Arginine-methylated c-Myc affects mitochondrial mitophagy in mouse acute kidney injury via Slc25a24.

The transcription factor methylated c-Myc heterodimerizes with MAX to modulate gene expression, and plays an important role in energy metabolism in kidney injury but the exact mechanism remains unclear. Mitochondrial solute transporter Slc25a24 imports ATP into mitochondria and is central to energy metabolism. Gene Expression Omnibus data analysis reveals Slc25a24 and c-Myc are consistently upregulated in all the acute kidney injury (AKI) cells. Pearson correlation analysis also shows that Slc25a24 and c-Myc are strongly correlated (⍴ > 0.9). Mutant arginine methylated c-Myc (R299A and R346A) reduced its combination with MAX when compared with the wild type of c-Myc. On the other hand, the Slc25a24 levels were also correspondingly reduced, which induced the downregulation of ATP production. The results promoted reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and mitophagy generation. The study revealed that the c-Myc overexpression manifested the most pronounced mitochondrial DNA depletion. Additionally, the varied levels of mitochondrial proteins like TIM23, TOM20, and PINK1 in each group, particularly the elevated levels of PINK1 in AKI model groups and lower levels of TIM23 and TOM20 in the c-Myc overexpression group, suggest potential disruptions in mitochondrial dynamics and homeostasis, indicating enhanced mitophagy or mitochondrial loss. Therefore, arginine-methylated c-Myc affects mouse kidney injury by regulating mitochondrial ATP and ROS, and mitophagy via Slc25a24.

Design of a Negative Temperature Coefficient Temperature Measurement System Based on a Resistance Ratio Model.

In this paper, a temperature measurement system with NTC (Negative Temperature Coefficient) thermistors was designed. An MCU (Micro Control Unit) primarily operates by converting the voltage value collected by an ADC (Analog-to-Digital Converter) into the resistance value. The temperature value is then calculated, and a DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter) outputs a current of 4 to 20 mA that is linearly related to the temperature value. The nonlinear characteristics of NTC thermistors pose a challenging problem. The nonlinear characteristics of NTC thermistors were to a great extent solved by using a resistance ratio model. The high precision of the NTC thermistor is obtained by fitting it with the Hoge equation. The results of actual measurements suggest that each module works properly, and the temperature measurement accuracy of 0.067 °C in the range from -40 °C to 120 °C has been achieved. The uncertainty of the output current is analyzed and calculated with the uncertainty of 0.0014 mA. This type of system has broad potential applications in industry fields such as the petrochemical industry.

Research on Active Safety Situation of Road Passenger Transportation Enterprises: Evaluation, Prediction, and Analysis.

The road passenger transportation enterprise is a complex system, requiring a clear understanding of their active safety situation (ASS), trends, and influencing factors. This facilitates transportation authorities to promptly receive signals and take effective measures. Through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, we delved into potential factors for evaluating ASS and extracted an ASS index. To predict obtaining a higher ASS information rate, we compared multiple time series models, including GRU (gated recurrent unit), LSTM (long short-term memory), ARIMA, Prophet, Conv_LSTM, and TCN (temporal convolutional network). This paper proposed the WDA-DBN (water drop algorithm-Deep Belief Network) model and employed DEEPSHAP to identify factors with higher ASS information content. TCN and GRU performed well in the prediction. Compared to the other models, WDA-DBN exhibited the best performance in terms of MSE and MAE. Overall, deep learning models outperform econometric models in terms of information processing. The total time spent processing alarms positively influences ASS, while variables such as fatigue driving occurrences, abnormal driving occurrences, and nighttime driving alarm occurrences have a negative impact on ASS.

Construction of an OCP-ATR-FTIR Spectroscopy Device to In Situ Monitor the Interfacial Reaction of Contaminants: Competitive Adsorption of Cr(VI) and Oxalate on Hematite.

The comprehensive understanding of contaminant interfacial behavior strongly depends on the in situ characterization technique, which is still a great challenge. In this study, we constructed a device integrated with open-circuit potentialand attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (OCP-ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy to simultaneously monitor the electrochemical and infrared spectral information on the interfacial reaction for the process analysis, taking the competitive adsorption of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) and oxalate on hematite nanocubes (HNC) as an example. The synchronous OCP and infrared results revealed that Cr(VI) interacted with HNC via bidentate binuclear inner-sphere coordination, accompanied by electron transfer from HNC to Cr(VI), while oxalate was adsorbed on HNC through bidentate mononuclear side-on inner-sphere coordination with electron transfer from HNC to oxalate, and also outer-sphere coordination with negative charge accumulation. When oxalate was added to HNC with preadsorbed Cr(VI), oxalate would occupy the inner-sphere adsorption sites and thus cause the detaching of preadsorbed Cr(VI) from HNC. This study provides a promising in situ characterization technique for real-time interfacial reaction monitoring and also sheds light on the competitive adsorption mechanism of oxalate and Cr(VI) on the mineral surface.

