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As for photocatalytic oxidation of nitric oxide (NO), the low NO oxidation activity and generation of by-products (cf. NO2) are the urgent challenge. To tackle these issues, a simple in-situ growing stragegy was employed to constructe Ti3C2/g-C3N4 system. The fabricated Ti3C2/g-C3N4 composite (TC-CN) presented enhanced photocatalytic NO removal efficiency and inhibited toxic NO2 generation. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and experimental characterizations were combined to demonstrate the presence of strong interface effect between Ti3C2 and g-C3N4, which could greatly improve photo-generated charge carrier separation via the construction of electron transfer channels, and further activate oxygen molecules adsorbed on the side of Ti3C2 layer. As a result, nitrite and nitrate instead of NO2 were the final products during the photocatalytic reaction process through the monitoring by in situ diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy (DRIFTS).

Background We performed a prospective multicentre diagnostic study to evaluate the combined interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and interleukin-2 (IL-2) release assay for detect active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in China. Methods Adult patients presenting symptoms suggestive of pulmonary TB were consecutively enrolled in three TB-specialized hospitals. Sputum specimens and blood sample and were collected from each participant at enrolment. The levels of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB)-specific antigen-stimulated IFN-γ and IL-2 were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results Between July 2017 and December 2018, a total of 3245 patients with symptoms suggestive of pulmonary TB were included in final analysis. Of 3245 patients, 2536 were diagnosed as active TB, consisting of 1092 definite TB and 1444 clinically diagnosed TB. The overall sensitivity and specificity of IFN-γ were 83.8% and 81.5%, respectively. In addition, compared with IFN-γ, the specificity of IL-2 increased to 94.3%, while the sensitivity decreased to 72.6%. In addition, the highest sensitivity was achieved with parallel combination of IFN-γ/IL-2, with a sensitivity of 87.9%, and its overall specificity was 79.8%. The sensitivity of series combination test was 68.5%. Notably, the sensitivity of series combination test in definite TB (72.1%) was significantly higher than that in clinically diagnosed TB (65.8%). Conclusion In conclusion, we develop a new immunological method that can differentiate between active TB and other pulmonary diseases. Our data demonstrates that the various IFN-γ/IL-2 combinations provides promising alternatives for diagnosing active TB cases in different settings. Additionally, the diagnostic accuracy of series combination correlates with severity of disease in our cohort.

This study was aimed at comparing the adverse drug reactions (ADRs) arising from the use of iodinated contrast medium (ICM) and gadolinium-based contrast media (GBCM), and to provide a basis for the clinical selection of contrast media.Retrospective data for ADR cases occurring from the use of ICM or GBCM during enhanced scanning in computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging were collected between June/2013 and May/2020 from Wenling Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Chi-square tests were performed based on the characteristics of patients and the classification of contrast medium. Bonferroni correction was applied to the statistical analyses with multiple comparisons of proportions.Among 27,328 patients who were subjected to enhanced CT scanning, 207 cases (0.76%) showed ICM-related ADRs. Among 16,381 patients who were subjected to enhanced MRI scanning, 25 cases (0.15%) showed ADRs related to GBCM. The incidence of ADR induced by GBCM was significantly lower than ICM-induced ADR (p 0.01). There were no significant differences in the incidence among different types of ICM, including ioversol and iodixanol, as well as iodixanol from different manufacturers (p 0.05). Interestingly, the ADR incidence of ICM seemed to be associated with gender, with a significantly higher incidence in females than in male patients, and it was also associated with the age, with a lower occurrence in older (44 years) compared to younger patients.With respect to ADR incidence, the safety profile of ICM of different types and different manufacturers was found to be similar in clinical use, warranting no need of specifically choosing imported or more expensive products. While choosing contrast medium type for clinical use, attention should be paid to certain populations, especially to younger and female patients when the patients are about to undergo a contrast-enhanced examination.

