Association of healthy diet score and adiposity with risk of colorectal cancer: findings from the UK Biobank prospective cohort study.

PURPOSE: To explore the joint association of dietary patterns and adiposity with colorectal cancer (CRC), and whether adiposity mediates the relationship between dietary patterns and CRC risk, which could provide deeper insights into the underlying pathogenesis of CRC. METHODS: The data of 307,023 participants recruited between 2006 and 2010 were extracted from the UK Biobank study. Healthy diet scores were calculated based on self-reported dietary data at baseline, and participants were categorized into three groups, namely, low, intermediate, and high diet score groups. Cox regression models with hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to estimate the effects of the healthy diet score on CRC incidence, adjusting for various covariates. Furthermore, the mediation roles of obesity and central obesity between the healthy diet score and CRC risk were assessed using a counterfactual causal analysis based on Cox regression model. Additionally, joint association between dietary patterns and adiposity on CRC risks was assessed on the additive and multiplicative scales. RESULTS: Over a median 6.2-year follow-up, 3,276 participants developed CRC. After adjusting for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, a lower risk of CRC incidence was found for participants with intermediate (HR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.72 to 0.95) and high diet scores (HR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.62 to 0.87) compared to those with low diet scores. When compared with the low diet score group, obesity accounted for 4.13% and 7.93% of the total CRC effect in the intermediate and high diet score groups, respectively, while central obesity contributed to 3.68% and 10.02% of the total CRC risk in the intermediate and high diet score groups, respectively. The mediating effect of adiposity on CRC risk was significant in men but not in women. Concurrent unhealthy diet and adiposity multiplied CRC risk. CONCLUSION: Adiposity-mediated effects were limited in the link between dietary patterns and CRC incidence, implying that solely addressing adiposity may not sufficiently reduce CRC risk. Interventions, such as improving dietary quality in people with adiposity or promoting weight control in those with unhealthy eating habits, may provide an effective strategy to reduce CRC risk.

Rapid Visual Detection of Peronophythora litchii on Lychees Using Recombinase Polymerase Amplification Combined with Lateral Flow Assay Based on the Unique Target Gene Pl_101565.

Downy blight, caused by Peronophythora litchii, is a destructive disease that impacts lychee fruit throughout the pre-harvest, post-harvest, and transportation phases. Therefore, the prompt and precise identification of P. litchii is crucial for the effective management of the disease. A novel gene encoding a Rh-type ammonium transporter, Pl_101565, was identified in P. litchii through bioinformatic analysis in this study. Based on this gene, a coupled recombinase polymerase amplification-lateral flow (RPA-LF) assay for the rapid visual detection of P. litchii was developed. The assay has been shown to detect P. litchii accurately, without cross-reactivity to related pathogenic oomycetes or fungi. Moreover, it can be performed effectively within 15 to 25 min at temperatures ranging from 28 to 46 °C. Under optimized conditions, the RPA-LF assay could detect as low as 1 pg of P. litchii genomic DNA in a 25 µL reaction system. Furthermore, the RPA-LF assay successfully detected P. litchii in infected lychee samples within a 30 min timeframe. These attributes establish the RPA-LF assay as a rapid, sensitive, and specific method for diagnosing P. litchii early; it is particularly suitable for applications in resource-limited settings.

Association between smoking, smoking cessation and serum α-klotho levels among American adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

α-klotho is an anti-aging protein. The correlation between smoking, smoking cessation and serum α-klotho levels remains controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between smoking, smoking cessation and serum α-klotho levels. This cross-sectional study finally included 4877 participants, aged 40-79 years, who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey studies from 2013 to 2016. Of these, 2312 (47.4%) were men and 894 (18.3%) were current smokers, and the mean age of the participants was 57.8±10.7 years. Multivariate linear regression modeling was used to assess the association between smoking, smoking cessation and serum α-klotho levels. After adjustment for multiple confounders, this study observed that smoking was negatively associated with serum α-klotho levels (ß: -58.3; 95% confidence interval CI: -82.0 to -34.6; p<0.001), whereas smoking cessation was positively associated with serum α-klotho levels (ß: 52.3; 95% CI: 24.1 to 80.6; p<0.001). In subgroup and interaction analyses, p-value for the interaction between smoking and race on serum klotho levels was found to be less than 0.001. The correlation between smoking, smoking cessation and serum α-klotho levels remained stable after propensity score matching (ß: -54.1; 95% CI: -81.5 to -26.7; p<0.001, ß: 54.8; 95% CI: 24.2 to 85.4; p<0.001). In a large sample population, the present study found that smoking, smoking cessation and serum α-klotho levels were associated in opposite directions.

