Sepsis-associated encephalopathy: From pathophysiology to clinical management.

Sepsis-associated encephalopathy, which presents as delirium and coma, is a significant complication of sepsis characterized by acute brain dysfunction. The presence of inflammatory pathological changes in the brain of sepsis patients and animal models has been recognized since the 1920 s, initially attributed to the entry of microbial toxins into the brain. In the early 2000 s, attention shifted towards the impact of oxidative stress, the cholinergic system, and cytokines on brain function following sepsis onset. More recently, sepsis-associated encephalopathy has been defined as a diffuse brain dysfunction not directly caused by pathogenic infection of the brain. Currently, there is no evidence-based standard for diagnosing sepsis-associated encephalopathy, and clinical management is primarily focused on symptomatic and supportive measures. This review aims to explore the pathophysiology of sepsis-associated encephalopathy and establish the connection between pathophysiological mechanisms and clinical characteristics. We hope that this work will spark the interest of researchers from various fields and contribute to the advancement of sepsis-associated encephalopathy research.

Phosphorylation of Neurofilament Light Chain in the VLO Is Correlated with Morphine-Induced Behavioral Sensitization in Rats.

Neurofilament light chain (NF-L) plays critical roles in synapses that are relevant to neuropsychiatric diseases. Despite postmortem evidence that NF-L is decreased in opiate abusers, its role and underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. We found that the microinjection of the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor Trichostatin A (TSA) into the ventrolateral orbital cortex (VLO) attenuated chronic morphine-induced behavioral sensitization. The microinjection of TSA blocked the chronic morphine-induced decrease of NF-L. However, our chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-qPCR results indicated that this effect was not due to the acetylation of histone H3-Lysine 9 and 14 binding to the NF-L promotor. In line with the behavioral phenotype, the microinjection of TSA also blocked the chronic morphine-induced increase of p-ERK/p-CREB/p-NF-L. Finally, we compared chronic and acute morphine-induced behavioral sensitization. We found that although both chronic and acute morphine-induced behavioral sensitization were accompanied by an increase of p-CREB/p-NF-L, TSA exhibited opposing effects on behavioral phenotype and molecular changes at different addiction contexts. Thus, our findings revealed a novel role of NF-L in morphine-induced behavioral sensitization, and therefore provided some correlational evidence of the involvement of NF-L in opiate addiction.

Molecular dynamics study on evaporation of metal nitrate-containing nanodroplets in flame spray pyrolysis.

Flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) provides an advantageous synthetic route for LiNi1-x-yCoxMnyO2 (NCM) materials, which are one of the most practical and promising cathode materials for Li-ion batteries. However, a detailed understanding of the NCM nanoparticle formation mechanisms through FSP is lacking. To shed light on the evaporation of NCM precursor droplets in FSP, in this work, we employ classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to explore the dynamic evaporation process of nanodroplets composed of metal nitrates (including LiNO3, Ni(NO3)2, Co(NO3)2, and Mn(NO3)2 as solutes) and water (as solvent) from a microscopic point of view. Quantitative analysis on the evaporation process has been performed by tracking the temporal evolution of key features including the radial distribution of mass density, the radial distribution of number density of metal ions, droplet diameter, and coordination number (CN) of metal ions with oxygen atoms. Our MD simulation results show that during the evaporation of an MNO3-containing (M = Li, Ni, Co, or Mn) nanodroplet, Ni2+, Co2+, and Mn2+ will precipitate on the droplet surface, forming a solvent-core-solute-shell structure; whereas the distribution of Li+ within the evaporating LiNO3-containing droplet is more even due to the high diffusivity of Li+ compared with other metal ions. For the evaporation of a Ni(NO3)2- or Co(NO3)2-containing nanodroplet, the temporal evolution of the CN of M-OW (M = Ni or Co; OW represents O atoms from water) suggests a "free H2O" evaporation stage, during which both CN of M-OW and CN of M-ON are unchanged with time. Evaporation rate constants at various conditions are extracted by making analogy to the classical D2 law for droplet evaporation. Unlike Ni or Co, CN of Mn-OW keeps changing with time, yet the temporal evolution of the squared droplet diameter indicates the evaporation rate for a Ni(NO3)2-, Co(NO3)2-, or Mn(NO3)2-containing droplet is hardly affected by the different types of the metal ions.