As for photocatalytic oxidation of nitric oxide (NO), the low NO oxidation activity and generation of by-products (cf. NO

Summary Background The management of latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection is a new priority action for the WHO End Tuberculosis (TB) Strategy. However, national guidelines on latent tuberculosis infection testing and treatment have not yet been developed in China. Here, we present the results from the 2-year follow-up of a study that aimed to track the development of active disease in individuals with latent tuberculosis infection, identify priority populations for latent infection management, and explore the most suitable latent infection diagnostic approach. Methods A population-based multicentre prospective study was done in four sites in rural China, between 2013 and 2015. The baseline survey in 2013 measured the prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection using QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT) and tuberculin skin test (TST) in eligible participants. During the follow-up phase between 2014–15, we assessed individuals who had tuberculosis infection at baseline (QFT-positivity or TST tuberculin reaction size [induration] of ≥10 mm) for the development of active disease through active case finding. Eligible participants included in follow-up survey had a birth date before June 1, 2008 (5 years or older in 2013), and continuous residence at the study site for 6 months or longer in the past year. Participants with current active tuberculosis at baseline survey were excluded. Findings Between Sept 1, 2013, and Aug 31, 2015, 7505 eligible participants (aged 5 years or older) were included in tuberculosis infection test positive cohorts (4455 were QFT positive, 6404 had TST induration ≥10 mm, and 3354 were positive for both tests) after baseline examination. During the 2-year follow-up period, 84 incident cases of active tuberculosis were diagnosed. Of participants who developed active tuberculosis, 75 were diagnosed with latent infection by QFT, 62 were diagnosed by TST, and 53 were diagnosed by both tests. An incidence rate of 0·87 (95% CI 0·68–1·07) per 100 person-years was observed for individuals who tested positive with QFT, 0·50 (0·38–0·63) per 100 person-years for those who tested positive with TST (p Interpretation Our results suggest that high-risk populations in communities in rural China, such as individuals at a high risk of disease reactivation from previous tuberculosis, should be targeted for latent infection screening and treatment with an interferon-γ releasing assay rather than a TST. Funding National Science and Technology Major Project of China, Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University of China, CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences, and Sanming Project of Medicine in Shenzhen.

Terminology facilitates consistent use and semantic integration of heterogeneous, multimodal data within and across domains. This paper presents TBench (Termilology Workbench) for multilingual terminology editing and development within a distributed environment. TBench is a web-service Java tool consisting of two main functionalities that are knowledge construction (i.e.extended model based on ISO25964, batch reusing and constructing multilingual concept hierarchy and relationships) and collaborative control in order to achieve custom extensions, reuse, multilingual alignment, integration and refactoring.

This work describes the design and building of a Chinese clinical terminology (called CCTS). The terminology is similar to an ontology, and will promote the use of Chinese clinical data, such as indexing, retrieval and exchange. The terminology is a TOPL concept framework, which integrates hierarchical structures of Chinese and interenational reference terminology standards for health. Our framework includes 14 subtrees, 2286 classes and 65 relationships.

The sustained increase in the incidence of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infection and the difficulty in distinguishing these infections from tuberculosis constitute an urgent need for NTM species-level identification. The MeltPro Myco assay is the first diagnostic system that identifies 19 clinically relevant mycobacteria in a single reaction based on multicolor melting curve analysis run on a real-time PCR platform. The assay was comprehensively evaluated regarding its analytical and clinical performances. The MeltPro Myco assay accurately identified 51 reference mycobacterial strains to the species/genus level and showed no cross-reactivity with 16 nonmycobacterial strains. The limit of detection was 300 bacilli/ml, and 1% of the minor species was detected in the case of mixed infections. Clinical studies using 1,163 isolates collected from five geographically distinct health care units showed that the MeltPro Myco assay correctly identified 1,159 (99.7%) samples. Further testing with 94 smear-positive sputum samples showed that all samples were correctly identified. Additionally, the entire assay can be performed within 3 h. The results of this study confirmed the efficacy of this assay in the reliable identification of mycobacteria, suggesting that it might potentially be used as a screening tool in regions endemic for tuberculosis.

