Tuberculosis infection among close contacts of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in China: a population-based, multicentered study.

OBJECTIVES: Limited information is currently available on the prevalence of and risk factors for tuberculosis infection (TBI) among close contacts of patients with pulmonary TB (PTB) in China. In this study, we estimated the burden of TBI among close contacts using QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube assay (QFT) and identified factors associated with TB transmission among this high-risk population. METHODS: From January 1, 2018 to August 31, 2020, we identified laboratory-confirmed patients with PTB from a population-based, multicentered, cluster-randomized control trial for tuberculosis preventive treatment. Close contacts of these patients were identified, interviewed, and tested using the QFT assay. We estimated TBI prevalence and calculated ORs and 95% CIs for TBI risk factors. RESULTS: A total of 3138 index cases and 8117 close contacts were identified. Of these contacts, 36 had PTB (a prevalence of 443.51 cases/100 000 population). Among the remaining 7986 close contacts; 3124 (39.12%) reported a positive QFT result. QFT positivity was significantly associated with older age (adjusted OR, 1.77; [95% CI, 1.27-2.47], 2.20; [95% CI, 1.59-3.05], and 2.74; [95% CI, 1.96-3.82]) for age groups: 35-44, 45-54, and 55-64, respectively) when compared with a younger age group: 5-14; longer contact duration (adjusted OR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.22-1.69); and sharing of a bedroom (adjusted OR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.18-1.65). DISCUSSION: Our findings indicate a high TBI burden among the close contacts of PTB. The results also highlighted that contact tracing and investigation for TBI are necessary and beneficial, particularly for those who are older, have had a longer contact duration, and share a bedroom.

Association between phthalate metabolite mixture in neonatal cord serum and birth outcomes.

Prenatal exposure to phthalates (PAEs) is ubiquitous among Chinese neonates. PAEs entering the body will be transformed to various hydrolyzed and oxidated PAE metabolites (mPAEs). PAEs and mPAEs exposure may lead to adverse birth outcomes through disruption of multiple hormone signaling pathways, induction of oxidative stress, and alterations in intracellular signaling processes. In this study, the concentrations of 11 mPAEs in 318 umbilical cord serum samples from neonates in Jinan were quantified with HPLC-ESI-MS. Multiple linear regression, Bayesian kernel machine regression, and quantile g-computation models were utilized to investigate the effects of both individual mPAE and mPAE mixture on birth outcomes. Stratified analysis was performed to explore whether these effects were gender-specific. mPAE mixture was negatively associated with birth length (BL) z-score, birth weight (BW) z-score, head circumference (HC) z-score, and ponderal index (PI). Mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP) manifested negative associations with BL(z-score), BW(z-score), HC(z-score), and PI, whereas mono(2-carboxymethylhexyl) phthalate (MCMHP) was negatively associated with BW(z-score) and PI within the mPAE mixture. Stratified analysis revealed that the negative associations between mPAE mixture and four birth outcomes were attenuated in female infants, while the positive impact of mono(2-ethyl-5carboxypentyl) phthalate (MECPP) on BL(z-score) and BW(z-score) could be detected only in females. In summary, our findings suggest that prenatal exposure to phthalates may be associated with intrauterine growth restriction, and these effects vary according to the gender of the infant.

Clinical and Genomic Characteristics of a Clinical Listeria Monocytogenes ST120 Isolate Recovered from a Pregnant Woman.

Background: Maternal-fetal listeriosis, caused by Listeria monocytogenes, is a rare but serious infection. Herein, we report the clinical and genomic characteristics of a clinical L. monocytogenes ST120 isolate recovered from a pregnant woman. Methods: The clinical symptoms and treatment in pregnant woman were described in detail. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) was performed on the L. monocytogenes isolate SJZ_LM001, and the genomic characterization of the isolate was deeply analyzed. Results: The clinical symptoms in pregnant women were mainly fever, and the placenta experienced severe inflammation. The pregnant woman was treated with ampicillin for effective anti-infective therapy. Genomic analysis showed that isolate SJZ_LM001 is sequence type (ST) 120, belong to clonal complex (CC)8 and lineage II of L. monocytogenes. Additionally, the isolates SJZ_LM001 harbored a novel plasmid pSJZ_LM001, which carried arsenical resistance genes (arsACD and acr3), and cadmium resistance genes (cadAC). Drug susceptibility testing showed that the isolate SJZ-LM001 was susceptible to ampicillin, meropenem, penicillin, and cotrimoxazole. Conclusion: This is the first to identify a clinical case of infection in a pregnant woman caused by ST120 L. monocytogenes in China. These findings could benefit our understanding of the genomic characteristics of L. monocytogenes, and the pregnancy-related listeriosis and providing early diagnosis and effective targeted treatment.

