Breakfast skipping and risk of all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality among adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.

Background: Numerous studies reported inconsistent association between breakfast skipping and all-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer mortality. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to elucidate these associations. Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases were searched up to July 2023 for prospective cohort studies that assessed the association between breakfast skipping and all-cause, CVD and cancer mortality in general adults. A random effect model was used to estimate the pooled hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), with subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis performed. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) was used to assess the study and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) tool was used to assess the risk of bias. Results: The final analysis included 9 cohort studies including 242 095 participants, with 6 studies for all-cause mortality, 4 studies for CVD mortality, and 2 studies for cancer mortality. Compared to regular breakfast consumption, skipping breakfast was associated with a higher risk of all-cause (HR: 1.27, 95% CI, 1.07-1.51, I2 = 77%), CVD (HR 1.28, 95% CI 1.10-1.50, I2 = 0), and cancer (HR: 1.34, 95% CI: 1.11-1.61, I2 = 0%) mortality. Sensitivity analysis revealed inconsistent results in all-cause and CVD mortality. Subgroup analysis showed significant association in studies with larger participants, longer follow-up, adjustments for energy intake, and high-quality articles. GRADE showed very low evidence for all-cause mortality and low evidence for CVD and cancer mortality. Conclusion: The findings underscore the importance of regular breakfast habits for health and longevity. However, these results require careful interpretation due to geographic limitations, potential heterogeneity, and instability.

Generation of an induced pluripotent stem cell line (SYSUSCi004-A) from a patient with Infantile Malignant Osteopetrosis.

Infantile Malignant Osteopetrosis (IMO) is a rare, severe autosomal recessive form of osteopetrosis. Here, the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) extracted from a patient with IMO carrying a compound heterozygous mutation in T cell immune regulator 1, ATPase H + transporting V0 subunit a3 (TCIRG1) gene (c.242delC; c.1114C > T) were successfully reprogrammed using Sendai virus encoding the four Yamanaka factors. The generated hiPSCs, IMO-hiPSCs, displayed typical embryonic stem cell-like morphology and were verified by expression of pluripotency markers such as OCT4, SOX2, NANOG, TRA-1-60 and SSEA4, as well as in vivo and in vitro differentiation into derivatives of three germ layers.

Two New Isospirostanol-Type Saponins from the Bulbs of Lilium Brownii and Their Anti-Hepatocarcinogenic Activity.

Bulbs of Lilium brownii, commonly known as "Bai-he" in China, serve both edible and medicinal purposes in clinical practice. In this study, two new isospirostanol-type saponins were isolated from L. brownii, and their structures were identified by spectroscopic method, and absolute configurations were elucidated by comprehensive analysis of spectral data obtained from combined acid hydrolysis. Two compounds were finally identified as 3-O-[α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)-ß-D-glucopyranoside]-(22R,25R)-5α-spirosolane-3ß-ol (1) and 3-O-{α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)-[ß-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)]-ß-D-glucopyranoside}-(22R,25R)-5α-spirosolane-3ß-ol (2), respectively. Further, we found that compound 2 significantly suppressed the proliferation of SMMC-7721 and HepG2 cells with IC50 values of 26.3±1.08 µM and 30.9±1.59 µM, whereas compound 1 didn't inhibit both of the two hepatocellular carcinoma. Subsequently, compound 2 effectively decreased the levels of interleukin-1ß and tumor necrosis factor-α and the expression of Bcl-2, and increased the expression of Bax and Caspase-3 proteins. Which indicated that the anti-hepatocellular carcinoma effect of compound 2 involves reducing the level of inflammation and inducing apoptosis.

The role of mitochondrial DNA copy number in cardiometabolic disease: a bidirectional two-sample mendelian randomization study.

