Objective To investigate the expression of serum copeptin (CPP), secretory phospholipase A2-X (sPLA2-X)and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in bronchiectasis (BCS) patients with non-tuberculosis mycobacterium infection (NTM). Methods One hundred and ten BCS patients admitted to Department of Respiratory Medicine in Affiliated Hangzhou Chest Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine from January 2017 to June 2020 were enrolled, 73 patients with BCS only as the simple BCS group, 37 BCS patients with NTM infection as the NTM infection group, according to the degree of expansion, the patients in the NTM infection group were divided into mildly dialated group (n=10), moderately dialated group (n=16) and severely dialated group (n=11), and 40 healthy volunteers were selected as the control group. The serum levels of CPP, sPLA2-X, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-17A were detected. Results The serum levels of CPP, sPLA2-X, TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-17A in simple BCS group and NTM infection group were significantly higher than those in control group, and those in NTM infection group were higher than those in simple BCS group (P<0.05). The serum levels of CPP, sPLA2-X, TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-17A in severely dilated group were significantly higher than those in mildly and moderately dilated groups, and the levels of CPP, sPLA2-X, TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-4 and IL-17A in moderately dilated group were significantly higher than those in mildly dilated group (P<0.05). Conclusion The expression levels of serum CPP, sPLA2-X and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in BCS patients complicated with NTM infection are significantly elevated, which can facilitate the evaluation of severity of disease and provide guidance of clinical medication.

Objective To explore the predictive value of preoperative inflammatory immune and nutritional indicators[neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), platelet to serum albumin ratio (PAR) and prognostic nutritional index (PNI)] for the prognosis of patients with thymoma. Methods The clinical data of 109 patients with thymoma,admitted in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, the Second Hospital of Lanzhou University from February 2014 to December 2019, were retrospectively analyzed. The relationships of preoperative NLR, PLR, PAR and PNI to patients' overall survival (OS)were analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, the best cut-off value was calculated and then used for patients grouping. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to draw the OS and progression-free survival (PFS) curve of thymoma patients and calculate the cumulative survival rate. The influence factors affecting the prognosis of thymoma patients were analyzed with univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model. Results Among 109 thymoma patients, there were 57 males (52.3%, 57/109) and 52 females (47.7%, 52/109), the age ranged in 19-84 (51.3±9.9) years, and no perioperative death occurred. The area under the curve (AUC) with NLR, PLR, PAR and PNI to predict the OS of thymoma patients were 0.484 (P=0.832), 0.600 (P=0.181), 0.708 (P=0.005) and 0.693 (P=0.010), respectively. The best cut-off values of PNI and PNI were 5.05 and 51.48, respectively. Compared to the patients with low PAR, the histological types of tumors in patients with high PAR were likely to incline to be type B and type C (72.7% vs. 50.8%, P=0.030), and not easy to be completely resected (27.3% vs. 9.2%,P=0.013). Compared to patients with high PNI, the tumors in patients with low PNI were more likely to invade blood vessels (34.7%vs. 13.3%, P=0.008), and histological types were likely to incline to be type B and type C (69.4% vs. 51.7%, P=0.004), and possessed higher Masaoka stage (47.0% vs. 28.3%, P=0.021). The cumulative OS and cumulative PFS at 12, 36 and 60 months were higher in low PAR group than in high PAR group (P=0.013, P=0.002), and the cumulative OS and cumulative PFS at 12, 36 and 60 months were lower in low PNI group than in high PNI group (P=0.010, P=0.014). Cox univariate analysis showed that vascular invasion,WHO classification, Masaoka stage, complete resection, PAR and PNI were obviously correlated with OS and PFS in patients with thymoma (P>0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that Masaoka stage, complete resection, adjuvant therapy and PNI were the independent prognostic factors of OS in patients with thymoma, and complete resection was the independent prognostic factor of PFS in patients with thymoma (P<0.05). Conclusion Preoperative PAR and PNI are significantly related to the prognosis of patients with thymoma, and may potentially become the new indicators to guide the treatment and evaluating diagnosis of patients with thymoma.