The Mediation Role of Safety Attitude in the Impact of Resilience on the Safety Behavior of Coal Miners in China.

Resilience can improve the adaptability of coal miners to high-hazard and high-stress environments. After facing setbacks or adversities, resilience can enable coal miners to recover from bad mental states and have an optimistic safety attitude and positive safety behaviors. However, how resilience affects safety behavior and the role of safety attitude in the relationship have not been clear. This study systematically reviewed previous research on resilience, safety attitude, and safety behavior. By recovering 639 valid questionnaires, the validity and reliability of the resilience scale, safety attitude scale, and safety behavior scale for coal miners were verified. Hierarchical regression analysis explored the relationships between resilience, safety attitude, and safety behavior. Studies have shown that resilience positively affects safety attitude and safe behavior. Safety attitude positively affects safety behaviors and plays a role as a partial mediator in the impact of resilience on safe behavior. The theoretical contribution is that the resilience of miners has a positive impact on safety behavior. Moreover, resilience can also act on safety behaviors through the partial intermediation of safety attitude. The practical contribution is that managers of coal mining companies can promote the resilience and safety attitude of coal miners to improve safety behaviors and prevent accidents.

Construction and efficacy evaluation of an early warning scoring system for septic shock in patients with digestive tract perforation: A retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To establish an early warning scoring system for septic shock in patients with digestive tract perforation (DTP) and evaluate its diagnostic efficacy. Methods: Patients with surgically confirmed or clinically diagnosed DTP admitted to the Department of Intensive Care Medicine of Fujian Provincial Hospital from June 2012 to October 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. General demographic characteristics, perforation-related information, vital signs, common laboratory indicators, and common ICU scores (Glasgow Coma Scale score, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation-II score,Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score) were collected. The patients were divided into shock group and non-shock group according to whether the patients had septic shock during hospitalization. The risk factors of septic shock were screened by basic statistical analysis and multivariate Logistic regression analysis. The receiver operating characteristic curve was drawn to determine the cut-off value of the continuous indicators and discretized with reference to clinic, and the corresponding score was set according to the ß regression coefficient of each variable. Results: A total of 176 patients with DTP were included. The average age of the patients was 64.13 ± 14.67 years old, and 74.40% were males. The incidence of septic shock was 30.11% (53/176). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that the highest heart rate≥105 beats/min, Glasgow Coma Scale score≤14 points, lactic acid≥5.75 mmol/L, procalcitonin≥41.47 ug/L, C-reactive protein≥222.5 mg/L were independent risk factors for septic shock in patients with DTP. The total score of clinical diagnostic scoring system of septic shock in patients with DTP was 6 points, including the highest heart rate≥105 beats/min (1 point), lactic acid≥5.75 mmol/L (two points), procalcitonin≥41.47 ug/L (one point), C-reactive protein≥222.5 mg/L (1 point), and Glasgow Coma Scale score≤14 points (1 point). The area under ROC curve (AUC) of this scoring system was 0.789 and the 95% confidence interval was 0.717-0.860 (P < 0.001); when the optimal cut-off value was 2.5, the sensitivity and specificity were 54.70 and 87.80%, respectively. Conclusion: This new score system has its certain clinical value and has important guiding significance for clinicians to judge the prognosis of patients with DTP in time.

An Investigation on Chinese Public Acceptance of COVID-19 Prevention Measures.