BACKGROUND: This study used a bidirectional 2-sample Mendelian randomization study to investigate the potential causal links between mtDNA copy number and cardiometabolic disease (obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, type 2 diabetes [T2DM], coronary artery disease [CAD], stroke, ischemic stroke, and heart failure). METHODS: Genetic associations with mtDNA copy number were obtained from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics from the UK biobank (n = 395,718) and cardio-metabolic disease were from largest available GWAS summary statistics. Inverse variance weighting (IVW) was conducted, with weighted median, MR-Egger, and MR-PRESSO as sensitivity analyses. We repeated this in the opposite direction using instruments for cardio-metabolic disease. RESULTS: Genetically predicted mtDNA copy number was not associated with risk of obesity (P = 0.148), hypertension (P = 0.515), dyslipidemia (P = 0.684), T2DM (P = 0.631), CAD (P = 0.199), stroke (P = 0.314), ischemic stroke (P = 0.633), and heart failure (P = 0.708). Regarding the reverse directions, we only found that genetically predicted dyslipidemia was associated with decreased levels of mtDNA copy number in the IVW analysis (ß= - 0.060, 95% CI - 0.044 to - 0.076; P = 2.416e-14) and there was suggestive of evidence for a potential causal association between CAD and mtDNA copy number (ß= - 0.021, 95% CI - 0.003 to - 0.039; P = 0.025). Sensitivity and replication analyses showed the stable findings. CONCLUSIONS: Findings of this Mendelian randomization study did not support a causal effect of mtDNA copy number in the development of cardiometabolic disease, but found dyslipidemia and CAD can lead to reduced mtDNA copy number. These findings have implications for mtDNA copy number as a biomarker of dyslipidemia and CAD in clinical practice.

Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of 2-amino-6-methyl-phenol derivatives targeting lipid peroxidation with potent anti-ferroptotic activities.

The suppression of ferroptosis is emerging as a promising therapeutic strategy for effectively treating a wide range of diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders, organ ischemia-reperfusion injury, and inflammatory conditions. However, the clinical utility of ferroptosis inhibitors is significantly impeded by the limited availability of rational drug designs. In our previous study, we successfully unraveled the efficacy of ferrostatin-1 (Fer-1) attributed to the synergistic effect of its ortho-diamine (-NH) moiety. In this study, we present the discovery of the ortho-hydroxyl-amino moiety as a novel scaffold for ferroptosis inhibitors, employing quantum chemistry as well as in vitro and in vivo assays. 2-amino-6-methylphenol derivatives demonstrated remarkable inhibition of RSL3-induced ferroptosis, exhibiting EC50 values ranging from 25 nM to 207 nM. These compounds do not appear to modulate iron homeostasis or lipid reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation pathways. Nevertheless, they effectively prevent the accumulation of lipid peroxides in living cells. Furthermore, compound 13 exhibits good in vivo activities as it effectively protect mice from kidney ischemia-reperfusion injury. In summary, compound 13 has been identified as a potent ferroptosis inhibitor, warranting further investigation as a promising lead compound.

Remote ischemic conditioning after stroke: Research progress in clinical study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Stroke is a leading cause of global morbidity and mortality, indicating the necessity and urgency of effective prevention and treatment. Remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) is a convenient, simple, non-intrusive, and effective method that can be easily added to the treatment regime of stroke patients. Animal experiments and clinical trials have proved the neuroprotective effects of RIC on brain injury including (examples of neuroprotective effects). This neuroprotection is achieved by raising brain tolerance to ischemia, increasing local cerebral blood perfusion, promoting collateral circulations, neural regeneration, and reducing the incidence of hematomas in brain tissue. This current paper will summarize the studies within the last 2 years for the comprehensive understanding of the use of RIC in the treatment of stroke. METHODS: This paper summarizes the clinical research progress of RIC on stroke (ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke (HS)). This paper is a systematic review of research published on registered clinical trials using RIC in stroke from inception through November 2022. Four major databases (PUBMED, WEB OF SCIENCE, EMBASE, and ClinicalTrials.gov) were searched. RESULTS: Forty-eight studies were identified meeting our criteria. Of these studies, 14 were in patients with acute ischemic stroke with onset times ranging from 6 h to 14 days, seven were in patients with intravenous thrombolysis or endovascular thrombectomy, 10 were in patients with intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis, six on patients with vascular cognitive impairment, three on patients with moyamoya disease, and eight on patients with HS. Of the 48 studies, 42 were completed and six are ongoing. CONCLUSIONS: RIC is safe, feasible, and effective in the treatment of stroke. Large-scale research is still required to explore the optimal treatment options and mechanisms of RIC in the future to develop a breakthrough in stroke prevention and treatment.