Objective To investigate the predictive value of continuous non-invasive arterial pressure monitor (CNAP)combined with passive leg raising (PLR) test for volume responsiveness assessment in patients with septic shock. Methods Prospective and observational study was performed in the patients with septic shock admitted to the Fourth Department of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Fujian Provincial Hospital from July 2019 to July 2020. Subclavian venous catheter was indwelled in each patient, then the hemodynamic parameters including heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), central venous pressure (CVP),cardiac output (CO) and pulse pressure variability (PPV) were measured non-invasively by CNAP before and after PLR and volume expansion (VE) test. The changes of CO during PLR test (ΔCO_PLR) and VE test (ΔCO_VE) were calculated respectively. Patients were classified as responder group or non-responder group according to the ΔCO_VE increased ≥15% or not after VE test. Moreover,Pearson's test was used for the correlation analysis. The roles of ΔCO_PLR and PPV before VE test in predicting volume responsiveness were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results A total of 40 VE tests in these 36 patients were evaluated and resulting in 18 responder group and 22 non-responder group. There was no significant difference between two groups in the hemodynamics parameters before PLR and VE test (P>0.05). Both in responder group and non-responder group, there was no significant change in HR and MAP after PLR and VE test (P>0.05). After PLR, CVP did not change significantly in the two groups(P>0.05). CVP after VE test increased significantly in the two groups (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). CO was obviously increased after PLR and VE test in the two groups (P<0.05). In responder group, CO after PLR and VE test were significantly higher than those in non-responder group [(6.01±1.28) L/min vs. (5.16±1.22) L/min,(6.31±1.33) L/min vs. (5.15±1.39) L/min, P<0.05]. Besides, the ΔCO_PLR and ΔCO_VE in responder group were significantly higher than those in non-responder group (21.21%±8.54% vs. 10.76%±4.94%, 26.32%±8.64% vs. 9.44%±3.45%, P<0.05).Correlation analysis showed that the ΔCO_PLR was positively related to ΔCO_VE (r=0.820, P<0.05), while the PPV before VE test was unrelated to ΔCO_VE (r=0.194, P>0.05). Furthermore, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of ΔCO_PLR and PPV predicting volume responsiveness were 0.855 (95%CI 0.707-0.946, P<0.05) and 0.525 (95%CI 0.362-0.685, P>0.05) respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of ΔCO_PLR ≥13.95% to predict volume responsiveness in patients with septic shock were 83.3% and 81.8%, respectively. Conclusion ΔCO_PLR measured by CNAP can predict the volume responsiveness in patients with septic shock and it is reliable to guide further fluid resuscitation.

Objective To evaluate the accuracy of applying functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) for measurement of short-term heart rate variability (HRV). Methods Sixteen college students were recruited from Wuhan University and surrounding universities as the volunteer subjects from October 2020 to September 2021. The short-term HRV of subjects in resting state was simultaneously measured with electrocardiogram (ECG) and fNIRS. The consistency of the results measured with fNIRS on the forehead and at the finger was evaluated; and the accuracy of fNIRS measurements was assessed using the result of ECG measurement as the golden standard. Results No statistically significant differences existed between the fNIRS measurements on the forehead and at the finger in these short-term HRV parameters including sympathetic nervous system index(SNS index), parasympathetic nervous system index (PNS index), pressure index, Mean RR, standard deviation of normal-to-normal RR intervals (SDNN), triangular interpolation of normal-to-normal intervals (TINN), approximate entropy (ApEn) and sample entropy (SampEn). Excepting for the entropy parameters (ApEn: P<0.05 and SampEn: P<0.01) that are for measuring the complexity of time series, no statistically significant differences were observed in most short-term HRV parameters (PNS index, SNS index, pressure index, Mean RR, SDNN and TINN) between the fNIRS measurements and the ECG golden standard. Conclusion With satisfactory accuracy, it is feasible to use fNIRS in measuring short-term HRV.

Objective To analyze the chromosome karyotype and Y chromosome microdeletion of male infertility. Methods Retrospective analysis of the clinical test data of 550 infertile patients who were treated at the Reproductive Center of the Sixth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital from September 2018 to December 2020. Among them, there were 187 patients of azoospermia and 363 patients of oligozoospermia (90 patients of very severe oligospermia, 101 patients of severe oligospermia, 172 patients of mild to moderate oligozoospermia). Two hundred and forty-six normal males were included as controls.Everyone underwent peripheral blood chromosome karyotype and Y chromosome microdeletion examinations. Among them, 156 patients of azoospermia, 70 patients of very severe oligospermia, 75 patients of severe oligospermia and 75 patients of normal men were tested for sex hormones [luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), prolactin (PRL), testosterone (T)].The sex hormone levels of different sperm concentrations and Y chromosome microdeletion population were compared. Results Among 550 infertile patients and 246 normal men, there were 62 patients of karyotype abnormalities or chromosomal normal polymorphisms, among which: 28 patients of chromosomal abnormalities; 34 patients of chromosomal normal polymorphisms. A total of 38 patients of Y chromosome microdeletion were detected in 550 infertile patients, 17 patients of azoospermia, 18 patients of very severe oligospermia, 2 patients of severe oligospermia and, 1 patient of mild to moderate oligospermia, AZFc region deletion is the most common type. In patients with azoospermia, very severe oligospermia and severe oligospermia, the level of FSH in those with Y chromosome microdeletion is higher than that of those without Y chromosome microdeletion (P=0.032). Conclusions Chromosomal abnormalities can occur in male infertile patients. The incidence of Y chromosome microdeletion is relatively high in male infertile patients. Genetic examination can help to determine whether they have genetic diseases, so as to choose appropriate treatment methods and assisted reproduction methods.