The sustained increase in the incidence of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infection and the difficulty in distinguishing these infections from tuberculosis constitute an urgent need for NTM species-level identification. The MeltPro Myco assay is the first diagnostic system that identifies 19 clinically relevant mycobacteria in a single reaction based on multicolor melting curve analysis run on a real-time PCR platform. The assay was comprehensively evaluated regarding its analytical and clinical performances. The MeltPro Myco assay accurately identified 51 reference mycobacterial strains to the species/genus level and showed no cross-reactivity with 16 nonmycobacterial strains. The limit of detection was 300 bacilli/ml, and 1% of the minor species was detected in the case of mixed infections. Clinical studies using 1,163 isolates collected from five geographically distinct health care units showed that the MeltPro Myco assay correctly identified 1,159 (99.7%) samples. Further testing with 94 smear-positive sputum samples showed that all samples were correctly identified. Additionally, the entire assay can be performed within 3 h. The results of this study confirmed the efficacy of this assay in the reliable identification of mycobacteria, suggesting that it might potentially be used as a screening tool in regions endemic for tuberculosis.

To handle differences in affiliation names submitted with biomedical journal articles, we build an affiliation knowledge base named Authority File for Affiliations (AFA) based on ontology principles. There are currently 113,700 affiliation concepts with about 583,700 affiliation names. The AFA becomes an essential tool in managing citation information and data analysis.

Objectives.We studied the genetic diversity of clinical isolates from patients with tuberculosis in the multiethnic area of Xinjiang autonomous region in China. A total of 311 clinicalM. tuberculosisisolates were collected in 2006 and 2011 and genotyped by two genotyping methods. All isolates were grouped into 68 distinct spoligotypes using the spoligotyping method. The Beijing family was dominant, followed by T1 and CAS. MIRU-VNTR results showed that a total of 195 different VNTR types were identified. Ten of the 15 loci were highly or moderately discriminant according to their HGDI scores, and 13 loci had good discriminatory power in non-Beijing family strains, whereas only two loci had good discriminatory power in Beijing family strains. Chi-square tests demonstrated that there were no correlations between four characteristics (sex, age, type of case, and treatment history) and the Beijing family. In summary, Beijing family strains were predominant in Xinjiang, and theVNTR-15Chinalocus-set was suitable for genotyping all Xinjiang strains, but not for the Beijing family strains. Thus, these data suggested that different genotype distributions may exist in different regions; MLVA locus-sets should be adjusted accordingly, with newly added loci to increase resolution if necessary.

Objectives. We studied the genetic diversity of clinical isolates from patients with tuberculosis in the multiethnic area of Xinjiang autonomous region in China. A total of 311 clinical M. tuberculosis isolates were collected in 2006 and 2011 and genotyped by two genotyping methods. All isolates were grouped into 68 distinct spoligotypes using the spoligotyping method. The Beijing family was dominant, followed by T1 and CAS. MIRU-VNTR results showed that a total of 195 different VNTR types were identified. Ten of the 15 loci were highly or moderately discriminant according to their HGDI scores, and 13 loci had good discriminatory power in non-Beijing family strains, whereas only two loci had good discriminatory power in Beijing family strains. Chi-square tests demonstrated that there were no correlations between four characteristics (sex, age, type of case, and treatment history) and the Beijing family. In summary, Beijing family strains were predominant in Xinjiang, and the VNTR-15China locus-set was suitable for genotyping all Xinjiang strains, but not for the Beijing family strains. Thus, these data suggested that different genotype distributions may exist in different regions; MLVA locus-sets should be adjusted accordingly, with newly added loci to increase resolution if necessary.