Hydraulic Expansion Joint Contact State of Heat Exchanger Based on New Contact Area Measurement Method.

The contact state of a seamless internal threaded copper tube and an aluminium foil fin not only affects the heat transfer efficiency of a tube-fin heat exchanger but also seriously affects its service life. In this study, hydraulic expansion technology was used to connect the copper tube with an internal thread with a 7 mm diameter to the fin of the heat exchanger. The influence of the expansion pressure and pressure holding time on the contact state was analysed through experiments and finite element simulation, and the variation law of the two on the contact state was obtained. The contact state was characterised by the contact gap and contact area. In order to obtain the specific contact area value, a new method of measuring the contact area was developed to reveal the variation in contact area between the copper tube and the fin after expansion. The results show that the contact gap decreases with an increase in expansion pressure, while the pressure holding time remains the same. The contact area increases with an increase in expansion pressure, and the rate of increase slows. When the expansion pressure is 18 MPa, the average contact gap is approximately 0.018 mm. When the expansion pressure reaches 16 MPa, the contact area ratio is 91.0%. When the expansion pressure increases to 18 MPa, the contact area ratio only increases by approximately 0.6%. Compared with the influence of the expansion pressure on the increase in contact area, the influence of the pressure holding time on the contact area is lower.

Ethanol extract of Andrographis paniculata alleviates aluminum-induced neurotoxicity and cognitive impairment through regulating the p62-keap1-Nrf2 pathway.

BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative and remains incurable. Aluminum is a potent neurotoxin associated with AD. The main pathological features of AD are extracellular amyloid-ß protein deposition and intracellular hyperphosphorylated Tau protein. A body of evidence suggest that oxidative stress and autophagy are involved in the pathogenesis of AD. Andrographis paniculata (AP) is a native plant with anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative stress, and regulation of autophagy properties. AP significantly alleviated cognitive impairments, reduced Aß deposition and has neuroprotective effect. However, its effects on aluminum-induced AD model have not been studied much. In this study, we investigated whether AP protect against aluminum-induced neurotoxicity through regulation of p62-Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1(Keap1)-Nuclear factor E2 related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway and activation autophagy in vivo and in vitro. METHODS: UPLC-ESI-qTOF-MS/MS was used to identify the chemical constituents of AP ethanol extract. The mice with cognitive deficit were established by injecting aluminum chloride and D-galactose, and treated with either AP extract (200, 400, or 600 mg/kg/d) or andrographolide (2 mg/kg/2d).The spatial memory ability was detected by Morris water maze, HE staining were used to detect in brain tissue,Oxidative stress indexs and SOD activity in both serum and brain tissue were detected by kit.The expression of p62-Nrf2 pathway proteins were measured via western blotting. Furthermore, the neurotoxicity model was induced by aluminum maltolate (700 µM) in PC12 cells. Following AP and andrographolide treatment, the cell viability was detected. The relevant mRNA and protein expressions were detected in cells transfected with the p62 siRNA. RESULTS: The main active components of AP included andrographolide, neoandrographolide and deoxyandrographolide as identified. AP and andrographolide significantly improved the spatial memory ability of mice, attenuated pathological changes of hippocampal cells, reduced the level of malondialdehyde, and increased superoxide dismutase activity in serum or brain tissue as compared to model control. In addition, the Nrf2, p62 and LC3B-II proteins expression were increased, and p-Tau and Keap1 proteins were decreased in the hippocampus after AP and andrographolide treatment.Furthermore, AP increased aluminum maltolate-induced cell viability in PC12 cells. Silencing p62 could reverse the upregulation expression of Nrf2 and downregulation of Keap1 and Tau proteins induced by AP in aluminum maltolate-treated cells. CONCLUSIONS: AP had neuroprotective effects against aluminum -induced cognitive dysfunction or cytotoxicity, which was involved in the activation of the p62-keap1-Nrf2 pathway and may develop as therapeutic drugs for the treatment of AD. However, this study has certain limitations, further optimize the protocol or model and study the molecular mechanism of AP improving AD.