Involvement of Calpain in Neurovascular Unit Damage through Up-regulating PARP-NF-κB Signaling during Experimental Ischemic Stroke.

Calpain and PARP-NF-κB signaling are reported to participate in the ischemic brain injury. In this study, it was investigated whether calpain was contributed to the neurovascular unit (NVU) damage through up-regulating PARP-NF-κB signaling during experimental ischemic stroke. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were suffered from 90 min of middle cerebral artery occlusion, followed by reperfusion. The NVU damage was evaluated by the permeability of blood-brain barrier (BBB), the degradation of proteins in extracellular matrix and tight junctions, and ultrastructural changes. The inflammatory response was determined by the expression of inflammatory genes driven by PARP-NF-κB signaling and the activities of myeloperoxidase (MPO). Treatment with MDL 28,170, a calpain inhibitor, improved neurological functions, reduced TUNEL staining index, lessened brain swelling, and decreased infarct volume in ischemic rats. Moreover, it reduced the BBB permeability, enhanced the levels of laminin, collagen IV and occludin, and attenuated the ultrastructural damage of NVU in penumbra and core after induction of ischemia. Meanwhile, it enhanced the levels of cytosolic IκBα, lessened the levels of nuclear PARP and NF-κB p65, reduced the levels of ICAM-1, TNF-α, IL-1ß, MMP-9, and MMP-2,and suppressed the activities of MPO in penumbra and core. These data showed that calpain inhibition suppressed PARP-NF-κB signaling-mediated inflammatory response, reduced NVU damage, and protected brain against ischemic stroke, suggesting the involvement of calpain in the NVU damage through up-regulating PARP-NF-κB signaling during brain ischemia.

Effects of 24-hour urine-output trajectories on the risk of acute kidney injury in critically ill patients with cirrhosis: a retrospective cohort analysis.

BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is one of the most common complications for critically ill patients with cirrhosis, but it has remained unclear whether urine output fluctuations are associated with the risk of AKI in such patients. Thus, we explored the influence of 24-h urine-output trajectory on AKI in patients with cirrhosis through latent category trajectory modeling. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective cohort study examined patients with cirrhosis using the MIMIC-IV database. Changes in the trajectories of urine output within 24 h after admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) were categorized using latent category trajectory modeling. The outcome examined was the occurrence of AKI during ICU hospitalization. The risk of AKI in patients with different trajectory classes was explored using the cumulative incidence function (CIF) and the Fine-Gray model with the sub-distribution hazard ratio (SHR) and the 95% confidence interval (CI) as size effects. RESULTS: The study included 3,562 critically ill patients with cirrhosis, of which 2,467 (69.26%) developed AKI during ICU hospitalization. The 24-h urine-output trajectories were split into five classes (Classes 1-5). The CIF curves demonstrated that patients with continuously low urine output (Class 2), a rapid decline in urine output after initially high levels (Class 3), and urine output that decreased slowly and then stabilized at a lower level (Class 4) were at higher risk for AKI than those with consistently moderate urine output (Class 1). After fully adjusting for various confounders, Classes 2, 3, and 4 were associated with a higher risk of AKI compared with Class 1, and the respective SHRs (95% CIs) were 2.56 (1.87-3.51), 1.86 (1.34-2.59), and 1.83 1.29-2.59). CONCLUSIONS: The 24-h urine-output trajectory is significantly associated with the risk of AKI in critically ill patients with cirrhosis. More attention should be paid to the dynamic nature of urine-output changes over time, which may help guide early intervention and improve patients' prognoses.

Mortality patterns of patients with tonsillar squamous cell carcinoma: a population-based study.

