Search

As one of the frequent complications leading to poor prognosis in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, a better understanding of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in COVID-19 patients is needed. We conducted a single-center, retrospective study on 96 COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) from April to June 2022, in Shanghai Renji Hospital. Records of these COVID-19 patients upon admission were reviewed for demographic information, co-morbidities, vaccinations, treatment, and laboratory tests. VTE occurred in 11 (11.5%) cases among 96 COVID-19 patients despite the standard thromboprophylaxis since ICU admission. In COVID-VTE patients, a significant increase in B cells and a decrease in Ts cells were observed and a strong negative correlation ( r = −0.9524, P = .0003) was found between these two populations. In COVID-19 patients with VTE, increased MPV and decreased albumin levels were seen in addition to the common VTE indicators of D-dimer abnormalities. The altered lymphocyte composition in COVID-VTE patients is noteworthy. In addition to D-dimer, MPV and albumin levels might be novel indicators for the risk of VTE in COVID-19 patients.

Rabies is an acute zoonotic infectious disease caused by rabies virus. In 2015, the World Health Organization proposed the goal of eliminating dog-induced human rabies by 2030. In response to this goal positively, China has been dedicated to the control and elimination of rabies mainly caused by dogs, for nearly 10 years. By applying infectious disease dynamics, in this paper, we establish a dog-human rabies transmission model to forecast future epidemic trends of rabies, assess whether the goal of eliminating dog-induced human rabies cases in China can be achieved in 2030, and further evaluate and suggest the follow-up sustained preventive measures after the elimination of human rabies. By analyzing and simulating above dynamic model, it is concluded that rabies has been well controlled in China in recent years, but dog-induced human rabies cannot be eliminated by 2030 according to current situation. In addition, we propose to improve rabies control efforts by increasing the immunization coverage rate of rural domestic dogs, controlling the number of stray dogs and preventing the import of rabies virus in wild animals. Immunization coverage rate of rural domestic dogs which is currently less than 10% is far from requirement, and it needs to reach 50%-60% to meet the goal of 2030. Since it is difficult to immunize stray dogs, we suggest to control the number of stray dogs below 15.27 million to achieve the goal. If the goal of eliminating human rabies is reached in 2030, the essential immunization coverage needs to be maintained for 18 years to reduce the number of canine rabies cases to zero. Lastly, to prevent transmission of rabies virus from wild animals to dogs, the thresholds of the number of dogs and the immunization coverage rate of dogs after eliminating canine rabies cases are also discussed., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2023 The Authors.)

We develop a new strategy for single-molecule monitoring of telomerase based on proximity ligation-transcription circuit-powered exponential amplifications. This strategy exhibits high sensitivity with a detection limit of 0.1 aM for the synthetic telomerase product TPC4 in vitro and 1 HeLa cell in vivo . Moreover, it can screen potential inhibitors, discriminate telomerase from interferents, and distinguish cancer cells from normal cells.

Background: Non-syndromic cleft lip and/or palate (NSCL/P) is a common maxillofacial birth defect, and the etiology of which is complex and still unclear. Accumulating studies indicate that long non-coding RNAs(lncRNAs) and microRNAs(miRNAs) play important roles in NSCL/P. However, the potential regulatory associations remain largely unknown. In this study, we screened differentially expressed miRNAs and constructed competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks to lay a foundation for further research on the regulatory mechanism of ncRNAs in NSCL/P., Methods: NSCL/P plasma RNA was analyzed by miRNA sequencing. The bioinformatics database, GEO and STRING database, GO and KEGG enrichment analysis and Cytoscape software were used to analyze and screen lncRNAs and mRNAs potentially related to differential miRNAs. The expression levels of lncRNA, miRNA and mRNA in ceRNA network were detected by RT-qPCR., Results: In NSCL/P plasma samples, there were 47 differentially expressed miRNAs in CPO group and 36 differentially expressed miRNAs in CL/P group. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis showed that cell cycle, cell response to DNA damage stimulation, and the TGF-βsignaling pathway were relevant to the formation of NSCL/P. The RT-qPCR results showed that the expression levels of lncRNA NEAT1, hsa-miR-130 b-3p, hsa-miR-212-3p, hsa-miR-200 b-3p and SMAD2 were different in NSCL/P., Conclusions: We found that differentially expressed miR-212-3p, miR-200 b-3p and miR-130 b-3p may be involved in the pathogenesis of cleft palate by regulating related target genes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors deny any conflicts of interest related to this study., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: We present our experience with transoral segmental mandibulectomy, in conjunction with vascularized osseous mandibular reconstruction, utilizing an intraoral anastomosis and free of extraoral incisions. Virtual surgical planning and intraoperative navigation were used to help achieve this minimally invasive and scar-free approach., Methods: A retrospective study was performed on 9 patients who underwent transoral segmental mandibulectomy followed by vascularized osseous reconstruction using an intraoral anastomosis between January 2018 and October 2018. The anastomotic recipient vessels were the facial artery and vein. The outcome variable was defined as the flap survival. Postoperative panoramic radiographs and computed tomography images were obtained for assessment of the neo-mandible. In addition, we performed a cadaver dissection to highlight relevant anatomic details of the facial artery and vein., Results: Successful transoral segmental mandibulectomy was achieved in 9 patients, with an intraoral anastomosis successfully achieved in 8 patients. In one patient, an extraoral anastomosis was required because of challenging facial vein anatomy. Both recipient and donor sites healed uneventfully with a 100% successful rate of flap survival. In all cases, a well-positioned neo-mandible with good occlusion was demonstrated on postoperative imaging and examination. A symmetric facial appearance with no restrictions in mouth opening was also achieved in each case. In our cadaver dissection, we describe the anatomical course of the facial artery and vein. An average angle of 30° between these vessels is identified., Conclusions: Transoral segmental mandibulectomy combined with intraoral microvascular mandibular reconstruction is a surgically achievable technique with the benefit of being scar free., (Copyright © 2022 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)