Effects of spatial variability in vegetation phenology, climate, landcover, biodiversity, topography, and soil property on soil respiration across a coastal ecosystem.

Coastal terrestrial-aquatic interfaces (TAIs) are crucial contributors to global biogeochemical cycles and carbon exchange. The soil carbon dioxide (CO2) efflux in these transition zones is however poorly understood due to the high spatiotemporal dynamics of TAIs, as various sub-ecosystems in this region are compressed and expanded by complex influences of tides, changes in river levels, climate, and land use. We focus on the Chesapeake Bay region to (i) investigate the spatial heterogeneity of the coastal ecosystem and identify spatial zones with similar environmental characteristics based on the spatial data layers, including vegetation phenology, climate, landcover, diversity, topography, soil property, and relative tidal elevation; (ii) understand the primary driving factors affecting soil respiration within sub-ecosystems of the coastal ecosystem. Specifically, we employed hierarchical clustering analysis to identify spatial regions with distinct environmental characteristics, followed by the determination of main driving factors using Random Forest regression and SHapley Additive exPlanations. Maximum and minimum temperature are the main drivers common to all sub-ecosystems, while each region also has additional unique major drivers that differentiate them from one another. Precipitation exerts an influence on vegetated lands, while soil pH value holds importance specifically in forested lands. In croplands characterized by high clay content and low sand content, the significant role is attributed to bulk density. Wetlands demonstrate the importance of both elevation and sand content, with clay content being more relevant in non-inundated wetlands than in inundated wetlands. The topographic wetness index significantly contributes to the mixed vegetation areas, including shrub, grass, pasture, and forest. Additionally, our research reveals that dense vegetation land covers and urban/developed areas exhibit distinct soil property drivers. Overall, our research demonstrates an efficient method of employing various open-source remote sensing and GIS datasets to comprehend the spatial variability and soil respiration mechanisms in coastal TAI. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to modeling carbon fluxes released by soil respiration in coastal TAIs, and our study highlights the importance of further research and monitoring practices to improve our understanding of carbon dynamics and promote the sustainable management of coastal TAIs.

Impact of Environment on Pain among the Working Poor: Making Use of Random Forest-Based Stratification Tool to Study the Socioecology of Pain Interference.

Pain interferes with one's work and social life and, at a personal level, daily activities, mood, and sleep quality. However, little research has been conducted on pain interference and its socioecological determinants among the working poor. Noting the clinical/policy decision needs and the technical challenges of isolating the intricately interrelated socioecological factors' unique contributions to pain interference and quantifying the relative contributions of each factor in an interpretable manner to inform clinical and policy decision-making, we deployed a novel random forest algorithm to model and quantify the unique contribution of a diverse ensemble of environmental, sociodemographic, and clinical factors to pain interference. Our analyses revealed that features representing the internal built environment of the working poor, such as the size of the living space, air quality, access to light, architectural design conducive to social connection, and age of the building, were assigned greater statistical importance than other more commonly examined predisposing factors for pain interference, such as age, occupation, the severity and locations of pain, BMI, serum blood sugar, and blood pressure. The findings were discussed in the context of their benefit in informing community pain screening to target residential areas whose built environment contributed most to pain interference and informing the design of intervention programs to minimize pain interference among those who suffered from chronic pain and showed specific characteristics. The findings support the call for good architecture to provide the spirit and value of buildings in city development.

Online public concern about allergic rhinitis and its association with COVID-19 and air quality in China: an informative epidemiological study using Baidu index.