Screening of the shared pathogenic genes of ulcerative colitis and colorectal cancer by integrated bioinformatics analysis.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is one of the high-risk pathogenic factors for colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the shared gene and signalling mechanisms between UC and CRC remain unclear. The goal of this study was to delve more into the probable causal relationship between UC and CRC. CRC and UC datasets were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Using R software and Perl, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in both UC and CRC tissues were re-annotated and screened. The biological activities and signalling pathways involved in DEGs were investigated using Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses. The STRING database and Cytoscape software were used to construct the gene interaction network. A total of 384 DEGs were selected for further investigation, and functional analysis revealed that inflammatory and immunological responses were crucial in the development of the two diseases. Moreover, the top 15 key genes involved in the UC and CRC were screened using cytoHubba, including IL1B, CXCL10, CCL20, MMP9, ICAM1, CCL4, CXCR1, MMP3, TLR2, PTGS2, IL1RN, IL6, COL1A2, TIMP1 and CXCL1. The identification of these genes in the present study may provide a novel perspective for the prediction, prevention and personalized medicine of UC and CRC patients.

Financial Burden of Tuberculosis Patients - China, 2020.

What is already known about this topic?: Tuberculosis (TB) is often referred to as "a disease of poverty," yet the information regarding the financial burden of TB care is limited and regionally representative. What is added by this report?: This manuscript reported the national representative total and breakdown costs associated with TB care in China. The total cost per patient was 1,185 USD, of which 88% was direct cost and 37% was incurred prior to TB treatment. What are the implications for public health practice?: TB patients experience a significant financial burden, and disparities exist among different regions and populations. Current TB care policies and packages are not sufficient to address this issue.

Digital adherence technologies to improve tuberculosis treatment outcomes in China: a cluster-randomised superiority trial.

BACKGROUND: Drug-sensitive tuberculosis treatment requires 6 months of therapy, so adherence problems are common. Digital adherence technologies might improve tuberculosis treatment outcomes. We aimed to evaluate the effect of a daily reminder medication monitor, monthly review of adherence data by the health-care provider, and differentiated care for patients with adherence issues, on tuberculosis treatment adherence and outcomes. METHODS: We did a cluster-randomised superiority trial across four prefectures in China. 24 counties or districts (clusters) were randomly assigned (1:1) to intervention or control groups. We enrolled patients aged 18 years or older with GeneXpert-positive, rifampicin-sensitive pulmonary tuberculosis, who were receiving daily fixed-dose combination treatment. Patients in the intervention group received a medication monitor for daily drug-dosing reminders, monthly review of adherence data by health-care provider, and management of poor adherence; and patients in the control group received routine care (silent-mode monitor-measured adherence). Only the independent endpoints review committee who assessed endpoint data for some participants were masked to study group assignment. Patients were followed up (with sputum solid culture) at 12 and 18 months. The primary outcome was a composite of death, loss to follow-up, treatment failure, switch to multidrug-resistant tuberculosis treatment, or tuberculosis recurrence by 18 months from treatment start, analysed in the intention-to-treat population. Analysis accounted for study design with multiple imputation for the primary outcome. This trial is now complete and is registered with ISRCTN, 35812455. FINDINGS: Between Jan 26, 2017, and April 3, 2019, 15 257 patients were assessed for eligibility and 3074 were enrolled, 2686 (87%) of whom were included in the intention-to-treat population. 1909 (71%) of 2686 patients were male, 777 (29%) were female, and the median age was 44 years (IQR 29-58). By 18 months from treatment start, using multiple imputation for missing outcomes, 239 (16% [geometric mean of cluster-level proportion]) of 1388 patients in the control group and 224 (16%) of 1298 in the intervention group had a primary composite outcome event (289 [62%] of 463 events were loss to follow-up during treatment and 42 [9%] were tuberculosis recurrence). The intervention had no effect on risk of the primary composite outcome (adjusted risk ratio 1·01, 95% CI 0·73-1·40). INTERPRETATION: Our digital medication monitor intervention had no effect on unfavourable outcomes, which included loss to follow-up during treatment, tuberculosis recurrence, death, and treatment failure. There was a failure to change patient management following identification of treatment non-adherence at monthly reviews. A better understanding of adherence patterns and how they relate to poor outcomes, coupled with a more timely review of adherence data and improved implementation of differentiated care, may be required. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Inorganic-Organic Silica/PDMS Nanocomposite Antiadhesive Coating with Ultrahigh Hardness and Thermal Stability.

