Effect of social capital, social support and social network formation on the quality of life of American adults during COVID-19.

This study aims to evaluate the effect of social capital (SC), social support (SS), and social network formation (SNF) on the quality of life of American adults during COVID-19. Using a probability sample of American adults aged 49+, 2370 respondents were selected from the National Social Life Health and Aging Project (NSHAP) dataset for analysis using an integrated partial least squares based on structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM)-K-fold cross-validation approach. The analysis showed that social capital assessed using civic engagement, social cohesion, socioeconomic status (SES), social support, and social network formation were significantly and positively associated with American adults' quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the results showed that using the PLS-SEM and K-fold cross-validation approach produced a medium predictive power of the overall model, confirming the importance of SC, SS, and SNF in predicting quality of life-outcomes. These findings suggest that efforts to promote the well-being of American adults, especially older adults, during the pandemic should focus on strengthening social capital, social support and social network formation.

FosB recruits KAT5 to potentiate the growth and metastasis of papillary thyroid cancer in a DPP4-dependent manner.

OBJECTIVE: Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP4) has been indicated as a possible prognostic biomarker in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). However, the mechanism of DPP4 during metastasis of PTC remains unclear. In this study, we investigated whether lysine acetyltransferase 5 (KAT5) and FBJ murine osteosarcoma viral oncogene homolog B (FosB) synergistically regulate high DPP4 expression in PTC. METHODS: PTC tissues and matched paracancerous tissues were harvested, followed by the establishment of IHH-4 and TPC-1 cells with downregulation of DPP4. The relevance of DPP4 on the metastasis of PTC cells was assessed. Subsequently, the effect of KAT5 on the transcription of DPP4 was verified. The binding relationship between FosB and DPP4 was predicted by a bioinformatics website. Functional rescue experiments were performed to evaluate cell activities after overexpression of KAT5 or FosB in cells with DPP4 knockdown. RESULTS: DPP4 was overexpressed in PTC tissues and cell lines, which was correlated with higher risks for metastases and poorer survival. DPP4 downregulation curtailed cell growth and metastasis. Moreover, KAT5 acetylated DPP4 promoter histone, which promoted transcription activation of DPP4. Subsequently, FosB recruited KAT5 at the DPP4 promoter, thereby enhancing DPP4 transcriptional activation. Further overexpression of KAT5 or FosB in cells with low expression of DPP4 promoted cell activity. Finally, DPP4 expedited p62 nuclear translocation to elevate Keap1/Nrf2 expression, thus facilitating the growth and metastasis of PTC cells. CONCLUSION: FosB enhanced the growth and metastasis of PTC cells by recruiting histone acetyltransferases KAT5 to increase DPP4 transcription and activate the p62/Keap1/Nrf2 signaling.

Incidence and Risk Factors of Postoperative Bleeding in Patients Undergoing Total Thyroidectomy.

Purpose: Our goal was to analyze postoperative bleeding in patients undergoing total thyroidectomy and to explore the possible risk factors. Materials and Methods: Patients undergoing total thyroidectomy were retrospectively enrolled, and the main study outcomes were postoperative bleeding and 30-day mortality. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to determine the independent risk factors for postoperative bleeding. Results: A total of 31,706 patients were enrolled for analysis during January 2010 and December 2018 from the Affiliated First Hospital of Zhengzhou University. Benign and malignant disease was reported in 4,521 and 27,185 patients, respectively. Postoperative bleeding occurred in 48 patients with benign disease and in 263 patients with malignant disease. There was one bleeding site in 243 patients. The branch of the superior thyroid artery was the most common arterial bleeding site, occurring in 124 patients, and the anterior jugular vein was the most common venous bleeding site, occurring in 85 patients. Multivariable analysis confirmed that hypertension, diabetes, BMI, and disease pathology were independent factors affecting postoperative bleeding in patients with benign disease and that hypertension, diabetes, BMI, operation time, tumor stage, and tracheotomy were independent factors affecting postoperative bleeding in patients with malignant disease. In patients with postoperative bleeding, there were 5 deaths; in patients without postoperative bleeding, there were 42 deaths, and the difference was significant (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Compared with malignant disease patients, benign disease patients have a similar postoperative bleeding rate. A previous history of chemotherapy or radiotherapy has no significant effect on postoperative bleeding.

Optimization of suitable ethanol blend ratio for motorcycle engine using response surface method.

In view of energy shortage and air pollution, ethanol-gasoline blended fuel used for motorcycle engine was studied in this work. The emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NO(X)) and engine performance of a 125 cc four-stroke motorcycle engine with original carburetor using ethanol-gasoline fuels were investigated. The model of three-variable Box Behnken design (BBD) was used for experimental design, the ethanol blend ratios were prepared at 0, 10, 20 vol%; the speeds of motorcycle were selected as 30, 45, 60 km/h; and the throttle positions were set at 30, 60, 90 %. Both engine performance and air pollutant emissions were then analyzed by response surface method (RSM) to yield optimum operation parameters for tolerable pollutant emissions and maximum engine performance. The RSM optimization analysis indicated that the most suitable ethanol-gasoline blended ratio was found at the range of 3.92-4.12 vol% to yield a comparable fuel conversion efficiency, while considerable reductions of exhaust pollutant emissions of CO (-29 %) and NO(X) (-12 %) when compared to pure gasoline fuel. This study demonstrated low ethanol-gasoline blended fuels could be used in motorcycle carburetor engines without any modification to keep engine power while reducing exhaust pollutants.