BACKGROUND: Allergic rhinitis is a common health concern that affects quality of life. This study aims to examine the online search trends of allergic rhinitis in China before and after the COVID-19 epidemic and to explore the association between the daily air quality and online search volumes of allergic rhinitis in Beijing. METHODS: We extracted the online search data of allergic rhinitis-related keywords from the Baidu index database from January 23, 2017 to June 23, 2022. We analyzed and compared the temporal distribution of online search behaviors across different themes of allergic rhinitis before and after the COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China, using the Baidu search index (BSI). We also obtained the air quality index (AQI) data in Beijing and assessed its correlation with daily BSIs of allergic rhinitis. RESULTS: The online search for allergic rhinitis in China showed significant seasonal variations, with two peaks each year in spring from March to May and autumn from August and October. The BSI of total allergic rhinitis-related searches increased gradually from 2017 to 2019, reaching a peak in April 2019, and declined after the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the first half of 2020. The BSI for all allergic rhinitis themes was significantly lower after the COVID-19 pandemic than before (all p values < 0.05). The results also revealed that, in Beijing, there was a significant negative association between daily BSI and AQI for each allergic rhinitis theme during the original variant strain epidemic period and a significant positive correlation during the Omicron variant period. CONCLUSION: Both air quality and the interventions used for COVID-19 pandemic, including national and local quarantines and mask wearing behaviors, may have affected the incidence and public concern about allergic rhinitis in China. The online search trends can serve as a valuable tool for tracking real-time public concerns about allergic rhinitis. By complementing traditional disease monitoring systems of health departments, these search trends can also offer insights into the patterns of disease outbreaks. Additionally, they can provide references and suggestions regarding the public's knowledge demands related to allergic rhinitis, which can further be instrumental in developing targeted strategies to enhance population-based disease education on allergic diseases.

A machine learning-based risk score for prediction of infective endocarditis among patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia - The SABIER score.

BACKGROUND: Early risk assessment is needed to stratify Staphylococcus aureus infective endocarditis (SA-IE) risk among Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (SAB) patients to guide clinical management. The objective of this study is to develop a novel risk score independent of subjective clinical judgment and can be used early at the time of blood culture positivity. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective big data analysis from territory-wide electronic data and included hospitalized patients with SAB between 2009 and 2019. We applied a random forest risk scoring model to select variables from an array of parameters, according to the statistical importance of each feature in predicting SA-IE outcome. The data was divided into derivation and validation cohorts. The areas under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic (AUCROC) were determined. RESULTS: We identified 15,741 SAB patients, among them 4.18% had SA-IE. The AUCROC was 0.74 (95%CI 0.70-0.76), with a negative predictive value of 0.980 (95%CI 0.977-0.983). The four most discriminatory features were age, history of infective endocarditis, valvular heart disease, and being community-onset. CONCLUSION: We developed a novel risk score with good performance as compared to existing scores and can be used at the time of SAB and prior to subjective clinical judgment.

Stability and function of RCL1 are dependent on the interaction with BMS1.

During ribosome biogenesis, the small subunit (SSU) processome is responsible for 40S assembly. The BMS1/RCL1 complex is a core component of the SSU processome that plays an important role in 18S rRNA processing and maturation. Genetic studies using zebrafish mutants indicate that both Bms1-like (Bms1l) and Rcl1 are essential for digestive organ development. In spite of vital functions of this complex, the mutual dependence of these two nucleolar proteins for the stability and function remains elusive. In this study, we identified an RCL1-interacting domain in BMS1, which is conserved in zebrafish and humans. Moreover, both the protein stability and nucleolar entry of RCL1 depend on its interaction with BMS1, otherwise RCL1 degraded through the ubiquitination-proteasome pathway. Functional studies revealed that overexpression of RCL1 in BMS1-knockdown cells can partially rescue the defects in 18S rRNA processing and cell proliferation, and hepatocyte-specific overexpression of Rcl1 can resume zebrafish liver development in the bms1l substitution mutant bms1lsq163/sq163but not in the knockout mutant bms1lzju1/zju1, which is attributed to the nucleolar entry of Rcl1 in the former mutant. Our data demonstrate that BMS1 and RCL1 interaction is essential for not only pre-rRNA processing but also the communication between ribosome biogenesis and cell cycle regulation.

From pollution to solutions: Insights into the sources, transport and management of plastic debris in pristine and urban rivers.