Antiadhesive surfaces have been gaining continuous attention, because of the scientific and industrial significance. Slippery surfaces and antismudge coatings with antiadhesive behavior have been readily designed and prepared. However, improving robustness of the surfaces, especially the simultaneous demonstration of features of high hardness, excellent adhesion to different substrates, and high thermal stability, is constantly challenging. Herein, we present a silica/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) nanocomposite coating (SPNC), wherein silica acts as a consecutive phase and nanophased PDMS is covalently embedded. The nanoconfined PDMS phase exhibits enhanced thermal stability and endows SPNC with slippery behavior; meanwhile, enrichment of PDMS on the surface renders a gradient composition of the coating. Accordingly, the inorganic-organic SPNC simultaneously displays a high nanoindentation hardness of 3.07 GPa and a pencil hardness over 9H, outstanding thermal stability of the slippery performance up to 400 °C, and excellent adhesion strength to different substrates. Additionally, SPNC exhibits high optical transparency, flexibility, resistance to bacterial clone, and chemical corrosion. With the scalable fabrication process, it can be envisioned that the antiadhesive coating with unprecedented comprehensive merits in this work has significant potentials for large-area applications, especially under severe service environments.

Effect of the hospital-community-family (HCF) nutritional management on patients with esophageal and head and neck cancers undergoing radiotherapy: a randomized control trial.

Background: Malnutrition is particularly common in patients undergoing radiotherapy for head and neck cancers (HNC) and esophageal cancers (EC). Proper nutritional management plays an important role in improving the nutritional status and reducing complications in patients undergoing radiotherapy for malignancy. With most nutrition studies limited to the nutritional management of patients during hospitalization or after discharge, there is a lack of research evidence on the nutritional management of patients in combination with out-of-hospital. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the hospital-community-family (HCF) nutritional management model on nutritional status and radiotherapy complications in EC and HNC radiotherapy patients. Methods: Between October 2019 and October 2021, a total of 116 EC and HNC radiotherapy patients were randomized into control group (conventional nutritional support) and experimental group (HCF-model nutritional management), and assessed weekly for 3 months. The primary endpoint was the patient's Nutrition Risk Screening 2002 (NRS2002) score, Scored Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA), weight change, and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score from baseline level to 3 months after the end of treatment. The secondary endpoints were the incidence of albumin, hemoglobin, hematological parameters, and radiotherapy complications. Results: A total of 95 patients (47 in the control group and 48 in the experimental group) completed the study. At 3 months after treatment, NRS2002 (P=0.028) and PG-SGA (P=0.022) decreased, and albumin was higher (P=0.001) than at the beginning of treatment in HCF group. Weight decreased (P<0.001) and PG-SGA was higher after 3 months of treatment (P=0.012) in the control group. PG-SGA (P<0.001), NRS2002 (P<0.001), and ECOG (P=0.006) in the HCF group at the end of the 3-month treatment period were lower in the conventional group (P<0.05). The incidence of radiation mucositis (P=0.018)and radiation dermatitis (P=0.028) in the HCF nutrition management group was significantly reduced (P<0.05). Conclusions: HCF-model nutritional management significantly improved the nutritional status and reduced the incidence and severity of radiation mucositis and dermatitis for EC and HNC radiotherapy patients. These findings suggest that HCF-model nutritional management is a promising nutritional management model. Trial Registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry identifier: ChiCTR2300068399.

Polysaccharides from Enteromorpha prolifera alleviate hypercholesterolemia via modulating the gut microbiota and bile acid metabolism.