Finite-element-analysis of connection strength of assembled camshafts with different cam-bore profiles using tube hydroforming technology.

The assembled camshaft is a novel manufacturing product which connects the cam and the mandrel by tube hydroforming (THF) technology after they are processed separately. However, in the process of THF, the structure of the cam-bores has a crucial influence on the connection strength of the assembled camshafts. Therefore, three kinds of cam-bores with circular structure, isometric-trilateral profile and logarithmic spiral profile are selected for hydroforming with a hollow mandrel (tube) in this study. The finite-element-analysis is carried out by ABAQUS software, the variations of (residual) contact pressure and contact area under different structures are obtained, and the torsional angle variations after assembly are measured. Further, the connection strength of the assembled camshaft under three structures is discussed. The results show that the evaluation of connection strength of the assembled camshaft is affected by many factors, including contact pressure, maximum residual contact pressure, axial and circular residual contact pressure, contact area and its rate, residual contact area percentage and torsional angle. Through the comprehensive analysis of various factors, the torsional angle of the camshaft with circular structure is the largest, i.e. poor connection strength. By contrast, the torsional strength of the camshaft with isometric-trilateral profile is the largest, namely, the best connection strength.

Emergency Nursing Based on PEWS can Improve the Condition of Children with Acute Asthma.

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of emergency nursing interventions, specifically those based on the Pediatric Early Warning Score (PEWS), on children diagnosed with acute asthma, to promote the recovery of children with asthma and improve the quality of care for children with asthma. Methods: A total of 80 children, Acute asthma attacks under the age of 12, diagnosed with acute asthma and admitted to the Emergency Department of Hebei Children's Hospital between June 2018 and June 2019 were selected as participants for this study. They were randomly assigned to either the control group or the PEWS group. There was no significant statistical difference in age, gender, course of disease, and disease severity between the two groups of children. In the control group, children received standard emergency nursing interventions, while in the PEWS group, children received emergency nursing interventions based on the Pediatric Early Warning Score (PEWS). To evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions, several outcome measures were compared between the two groups. This included assessing the duration for symptoms to disappear, analyzing pulmonary function indicators and respiratory dynamics indicators, measuring scores from the Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAQLQ), and evaluating nursing satisfaction. Results: Following the implementation of the nursing interventions, 1. The average cough disappearance time of children in the PEWS group was 1.97 days shorter than that in the control group, the average wheezing disappearance time was 0.97 days shorter, the average dyspnea disappearance time was 0.64 days shorter, and the average lung wheezing disappearance time was 1.19 days shorter, which indicated that emergency care based on PEWS shortened the duration of symptoms in children with asthma. 2. The average FEV1 of children in the PEWS group was 9.87% higher than the control group, the average FVC was 0.62L higher, the average PEF was 9.84% higher, the average V70 was 0.91% higher, the average V50 was 0.43% higher , and the average V25 was 0.37% higher, when compared with control group. These results indicates that emergency care based on PEWS enhances the lung function of children with asthma. 3. The average respiratory rate of children in the PEWS group was 8.05 times/min lower, and the average dynamic respiratory system compliance was 6.91 mL/cmH2O higher, than that in the control group, which indicated that emergency care based on PEWS improved respiratory dynamics indicators in children with asthma. 4. The average PAQLQ symptom dimension score of children in the PEWS group was 0.84 points higher, the average activity dimension score was 0.34 points higher, and the average emotional dimension score was 0.47 points higher when compared with the control group. This indicated that emergency care based on PEWS improves the quality of life of children with asthma. 5. The nursing satisfaction of children in the PEWS group was 95%, higher than 72.5% in the control group, indicating that emergency care based on PEWS improved the satisfaction of asthma children with the nursing process. Conclusion: The implementation of PEWS based emergency care in pediatric asthma patients has important clinical significance in promoting recovery and improving the quality of care for asthma patients. The implementation of emergency nursing interventions based on the Pediatric Early Warning Score (PEWS) for children with acute asthma has been found to be effective in promoting the recovery of their condition, enhancing their quality of life, and improving nursing satisfaction.