Objective: Tonsillar squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) and second primary malignancies (SPMs) are the most common causes of mortality in patients with primary TSCC. However, the competing data on TSCC-specific death (TSD) or SPM-related death in patients with TSCC have not been evaluated. This study aimed to analyze the mortality patterns and formulate prediction models of mortality risk caused by TSCC and SPMs. Methods: Data on patients with a first diagnosis of TSCC were extracted as the training cohort from the 18 registries comprising the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. A competing risk approach of cumulation incidence function was used to estimate cumulative incidence curves. Fine and gray proportional sub-distributed hazard model analyses were performed to investigate the risk factors of TSD and SPMs. A nomogram was developed to predict the 5- and 10-year risk probabilities of death caused by TSCC and SPMs. Moreover, data from the 22 registries of the SEER database were also extracted to validate the nomograms. Results: In the training cohort, we identified 14,530 patients with primary TSCC, with TSCC (46.84%) as the leading cause of death, followed by SPMs (26.86%) among all causes of death. In the proportion of SPMs, the lungs and bronchus (22.64%) were the most common sites for SPM-related deaths, followed by the larynx (9.99%), esophagus (8.46%), and Non-Melanoma skin (6.82%). Multivariate competing risk model showed that age, ethnicity, marital status, primary site, summary stage, radiotherapy, and surgery were independently associated with mortality caused by TSCC and SPMs. Such risk factors were selected to formulate prognostic nomograms. The nomograms showed preferable discrimination and calibration in both the training and validation cohorts. Conclusion: Patients with primary TSCC have a high mortality risk of SPMs, and the competing risk nomogram has an ideal performance for predicting TSD and SPMs-related mortality. Routine follow-up care for TSCC survivors should be expanded to monitor SPMs.

Sanya climatic-treatment cohort profile: objectives, design, and baseline characteristics.

Background: The prevalence of allergic diseases has increased globally, climate and environment also have important effects on respiratory or allergic diseases. However, population-based studies investigating the impact of tropical climates and environments on migratory-bird old people (MBOP) are lacking. Methods/Design: For this prospective cohort study, we recruited 756 participants from the community in Sanya City, Hainan Province, China. In addition to the completed baseline survey, a follow-up survey will be conducted during the periods of October-December and March-April for the next 3 years of MBEPs from northern China who spend the winter in Sanya. We will continue to record the height, weight, and blood pressure of all participants, as well as lung function for those with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Venous blood at baseline and urine samples will be collected during follow-up. Results: A total of 756 volunteers were recruited. Their average age is 66.1 years; 32.1% of them have high-school educations, while 37.3% have graduated from college or done undergraduate studies. The top five diseases in this cohort are allergic rhinitis (57.9%); eczema, urticaria, or dermatitis (35.6%); bronchitis and bronchiectasis (35.6%); asthma (14.7%); and emphysema (11.7%). Compared with their symptoms while at their summer places of residence, rates of remission reported by participants while living in Sanya were 80.4% for allergic rhinitis, 82.3% for bronchitis and emphysema, 85.2% for asthma, 96.0% for COPD (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The baseline survey has been completed. The preliminary findings support that a tropical climate may relieve the symptoms of allergic diseases in migratory-bird old people.

Thiamine administration may increase survival benefit in critically ill patients with myocardial infarction.

Background: Myocardial infarction (MI) is a common cardiovascular disease (CVD) in critically ill patients, leading to 17% mortality in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting. Patients with CVD frequently suffer from thiamine insufficiency, thereby thiamine supplements may be helpful. Unfortunately, the relationship between thiamine treatment and survival outcomes in ICU patients with MI is still unknown. The purpose of the research is to demonstrate the survival advantage of thiamine application in these patients. Methods: The Medical Information Mart of Intensive Care-IV database served as the foundation for this retrospective cohort analysis. Depending on whether patients were given thiamine therapy during the hospital stay, critically ill MI patients were split into the thiamine and non-thiamine groups. The Kaplan-Meier (KM) method and Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate the relationship between thiamine use and the risk of in-hospital, 30-day, and 90-day mortality. To validate the results, a 1:2 closest propensity-score matching (PSM) was also carried out. Results: This study included 1782 patients for analysis with 170 and 1,612 individuals in the thiamine and non-thiamine groups, respectively. The KM survival analyses revealed that the risk of in-hospital, 30-day, and 90-day mortality was significantly lower in the thiamine group than the none-thiamine group. After modifying for a variety of confounding factors, the Cox regression models demonstrated substantial positive impacts of thiamine use on in-hospital, 30-d, and 90-d mortality risk among critically ill patients with MI with hazard ratio being 0.605 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.397-0.921, p = 0.019], 0.618 (95% CI: 0.398-0.960, p = 0.032), and 0.626 (95% CI: 0.411-0.953, p = 0.028), respectively, in the completely modified model. PSM analyses also obtained consistent results. Conclusion: Thiamine supplementation is related to a decreased risk of mortality risk in critically ill patients with MI who are admitted to the ICU. More multicenter, large-sample, and well-designed randomized controlled trials are needed to validate this finding.