China has basically succeeded in bringing the COVID-19 epidemic under control, thanks to a timely series of effective prevention and control measures taken by the Chinese government. In this study, a public acceptance questionnaire of epidemic prevention measures was designed to investigate the influencing factors of public acceptance. A total of 2062 samples were collected from 8 March 2020 to 9 April 2020, and Independent-Samples T-Test and One-way ANOVA were used to analyze the data collected in the questionnaire in SPSS version 22.0. The results show that age and educational level have a significant influence on public acceptance. With the development of the epidemic, the acceptability grew generally higher. The public acceptance of traffic measures is the highest. This study summarises China's scientific experience in the fight against COVID-19 and the differences in public acceptance. It can provide a positive reference for the development of epidemic prevention in other countries.

Scientometric Analysis of Disaster Risk Perception: 2000-2020.

This paper used 1526 works from the literature on disaster risk perception from 2000 to 2020 in the Web of Science core collection database as the research subject. The CiteSpace knowledge graph analysis tool was used to visual analyze the country, author, institution, discipline distribution, keywords, and keyword clustering mapping. The paper drew the following conclusions. Firstly, disaster risk perception research has experienced three stages of steady development, undulating growth, and rapid growth. Secondly, the field of disaster risk perception was mainly concentrated in the disciplines of engineering, natural science, and management science. Thirdly, meteorological disasters, earthquakes, nuclear radiation, and epidemics were the main disasters in the field of disaster risk perception. Residents and adolescents were the main subjects of research in the field of disaster risk perception. Fourthly, research on human risk behavior and risk psychology and research on disaster risk control and emergency management were two major research hotspots in the field of disaster risk perception. Finally, the research field of disaster risk perception is constantly expanding. There is a trend from theory to application and multi-perspective combination, and future research on disaster risk perception will be presented more systematically. The conclusion can provide a reference for disaster risk perception research, as well as directions for future research.

Exploratory Study: A Modification Training Method of Attentional Bias Toward Safety.

BACKGROUND: The high sensitivity of individuals toward safety information in production activities, that is, attentional bias toward safety (ABS), can positively predict safe behaviors. It has become a hot topic in current organizational safety behavior research. However, there is no literature on its modification method. METHODS: Based on the modified dot-probe task, we designed a modification training method of ABS. The training method required subjects to respond to the location of detection points that presented after safety stimulus and neutral stimulus pictures. Subjects' attentional bias values of safety and neutral pictures were measured during the experiment. Twenty-one students were selected and divided into a control group and training group to gain comparable results. RESULTS: A novel training method was developed in this study to promote the efficacy of safety stimulus by activating ABS of the subjects. Moreover, repeated trainings and preacquired relative knowledge can enhance this effect. CONCLUSION: This study develops an experimental approach to evaluate the effectiveness of safety education and safety training, and also provides a new research idea for accident prevention.

Scientometric Analysis of Safety Sign Research: 1990-2019.

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the research themes and hotspots of safety signs research between 1990 and 2019 through the scientometric analysis method. In total, 3102 articles of literature from the Web of Science core database were analyzed by the CiteSpace visualization tool and the results were displayed in mapping knowledge domains. The overall characteristics analysis showed that safety sign is an emerging research field in a rapid development stage-81.4% of the literature works were published in the past ten years, and the United States was in the leading position, followed by China and Canada. The keyword co-occurrence analysis indicated that traffic signs and driving safety were the most popular research topics and have been combined with simulation technology in recent years, whereby individual mental health has been added as an influential factor. The journals and category co-citation analysis showed that the safety signs research involved many subjects, mainly engineering, transportation and public safety. The results indicated that the safety signs research is multi-disciplinary, and it will continue to develop in various scientific domains in the future. The conclusions can provide help and reference for potential readers, as well as help with the sustainable development of safety signs research.

Development and Validation of the Coping Capacity Measurement Scale of Public Health Emergencies in China.