Dietary intake of total vegetable, fruit, cereal, soluble and insoluble fiber and risk of all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.

Objectives: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies to investigate the association between total, vegetable, fruit, cereal, soluble and insoluble fiber intake and risk of all causes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and cancer mortality and quantitatively assess the dose-response relation. Methods: Eligible studies were identified by searching PubMed, Embase and Web of science before August 2023. Random effects models were used to calculate summary relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) and restricted cubic splines to model the linear/non-linear association. Results: The summary RR for all-cause, CVD and cancer mortality of dietary fiber was 0.90 (95% CI: 0.86,0.93), 0.87 (0.84,0.91), 0.91 (0.88,0.93), respectively. Significant association was observed for all-cause and CVD mortality with fruit, vegetable cereal and soluble fiber intake and cancer mortality with cereal fiber intake. No significant association was found for insoluble fiber, vegetable or fruit fiber intake and cancer mortality. Dose-response analysis showed a significant non-linear relation of dietary fiber intake with all-cause mortality, and linear relation for others. Conclusions: Higher dietary fiber including different type and food sources of fiber intake were associated with lower risk of mortality. Our findings provide more comprehensive evidence on dietary fiber intake with mortality. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero, identifier: CRD42022338837.

The Association Between Eye Disease and Incidence of Dementia: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To better demonstrate the relationship between common eye diseases and the risk of dementia, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies to investigate the relationship between common eye diseases and dementia. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Patients with common eye diseases. METHODS: We conducted a systematic search of articles published up to August 25, 2022, of online databases including PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science. We included cohort studies that evaluated the association of glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy (DR), and cataracts with all-cause dementia, Alzheimer's disease (AD), and vascular dementia (VaD). Relative risks (RRs) and 95% CIs were pooled using random effects model, and heterogeneity was assessed by the I2 statistic. Subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis were also performed. RESULTS: In total, 25 studies were included in the meta-analysis, with a total of 11,410,709 participants. Pooled estimates suggested an increased risk of all-cause dementia associated with AMD (RR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.13-1.48), glaucoma (RR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.03-1.32), DR (RR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.21-1.63), and cataract (RR,1.23; 95% CI, 1.09-1.40); an increased risk of AD associated with AMD (RR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.06-1.52), glaucoma (RR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.02-1.38), DR (RR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.04-1.41), and cataracts (RR,1.22; 95% CI, 1.07-1.38). No association was observed between incident VaD and any eye diseases. The results of subgroup analyses were consistent with those in meta-analysis of DR and risk of all-cause dementia. Meta-regressions suggested geographic regions as potential sources of heterogeneity for the association between AMD and all-cause dementia, AMD and AD, glaucoma and dementia, glaucoma, and AD, respectively. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: AMD, glaucoma, DR, and cataract may be associated with an increased risk of all-cause dementia and AD, but not VaD. However, the results should be interpreted cautiously because of the high heterogeneity and unstable findings in some subgroup analyses.

Structural Change and Radical Generation of a Cadmium-Based Metal-Organic Framework Induced by an Electric Field.

