000 in 2030, a growth of 9.57%. Conversely, the ASMR was expected to decrease from 1.45/100 000 in 2020 to 1.24/100 000 in 2030, a reduction of 14.48%. Conclusions: The disease burden of cirrhosis of liver caused by alcohol and other chronic liver diseases remained serious in China, especially in men and the middle-aged to elderly population. There is a pressing need to prioritize attention and resources towards these groups. Despite the projected decrease in ASMR, the ASIR continued to rise and is expected to persist in its upward trend until 2030.

Probing

The isomer depletion of ^{93m}Mo was recently reported [Chiara et al., Nature (London) 554, 216 (2018)NATUAS0028-083610.1038/nature25483] as the first direct observation of nuclear excitation by electron capture (NEEC). However, the measured excitation probability of 1.0(3)% is far beyond the theoretical expectation. In order to understand the inconsistency between theory and experiment, we produce the ^{93m}Mo nuclei using the ^{12}C(^{86}Kr,5n) reaction at a beam energy of 559 MeV and transport the reaction residues to a detection station far away from the target area employing a secondary beam line. The isomer depletion is expected to occur during the slowdown process of the ions in the stopping material. In such a low γ-ray background environment, the signature of isomer depletion is not observed, and an upper limit of 2×10^{-5} is estimated for the excitation probability. This is consistent with the theoretical expectation. Our findings shed doubt on the previously reported NEEC phenomenon and highlight the necessity and feasibility of further experimental investigations for reexamining the isomer depletion under low γ-ray background.

[Study on the correlation between adenoid hypertrophy and laryngopharyngeal reflux in children].

Objective:To discuss the correlation between adenoid hypertrophy and laryngopharyngeal reflux in children, and to determine the accuracy of reflux symptom index(RSI) and reflux finding score(RFS) in predicting adenoid hypertrophy and laryngopharyngeal reflux(LPR). Method:Assessment of RSI and RFS was performed in 71 children with adenoid hypertrophy who underwent surgery.The adenoid biopsy specimens were examined by pepsin immunohistochemical staining. According to the positive results of pepsin staining to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of RSI and RFS to predict LPR. Result:Among the 71 children with adenoid hypertrophy, RSI was greater than 13 points in 4 cases (5.63%), RFS was greater than 7 points in 26 cases (36.62%), and 1(1.41%) was positive in both scores. Pepsin expression was detected in 52 cases of adenoid hypertrophy tissues, with a total positive rate of 73.24% (52/71),most were strong positive（15/71,21.13%）and positive（23/71,32.39%）. The higher the adenoid hypertrophy grade, the higher the expression level of pepsin (r=0.476, P<0.01).Define the positive rate of pepsin as the gold standard for the diagnosis of LPR, the sensitivity and specificity of RSI and RFS were 5.77%,34.62% and 94.74%,57.89% respectively. Pepsin staining intensity was positively correlated with troublesome or annoying cough（r=0.356, P=0.002）and was negatively correlated with ventricular obliteration（r=－0.212，P=0.038）. Conclusion:There is a correlation between adenoid hypertrophy and LPR in children，LPR plays an important role in the development of adenoid and the role and mechanism of pepsin in adenoid hypertrophy needs further studyAs the low sensitivity of RSI and RFS, it is not suitable for the screening of adenoid hypertrophy in children with LPR. Children with adenoid hypertrophy cough for a long time and the laryngoscopy shows the ventricular obliteration, the presence of LPR should be warned.

Three chemosensory proteins from the rice leaf folder Cnaphalocrocis medinalis involved in host volatile and sex pheromone reception.

Chemosensory proteins (CSPs) have been considered to play a key role in chemoreception in insects. As stated in our earlier study, three CSP genes from rice leaf folder Cnaphalocrocis medinalis have been identified and showed potential physiological functions in olfaction. Here, we conducted western blot, immunolocalization, competitive binding assay and knockdown assay by RNA interference both in vitro and in vivo to reveal the functions of these three CSPs in C. medinalis. Results showed that both CmedCSP1 and CmedCSP2 are housed in sensilla basiconica and showed high binding affinities to a wide range of host-related semiochemicals. On the other hand, CmedCSP3 is highly expressed in sensilla trichodea of males and sensilla basiconica of females. It showed binding affinities to plant volatiles, especially terpenoids, as well as two of the C. medinalis sex pheromone components, Z11-16:Ac and Z11-16:Al. The transcript expression level of the three CSP genes significantly decreased after injecting target double-stranded RNAs and resulted in remarkably down-regulation on electroantennogram responses evoked by host-related semiochemicals and one sex pheromone compound, which have high binding affinities with CmedCSPs. In conclusion, the three CmedCSPs tested are involved in C. medinalis reception of semiochemicals, including host attractants and sex pheromones.