River systems are important recipients of environmental plastic pollution and have become key pathways for the transfer of mismanaged waste from the land to the ocean. Understanding the sources and fate of plastic debris, including plastic litter (>5 mm) and microplastics (MPs) (<5 mm), entering different riverine systems is essential to mitigate the ongoing environmental plastic pollution crisis. We comprehensively investigated the plastic pollution in the catchments of two rivers in the Yangtze River basin: an urban river, the Suzhou section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal (SZ); and a pristine rural river, the Jingmen section of the Hanjiang River (JM). The abundance of plastic pollutants in SZ was significantly higher than in JM: 0.430 ± 0.450 items/m3 and 0.003 ± 0.003 items/m3 of plastic litter in the water; 23.47 ± 25.53 n/m3 and 2.78 ± 1.55 n/m3 MPs in the water; and 218.82 ± 77.40 items/kg and 5.30 ± 1.99 items/kg of MPs in the sediment, respectively. Plastic litter and MPs were closely correlated in abundance and polymer composition. Overall, the polymer type, shape and color of MPs were dominant by polypropylene (42.5%), fragment (60.4%) and transparent (40.0%), respectively. Source tracing analysis revealed that packaging, shipping, and wastewater were the primary sources of plastic pollutants. The mantel analysis indicated that socio-economic and geospatial factors play crucial roles in driving the hotspot formation of plastic pollution in river networks. The composition of the MP communities differed significantly between the sediments and the overlying water. The urban riverbed sediments had a more pronounced pollutant 'sink' effect compared with the pristine rivers. These findings suggested that the modification of natural streams during urbanization may influence the transport and fate of plastic pollutants in them. Our results offer pivotal insights into effective preventive measures.

A Kano model-based demand analysis and perceived barriers of pulmonary rehabilitation interventions for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in China.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) has been recognized to be an effective therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, in China, the application of PR interventions is still less promoted. Therefore, this cross-sectional study aimed to understand COPD patients' intention to receive PR, capture the potential personal, social and environmental barriers preventing their willingness of receiving PR, and eventually identify demanding PR services with the highest priority from patients' point of view. METHODS: In total 237 COPD patients were recruited from 8 health care facilities in Zhejiang, China. A self-designed questionnaire was applied to investigate patients' intention to participate in PR and potentially associated factors, including personal dimension such as personal awareness, demographic factors, COPD status and health-related literacy/behaviors, as well as social policies and perceived environmental barriers. The demand questionnaire of PR interventions based on the Kano model was further adopted. RESULTS: Among the 237 COPD patients, 75.1% of COPD patients were willing to participate in PR interventions, while only 62.9% of the investigated patients had heard of PR interventions. Over 90% of patients believed that the cost of PR services and the ratio of medical insurance reimbursement were potential obstacles hindering them from accepting PR services. The multiple linear regression analysis indicated that the PR skills of medical staff, knowledge promotion and public education levels of PR in the community, patients' transportation concerns and degree of support from family and friends were significantly associated with willingness of participation in PR interventions. By using the Kano model, the top 9 most-requisite PR services (i.e., one-dimensional qualities) were identified from patients' point of view, which are mainly diet guidance, education interventions, psychological interventions and lower limb exercise interventions. Subgroup analysis also revealed that patients' demographics, such as breathlessness level, age, education and income levels, could influence their choice of priorities for PR services, especially services related to exercise interventions, respiratory muscle training, oxygen therapy and expectoration. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested that PR-related knowledge education among patients and their family, as well as providing basic package of PR services with the most-requisite PR items to COPD patients, were considerable approaches to promote PR attendance in the future.

Did the COVID-19 pandemic impact urticaria information-seeking behavior in China? A retrospective longitudinal study.