The coronary artery functional evaluation indicators have been used recent years to evaluate the physiological function and judge the severity of coronary lesion, and provide the strategy of revascularization for patients with coronary atherosclerotic heart disease (CHD). As an invasive functional index, the efficiency of fractional flow reserve (FFR) has been widely testified by a large number of literature. However, due to its limitation in application, some FFR-based novel functional evaluation indices formed such as instantaneous wave-free reserve (iFR) and quantitative flow ratio (QFR). These indicators have their own characteristics, and provides some guidance and application value in revascularization for CHD patients although they haven't been widely used in clinical practice. The characteristics of coronary artery functional evaluation indicators, the assess capabilities of FFR,iFR and QFR to diagnosis and prognosis as well as strengths and weaknesses, the other novel functional evaluation indices, and the latest application progress of these functional indices in clinical prognosis evaluation have been reviewed in present paper, so as to guide the use of specific evaluation indicators under specific conditions, or combined use of anatomical and functional evaluation indicators to establish revascularization model to reduce false positive and/or false negative rates, so as to improve the accuracy of diagnosis.

Due to the wide application of noninvasive angiography in the health examination or central nervous system disease treatment, more and more pilots with asymptomatic and unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs) have been found. Most asymptomatic UIAs are still in "static phase" for a long time, but a few of them can grow gradually, even rupture and bleed suddenly,which may have the risk of disability in the sky. The risk factors of rupture for UIAs include patient's factors, aneurysm's factors,hemodynamics and flight related factors. Interventions include medical treatment, intracranial aneurysm clipping and endovascular treatment. The selection of the treatments need to weigh the risk of aneurysm rupture and surgical complications of UIAs. At present, there are no opinions and aeromedical evaluation criteria for asymptomatic UIAs in pilots nationally and internationally.Therefore, it is necessary to conduct multidisciplinary and individual assessment.

Mitophagy is a selective form of autophagy that can selectively remove abnormal or redundant mitochondria to maintain the quality and function of mitochondria, so is regarded as an important regulation form of cell homeostasis. Stem cells are a type of cells with self-renewal, pluripotency and differentiation potential, and play a vital role in individual development,tissue renewal and certain diseases. Studies have shown that mitophagy is highly correlated with the self-renewal, pluripotency and differentiation of stem cells. The function and regulation mechanism of mitophagy in a variety of normal stem cells (embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, hematopoietic stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, neural stem cells, cardiac stem cells)and cancer stem cells have been reviewed in present paper, so is to deeply understand the relationship between mitophagy and the biological functions of stem cells, and to provide a new theoretical reference for stem cell regulatory mechanisms and treatment strategies.

With the persistent increase of global temperature, the incidence of heatstroke is rising yearly. The impairment of the intestinal barrier function induced by heat stroke leads to endotoxemia. Systemic inflammatory response syndrome and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome ensue, which are the main causes of heat stroke death. And heat stroke is characterized by rapid deterioration and extremely high fatality. However, unlike other critical diseases, heat stroke is preventable and controllable.According to domestic and foreign researches, dietary supplements can enhance the intestinal barrier and alleviate the inflammatory response in heat stroke. This article reviews the research progress of dietary supplements in the protection of heat stroke and its mechanism in recent years, hoping to provide the reference for the prevention and treatment of heat stroke.

Low back pain has become a public health problem worldwide. Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is the main cause of low back pain, however, the molecular mechanism of IDD has not been fully elucidated. Stromal cell-derived factor-1(SDF-1) and its receptor C-X-C motif chemokine receptor-4 (CXCR4) are highly expressed in degenerative disc tissues and are believed to mediate the occurrence and development of IDD, including disc angiogenesis, inflammatory response, stromal cell metabolism, apoptosis and other pathological processes. In recent years, SDF-1/CXCR4 have also been used in tissue engineering research such as disc regeneration. Therefore, actively exploring the role of SDF-1/CXCR4 in IDD is of great significance for elucidating the molecular mechanism of IDD and studying new strategies for the treatment of IDD. The research progress in recent years has been reviewed in present paper of SDF-1/CXCR4 in IDD and intervertebral disc regeneration, in order to provide a basis for intensive study of the molecular mechanism of IDD and provide new ideas for early targeted treatment of IDD.