Development of a High-throughput Sequencing Platform for Detection of Viral Encephalitis Pathogens Based on Amplicon Sequencing

Objective Viral encephalitis is an infectious disease severely affecting human health.It is caused by a wide variety of viral pathogens,including herpes viruses,flaviviruses,enteroviruses,and other viruses.The laboratory diagnosis of viral encephalitis is a worldwide challenge.Recently,high-throughput sequencing technology has provided new tools for diagnosing central nervous system infections.Thus,In this study,we established a multipathogen detection platform for viral encephalitis based on amplicon sequencing.Methods We designed nine pairs of specific polymerase chain reaction(PCR)primers for the 12 viruses by reviewing the relevant literature.The detection ability of the primers was verified by software simulation and the detection of known positive samples.Amplicon sequencing was used to validate the samples,and consistency was compared with Sanger sequencing.Results The results showed that the target sequences of various pathogens were obtained at a coverage depth level greater than 20×,and the sequence lengths were consistent with the sizes of the predicted amplicons.The sequences were verified using the National Center for Biotechnology Information BLAST,and all results were consistent with the results of Sanger sequencing.Conclusion Amplicon-based high-throughput sequencing technology is feasible as a supplementary method for the pathogenic detection of viral encephalitis.It is also a useful tool for the high-volume screening of clinical samples.

Prevalence of asthenopia and its risk factors in Chinese college students

AIM:To determine the prevalence of asthenopia and identify any associated risk factors in the college students in Xi'an,China. METHODS:From April to September 2012,1 500 students from five universities in Xi'an were selected according to a multi-stage stratified cluster sampling method.Data on demographic features,lifestyle or dietary habits,health status,living environment conditions,sleep and mental status,and asthenopia symptoms were collected through a self-administered validated questionnaire.Univariate logistic regression and multivariate logistic regression analysis modified by the factor analysis were performed to evaluate risk factors for asthenopia.RESULTS:Fifty-seven percent of the college students complained of asthenopia.Statistically significant risk factors for asthenopia in the univariate analysis included 13 variables.Multivariate analysis revealed a significant relationship between the use of computer and asthenopia(OR 1.21,95% CI:1.09 to 1.35).Good sleep and mental status(OR 0.86,95% CI:0.76 to 0.97),good living environment conditions(OR 0.67,95% CI:0.60 to 0.76),and high intake of green leafy vegetables(OR 0.89,95% CI:0.80 to 0.98) were found to be strong predictors of decreasing the occurrence of asthenopia complaints.CONCLUSION:Asthenopia symptom appeares to be common among college students;and it is strongly associated with computer use,psychosocial state,environment conditions and dietary habits,suggesting that additional studies are warranted to verify these risk factors and establish prevention guidelines,especially for college students.

Relationships between perceived social support and retention patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment in China mainland

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between perceived social support and retention in Chinese mainland patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment(MMT).Methods: This was a cross-sectional two-year follow-up study. The data collected included patients' baseline characteristics, perceived social support and retention in MMT.Results: A total of 1212 patients completed the cross-sectional survey; 809(66.7%) had good perceived social support and 458(37.8%) had experienced readmissions. With and without controlling for baseline characteristics, past retention had no significant influence on perceived social support. By the end of the follow-up, 527(43.5%) patients had terminated MMT. The patients without good perceived social support were more likely to terminate treatment than those with good perceived social support [hazard ratio:1.31, 95% confidence interval: 1.10, 1.57; 1.25(1.04, 1.51)] regardless of their baseline characteristics and past retention.Conclusions: Retention, thus, had no significant influence on perceived social support in MMT, whereas good perceived social support was a strong protective predictor of retention.

COVID-19 transmission driven by age-group mathematical model in Shijiazhuang City of China

Background:A COVID-19 outbreak in the rural areas of Shijiazhuang City was attributed to the complex interactions among vaccination,host,and non-pharmaceutical interventions(NPIs).Herein,we investigated the epidemiological characteristics of all reported symptomatic cases by picking Shijiazhuang City,Hebei Province in Northern China as research objective.In addition,we established an age-group mathematical model to perform the optimal fitting and to investigate the dynamical profiles under three scenarios.Methods:All reported symptomatic cases of Shijiazhuang epidemic(January 2-February 3,2021)were investigated in our study.The cases were classified by gender,age group and location,the distributions were analyzed by epidemiological characteristics.Furthermore,the reported data from Health Commission of Hebei Province was also analyzed by using an age-group mathematical model by two phases and three scenarios.Results:Shijiazhuang epidemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 wild strain was recorded with the peak 84 cases out of 868 reported symptomatic cases on January 11,2021,which was implemented with strong NPIs by local government and referred as baseline situation in this study.The research results showed that R0 under baseline situation ranged from 4.47 to 7.72,and Rt of Gaocheng Distinct took 3.72 with 95%confidence interval from 3.23 to 4.35 on January 9,the declining tendencies of Rt under baseline situation were kept till February 3,the value of Rt reached below 1 on January 19 and remained low value up to February 3 for Gaocheng District and Shijiazhuang City during Shijiazhuang epidemic.This indicated Shijiazhuang epidemic was under control on January 19.However,if the strong NPIs were kept,but remote isolation operated on January 11 was not implemented as of February 9,then the scale of Shijiazhuang epidemic reached 9,482 cases from age group who were 60 years old and over out of 31,017 symptomatic cases.The investigation also revealed that Shijiazhuang epidemic reached 132,648 symptomatic cases for age group who were 60 years old and over(short for G2)under risk-based strategies(Scenario A),58,048 symptomatic cases for G2 under late quarantine strategies(Scenario B)and 207,124 symptomatic cases for G2 under late quarantine double risk strategies(Scenario C),and that the corresponding transmission tendencies of Rt for three scenarios were consistently controlled on Jan 29,2021.Compared with baseline situation,the dates for controlling Rt below 1 under three scenarios were delayed 10 days.Conclusions:Shijiazhuang epidemic was the first COVID-19 outbreak in the rural areas in Hebei Province of Northern China.The targeted interventions adopted in early 2021 were effective to halt the transmission due to the implementation of a strict and village-wide closure.However we found that age group profile and NPIs played critical rules to successfully contain Shijiazhuang epidemic,which should be considered by public health policies in rural areas of China's Mainland during the dynamic zero-COVID policy.