Leveraging Deep Learning for IoT Transceiver Identification.

With the increasing demand for Internet of Things (IoT) network applications, the lack of adequate identification and authentication has become a significant security concern. Radio frequency fingerprinting techniques, which utilize regular radio traffic as the identification source, were then proposed to provide a more secured identification approach compared to traditional security methods. Such solutions take hardware-level characteristics as device fingerprints to mitigate the risk of pre-shared key leakage and lower computational complexity. However, the existing studies suffer from problems such as location dependence. In this study, we have proposed a novel scheme for further exploiting the spectrogram and the carrier frequency offset (CFO) as identification sources. A convolutional neural network (CNN) is chosen as the classifier. The scheme addressed the location-dependence problem in the existing identification schemes. Experimental evaluations with data collected in the real world have indicated that the proposed approach can achieve 80% accuracy even if the training and testing data are collected on different days and at different locations, which is 13% higher than state-of-the-art approaches.

Is the incident of once chronic obstructive pulmonary disease related admission a high risk for readmission in the future?

Background: Although it is known that a history of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) is the most important predictor of future risk of AECOPD and readmission to hospitals, there is no scientific evidence that an event of only one chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)-related admission is a high risk of future readmission. We retrospectively analyzed the association of an incident of one COPD-related admission with future readmission risk. Methods: This is a retrospective study. The data of AECOPD-related admissions and readmissions during 5 years were obtained and analyzed for the admission frequencies of patients with AECOPD and an association of the admission history with a future readmission risk. Results: The admission frequency of patients with frequent admission (3 or more admissions within 5 years) was 4.1 times that of those with non-frequent admission (0.95 vs. 0.23 times per person per year). In each calendar year during the 5-year study period, most patients (88.2%) were hospitalized only once, and 11.8% had two or more admissions. Nevertheless, their average number of admissions in each calendar year was 3.3 times that of those who only had one admission each year (3.33 vs. 1.00 times per person per year). More importantly, the positive predictive value for future readmission due to AECOPD was only 14.8% in those who had one admission in the previous year. The patients with the greater readmission risk were those with two or more admissions due to AECOPD in the previous year [crude odds ratio (OR): 4.10, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.24-13.58 and 7.51, 95% CI: 3.81-16.68]. Conclusions: There is a subtype of frequent admission due to AECOPD, and it can be distinguished by having three or more admissions in the past 5 years or two or more admissions in the previous year. Nevertheless, an incident of admission once a year is not a good predictor of future readmission.

Secular trend in disease burden of leukemia and its subtypes in China from 1990 to 2019 and its projection in 25 years.

Leukemia and its subtypes impose a major public health challenge in China. Identifying the secular trend of leukemia burden is critical to facilitate optimal healthcare planning and improve the management of leukemia. The incidence rates of leukemia from 1990 to 2019 were collected from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 database according to the following: subtype (acute lymphocytic leukemia [ALL], acute myeloid leukemia [AML], chronic lymphocytic leukemia [CLL], chronic myelogenous leukemia [CML], and other leukemia subtypes), sex, and age group. The average annual percentage changes and relative risks were calculated using joinpoint regression and the age-period-cohort model, respectively. The Bayesian age-period-cohort model was also applied to predict the future trend of the incidence of leukemia and its subtypes in the next 25 years. From 1990 to 2019, the age-standardized incidence rates (ASIRs) of leukemia slightly declined in males and females, which is similar to the trend of other leukemia subtypes. However, the four major leukemia subtypes, namely, ALL, AML, CLL, and CML, have been on the rise over the past three decades. The incidence rates of leukemia in children and the elderly were considerably higher than those in other age groups in males and females. Age effects were the most influential risk factor for leukemia incidence. Period effects showed that the risks of leukemia and its subtypes incidence increased with time. For cohort effects, the risks of leukemia and its subtypes were higher among the early-born cohorts compared with the late-born cohorts. The ASIRs of leukemia and its subtypes will continue to increase in the next 25 years. The burden of leukemia and its subtypes is expected to continue to increase in the next 25 years in males and females. A comprehensive understanding of the risk characteristics and disease pattern of leukemia and its subtypes is needed to formulate timely and effective intervention measures to reduce the leukemia burden in China.