Public health emergency coping capacity has been an important direction in crisis research in recent years. The use of the public health emergency coping capacity scale to evaluate the public's response and feelings regarding public health emergencies is one of the essential ways to improve the effectiveness of public health emergency response. Based on literature research, this paper constructed the theoretical dimension of public health emergency coping ability and completed the development of the items of the initial scale in China. After using SPSS 22.0-conducted exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and reliability test, the scale dimensions and items were deleted and optimized. The final public health emergency coping capacity measurement scale in China included 12 items and four dimensions. The results showed that the developed scale has high reliability and validity, which is helpful for the relevant personnel to understand the level of public health emergency coping ability and provides an essential basis for timely and accurate emergency prevention and control interventions.

Methamphetamine induces GSDME-dependent cell death in hippocampal neuronal cells through the endoplasmic reticulum stress pathway.

Methamphetamine (METH) is an illegal amphetamine-typed psychostimulant that is abused worldwide and causes serious public health problems. METH exposure induces apoptosis and autophagy in neuronal cells. However, the role of pyroptosis in METH-induced neurotoxicity is still unclear. Here, we investigate whether pyroptosis is involved in METH-induced hippocampal neurotoxicity and the potential mechanisms of Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in hippocampal neuronal cells. For this purpose, the expression levels of pyroptosis-related proteins, GSDMD and GSDME, were analyzed by immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry in the hippocampal neuron cell line HT-22. Next, we explored METH-induced pyroptosis in HT-22 using immunoblotting, LDH assays and SYTOX green acid staining. Further, the relationship between pyroptosis and ER stress in METH-induced hippocampal neuron damage was studied in HT-22 cells using inhibitors including TUDCA, a specific inhibitor of ER stress, GSK-2656157, a PERK pathway inhibitor and STF-0803010, an inhibitor of IRE1α endoribonuclease activity. This relationship was also studied using siRNAs, including siTRAF2, an siRNA against IRE1α kinase activity and siATF6 against the ATF6 pathway, which were analyzed by immunoblotting, LDH assays and SYTOX green acid staining. GSDME but not GSDMD was found to be expressed in HT-22 cells. METH treatment induced the upregulation of cleaved GSDME-NT and LDH release, as well as the increase of SYTOX green positive cells in HT-22 cells, which was partly reversed by inhibitors and siRNAs, indicating that the ER stress signaling pathway was involved in GSDME-dependent cell death induced by METH. In summary, these results revealed that METH induced ER stress that mediated GSDME-dependent cell death in hippocampal neuronal cells. These findings provide novel insight into the mechanisms of METH-induced neurotoxicity.

Simulation and Ergonomic Evaluation of Welders' Standing Posture Using Jack Software.

Ergonomics research strives to make workers' labor more efficient, safer, and more comfortable. Therefore, six digital humans and welding torch model were built and evaluated based on the Jack software in order to improve the ergonomics of welders' standing postures. Three sets of standing welding actions were designed: walking, raising arm, and contracting arm. Through the Lower Back Analysis, Ovako Working Posture Analysis, Comfort Assessment, and Rapid Upper Limb Assessment, this paper evaluated the optimum range of the weight of the welding torch, the upper limb posture, and the neck posture of the welder. Firstly, the results show that Chinese welders should not use a welding torch with a weight of more than 6 kg when standing up. Secondly, for adult males in the 5th, 50th, 95th percentile of body size, the best operating distance is 321 mm, 371 mm, and 421 mm, respectively, and the best operating height is 1050 mm, 1100 mm, and 1150 mm, respectively; for females in the same percentiles, the optimal operating distance is 271 mm, 321 mm, and 371 mm, respectively, and the optimal operating height is 1000 mm, 1050 mm, and 1100 mm, respectively. Moreover, the horizontal and vertical rotation angle of the welder's neck should not exceed 15° and 8.7°. The adjustment strategy not only has a positive effect on improving welders' operational posture and preventing fatigue and injury to the welder, but it also develops research ideas for promoting safety from the perspective of ergonomics.

