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Objective To observe the anti-inflammatory effect, as well as the effect on the expression of microtubule-associated protein light chain 3B (LC3B) and Beclin-1 of herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion in rats with experimental autoimmune thyroiditis (EAT). Methods Female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a normal group and a modeling group. The EAT rat model was prepared by a combination of antigen immunization plus iodine agent induction. After the model was prepared, rats in the modeling group were randomly and equally divided into a model group and a herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group. In the herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion group, moxibustion was alternately applied to two groups of points [Dazhui (GV14)-Mingmen (GV4) and Tiantu (CV22)-Guanyuan (CV4)], and the treatment continued for 30 d. Rats in the normal and model groups were only fixed identically without intervention. Histopathological manifestations of thyroid glands were observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining; the concentrations of thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb), thyroglobulin antibodies (TGAb), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the mRNA and protein expression of autophagy-related factors LC3B and Beclin-1 in thyroid tissue. Results There were massive follicular destruction, lymphocytic infiltration, and interstitial fibrous tissue hyperplasia of the thyroid glands in the model group. Some follicles of the thyroid glands were destroyed with few lymphocyte infiltrations and fibrous tissue hyperplasia in the moxibustion group. Compared with the normal group, the concentrations of serum TPOAb, TGAb, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α were increased in the model rats (PPPP Conclusion Herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion reduces the inflammatory response in the thyroid glands of EAT rats and lowers the levels of serum TPOAb and TGAb. This may be related to the regulation of mRNA and protein expression of the autophagy-associated factors LC3B and Beclin-1 in rat thyroid tissue.

In this study, 383 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the allergic group and the nonallergic group were excavated. Humoral immune response, chemokine-related biological processes, granulocyte-related biological processes, IL-17 signaling pathway, and TNF signaling pathway were found connected with DEGs. The allergic group had significantly higher enrich scores of T cells, T helper cells, TFH, and Th17 cells than the nonallergic group. We acquired 26 rape pollen allergy-associated genes by taking the intersection of key module genes from WGCNA and the DEGs. The functional enrichment results show that rape pollen allergy-associated genes are relevant to processes and pathways like regulation of inflammatory response, transcriptional regulation, lymphocyte differentiation, IL-17 signaling pathway, and MAPK signaling pathway. Then, three characteristic genes were defined by crossing the genes derived from LASSO and SVM-RFE algorithms, including MYADM, PMAIP1, and MLF1. The AUC values of these genes manifested that the three genes had a mighty discrimination power in discriminating allergic samples from nonallergic samples. In conclusion, this study revealed three characteristic genes (MYADM, PMAIP1, and MLF1) in rape pollen allergy, suggesting that they may be potential biomarkers in rape pollen allergy diagnosis and treatment.

Background Diabetic foot ulcer is one of the major complications for patients with diabetes, and has become an important cause of non-traumatic amputation. Necrotizing fasciitis is a life-threatening soft-tissue infection involving the fascia and subcutaneous tissue. When diabetic foot ulcers are complicated by necrotizing fasciitis (DNF), this increases the risk for amputation and mortality, making DNF treatment more complicated, and eventually leading to amputation and mortality. However, studies on pathogenic bacteria’s distribution and drug sensitivity in DNF patients remain lacking. This study investigated the distribution and susceptibility of pathogenic bacteria in DNF patients, and provided empirical antibacterial guidance for the clinic. Methods In a single diabetic foot center, the results from microbial cultures and drug susceptibility tests of patients with DNF from October 2013 to December 2020 were collected and analyzed. Results A total of 101 DNF patients were included in this study, of whom 94 had positive culture test results. A total of 124 pathogens were cultured, including 76 Gram-positive bacterial strains, 42 Gram-negative bacterial strains, and six fungal strains. Polymicrobial infections accounted for 26.7% and monomicrobial infections accounted for 66.3%. Staphylococcus aureus was the most common bacterium isolated, followed by Enterococcus faecalis and Streptococcus agalactiae. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Proteus mirabilis were the most common Gram-negative bacteria. Thirty-five strains of multi-drug resistant bacteria were isolated, representing 28.2% of the total isolates. Gram-positive bacteria were more sensitive to levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, vancomycin, teicoplanin, tigecycline, and linezolid, while Gram-negative bacteria were more sensitive to amikacin, piperacillin/tazobactam, cefoperazone/sulbactam, ceftazidime, cefepime, imipenem, and meropenem. Conclusions Gram-positive bacteria were the main bacteria isolated from DNF patients. The bacterial composition, the proportion of multi-drug resistant bacteria among the pathogens, and the high risk for amputation should be fully considered in the initial empirical medication, and broad-spectrum antibacterials are recommended.

In this paper, the poly-acrylonitrile synthetic fiber concrete (PSC) (the representative of organic fiber concrete) and alkali resistant glass fiber concrete (ARGC) (the representative of inorganic fiber concrete) were studied and compared. The test were carried out by the IMYD-X single side freeze-thaw machine of concrete and the modified wheel impact test machine which was pressurized and accelerated. The dynamic deformation and toughness performance of fiber concrete have been comparatively analyzed, and the effect of fiber on the performance of concrete has been investigated. Three concrete performance indexes were selected to evaluate the anti-wheel impact performance of the airport pavement concrete in freeze-thaw environment, namely relative mass ratio, relative compressive strength ratio, and relative dynamic modulus ratio. The results showed that adding fiber in the concrete can significantly improve these indexes. Four indexes of concretes decreased when the test durations increased, and the relationship between various indexes and test durations can be described as an exponential function. Moreover, all the indexes of fiber concrete increase with the increasing fiber volume content. The optimal content of both organic fiber concrete and inorganic fiber concrete were 1.6 kg/m3. From the overall trend, the relationship among fiber concretes by the anti-wheel impact performance in freeze-thaw environment can be listed as follow: ordinary concrete