Polysaccharides from Enteromorpha prolifera (EP) possess multiple biological activities, while the role of EP in hypercholesterolemia and its relationship with the gut microbiota have not been elucidated. To address this issue, fifty male C57BL/6J mice were randomly subjected to a basal diet and a high-fat and high-cholesterol diet, and 3 treatment groups were fed an HFHC diet supplemented with different dosages of EP (100, 200 and 300 mg kg-1 day-1) for 12 weeks. Here we show that EP intervention lowered serum concentrations of total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and inhibited hepatic cholesterol deposition. EP intervention also upregulated the gene expression related to the hepatic cholesterol uptake and bile acid synthetic pathway. Apart from that, EP altered the gut microbiota, pre-dominantly increasing microbes associated with bile acid metabolism, such as norank_f_ Muribaculaceae. Moreover, bile acid profile analysis revealed that EP could alter the fecal bile acid profile and reduce fecal conjugated bile acids. Further correlation analysis indicated the negative correlation of Bacteroides, norank_f_ Muribaculaceae and Ileibacterium abundance with the levels of fecal conjugated bile acids and serum TC and LDL-C, while the abundance of Proteobacteria and Lachnoclosteridium showed a positive association with conjugated bile acids and serum TC. To sum up, the above findings revealed that EP may alleviate hypercholesterolemia and regulate cholesterol metabolism in ways that promote a favorable fecal microbiota composition and modulate bile acid metabolism.

Self-Psychological Control and Creativity of Music Creation in Multimusic Environment.

This study aimed to solve the difficulties in the research of self-psychology, three executive controls, and creativity in multimusic environment. In today's teaching and performance, the study of piano adaptation has practical significance in broadening artistic vision, improving performance technology, and training symphonic music thinking. A research method of self-psychological three executive controls and creativity generation for creation in multimusic environment is proposed. A computer composition algorithm is based on the hidden Markov model and interactive genetic algorithm. By integrating melody elements and rhythm into the traditional Markov model with only notes or rhythm as the unit, a new hidden Markov music prediction model is established, and the interactive genetic algorithm is used to optimize the music segments. Simulation results show that the algorithm can use a small dataset to quickly create music clips with certain melody logic and in line with users' personality. It is proved that the method based on the hidden Markov model and interactive genetic algorithm can meet the research needs of self-psychological three execution control and creativity generation in multimusic environment.

Acceptability of Tuberculosis Preventive Treatment Strategies Among Healthcare Workers Using an Online Survey - China, 2021.

What is already known about this topic?: In the absence of effective vaccines, tuberculosis preventive treatment (TPT) is essential for the rapid decrease in incidences of tuberculosis (TB), and healthcare workers' acceptability is vital to implementing TPT. What is added by this report?: Overall, 86.5% of healthcare workers knew what TPT was. Most (56.3%) healthcare workers agreed to implement TPT among high-risk groups with latent tuberculosis infection. Drug resistance, adverse events, and unguaranteed efficacy were three main barriers for healthcare workers in accepting TPT. What are the implications for public health practice?: To further promote and implement TPT in China, practical measures included policy support, high-quality training for healthcare workers, and enhanced public awareness of TB prevention and control.

The Atomic Oxygen Erosion Resistance Effect and Mechanism of the Perhydropolysilazane-Derived SiOx Coating Used on Polymeric Materials in Space Environment.

In this work, the atomic oxygen (AO) erosion-resistance effect and mechanism of the Perhydropolysilazane (PHPS) coating were investigated from the perspective of element distribution in the depth direction. The results revealed that the coating demonstrated good adhesion and intrinsic AO erosion-resistance, which was attributed to the composition gradient formed in the coating. Moreover, the oxygen ratio of the SiOx on top layer of the coating could be elevated during AO exposure, strengthening the Ar ion etching durability of the coating. According to these results, an AO erosion-resistance mechanism model of the PHPS-derived SiOx coating was finally obtained.

p-Phenylenediamine Antioxidants in PM2.5: The Underestimated Urban Air Pollutants.

The wide use and continuous abrasion of rubber-related products appears to be leading to an incredible release of p-phenylenediamine (PPD) antioxidants in the environment. However, no related research has been conducted on the pollution characteristics and potential health risks of PM2.5-bound PPDs. We report for the first time the ubiquitous distributions of six emerging PPDs and a quinone derivative, N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N'-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine quinone (6PPDQ), in PM2.5 from urban areas of China. Atmospheric contamination levels of PM2.5-bound PPDs were found to be mostly in pg m-3 amounts between 2018 and 2019. Urban vehicle rubber tire abrasion was found to probably contribute to the PPDs in PM2.5 and accounted for their significant spatiotemporal-dependent concentration variations. Furthermore, 6PPDQ, an emerging oxidation product of 6PPD in the environment, was first quantified (pg m-3) with a total detection rate of 81% in the urban PM2.5, demonstrating its broad existence. On the basis of the determined ambient concentrations, the annual intakes of PPDs and 6PPDQ for adults were not low, indicating their possible human health risks induced by long-term exposure. This study confirms the widespread occurrence of PPDs and 6PPDQ in PM2.5, showing that the pollution of such compounds in urban air should not be underestimated.