Purpose: To investigate information-seeking behavior related to urticaria before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Methods: Search query data for terms related to urticaria were retrieved using Baidu Index database from October 23, 2017 to April 23, 2022, and daily COVID-19 vaccination doses data were obtained from the website of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Among the 23 eligible urticaria search terms, four urticaria themes were generated as classification, symptom, etiology, and treatment of urticarial, respectively. Baidu Search Index (BSI) value for each term were extracted to analyze and compare the spatial and temporal distribution of online search behavior for urticaria before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and to also explore the correlation between search query and daily COVID-19 vaccination doses. Results: The classification of urticaria accounted for nearly half of the urticaria queries on the internet. Regular seasonal patterns of BSI were observed in urticaria-related online search, by attaining its highest level in spring and summer and lowest level in winter. The BSIs of all urticaria themes significantly increased after the COVID-19 pandemic than that before the pandemic (all P<0.05). Xizang, Qinghai and Ningxia are the most active geographical areas for increased urticaria-searching activities after the COVID-19 pandemic. There was also a significant positive correlation between daily BSIs and daily COVID-19 vaccination doses in each urticaria theme. Cross-correlation analysis found that the search of symptom, etiology, and treatment attained their strongest correlation with daily COVID-19 vaccination doses at 11-27 days before the injection of vaccine, imply vaccination hesitation related to concerns of urticaria. Conclusions: This study used the internet as a proxy to provide evidence of public search interest and spatiotemporal characteristics of urticaria, and revealed that the search behavior of urticaria have increased significantly after the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 vaccination. It is anticipated that the findings about such increase in search behavior, as well as the behavior of urticaria-related vaccine-hesitancy, will help guide public health education and policy regulation.

Nucleolar GTPase Bms1 displaces Ttf1 from RFB-sites to balance progression of rDNA transcription and replication.

18S, 5.8S, and 28S ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) are cotranscribed as a pre-ribosomal RNA (pre-rRNA) from the rDNA by RNA polymerase I whose activity is vigorous during the S-phase, leading to a conflict with rDNA replication. This conflict is resolved partly by replication-fork-barrier (RFB)-sites sequences located downstream of the rDNA and RFB-binding proteins such as Ttf1. However, how Ttf1 is displaced from RFB-sites to allow replication fork progression remains elusive. Here, we reported that loss-of-function of Bms1l, a nucleolar GTPase, upregulates rDNA transcription, causes replication-fork stall, and arrests cell cycle at the S-to-G2 transition; however, the G1-to-S transition is constitutively active characterized by persisting DNA synthesis. Concomitantly, ubf, tif-IA, and taf1b marking rDNA transcription, Chk2, Rad51, and p53 marking DNA-damage response, and Rpa2, PCNA, Fen1, and Ttf1 marking replication fork stall are all highly elevated in bms1l mutants. We found that Bms1 interacts with Ttf1 in addition to Rc1l. Finally, we identified RFB-sites for zebrafish Ttf1 through chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing and showed that Bms1 disassociates the Ttf1‒RFB complex with its GTPase activity. We propose that Bms1 functions to balance rDNA transcription and replication at the S-phase through interaction with Rcl1 and Ttf1, respectively. TTF1 and Bms1 together might impose an S-phase checkpoint at the rDNA loci.

The differential importation risks of COVID-19 from inbound travellers and the feasibility of targeted travel controls: A case study in Hong Kong.

BACKGROUND: Many countries/regions implemented strict border measures (e.g., 14-day quarantines) as a blanket policy to prevent COVID-19 importations, while proposed "travel bubbles" as an alternative to reduce the impact of border controls. We aim to examine the differential importation risks with departure origins and post-arrival controls. METHODS: We developed a Bayesian framework to model disease progress of COVID-19 and the effectiveness of travel measures and inferred the origin-specific disease prevalence among inbound travellers, using data on passengers arriving in Hong Kong and laboratory-confirmed imported cases. We estimated the origin-specific risks of releasing infectious travellers under different control strategies and traveller volumes. We also estimated the risk of having released infectious travellers when a resurgence occurs in departure locations with no imported cases during a certain period. FINDINGS: Under the then strict controls of 14-day quarantine and testing on day 12, the Philippines imposed the greatest importation risk among the studied countries/regions (95.8% of releasing at least one infectious traveller, 95% credible interval (CrI), 94.8-96.6%). This was higher than that from low prevalence countries/regions (e.g., 23.4%, 95% CrI, 21.6-25.3% for Taiwan) if controls relaxed (i.e., 7-day quarantine and test on day 5). Increased traveller volumes and resurgence in departure locations with low prevalence under relaxed controls did not impose a greater importation risk than high prevalence locations under stricter controls. INTERPRETATION: Moderate relaxation of control measures for travellers arriving from low prevalence locations did not impose higher risks of community outbreaks than strict controls on travellers from high prevalence locations. FUNDING: Health and Medical Research Fund, Hong Kong.