Herein we report the structural change and radical generation of a cadmium-based metal-organic framework (Cd-MOF) induced by external electric fields. Under a weaker single electric field, different coordination modes of Cd-L lead to 3D → 2D structural change. Under stronger superposed electric fields, Cd-MOF was excited to produce a stable free radical. This study will provide a new avenue for the controlled assembly of MOFs.

Total sugar, added sugar, fructose, and sucrose intake and all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality: A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.

OBJECTIVES: We performed a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis to assess the association of total sugars, added sugars, fructose, and sucrose with all-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and cancer mortality. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science for prospective cohort studies up to May 10, 2022. Pooled relative risks and 95% CIs were calculated by random effect models, and the linear and non-linear dose-response associations were explored by restricted cubic splines. RESULTS: Comparing the highest with the lowest categories of total sugars, the summary RR was 1.09 (95% CI, 1.02-1.15; I2 = 71.9%) for all-cause mortality, 1.10 (1.02-1.18; I2 = 12.7%) for CVD mortality, and 1.00 (0.94-1.05; I2 = 0) for cancer mortality. For fructose, the summary relative risk was 1.09 (1.03-1.16; I2 = 58.4%) for all-cause mortality, 1.11 (1.03-1.20; I2 = 37.4%) for CVD mortality, and 1.00 (0.95-1.06; I2 = 0) for cancer mortality. Restricted cubic splines found non-linear associations of total sugars and fructose with all-cause and CVD mortality (P for non-linearity < 0.001). A significant increment in risk of all-cause and CVD mortality was observed with >10% energy intake to 20% energy intake for total sugars and fructose. No association was found for the added sugars and sucrose with all-cause, CVD, and cancer mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Increased intake of total sugars and fructose is associated with all-cause and CVD mortality but not associated with cancer mortality, which could have implications for guideline recommendations regarding the risk of mortality related to sugar intake.

Synthesis and Study of Crown Ether-Appended Tetraplatinum(II) Macrocylic Chemosensors for Cation Detection.

Two new functionalized platinum(II) rectangles, Pt1 and Pt2, were designed and synthesized from phenanthro crown ether- and biphenyl polyether-bridged bicarboxylate ligands, respectively. The fluorescence titration study of rectangles Pt1 and Pt2 with alkali- and alkaline-earth-metal cations indicated that Pt1 can selectively recognize Na+, while Pt2 has selective binding ability for Mg2+. These selectivity findings suggest that the comparative size and conformational nature of the polyether receptor cavity have a crucial influence on the cation selection.

Prevalence and associated factors of depressive and anxiety symptoms among healthcare workers in the post-pandemic era of COVID-19 at a tertiary hospital in Shenzhen, China: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Healthcare workers were at high risk of psychological problems during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it remains not well-investigated in the post-pandemic era of COVID-19, with regular epidemic prevention and control embedded in burdened healthcare work. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and potential risk factors of the symptoms of depression and anxiety among healthcare workers at a tertiary hospital in Shenzhen. Method: Our cross-sectional study was conducted among 21- to 64-year-old healthcare workers in December 2021 at a tertiary hospital in Shenzhen, using a simple random sampling strategy. A wide range of socio-demographic characteristics, individual information, and psychological condition of the subjects were extracted. Healthcare workers' psychological conditions were tested with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CESD-10), General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Work-Family Conflict Scale (WFCS), 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10), and 17-item of Maslach's Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS-17). Data were collected based on these questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were used to assess the difference between healthcare workers with depressive and anxiety symptoms among different groups. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses were conducted to investigate the association between focused variables and mental health outcomes. Results: A total of 245 healthcare workers were enrolled. The proportion of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms and their co-occurrence were 34.7, 59.6, and 33.1%, respectively. Logistic regression showed that for the three outcomes, no history of receiving psychological help and self-rated good or higher health were protective factors, whereas more severe insomnia and job burnout were risk factors. Junior or lower job title and higher psychological resilience were related to a lower prevalence of depressive symptoms, while relatively longer working hours and larger work-family conflict were positively associated with the anxiety symptoms. Psychological resilience was inversely associated with the co-occurrence of depressive and anxiety symptoms. Conclusions: Our study revealed a high proportion of psychological problems and proved that several similar factors which were significant during the pandemic were also associated with the symptoms of depression and anxiety among healthcare workers in the post-pandemic era of COVID-19. These results provide scientific evidence for psychological interventions for healthcare workers.