The current treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) takes a lengthy period of 18–24 months and has a poor cure rate of 50–60%. A multicenter, prospective cohort study was conducted to assess the role of testing for molecular susceptibility to pyrazinamide (PZA) in optimising treatment for MDR-TB. We assigned 76 patients to an optimised molecular susceptibility group and 159 patients to a regular treatment group where PZA susceptibility was not determined. Of these patients, 152 were matched after propensity score matching (76 in the optimised group and 76 in the regular group). Treatment success rate was measured in the propensity-matched cohort as the primary outcome. Patients in the optimised group achieved a higher treatment success rate than those in the regular group (76.3% versus 55.3%, p=0.006). Of 51 patients with isolates that were susceptible to PZA and who were receiving a 12-month regimen, 42 (82.4%) were treated successfully. The optimised group showed faster culture conversion than the regular group (p=0.024). After exclusion of pre-extensively drug-resistant TB (pre-XDR-TB), the treatment outcome in the optimised group was still better than the regular group (83.1% versus 62.1%, p=0.009). Introducing molecular susceptibility testing for PZA improved the treatment outcomes for MDR-TB without the use of new drugs. Introducing PZA for patients with PZA-susceptible (PZA-S) MDR-TB allows the current regimen to be shortened to 12 months with comparable success rates to the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended shorter regimen.

To investigate the effects of lipoic acid (LA) on the release of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10 and the expressions of chemokines in astrocytes stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS).Astrocytes were separated from the cerebral cortex of newly-born C57BL/6 mice (within 48 h after birth). After identification and purification, the second-generation astrocytes were stimulated with LPS (1 μg/mL), and then treated with LA (100 μg/mL). The production of nitric oxide (NO) was assayed by Griess assay. The levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-10 in supernatants were quantified by ELISA. The expressions of CC chemokine ligand-20 (CCL20), monocyte chemoattractive protein 1 (MCP-1) and macrophage inflammatory protein-1α (MIP-1α) mRNAs were detected using reverse transcription-PCR.Compared with PBS control, LPS significantly increased the production of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6, but decreased the level of IL-10 in cultured astrocytes (P0.05). LA treatment inhibited LPS-induced NO, TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 production, and enhanced IL-10 secretion, and compared with LPS stimulation alone, the differences were statistically significant (P0.05). In addition, LA treatment also suppressed the expressions of CCL20, MCP-1 and MIP-1α mRNA in astrocytes stimulated with LPS.LA inhibits neuroinflammatory response in LPS-activated astrocytes. The neuroprotection of LA is partly due to the inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines derived from astrocytes.

To evaluate the effects of Fasudil on the production of proinflammatory cytokines in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated BV-2 microglia cells.The BV-2 cells cultured in vitro were divided into PBS control group, LPS stimulation group and LPS plus Fasudil group. The production of TNF-α and IL-1β was measured by ELISA. The release of NO was checked by Griess reagent assay. Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and TLR4 expressions were determined by flow cytometry.The stimulation of LPS significantly increased the production of TNF-α, IL-1β and NO as well as TLR4 protein expression in BV-2 cells. Fasudil attenuated NO production, and reduced the release of TNF-α and IL-1β in LPS-stimulated BV-2 cells. Interestingly, Fasudil also decreased TLR4 expression.Fasudil can suppress the production of TNF-α, IL-1β and NO of microglia cells induced by LPS, which may be associated with the down-regulation of TLR4 pathway.

Scientific creativity is one of the core competitiveness of scientists, especially in the AI age. However, as a classic concept originating from the field of psychology, is it possible for scientific creativity to be measured by specific indicators in management approaches and become an important target of science and technology evaluation? We summarized four application paths of bibliometrics in the measurement of scientific creativity, and made a comparative analysis with psychological approaches. Furthermore, by studying the classic theories of psychology and information science, we identified Brookes’ theory of information science, the implicit theory of creativity, and the chance-configuration theory of scientific creativity, which could provide theoretical foundation for scientific creativity measurement under the management approach, and demonstrated the rationality and feasibility of the approach from the perspective of science and technology evaluation.