Trend and projection of larynx cancer incidence and mortality in China from 1990 to 2044: A Bayesian age-period-cohort modeling study.

BACKGROUND: Larynx cancer is one of the most common cancers in head and neck, and imposes heavy burden on individual and societies. A comprehensive understanding of the burden of larynx cancer is necessary to improve prevention and control strategies. However, the secular trend of larynx cancer incidence and mortality in China remains unclear. METHODS: The incidence and deaths rates of larynx cancer from 1990 to 2019 were collected from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 database. The temporal trend of larynx cancer was analyzed using a joinpoint regression model. The age-period-cohort model was used to explore the age, period, and cohort effects on larynx cancer and predict future trends up to 2044. RESULTS: From 1990 to 2019, the age-standardized incidence rate of larynx cancer in China increased by 1.3% (95% CI 1.1 to 1.5) in males, but decreased by 0.5% (95% CI -0.1 to 0) in females. The age-standardized mortality rate of larynx cancer in China decreased by 0.9% (95% CI -1.1 to -0.6) and 2.2% (95% CI -2.8 to -1.7) in males and females, respectively. Among the four risk factors, smoking and alcohol use contributed to a heavier burden compared to occupational exposure to asbestos and sulfuric acid with respect to mortality. Age effects showed that the incidence and deaths of larynx cancer were concentrated in people older than 50 years old. Period effects exerted the most significant effect on larynx cancer incidence for males. In terms of cohort effects, people born in the earlier cohorts presented a higher risk of larynx cancer compared with the later cohorts. From 2020 to 2044, the age-standardized incidence rates of larynx cancer continued to increase in males, whereas the age-standardized mortality rates continued to decrease in both males and females. CONCLUSION: The burden of larynx cancer in China has a significant gender difference. The age-standardized incidence rates will continue to increase in males up to 2044. The disease pattern and risk factors of larynx cancer should be comprehensively studied to promote the development of timely intervention measures and relieve the burden effectively.

Association of thiamine administration and prognosis in critically ill patients with heart failure.

Background: Thiamine deficiency is common in patients with heart failure, and thiamine supplement can benefit these patients. However, the association between thiamine administration and prognosis among critically ill patients with heart failure remains unclear. Thus, this study aims to prove the survival benefit of thiamine use in critically ill patients with heart failure. Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis was performed on the basis of the Medical Information Mart of Intensive Care-Ⅳ database. Critically ill patients with heart failure were divided into the thiamine and non-thiamine groups depending on whether they had received thiamine therapy or not during hospitalization. The association between thiamine supplement and in-hospital mortality was assessed by using the Kaplan-Meier (KM) method and Cox proportional hazard models. A 1:1 nearest propensity-score matching (PSM) and propensity score-based inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPW) were also performed to ensure the robustness of the findings. Results: A total of 7,021 patients were included in this study, with 685 and 6,336 in the thiamine and non-thiamine groups, respectively. The kaplan-meier survival curves indicated that the thiamine group had a lower in-hospital mortality than the none-thiamine group. After adjusting for various confounders, the Cox regression models showed significant beneficial effects of thiamine administration on in-hospital mortality among critically ill patients with heart failure with a hazard ratio of 0.78 (95% confidence interval: 0.67-0.89) in the fully adjusted model. propensity-score matching and probability of treatment weighting analyses also achieved consistent results. Conclusion: Thiamine supplement is associated with a decreased risk of in-hospital mortality in critically ill patients with heart failure who are admitted to the ICU. Further multicenter and well-designed randomized controlled trials with large sample sizes are necessary to validate this finding.

Stigma receptors control intraspecies and interspecies barriers in Brassicaceae.