Evaluation of Serum NLRC4 as a Potential Prognostic Biochemical Marker in Humans with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Objective: Involvement of NLR CARD domain containing 4 (NLRC4) in neuroinflammation has been demonstrated. The aim of this study was to ascertain the prognostic role of serum NLRC4 in severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI). Methods: In this prospective cohort study including 140 sTBI patients and 140 controls, serum NLRC4 levels were quantified. Follow-up time was 180 days after trauma and poor prognosis was designated as extended Glasgow outcome scale (GOSE) scores of 1-4. Severity correlations and prognosis associations were determined under multivariate models. Results: Enhanced serum NLRC4 levels after sTBI, in comparison to controls (median, 0.8 ng/mL versus 0.1 ng/mL; P < 0.001), were independently correlated with Glasgow coma scale (GCS) scores (ß, -0.091; 95% confidence interval (CI), -0.161-0.021; P = 0.011), Rotterdam computed tomography (CT) scores (ß, 0.136; 95% CI, 0.024-0.248; P = 0.018), serum C-reactive protein levels (ß, 0.016; 95% CI, 0.002-0.030; P = 0.025) and 180-day GOSE scores (ß, -0.906; 95% CI, -1.632-0.180; P = 0.015); and were independently predictive of 180-day death (odds ratio, 4.307; 95% CI, 1.706-10.879; P = 0.014)), overall survival (hazard ratio, 2.360; 95% CI, 1.118-4.981; P = 0.040) and poor prognosis (odds ratio, 6.705; 95% CI, 2.889-15.561; P = 0.016). Under receiver operating characteristic curve, combination of serum NLRC4 levels, GCS scores and Rotterdam CT scores had significantly higher death predictive ability than Rotterdam CT scores (P = 0.040), but not than GCS scores (P = 0.070); and exhibited substantially higher predictive capability for poor prognosis than Rotterdam CT scores (P < 0.001) and GCS scores alone (P = 0.023). Conclusion: There is a dramatical elevation of serum NLRC4 levels after sTBI, which has strong correlation with severity and inflammation, and is significantly associated with long-term death and poor outcome, substantializing serum NLRC4 as an inflammatory, prognostic biomarker in sTBI.

Genetic and enzymatic characterization of two novel blaNDM-36, -37 variants in Escherichia coli strains.

The widespread of different NDM variants in clinical Enterobacterales isolates poses a serious public health concern, which requires continuous monitoring. In this study, three E. coli strains carrying two novel blaNDM variants of blaNDM-36, -37 were identified from a patient with refractory urinary tract infection (UTI) in China. We conducted antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST), enzyme kinetics analysis, conjugation experiment, whole-genome sequencing (WGS), and bioinformatics analysis to characterize the blaNDM-36, -37 enzymes and their carrying strains. The blaNDM-36, -37 harboring E. coli isolates belonged to ST227, O9:H10 serotype and exhibited intermediate or resistance to all ß-lactams tested except aztreonam and aztreonam/avibactam. The genes of blaNDM-36, -37 were located on a conjugative IncHI2-type plasmid. NDM-37 differed from NDM-5 by a single amino acid substitution (His261Tyr). NDM-36 differed from NDM-37 by an additional missense mutation (Ala233Val). NDM-36 had increased hydrolytic activity toward ampicillin and cefotaxime relative to NDM-37 and NDM-5, while NDM-37 and NDM-36 had lower catalytic activity toward imipenem but higher activity against meropenem in comparison to NDM-5. This is the first report of co-occurrence of two novel blaNDM variants in E. coli isolated from the same patient. The work provides insights into the enzymatic function and demonstrates the ongoing evolution of NDM enzymes.