A noncanonical role of NOD-like receptor NLRP14 in PGCLC differentiation and spermatogenesis.

NOD-like receptors (NLRs) are traditionally recognized as major inflammasome components. The role of NLRs in germ cell differentiation and reproduction is not known. Here, we identified the gonad-specific Nlrp14 as a pivotal regulator in primordial germ cell-like cell (PGCLC) differentiation in vitro. Physiologically, knock out of Nlrp14 resulted in reproductive failure in both female and male mice. In adult male mice, Nlrp14 knockout (KO) inhibited differentiation of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) and meiosis, resulting in trapped SSCs in early stages, severe oligozoospermia, and sperm abnormality. Mechanistically, NLRP14 promoted spermatogenesis by recruiting a chaperone cofactor, BAG2, to bind with HSPA2 and form the NLRP14-HSPA2-BAG2 complex, which strongly inhibited ChIP-mediated HSPA2 polyubiquitination and promoted its nuclear translocation. Finally, loss of HSPA2 protection and BAG2 recruitment by NLRP14 was confirmed in a human nonsense germline variant associated with male sterility. Together, our data highlight a unique proteasome-mediated, noncanonical function of NLRP14 in PGCLC differentiation and spermatogenesis, providing mechanistic insights of gonad-specific NLRs in mammalian germline development.

Risk assessment of combined exposure to lead, cadmium, and total mercury among the elderly in Shanghai, China.

Lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and total mercury (THg) are toxic heavy metals (THMs) that are widely present in the environment and can cause substantial health problems. However, previous risk assessment studies have rarely focused on the elderly population and have usually targeted a single heavy metal, which might underestimate the long-term accumulative and synergistic effects of THMs in humans. Based on the food frequency questionnaire and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, this study assessed external and internal exposures to Pb, Cd and THg in 1747 elderly people in Shanghai. Probabilistic risk assessment with the relative potential factor (RPF) model was used to assess the neurotoxicity and nephrotoxicity risks of combined THMs exposures. The mean external exposures of Pb, Cd and THg in Shanghai elderly were 46.8, 27.2 and 4.9 µg/day, respectively. Plant-based foods are the main source of Pb and THg exposure, while Cd is mainly from animal-based foods. The mean concentrations of Pb, Cd and THg were 23.3, 1.1 and 2.3 µg/L in the whole blood, and 6.2, 1.0 and 2.0 µg/L in the morning urine, respectively. Combined exposure to THMs leading to 10.0 % and 7.1 % of Shanghai elderly at risk of neurotoxicity and nephrotoxicity. The results of this study have important implications for understanding the profiles of Pb, Cd and THg exposure in the elderly living in Shanghai and provide data support for risk assessment and control of nephrotoxicity and neurotoxicity from combined THMs exposure in the elderly.

Triangle Cl-Ag1 -Cl Sites for Superior Photocatalytic Molecular Oxygen Activation and NO Oxidation of BiOCl.

BiOCl photocatalysis shows great promise for molecular oxygen activation and NO oxidation, but its selective transformation of NO to immobilized nitrate without toxic NO2 emission is still a great challenge, because of uncontrollable reaction intermediates and pathways. In this study, we demonstrate that the introduction of triangle Cl-Ag1 -Cl sites on a Cl-terminated, (001) facet-exposed BiOCl can selectively promote one-electron activation of reactant molecular oxygen to intermediate superoxide radicals (⋅O2 - ), and also shift the adsorption configuration of product NO3 - from the weak monodentate binding mode to a strong bidentate mode to avoid unfavorable photolysis. By simultaneously tuning intermediates and products, the Cl-Ag1 -Cl-landen BiOCl achieved >90 % NO conversion to favorable NO3 - of high selectivity (>97 %) in 10 min under visible light, with the undesired NO2 concentration below 20 ppb. Both the activity and the selectivity of Cl-Ag1 -Cl sites surpass those of BiOCl surface sites (38 % NO conversion, 67 % NO3 - selectivity) or control O-Ag1 -O sites on a benchmark photocatalyst P25 (67 % NO conversion and 87 % NO3 - selectivity). This study develops new single-atom sites for the performance enhancement of semiconductor photocatalysts, and also provides a facile pathway to manipulate the reactive oxygen species production for efficient pollutant removal.