Insulin-like peptides regulate vitellogenesis and oviposition in the green lacewing, Chrysopa septempunctata.

Insulin-like peptides (ILPs) act through a conserved insulin signaling pathway and play crucial roles in insect metabolism, growth, reproduction, and aging. Application of bovine insulin is able to increase vitellogenin (Vg) mRNA and protein levels in female insects. Here, we first show that injection of bovine insulin into previtellogenic Chrysopa septempunctata female adults promoted ovarian growth, increased Vg protein abundance, elevated reproductive performance, and enhanced protease activity. These data suggested that ILPs play crucial roles in reproductive regulation of the green lacewing, C. septempunctata.

[The expression and significance of pepsin in laryngeal carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between pepsin induced by laryngopharyngeal reflux and laryngeal carcinoma. METHODS: Patients with vocal cord leukoplakia(n=18) and laryngeal carcinoma(n=21) encountered in Nanfang Hospital between December 2012 and April 2014 were included and sixteen healthy volunteers were recruited as control. Laryngeal biopsy specimens were taken from the patients with laryngeal carcinoma, or vocal cord leukoplakia and control subjects for the immunohistochemical study of pepsin. The correlation between pepsin expression and reflux events of 24 hour multichannel intraluminal impedance-pH monitoring (MII-pH) was analyzed. RESULTS: The patients with laryngeal carcinoma showed the highest expression of pepsin, followed by the patients with vocal cord leukoplakia and control subjects, with significant difference among the three groups (in strong positive expression, the constituent ratio of each group are 0/16、1/18 and 4/21, P<0.01). The presence of pepsin was associated with upright and total laryngopharyngeal acid reflux (P<0.05), including acid reflux episodes, the percentage of times that the pH was below four, the percentages of acid reflux time and average acid removal time. There was a significant correlation between the pepsin level and the esophageal acid reflux parameters (P<0.05) except supine the percentage of time that the pH was below four. CONCLUSIONS: Pepsin expression in laryngeal tissue increases in patients with vocal cord leukoplakia and laryngeal carcinoma, contributing to the development of laryngopharyngeal carcinogenesis.

Interactions of two odorant-binding proteins influence insect chemoreception.

It is well known that the odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) play crucial roles in insect olfactory detection. To explore if interactions of OBPs affect olfactory coding in the rice leaffolder Cnaphalocrocis medinalis ligand-binding experiments, molecular docking, RNA interference and electrophysiological recording were performed. The binding activity of two C. medinalis OBPs (CmedOBPs) to rice plant volatiles showed wide flexibility depending on the structure of ligands and interactions of CmedOBPs involved. The binding sites of CmedOBP2 and CmedOBP3 to rice plant volatiles were well predicted by three-dimensional structure modelling and molecular docking experiments. In addition, the interactions of these two CmedOBPs in the perception of rice volatiles were demonstrated by RNA interference experiments. When a single double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-CmedOBP2 was injected, the expression of CmedOBP2 was significantly reduced and the expression of CmedOBP3 was significantly increased, and vice versa. When both dsRNA-CmedOBP2 and 3 were injected together, greater reduction of electroantennogram responses to rice plant volatiles was induced than that seen with individual injection of either dsRNA-CmedOBP2 or dsRNA-CmedOBP3. These results clearly indicate that the interactions of CmedOBP2 and CmedOBP3 have significant effects on C. medinalis during the detection of host plant volatiles.

Functional characterization of a pheromone-binding protein from rice leaffolder Cnaphalocrocis medinalis in detecting pheromones and host plant volatiles.

Pheromone-binding proteins (PBPs) are believed to be involved in the recognition of semiochemicals. In the present study, western blot analysis, fluorescence-binding characteristics and immunolocalization of CmedPBP4 from the rice leaffolder, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis, were investigated. Western blot analysis revealed that CmedPBP4 showed obvious antenna-specific expression patterns in female and male antenna, and made a clearly different sex-biased expression. Immunocytochemical labeling revealed that CmedPBP4 showed specific expression in the trichoid sensilla. Competitive fluorescence binding assays indicated that CmedPBP4 could selectively recognize three sex pheromone components (Z13-18:Ac, Z11-16:Al and Z13-18:OH) and eleven rice plant volatiles, including cyclohexanol, nerolidol, cedrol, dodecanal, ionone, (-)-α-cedrene, (Z)-farnesene, ß-myrcene, R-(+)-limonene, (-)-limonene, and (+)-3-carene. Meanwhile the CmedPBP4 detection of sex pheromones and host odorants was pH-dependent. Our results, for the first time, provide further evidence that trichoid sensilla might be play an important role in detecting sex pheromones and host plant volatiles in the C. medinalis moth. Our systematic studies provided further detailed evidence for the function of trichoid sensilla in insect semiochemical perception.