Flowering plants have evolved numerous intraspecific and interspecific prezygotic reproductive barriers to prevent production of unfavourable offspring1. Within a species, self-incompatibility (SI) is a widely utilized mechanism that rejects self-pollen2,3 to avoid inbreeding depression. Interspecific barriers restrain breeding between species and often follow the SI × self-compatible (SC) rule, that is, interspecific pollen is unilaterally incompatible (UI) on SI pistils but unilaterally compatible (UC) on SC pistils1,4-6. The molecular mechanisms underlying SI, UI, SC and UC and their interconnections in the Brassicaceae remain unclear. Here we demonstrate that the SI pollen determinant S-locus cysteine-rich protein/S-locus protein 11 (SCR/SP11)2,3 or a signal from UI pollen binds to the SI female determinant S-locus receptor kinase (SRK)2,3, recruits FERONIA (FER)7-9 and activates FER-mediated reactive oxygen species production in SI stigmas10,11 to reject incompatible pollen. For compatible responses, diverged pollen coat protein B-class12-14 from SC and UC pollen differentially trigger nitric oxide, nitrosate FER to suppress reactive oxygen species in SC stigmas to facilitate pollen growth in an intraspecies-preferential manner, maintaining species integrity. Our results show that SRK and FER integrate mechanisms underlying intraspecific and interspecific barriers and offer paths to achieve distant breeding in Brassicaceae crops.

Activation of CREB-BDNF Pathway in Pyramidal Neurons in the Hippocampus Improves the Neurological Outcome of Mice with Ischemic Stroke.

Cerebral ischemia is characterized by several pathological reaction evolving over time. Hyperactivation of glutamatergic neurons is the main factor leading to excitotoxicity which potentiates oxidative stress and triggers the mechanisms of neural apoptosis after cerebral ischemia. However, it is unclear whether glutamate in the ventral hippocampal Cornus Ammonis 1 (vCA1) acts a part in neurological deficits, pain perception, anxiety, and depression induced by ischemic stroke. We investigated the effects of chemogenetic inhibition or activation of vCA1 pyramidal neurons which are mainly glutamatergic neurons on sequelae induced by cerebral ischemia. Our results revealed that inhibition of vCA1 pyramidal neurons by chemogenetics alleviated neurological deficits, pain perception, anxiety, and depression caused by cerebral ischemia in mice, but activation of vCA1 pyramidal neurons had limited effects. Moreover, we found that stroke was accompanied by decreased levels of cAMP-response element-binding protein (CREB) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in vCA1, which are modulated by glutamate. In this study, overexpression of CREB protein in pyramidal neurons in vCA1 by AAV virus significantly upregulated the content of BDNF and ameliorated the dysfunction induced by ischemic stroke. Our results demonstrated activation of the CREB-BDNF pathway in vCA1 pyramidal neurons significantly improved neurological deficits, pain perception, anxiety, and depression induced by ischemic stroke.

Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of BraGLRs Reveal Their Potential Roles in Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Sexual Reproduction.

Glutamate receptors (GLRs) are involved in multiple functions during the plant life cycle through affecting the Ca2+ concentration. However, GLRs in Brassica species have not yet been reported. In this study, 16 glutamate receptor-like channels (GLR) belonged to two groups were identified in the Brassica rapa (B. rapa) genome by bioinformatic analysis. Most members contain domains of ANF_receptor, Peripla_BP_6, Lig_chan, SBP_bac_3, and Lig_chan_Glu_bd that are closely related to glutamate receptor channels. This gene family contains many elements associated with drought stress, low temperature stress, methyl jasmonate (MeJA), salicylic acid (SA), and other stress resistance. Gene expression profiles showed that BraGLR genes were expressed in roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and siliques. BraGLR5 expression was elevated after drought stress in drought-sensitive plants. BraGLR1, BraGLR8, and BraGLR11 expression were significantly upregulated after salt stress. BraGLR3 expression is higher in the female sterile-line mutants than in the wild type. The expression levels of BraGLR6, BraGLR9, BraGLR12, and BraGLR13 were significantly higher in the male sterile-line mutants than in the wild type. The expression of most BraGLRs increased after self-pollination, with BraGLR9 exhibiting the greatest increase. These results suggest that BraGLRs play an important role in abiotic stress tolerance and sexual reproduction.

Global, regional, and national years lived with disability due to blindness and vision loss from 1990 to 2019: Findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.