Diversity of bacterium communities in saline-alkali soil in arid regions of Northwest China.

BACKGROUND: The saline-alkali soil area accounts for over 1/4-1/5 of the land area in Gansu Province of China, which are mainly distributed in the north of Hexi corridor and Jingtai basin. The unique ecological environment contains unique and diverse microbial resources. The investigation of microbial diversity in saline environment is vital to comprehend the biological mechanisms of saline adaption, develop and utilize microbial resources. RESULTS: The Illumina MiSeq sequencing method was practiced to investigate the bacterial diversity and composition in the 5 subtypes and 13 genera of saline-alkali soil in Gansu Province, China. The results from this study show that Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Gemmatimonadetes were the dominant bacterial groups in 13 saline soil. Proteobacteria had the greatest abundance in sulfate-type meadow solonchaks and orthic solonchaks, chloride-type orthic solonchaks and bog solonchaks, sulfate-chloride-type, chloride-sulfate-type, and sulfate-type dry solonchaks. Halobacteria was the dominant bacterial class in soil samples except for sulfate-type meadow solonchaks and orthic solonchaks, chloride-type orthic solonchaks and bog solonchaks. The richness estimators of Ace and Chao 1 and the diversity indices of Shannon and Simpson revealed the least diversity in bacterial community in sulfate-chloride-type orthic solonchaks. CONCLUSIONS: The sulfate anion was the most important driving force for bacterial composition (17.7%), and the second most influencing factor was pH value (11.7%).

Surface Boronizing Can Weaken the Excitonic Effects of BiOBr Nanosheets for Efficient O2 Activation and Selective NO Oxidation under Visible Light Irradiation.

The photocatalytic O2 activation for pollutant removal highly depends on the controlled generation of desired reactive oxygen species (ROS). Herein, we demonstrate that the robust excitonic effect of BiOBr nanosheets, which is prototypical for singlet oxygen (1O2) production to partially oxidize NO into a more toxic intermediate NO2, can be weakened by surface boronizing via inducing a staggered band alignment from the surface to the bulk and simultaneously generating more surface oxygen vacancy (VO). The staggered band alignment destabilizes excitons and facilitates their dissociation into charge carriers, while surface VO traps electrons and efficiently activates O2 into a superoxide radical (•O2-) via a one-electron-transfer pathway. Different from 1O2, •O2- enables the complete oxidation of NO into nitrate with high selectivity that is more desirable for safe indoor NO remediation under visible light irradiation. This study provides a facile excitonic effect manipulating method for layered two-dimensional photocatalysts and sheds light on the importance of managing ROS production for efficient pollutant removal.

Correlation between CA12 and TFF3 and their prediction value of neoadjuvant chemotherapy response in breast cancer.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Compared with other molecular subtypes, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer often shows worse neoadjuvant chemotherapy efficacy. This study aims to explore the relationship between the oestrogen receptor (ER)-related genes carbonic anhydrase 12 (CA12) and trefoil factor 3 (TFF3) and their predictive value of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer. METHODS: We investigated the relationships between CA12, TFF3 and ER status and their predictive value of anthracycline-taxane neoadjuvant chemotherapy in 115 female breast cancer patients via real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and 4 GEO datasets: GSE41998, GSE25065, GSE20194 and GSE20271. Then, the effects of CA12 and TFF3 on the chemotherapy drugs doxorubicin and docetaxel were verified in vitro in the breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and BT474. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The GEO datasets and RT-PCR results showed that the relative expression of both CA12 and TFF3 was higher in oestrogen receptor-positive samples compared with the other samples (p < 0.05). CA12 was significantly correlated with TFF3 (p < 0.05). In MCF-7 cells, inhibition of TFF3 induced downregulation of CA12 and ESR1 (p < 0.05) at both the mRNA and the protein levels, while inhibition of CA12 also downregulated TFF3 and ESR1 (p < 0.05). In BT474 cells, inhibition of TFF3 downregulated CA12 and ESR1 (p < 0.05) at both the mRNA and the protein levels, while inhibition of CA12 led to slight upregulation of TFF3 and ESR1 (p > 0.05). Moreover, GEO datasets and RT-PCR results showed that CA12 and TFF3 were more highly expressed in nonpathological complete response (non-pCR) samples than in pCR samples (p < 0.05). Cell viability assays of MCF-7 and BT474 cells showed that inhibiting CA12 and TFF3 could enhance sensitivity to doxorubicin and docetaxel (p < 0.05). WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: CA12 and TFF3 were correlated with each other, and their high expression might explain the worse efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancer patients.

Modulating Oxygen Reduction Behaviors on Nickel Single-Atom Catalysts to Probe the Electrochemiluminescence Mechanism at the Atomic Level.