Resistance Switching Behavior of a Perhydropolysilazane-Derived SiOx-Based Memristor.

SiOx is an important dielectric material layer for resistive switching memory due to its compatibility with complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Here we propose a solution process for a SiOx dielectric layer based on perhydropolysilazane (PHPS). A series of SiOx layers with different compositions are prepared by controlling the conversion process from PHPS, then the resistance switching behaviors of typical Ag/SiOx/Au memristors are analyzed. The effect of oxygen vacancies and Si-OH groups on the formation and rupture of Ag conducting filaments (CFs) in the SiOx layer was thoroughly investigated. Ultimately, we achieved a high-performance memristor with a coefficient of variation (σ/µ) as low as 0.16 ± 0.08 and an on/off ratio as high as 106, which can rival the performance of the SiOx memristors based on the high-vacuum and high-cost vapor deposition methods. These findings demonstrate the high promise of the PHPS-derived SiOx dielectric layer in the field of memristors.

Predicted Impact of the COVID-19 Responses on Deaths of Tuberculosis - China, 2020.

WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS TOPIC?: The World Health Organization has estimated the impact of reductions in the performance of global tuberculosis (TB) detection and care on TB deaths. However, the actual impact of COVID-19 pandemic on TB deaths in China remains unclear. WHAT IS ADDED BY THIS REPORT?: The stringent public interventions to fight COVID-19 including lockdown led to more than 20% decrease of TB detection in China. It was predicted that the reduction of TB detection might result in 11,700 excess deaths based on assumption of no detection rebound. Based on the prediction the total deaths will be 51,100 in 2020 which might surpass the deaths in 2011. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE?: Rapid restoration of TB diagnosis and care services is critical for minimizing the potential effects on TB-related deaths and bringing TB burden back to control. It is urgent to ramp up case detection including active case finding and to provide an uninterrupted supply of quality-assured treatment and care for TB cases in post-COVID-19 outbreak.

Flexible Hard Coatings with Self-Evolution Behavior in a Low Earth Orbit Environment.

Lightweight, long lifetime, and flexible polymer membrane-based structures, which are tightly folded on the ground and then unfolded in space, suffer from repeated bending before launching and fatal erosion on exposure to atomic oxygen (AO) in a low Earth orbit (LEO). Although various AO-resistant coatings have been developed, a coating that can simultaneously meet the critical requirements for the mechanical robustness and long-term protection of polymer membranes is rare. Here, we fabricated a coating with mechanical robustness and long-term space endurance, starting from an inorganic polymer precursor. A hybrid coating with a nanoscale polymer/silica bicontinuous phase is first prepared on the ground, which exhibits outstanding flexibility and excellent abrasion resistance. Then, the coating shows an in situ self-evolution behavior under AO and ultraviolet (UV) synergism to afford dense and crack-free silica coating with outstanding endurance. Our strategy displays great potential for protecting deployable membrane structures serving in the LEO.

Acquired ALK Resistance Mutations Identified from Liquid Biopsy in an ALK-Rearranged Squamous Cell Lung Cancer Patient Treated with Sequential ALK TKI Therapy: A Case Report.

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangement is extremely rare in lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC), and it remains controversial as to whether LSCC patients with ALK rearrangement can benefit from ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Here, we report an LSCC patient with ALK rearrangement who was treated with sequential ALK TKI therapies and experienced a clinical benefit of 35 months. Although the use of ALK TKIs showed clinical benefits, targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) for dynamic monitoring of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) from patient plasma revealed the accumulation of ALK resistance mutations, which could provide valuable information in designing the treatment strategy. Our study highlights the importance of dynamic monitoring of ctDNA using NGS to discover tumor evolution to guide treatment decision-making and provides meaningful insights into the potential treatment options for ALK-positive LSCC patients.

The decay of airborne bacteria and fungi in a constant temperature and humidity test chamber.