Purpose: This study aimed to provide a comprehensive assessment of burden estimates and the secular trend of blindness and vision loss, as measured by years lived with disability (YLDs), at the global, regional, and national levels. Methods: The age-standardized YLD rates (ASYRs) due to blindness and vision loss and its subtypes, including moderate vision loss, severe vision loss, blindness, and presbyopia, from 1990 to 2019 were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 database. The estimated annual percentage changes (EAPCs) were calculated to quantify the temporal trends in the ASYRs due to blindness and vision loss. Results: In 2019, the global ASYRs per 100,000 population was 327.98 for blindness and vision loss, specifically, 85.81 for moderate vision loss, 74.86 for severe vision loss, 95.03 for blindness, and 62.27 for presbyopia. From 1990 to 2019, the ASYRs due to blindness and vision loss slightly decreased. Females showed higher ASYRs than males in 2019. The global highest ASYRs were observed in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Negative associations were found between the burden estimates of blindness and vision loss and the sociodemographic index levels. The EAPCs of ASYRs in blindness and vision loss were significantly negatively correlated with the ASYRs in 1990 and positively correlated with human development indices in 2019. Conclusions: Globally, blindness and vision loss continue to cause great losses of healthy life. Reasonable resource allocation and health-service planning are needed for the prevention and early intervention of disabilities caused by vision loss.

Association of Red Cell Distribution Width-to-Platelet Ratio and Mortality in Patients with Sepsis.

Background: As a novel inflammatory index, the ratio of red cell distribution width (RDW) to platelet count (RPR) may have prognostic value in some critical illnesses. However, studies on the prognostic influence of RPR in patients with sepsis are few. This study is aimed at investigating the association between RPR levels and 28-day mortality in patients with sepsis. Methods: Data of patients with sepsis were obtained from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III database. The best cut-off value was calculated by establishing the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), and the predictive ability of different indicators was compared through the area under the curve (AUC). The association between RPR levels and 28-day mortality was assessed using the Cox proportional hazards model. Restrictive cubic spline analysis was applied to the multivariable Cox model to investigate the nonlinear relationship between RPR and 28-day mortality. Results: A total of 3367 patients with sepsis were included in the study. A nonlinear relationship was observed between RPR and 28-day mortality, showing a trend of a first rapid increase and a gradual increase. For the prediction of mortality, the best cut-off value for RPR was 0.109, with an AUC of 0.728 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.709-0.747). The predictive capability of RPR was superior to those of RDW, platelet, SOFA score, and SAPS II score. After adjusting for various confounding factors, high RPR was significantly associated with increased mortality with adjusted hazard ratios of 1.210 (95% CI: 1.045-1.400) for categorical variables and 2.826 (95% CI: 2.025-3.944) for continuous variables. Conclusion: Elevated RPR level is significantly correlated with a high risk of 28-day mortality in patients with sepsis and can be a new predictor of patient prognosis.

Vaginal microbiota and personal risk factors associated with HPV status conversion-A new approach to reduce the risk of cervical cancer?

Vaginal microbiota (VMB) is associated with changes in Human papilloma virus (HPV) status, which consequently influences the risk of cervical cancer. This association was often confounded by personal risk factors. This pilot research aimed to explore the relationship between vaginal microbiota, personal risk factors and their interactions with HPV status conversion to identify the vaginal microbiota that was associated with HPV clearance under heterogeneous personal risk factors. A total of 38 women participated by self-collecting a cervicovaginal mucus (CVM) sample that was sent for metagenomics sequencing. Most of the participants also filled in personal risk factors questionnaire through an eHealth platform and authorized the use of their previous HPV genotyping results stored in this eHealth platform. Based on the two HPV results, the participants were grouped into three cohorts, namely HPV negative, HPV persistent infection, and HPV status conversion. The relative abundance of VMB and personal factors were compared among these three cohorts. A correlation investigation was performed between VMB and the significant personal factors to characterize a robustness of the panel for HPV status change using R programming. At baseline, 12 participants were HPV-negative, and 22 were HPV-positive. Within one year, 18 women remained HPV-positive, 12 were HPV-negative and 4 participants showed HPV clearance. The factors in the eHealth questionnaire were systematically evaluated which identified several factors significantly associated with persistent HPV infection, including age, salary, history of reproductive tract infection, and the total number of sexual partners. Concurrent vaginal microbiome samples suggest that a candidate biomarker panel consisting of Lactobacillus gasseri, Streptococcus agalactiae, and Timona prevotella bacteria, which may be associated with HPV clearance. This pilot study indicates a stable HPV status-related vaginal microbe environment. To establish a robust biomarker panel for clinical use, larger cohorts will be recruited into follow-up studies.