Luminol-dissolved O2 electrochemiluminescence (ECL)-sensing platforms have been widely developed for sensitive and reliable detection, while their actual ECL mechanisms are still in controversy due to the involved multiple reactive oxygen species (ROS). Different from the structural complexity of nanomaterials, well-defined single-atom catalysts (SACs) as coreaction accelerators will provide great prospects for investigating the ECL mechanism at the atomic level. Herein, two carbon-supported nickel SACs with the active centers of Ni-N4 (Ni-N4/C) and Ni-N2O2 (Ni-N2O2/C) were synthesized as efficient coreaction accelerators to enhance the ECL signals of a luminol-dissolved O2 system. By modulating the surrounding environment of the center metal atoms, their corresponding oxygen reduction behaviors can be well controlled to selectively produce intermediate ROS, giving a great chance to study the following ECL process. According to the experimental and calculated results, the superoxide radical (O2•-) acts as the main radical for the ECL reaction and the Ni-N4/C catalyst with the four-electron pathway to activate dissolved O2 is preferential to enhance ECL emission.

Defect-Engineered Nanozyme-Linked Receptors.

Though nanozymes are successfully applied in various areas, the increasing demands facilitate the exploitation of nanozymes possessing higher activity and more functions. Natural enzyme-linked receptors (ELRs) are critical components for signal transductions in vivo by expressing activity variations after binding with ligands. Inspired by this, the defect-engineered carbon nitrides (DCN) are reported to serve as nanozyme-linked receptors (NLRs). For one thing, cyano defects increase the enzyme-like activity by a factor of 109.5. For another, DCN-based NLRs are constructed by employing cyano groups as receptors, and variable outputs are ensued upon the addition of ion ligands. Significantly, both the cascade effect and electronic effect are demonstrated to contribute to this phenomenon. Finally, NLRs are used for pattern recognition of metal ions, indicating the signal transduction ability of NLRs as well. This work not only provides great promise of defect engineering in nanozymes, but also contributes to the design of artificial ELRs.

Effects and mechanisms of tea for the prevention and management of cancers: An updated review.

Tea is a traditional and popular beverage worldwide, and the consumption of tea has been demonstrated to possess many health benefits, such as cardiovascular protection, anti-obesity, anti-diabetes, and anticancer. Epidemiological studies have shown that the consumption of tea is inversely associated with the risk of several cancers. In addition, experimental studies have revealed that the anticancer actions of tea are mainly attributed to tea polyphenols, such as epigallocatechin-3-gallate and theaflavins. Both in vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that the possible anticancer mechanisms are the inhibition on proliferation, anti-angiogenesis, induction of apoptosis, suppression on metastasis, inhibition on cancer stem cells, and modulation on gut microbiota. Its synergetic anticancer effects with drugs or other compounds could promote anticancer therapies. Furthermore, clinical trials have elucidated that intervention of tea phytochemicals is effective in the prevention of several cancers. This paper is an updated review for the prevention and management of cancers by tea based on the findings from epidemiological, experimental and clinical studies, and special attention is paid on the mechanisms of action.

Impact of Cardiovascular Disease on Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

BACKGROUND: To investigate the effect of cardiovascular disease (CVD) on the global pandemic, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), we analyzed the cases of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients in Wuhan.Methods and Results:Data were extracted from the medical records. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was confirmed by RT-PCR. A total of 33 (53.2%) of 62 cases with CVD, who had higher prevalence of severe COVID-19 compared with non-CVD patients (P=0.027). The median age of all patients was 66.0 (53.3, 73.0) years old. Coronary artery disease (11.3%) and hypertension (38.7%) were the common coexisting CVDs in COVID-19 patients. High-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI), creatinine, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, interleukin-6, C-reactive protein, prothrombin time, and D-dimer levels in the severe COVID-19 with CVD group were higher than in the non-severe COVID-19 with CVD group (P<0.05). For all patients, chest computed tomography (CT) showed ground-glass opacity (66.1%), local (21.0%), bilateral (77.4%), and interstitial abnormalities (4.8%). In COVID-19 patients with CVD, 27 (81.8%) were cured and discharged. 6 (18.2%) remained in hospital, including 2 (3.2%) patients requiring intubation and mechanical ventilation. The hs-cTnI levels in the remaining hospitalized patients were higher than in the discharged patients (P=0.047). CONCLUSIONS: CVDs play a vital role in the disease severity of COVID-19. COVID-19 could result in myocardial injury, which affects the prognosis of COVID-19.

