Clinical Consumption of Compound Opioid Analgesics in China: A Retrospective Analysis of National Data 2015-2018.

Compound opioid analgesics (COA) are widely used for cancer pain relief, but few studies investigated the use of that. We aimed to report the characteristics and trend of COA consumption in different regions and health facilities in China. The procurement data of two types of COA, compound codeine phosphate (CCP) and oxycodone and acetaminophen (OAA), in all medical institutions of 20 provinces from 2015 to 2018 were used. Data were presented as defined daily dose for statistical purpose (SDDD) and expenditures per million inhabitants per day. The annual consumption of COA and ratio of two combinations were compared among regions and institutions. We found, during 2015-2018, COA consumption increased at an average rate of 7.32% in SDDD and 19.19% in expenditures, while OAA accounted for most of the consumption. Highest COA consumption appeared in Northern China, with 121.72 SDDD and 1689.87 RMB (2015), whereas the lowest COA consumption was only 11.28 SDDD appearing in Southern China. The ratio of OAA and CCP (in SDDD) was highest in Southern China (53.14 in 2018), whereas lowest in West North (0.37 in 2018). In terms of institutions, tertiary had the highest COA consumption, with 16.74 SDDD and 292.73 RMB (2018). The SDDD of OAA was 27.44 times of that of CCP in tertiary, while it was only 0.11 in primary. Overall, COA consumption is on an upward trend and different among regions and health institutions in either amount or types of COA. These findings call for establishment of COA management regulations.

Photo-Fenton removal of tetracycline hydrochloride using LaFeO3 as a persulfate activator under visible light.

In this work, LaFeO3 nanoparticles were fabricated by a facile sol-gel method and applied to degrade tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl) through heterogeneous activation of persulfate under visible-light illumination. The structure, compositions, photocatalytic properties, and morphological features of the as-obtained sample were investigated by XRD, XPS, DRS, and FESEM techniques. Optimizations of dosage of LaFeO3 (0-0.4 g/L), dosage of PS (0-4 g/L), concentration of TC-HCl (10 ppm-80 ppm), and pH of initial solution (2.09-9.59) were conducted. Radical trapping experiments indicated that SO4- was the dominant radical for TC-HCl removal while OH was also involved. In addition, LaFeO3 was proved with excellent stability and reusability in degrading TC-HCl molecules in the Vis/LaFeO3/PS system. The findings of this work revealed the potential application of the Vis/LaFeO3/PS system toward degrading organic pollutants in wastewater.

Prices, availability and affordability of insulin products: a cross-sectional survey in Shaanxi Province, western China.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate price, availability and affordability of insulin products in Shaanxi Province, western China. METHODS: We used a simplified and adapted WHO/Health Action International method to obtain the availability and prices of insulin products and five oral anti-diabetic medicines as comparators in public general hospitals and private retail outlets. In addition, we investigated the price components of eight selected insulin products by tracing the supply chain. RESULTS: All three kinds of insulin products, prandial, basal and premixed insulin, are 100% available in public hospitals, and have fairly high availability in the private sector (62.5-68.8%). The prices of most insulin products were higher than international reference prices in both sectors (ranging from 0.95 times to 2.33 times). All insulin products were unaffordable as they would cost 3.5-17.1 days' wage of the lowest-paid government workers in Shaanxi. The manufacturer's markup (selling price), which comprised more than 60% of the final price of all insulin products surveyed, was the largest price component. CONCLUSIONS: Although availability of insulin products was high in public general hospitals and private retail pharmacies, their high price made them unaffordable to diabetes patients, especially low-income patients. The government should increase insurance compensation for those who need these life-saving medicines or decrease the cost of insulin products through negotiation with suppliers.

Visible light photocatalytic degradation of MB using UiO-66/g-C3N4 heterojunction nanocatalyst.

A unique hybrid of Zr-based metal-organic framework (UiO-66) with graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets was synthesized by a facile annealing method. Photocatalytic effect was measured by the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiation. The morphology, structure, and porous properties of the as-synthesized composites were characterized by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry analysis (TG-DSC), diffuse reflectance UV-vis spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS), photoluminescence (PL), and N2 sorption-desorption isotherms (BET). The results showed that about 100% of MB (200 mL of 10 mg L-1) photodegradation was achieved by the UiO-66/g-C3N4 hybrids (UC 10:10) in 240 min under visible light. The enhanced photocatalytic activity could be attributed to the heterojunction between UiO-66 and g-C3N4 therefore the photoelectron transfers efficiently from the conduction band (CB) of g-C3N4 to the CB of UiO-66 through the inner electric field generated by the heterojunction resulting the decreasing of recombination of electron/hole and the porous structures which enhance adsorption of the dye molecules on the catalyst surface thereby facilitates the electron/hole transfer within the framework. The trapping experiment and electron spin resonance (ESR) results showed that superoxide radicals (•O2-) was the main oxidative species in the photodegradation of MB and the enhanced photocatalytic mechanism of UiO-66/g-C3N4 heterojunction hybrids was also proposed.