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Objective: In intensive care units (ICUs), carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) pose a significant threat. We aimed to examine the distribution, epidemiological characteristics, and risk factors for CRE positivity in ICUs., Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 96 ICUs of 78 hospitals in Henan Province, China. The clinical and microbiological data were collected. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to analyze the risk factors for CRE positivity., Results: A total of 1,009 patients were enrolled. There was a significant difference in CRE positive rate between pharyngeal and anal swabs (15.16 vs. 19.13%, P < 0.001). A total of 297 carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CR-KPN), 22 carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli (CR-ECO), 6 carbapenem-resistant Enterobacter cloacae (CR-ECL), 19 CR-KPN/CR-ECO, and 2 CR-KPN/CR-ECL were detected. Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC), New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM), and a combination of KPC and NDM were detected in 150, 9, and 11 swab samples, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analysis determined length of ICU stay, chronic neurological disease, transfer from other hospitals, previous infection, and history of antibiotics exposure as independent risk factors for CRE positivity. Age and cardiovascular diseases were independent risk factors for mixed infections of CRE. The occurrence of CRE in secondary and tertiary hospitals was 15.06 and 25.62%, respectively ( P < 0.05). Patients from tertiary hospitals had different clinical features compared with those from secondary hospitals, including longer hospital stays, a higher rate of patients transferred from other hospitals, receiving renal replacement therapy, exposure to immunosuppressive drugs, use of antibiotics, and a higher rate of the previous infection., Conclusion: In ICUs in Henan Province, CRE positive rate was very high, mostly KPC-type CR-KPN. Patients with prolonged ICU stay, chronic neurological disease, transfer from other hospitals, previous infection, and history of antibiotic exposure are prone to CRE. Age and cardiovascular diseases are susceptibility factors for mixed infections of CRE. The CRE positive rate in tertiary hospitals was higher than that in secondary hospitals, which may be related to the source of patients, antibiotic exposure, disease severity, and previous infection., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Guo, Guo, Zhang, Shi, Qin, Wang, Chang, Chen, Chen, Guo, Guo, Han, Han, Hu, Jin, Li, Liu, Lou, Lu, Ma, Shan, Sun, Zhang, Zheng and Shao.)

Exploring the origin of intrinsic low thermal conductivity in BiCuSeO is of great significance for searching new oxide thermoelectric (TE) materials. In addition, from the perspective of material preparation, it is of great value to further develop the TE performance optimization strategy of BiCuSeO-based materials. In this work, the low-temperature TE transport properties of Pb-doped BiCuSeO-based materials are investigated. It is found that Pb doping can greatly optimize the carrier concentration, soften the lattice, and reduce the lattice thermal conductivity. The addition of Cu 2 Se significantly enhanced the grain texture and then increased the interface concentration parallel to the pressure direction in the sintering process, which further reduced the lattice thermal conductivity of the material. Finally, the ZT value of Bi 0.96 Pb 0.04 CuSeO-6 mol % Cu 2 Se bulk material is as high as 0.85 at 840 K. This provides important guidance to improve the properties of TE materials via interface engineering.

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy of preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with radical surgery on cervical cancer patients and its effect on the prognosis of patients and serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC-Ag) level., Methods: 163 patients with cervical cancer composed the research group. Among them, 72 patients treated with radical resection of cervical cancer were enrolled in the control group, while the remaining 91 patients were enrolled in the study group and treated with preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with radical resection of cervical cancer. The clinical indicators during and after the surgery, as well as the efficacy, were compared between the two groups. Serum SCC-Ag level before and after the treatment was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)., Results: The total effective rate of the study group was statistically higher than that of the control group (p<0.05). Seven cases (9.72%) of adverse reactions occurred in the control group. Thirteen cases (12.09%) of adverse reactions occurred in the study group. The serum SCC-Ag levels of the two groups after the treatment were significantly lower than those before the treatment, with a sharper decrease in the study group (p<0.05)., Conclusion: Preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with radical surgery has remarkable efficacy in cervical cancer patients, and can significantly reduce serum SCC-Ag levels in patients, which is worthy of clinical promotion.

Our previous study indicated that nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) is released from cells and might be an important extracellular neuroprotective factor in brain ischemia. Here, we tested whether NAMPT protects against ischemic brain injury when administered directly into the intracerebroventricular (ICV) compartment of the cranium. Recombinant NAMPT protein (2 μg) was delivered ICV in mice subjected to 45-min middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), and the effects on infarct volume, sensorimotor function, microglia/macrophage polarization, neutrophil infiltration, and BBB integrity were analyzed. The results indicate that ICV administration of NAMPT significantly reduced infarct volume, retained its beneficial properties even when ICV administration was delayed by 6 h after MCAO, and improved neurological outcomes. NAMPT treatment inhibited pro-inflammatory microglia/macrophages, promoted microglia/macrophage polarization toward the anti-inflammatory phenotype, and reduced the infiltration of neutrophils into the perilesional area after brain ischemia. In vitro studies indicated that multiple pro-inflammatory microglial markers/cytokines were downregulated while multiple anti-inflammatory microglial markers/cytokines were induced in primary microglial cultures treated with NAMPT protein. NAMPT treatment also fortified the blood-brain barrier (BBB), as shown by reduced extravascular leakage of the small-molecule tracer Alexa Fluor 555 Cadaverine and larger-sized endogenous IgGs into brain parenchyma. Thus, NAMPT may protect against ischemic brain injury partly through a novel anti-inflammatory mechanism, which in turn maintains BBB integrity and reduces the infiltration of peripheral inflammatory cells. Taken together, these results provide validation of recombinant NAMPT delivery into the extracellular space as a potential neuroprotective strategy for stroke.

KDP crystal is showing a good property in high-power laser systems. However, working in a high-power environment is easy to have damaged-defect. Dehydration of KDP crystal is one of the damage phenomena. We explore the total energy and physical properties of the KDP crystal progressive dehydration by using First-principles calculations. It is found that the band gap of the KDP crystal gradually decreases with the deepening of dehydration, and there are many obvious defect states between 4 eV and 8 eV (the corresponding wavelength region is from 310 nm to 155 nm). It indicates that dehydration causes a reduction in the damage threshold of the KDP crystal. Our results indicate that these defect states are due to the change of hybridization type of P atoms, which is gradually transformed from original sp 3 hybridization to sp 2 hybridization in the dehydration process. An obvious redshift can be observed in the absorption spectrum, producing many distinct absorption peaks. All of the results can provide the good basis for deeply understanding the electronic and optical properties of the KDP crystal.