Dietary carbohydrate quantity and quality and risk of cardiovascular disease, all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Evidence remains conflicted on the association between dietary carbohydrate quantity and quality and risk of cardiovascular disease, all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality, and such meta-analyses are lacking. The study aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to synthesize the knowledge about their associations and to explore the dose-response relations. METHODS: We comprehensively searched PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science up to March 2022 for observational studies investigating the associations in adults. Random effect model was used to estimate the summary relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and the dose-response association was explored by restricted cubic splines. RESULTS: We obtained the data from 41 eligible studies. Compared with participants with lowest dietary carbohydrate intake, those with highest intake had an RR of 1.10 (95% CI 1.03-1.17, I2 = 52.8%) for cardiovascular disease, 1.10 (0.98-1.24, I2 = 65.5%) for coronary heart disease (CHD), 1.20 (1.08-1.34, I2 = 0) for stroke, 1.07 (1.00-1.14, I2 = 61.9%) for all-cause mortality, 1.02 (0.92-1.14, I2 = 51.3%) for cardiovascular mortality, and 1.01 (0.89-1.13, I2 = 56.7%) for cancer mortality. For each 5 %E increase in dietary carbohydrate intake, the summary RR was 1.02 (1.00-1.04, I2 = 66.8%) for cardiovascular disease, 1.04 (1.01-1.06, I2 = 0) for stroke but not significant for other outcomes. Restricted cubic splines showed linear associations with risk of cardiovascular disease (Pnon-linearity = 0.143), CHD (Pnon-linearity = 0.508), stroke (Pnon-linearity = 0.654) and non-linear associations with all-cause mortality (Pnon-linearity = 0.008) and cardiovascular mortality (Pnon-linearity = 0.055). Limited studies were found on the association of cardiovascular disease and mortality with dietary carbohydrate quality using a multidimensional and integrated indicator. CONCLUSIONS: Increased consumption of dietary carbohydrate intake is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and all-cause mortality. Linear relation was found for cardiovascular disease and stroke but non-linear relation for all-cause mortality. More studies are warranted to investigate the association of dietary carbohydrate quality using a combined indicator and cardiovascular disease and mortality.

Nestin+ Peyer's patch resident MSCs enhance healing of inflammatory bowel disease through IL-22-mediated intestinal epithelial repair.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic condition characterized by gastrointestinal tract inflammation and still lacks satisfactory treatments. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) show promising potential for treating IBD, but their therapeutic efficacy varies depending on the tissue of origin. We aim to investigate whether intestine Peyer's patch (PP)-derived MSCs have superior immunomodulatory effects on T cells and better therapeutic effects on IBD compared with bone marrow-derived MSCs. We isolated PPs-derived Nestin+ MSCs (MSCsPP ) and bone marrow-derived Nestin+ MSCs (MSCsBM ) from Nestin-GFP transgenic mice to explore their curative effects on murine IBD model. Moreover, we tested the effects of IL-22 knockdown and IL-22 overexpression on the therapeutic efficacy of MSCsPP and MSCsBM in murine IBD, respectively. We demonstrated that Nestin+ cells derived from murine PPs exhibit MSC-like biological characteristics. Compared with MSCsBM , MSCsPP possess enhanced immunoregulatory ability to suppress T cell proliferation and inflammatory cytokine production. Moreover, we observed that MSCsPP exhibited greater therapeutic efficacy than MSCsBM in murine IBD models. Interestingly, IL-22, which was highly expressed in MSCsPP , could alleviate the severity of the intestinal inflammation, while knockdown IL-22 of MSCsPP remarkably weakened the therapeutic effects. More importantly, IL-22 overexpressing MSCsBM could significantly improve the symptoms of murine IBD models. This study systemically demonstrated that murine MSCsPP have a prominent advantage in murine IBD treatment, partly through IL-22.