To what extent are we really free from airborne microplastics?

Quality assurance and quality control (QA&QC) procedures are vital for ensuring data reliability, but little is known about the use of such procedures in reducing airborne microplastic (MP) contamination. To address this issue, we tried to determine the efficiency of two common methods (washing and ashing experimental glassware) for removing airborne MPs and identified airborne contamination during MP analytical procedure. The results showed the removal efficiencies of washing and ashing were an average of 88%-98% and 100%, respectively, indicating that both methods could eliminate most of the spiked airborne MPs with no significant difference noted between the two methods. Although rigorous measures were taken to prevent contamination from ambient air, trace amounts of airborne MPs were still detected, which is an issue that has not been adequately investigated in previous studies. All of the procedural contaminants detected in this study were fibrous. Approximately 88% of these fibers were cotton-like (cotton, cellulose, and cellophane) fibers, and 13% of them were plastic. Surprisingly, cotton-like fibers and MPs had a similar size distribution, suggesting that they may have undergone a similar weathering process. In the end, to cope with inevitable airborne contamination, several measures were proposed for further research. Such measures will provide the necessary methodological assistance for accurate quantification of MP pollution in the field.

Highly Portable, Sensor-Based System for Human Fall Monitoring.

Falls are a very dangerous situation especially among elderly people, because they may lead to fractures, concussion, and other injuries. Without timely rescue, falls may even endanger their lives. The existing optical sensor-based fall monitoring systems have some disadvantages, such as limited monitoring range and inconvenience to carry for users. Furthermore, the fall detection system based only on an accelerometer often mistakenly determines some activities of daily living (ADL) as falls, leading to low accuracy in fall detection. We propose a human fall monitoring system consisting of a highly portable sensor unit including a triaxis accelerometer, a triaxis gyroscope, and a triaxis magnetometer, and a mobile phone. With the data from these sensors, we obtain the acceleration and Euler angle (yaw, pitch, and roll), which represents the orientation of the user's body. Then, a proposed fall detection algorithm was used to detect falls based on the acceleration and Euler angle. With this monitoring system, we design a series of simulated falls and ADL and conduct the experiment by placing the sensors on the shoulder, waist, and foot of the subjects. Through the experiment, we re-identify the threshold of acceleration for accurate fall detection and verify the best body location to place the sensors by comparing the detection performance on different body segments. We also compared this monitoring system with other similar works and found that better fall detection accuracy and portability can be achieved by our system.

[An analysis of occupational hazard in manufacturing industry in Guangzhou, China, in 2013].

OBJECTIVE: To provide data for the occupational health supervision by analyzing the occupational health status in manufacturing industry in Guangzhou, China. METHODS: The occupational health investigation was performed in 280 enterprises randomly selected from 8 industries based on industry stratification. According to the occupational health standards, 198 out of the 280 enterprises were supervised and monitored. Sample testing was performed in 3~5 workplaces where workers were exposed to the highest concentration/intensity of occupational hazard for the longest time. Comparative analyses of the overproof rates of hazard were performed among enterprises, workplaces, and testing items from different industries. RESULTS: The concentrations of occupational hazard in 42.93% (85/198) of enterprises and 22.96% (200/871) of workplaces were above the limit concentration. The most severe hazards were the noises in shipbuilding and wooden furniture industries and the welding fumes in shipbuilding industry. Less than 30% of enterprises were able to provide occupational health examination and periodic test reports of occupational hazard in workplaces. The rate of the workers with abnormal occupational health examination results and the need for reexamination reached 6.63% (832/12 549), and they were mostly from shipbuilding, wooden furniture, and chemical industries. CONCLUSION: The occupational health supervision should be strengthened in enterprises, and hazard from noises and dusts should be selectively controlled or reduced. The publication of relevant data and information of occupational health in enterprises should be promoted to enhance social supervision.