Despite substantial research to profile the microbial characteristics in the atmosphere, the changing metabolism underpinning microbial successional dynamics remains ambiguous. Herein, we applied qPCR, high-throughput sequencing of the genes encoding 16S and ITS rRNA to render the bacterial/fungal dynamics of ambient PM2.5 filters maintained at constant conditions of temperature (20 ± 2 °C) and humidity (50 ± 5%). The incubation experiments which lasted for 50 days aim to simulate a metabolic process of microbe in two types PM2.5 (polluted and non-polluted). The results show that microbial community species in polluted PM2.5 had faster decay rates, more bacterial diversity and less fungal community compared to the non-polluted ones. For bacteria, the proportion of anaerobic species is higher than aerobic ones, and their performance of contain mobile elements, form-biofilms, and pathogenic risks declined rapidly as times went by. Whereas for fungi, saprotroph species occupied about 70% of the population, resulting in a specified peak of abundance due to the adequacy nutrients supplied by the apoptosis cells. Combining the classified microbial species, we found stable community structure and the volatile ones related to the various metabolic survival strategies during different time. Without the input of peripheral environment, the health risks of airborne microbe descend to a healthy level after 20 days, implying their biologic effectiveness was about 20 days no matter the air is polluted or not. This study provided new insights into the different metabolic survival of airborne microorganisms in ideal and stable conditions.

Male renal functions are associated with serum short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins in residents from Jinan, China.

BACKGROUND: Chlorinated paraffins (CPs) are contaminants ubiquitously detected in environmental samples, and reports addressing CPs in human samples are expanding. While CP exposure was suggested to impair kidney function by in vivo/in vitro experiments, epidemiological evidence is lacking. OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations between serum total short-chain CP and medium-chain CP concentrations (∑SCCPs and ∑MCCPs) with human kidney function. METHODS: The study samples were obtained from 387 participants living in Jinan, North China. We quantified ∑SCCPs and ∑MCCPs in serum samples and evaluated the kidney function of included subjects by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). The associations between serum ∑SCCPs, ∑MCCPs and eGFR were estimated using multivariable linear regression and logistic regression. The possible gender-dependent effects were studied by stratified analysis. RESULTS: After adjusting for age, education, smoking status, drinking status, body mass index (BMI), family history of chronic kidney disease (CKD), fasting serum glucose, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure, higher concentrations of serum ∑SCCPs and ∑MCCPs were associated with higher male eGFR (ß = 3.13 mL/min/1.73 m2 per one ln-unit increase of serum ∑SCCPs, 95%CI: 1.72, 4.54, p = 0.016; ß = 3.52 mL/min/1.73 m2 per one ln-unit increase of serum ∑MCCPs, 95%CI: 1.89, 5.17, p = 0.011). Associations between serum ∑SCCPs, ∑MCCPs and female eGFR were null. Comparing higher (above the median serum CP levels) vs. lower exposure groups, serum ∑SCCPs and ∑MCCPs were associated with an elevated risk of glomerular hyperfiltration (GH, eGFR ≥ 135 mL/min/1.73 m2), which was associated with glomerular damage and represented as an early stage of chronic kidney disease (OR = 2.98; 95% CI: 1.24, 4.71 for SCCPs; OR = 3.25; 95% CI: 1.20, 5.29 for MCCPs). CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that male serum ∑SCCPs and ∑MCCPs are associated with an increased risk of GH, indicating early-stage kidney impairment.

Room-Temperature, Solution-Processed SiOx via Photochemistry Approach for Highly Flexible Resistive Switching Memory.

Due to its high versatility and cost-effectiveness, solution process has a remarkable advantage over physical or chemical vapor deposition (PVD/CVD) methods in developing flexible resistive random-access memory (RRAM) devices. However, the reported solution-processed binary oxides, the most promising active layer materials for their compatibility with silicon-based semiconductor technology, commonly require high-temperature annealing (>145 °C) and the RRAMs based on them encounter insufficient flexibility. In this work, an amorphous and uniform SiOx active layer was prepared by irradiating an inorganic polymer, perhydropolysilazane, with a vacuum ultraviolet of 172 nm at room temperature. The corresponding RRAM showed typical bipolar resistance switching with a forming-free behavior. The device on polyimide film exhibited outstanding flexibility with a minimum bending radius of 0.5 mm, and no performance degradation was observed after bending 2000 times with a radius of 2.3 mm, which is the best among the reported solution-processed binary oxide-based RRAMs and can even rival the performance of PVD/CVD-based devices. This room-temperature solution process and the afforded highly flexible RRAMs have vast prospects for application in smart wearable electronics.