In this paper, the reticular polypropylene synthetic fiber concrete (RPSFC) (the representative of organic fiber concrete) and Steel fiber concrete (SFC) (the representative of inorganic metal fiber concrete) have been prepared. The experiments were carried out by the polyurethane high-temperature aging chamber, the xenon weather resistant test box and the modified wheel type impact test machine. The internal mechanical properties and external damage of concrete under the joint action of high temperature aging and dynamic wheel type impact were compared and analyzed, and the influence degree of fiber type and content is summarized. Some specific damage indexes were selected to evaluate the Anti-wheel impact performance of the pavement concrete, namely the loss of compressive strength, the loss of dynamic modulus, the growth size of internal pore and the surface impact damage. The results showed that adding fiber in the concrete can control the increase of indexes. The indexes of the specimen increase with the increasing test rounds, but decrease with the increasing fiber volume content. Through the comparative analysis of indexes, we found that the effect of steel fiber is more obvious under long-term action. Combined with the internal thermal imaging processing of fiber concrete, it is found that the steel fiber can obviously control the aging and cracking of concrete matrix and the expansion growth of internal pore. Generally speaking, the most effective way to improve the anti-wheel impact performance of concrete under elevated temperature aging environment is to add 1.5% metal fiber (SF).

In order to improve the durability of airport pavement concrete, four kinds of synthetic fiber reinforced concrete were researched in this paper. Modified polyester synthetic fiber concrete (MPFC), Monofilament polypropylene synthetic fiber reinforced concrete (MPSFC), Reticular polypropylene synthetic fiber reinforced concrete (RPFC), and Polyacrylonitrile synthetic fiber reinforced concrete (PSFC) were prepared in this paper. Strength, impermeability and frost resistance of them were investigated. The impermeability test was carried out by hydrostatic pressure and chloride ion penetration method, while the frost resistance test was conducted by quick freezing method. The results show that the synthetic fiber improves concrete flexural strength, but it has little effect on compressive strength. Under the same volume fraction (0.1%), the flexural strength of MPFC and PSFC increased by about 6% compared with that of ordinary concrete (PC), but the flexural strength of PSFC increased slightly, with only 1–2%. Single fiber can improve concrete impermeability and frost resistance. Among them PSFC impermeability is the best, which is 2.4 times of that of PC, up to P24; the frost resistance of MPFC is the best, which is 2 times of that of PC, reaching F350. Polycarboxylic synthetic water-reducer (SDJ) can improve concrete impermeability and frost resistance greatly. It has best impermeability when mixing with polyacrylonitrile fiber, and its frost resistance grades were all up to above F600 when mixing with the four kinds of fibers separately. It is suggested that the optimum volume fraction is 0.10–0.14%, as the fiber content also has certain influence on the performance of the synthetic fiber concrete. At last, the Cost-benefit analysis of the fiber reinforced concrete was put forward, which showed that the application of fiber concrete in the airport pavement engineering has great economic benefits and broad prospects for development.

The cattail fiber assembly used as a sorbent for the sorption of engine and vegetable oils was investigated. The internal factors governing the oil sorption of cattail fibers were discussed. The analysis for the adsorption mechanism of cattail fiber assembly indicated that the tuft of cattail fibers has a down-like structure and, thus, its surface area and retaining space are large. The high surface waxiness and small surface free energy enabled the cattail fiber to have excellent oleophilic–hydrophobic property. The experimental results indicated that the oil-sorption rates of cattail fiber assemblies to engine oil and vegetable oil were 13.4 g/g and 14.6 g/g, respectively, and the oil retention capability to both engine oil and vegetable oil after 24 hours was over 95%. The cattail fibers have similar oil sorption capability with those of nonwoven wool materials, however, nature sorbents such as kapok fibers are superior to the cattail fibers.

Hyperandrogenism is a core factor in the series of reproductive and endocrine metabolic disorders involved in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Abnormalities in enzymatic activity and the expression of ovarian granular cell layer P450arom and theca cell P450c17α can lead to an atypical environment of local ovarian hormones, including excessive androgen levels. Rat models prepared with letrozole exhibit similar endocrine and histological changes to those that occur in human PCOS. We used such a model to study the role of electro-acupuncture (EA) in regulating ovarian P450arom and P450c17α enzymatic activity and mRNA expression in PCOS rats. Female Sprague Dawley (SD) rats aged 42 days were randomly divided into 3 groups (control, PCOS, and PCOS EA) consisting of 10 rats each. The PCOS and PCOS EA groups were administered a gavage of 1.0 mg/kg(-1) of letrozole solution once daily for 21 consecutive days. Beginning in the ninth week, the PCOS EA group was administered low-frequency EA treatment daily for 14 consecutive days. After the treatment, we obtained the following results. The estrous cycles were restored in 8 of the 10 rats in the PCOS EA group, and their ovarian morphologies and ultrastructures normalized. The peripheral blood measurements (with ELISA) showed significantly decreased androgens (i.e., androstenedione and testosterone) with significantly increased estrogens (i.e., estrone, estradiol) and increased P450arom with decreased P450C17α. Immunohistochemistry and Western blotting methods showed enhanced expression of ovarian granular cell layer P450arom as well as decreased expression of theca cell layer P450C17α. Fluorescence quantitative PCR methods showed enhanced expression of ovarian granular cell layer P450arom mRNA as well as decreased expression of theca cell layer P450C17α mRNA. These results may help explain the effects of electro-acupuncture in changing the local ovarian hyperandrogenic environment and improving reproductive and endocrine metabolic disorders in PCOS.