The Degradation of Deoxynivalenol by Using Electrochemical Oxidation with Graphite Electrodes and the Toxicity Assessment of Degradation Products.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a common mycotoxin, which is known to be extremely harmful to human and livestock health. In this study, DON was degraded by electrochemical oxidation (ECO) using a graphite electrode and NaCl as the supporting electrolyte. The graphite electrode is advantageous due to its electrocatalytic activity, reusability, and security. The degradation process can be expressed by first-order kinetics. Approximately 86.4% of DON can be degraded within 30 min at a potential of 0.5 V. The degradation rate reached 93.2% within 30 min, when 0.5 V potential was used for electrocatalyzing a 10 mg/L DON solution. The degradation rate of DON in contaminated wet distiller's grain with solubles (WDGS) was 86.37% in 60 min. Moreover, results from the cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole dihydrochloride (DAPI) staining assay indicated that ECO reduced the DON-induced cytotoxicity and apoptotic bodies in a gastric epithelial cell line (GES-1) compared to the DON-treated group. These findings provide new insights into the application of ECO techniques for degrading mycotoxins, preventing food contamination, and assessing DON-related hazards.

Optimization of cadmium biosorption by Shewanella putrefaciens using a Box-Behnken design.

Microbial adsorption of heavy metals has been attracted more interest in the recent years. However, there are very few studies in investigating the biosorption of heavy metals by Shewanella putrefaciens, which is a metal reducing bacterium. Firstly, the effects of contact time, pH value, temperature, biomass dosage and initial cadmium concentration on the cadmium adsorption by Shewanella putrefaciens were studied by single factor experiments. Then, the response surface methodology (RSM) based on Box-Behnken design was used to optimize the cadmium adsorption by Shewanella putrefaciens. The results showed that the empirical model was suitable for experimental data, and the maximum cadmium removal efficiency by Shewanella putrefaciens was 86.54% under the optimum conditions of contact time 4.0 days, pH value 5, initial cadmium concentration of 20 mg/L, which was further verified by experiments. In addition, scanning electron microscope - Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (SEM-EDS) analysis showed that the bacteria were seriously deformed, and a "bamboo" shape was observed on the surface which consisted of cadmium according to the EDS analysis. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis was used to evaluate the possible functional groups involving in interaction between cells and metal ions. The results showed that the distribution of cadmium on the cell surface was related to the carboxyl, amide, hydroxyl and phosphoric acid groups of Shewanella putrefaciens. These studies can provide a comprehensive understanding of the process and mechanism of microbial removal of heavy metals, and theoretical support for the follow-up practice of using biological adsorbents to remediate heavy metal contaminated soil.

Development of A Safety Climate Scale for Geological Prospecting Projects in China.

The geological prospecting industry has developed rapidly in China over the past few years. It has made outstanding contributions to the discovery of new mineral resources, new energy sources, and the excavation and utilization of resources. However, geological prospecting projects do not have effective safety management measures at present. Moreover, the geological prospecting project has its own traits and features that differ from other industries, leading to the fact that safety management measures in other industries cannot be used in geological prospecting projects. Therefore, development of an effective safety management measuring tool is urgent and necessary. In recent years, safety climate has drawn great attention from scholars, and research results have been successfully applied in construction, coal mining and other industries. Based on the extensive literature review on safety climate as well as its organizational structure and employees' individual behavior characteristics, this paper first extracted the factor structure of the safety climate and then developed a safety climate scale for geological prospecting projects. This paper used the methods of exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis to ensure the developed safety climate scale was valid and reliable. The safety climate scale developed has four dimensions, i.e., project leader's safety commitment, safety institutions, risk response, and employee's safety attitude, containing a total of 17 measurable items. This study contributes to the current literature by exploring the factor structure of the safety climate for geological prospecting projects, and further provides a scientific basis for improvements in the geological prospecting industry. Meanwhile, the findings not only provide technical support for investigating and analyzing the safety management levels of the geological prospecting industry, but also contribute to the benchmarking standards among different enterprises and projects.