New patterns emerge after a sustained increase in the incidence of hepatitis C virus infection from 2004 to 2017: a joinpoint regression analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection continues to be a major public health concern in China. There is little information available in the literature about age- and sex-specific HCV incidence trends. The goal of this study was to examine recent trends in HCV incidence rates in Hunan, China, according to age and gender. STUDY DESIGN: A descriptive study was implemented with a joinpoint analysis. METHODS: Based on the annual reported incidence data of hepatitis C in Hunan, China, from 2004 to 2017, we performed a joinpoint regression analysis to examine trends in the annual percentage change (APC) and the average annual percentage change (AAPC) in the incidence of HCV infection throughout the study period; we stratified the analysis by gender and age. The software calculates the APC, AAPC and the 95% confidence intervals for each trend segment and tests whether the slope for each segment has a significant difference from the prior segment using a Z test. RESULTS: From 2004 to 2017, the overall incidence rate of HCV infection rose from 0.93 per 100,000 to 20.88 per 100,000 (AAPC, 25.2%). In particular, women aged ≥65 years had the fastest increasing rate (AAPC, 29.9%). The incidence of different demographic groups showed no significant difference in increasing trends before 2013. However, new patterns emerged after 2013: the incidence of people aged 0-14 years was no longer significantly elevated; a significant yearly decline occurred in the incidence of HCV in people aged 15-29 years; the incidence of HCV in people aged ≥30 years continued to increase, with significantly slower increasing rates than before; and women aged ≥65 years showed a significantly higher yearly increase in incidence than that in men in the same age group (APC, 11.1% in women versus 5.3% in men). CONCLUSION: The overall increasing rate of HCV infection significantly slowed after 2007 and 2013. The differences in incidence trends among demographic groups have obviously increased in the last 5 years, and the reasons underlying these different trends urgently require further study. People in older age groups, especially women aged ≥65 years, still experienced increases in incidence rates in the last 5 years. This finding indicates that programmes for the prevention and control of HCV infection in older people require continued strengthening.

Comparison of Antioxidant Activities of Different Grape Varieties.

Grapes are widely consumed in the world, and different grape varieties could exhibit distinctly different antioxidant activities. In this study, the free radical-scavenging and antioxidant activities of lipophilic, hydrophilic, and insoluble-bound fractions from 30 grape varieties were evaluated by ferric-reducing antioxidant powers (FRAP), Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacities (TEAC), total phenolic contents (TPC), and total flavonoid contents (TFC). The results indicated that the 30 grape varieties exhibited diverse FRAP values (1.289⁻11.767 µmol Fe(II)/g FW), TEAC values (0.339⁻4.839 µmol Trolox/g FW), TPC values (0.294⁻1.407 mg GAE/g FW) and TFC values (0.082⁻0.132 mg QE/g FW). Several grapes, such as Pearl Black Grape (Xinjiang), Summer Black Grape (Shaanxi), Pearl Green Grape (Xinjiang), Seedless Green Grape (Xinjiang), and Seedless Red Grape (Yunnan), exhibited strong free radical-scavenging and antioxidant activities, which could be consumed as good sources of natural antioxidants to prevent several diseases induced by oxidative stress, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. Furthermore, several antioxidants were identified and quantified, including caffeic acid, catechin gallate, epicatechin, gallic acid, protocatechuic acid and rutin, which could contribute to the antioxidant activities of grapes.

Potential of Grape Wastes as a Natural Source of Bioactive Compounds.

Grapes are widely used in the wine and juice industries, which can lead to massive amounts of waste, mostly grape peels and seeds. The antioxidant capacities, total phenolic and flavonoid contents and phenolic profiles of peels and seeds from 30 grape varieties were systemically assessed. The antioxidant activities of fat-soluble, water-soluble and insoluble-bound fractions of grape peels and seeds were evaluated using ferric-reducing antioxidant power and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity assays, and their total phenolic contents and total flavonoid contents were determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu method and AlCl3 colorimetry, respectively. It was found that the antioxidant capacities were diverse among different grape peels and seeds. Moreover, several phenolic compounds were identified and quantified, including gallic acid, cyanidin-3-glucoside, epicatechin, catechin gallate, ferulaic acid, rutin and resveratrol, which could contribute to the antioxidant capacities of these grape peels and seeds. Several grape wastes with strong antioxidant activity could be abundant sources of natural bioactive compounds, and have the potential for development into functional foods, food additives and pharmaceuticals.

Five-Golden-Flowers Tea: Green Extraction and Hepatoprotective Effect against Oxidative Damage.

The consumption of herbal teas has become popular in recent years due to their attractive flavors and outstanding antioxidant properties. The Five-Golden-Flowers tea is a herbal tea consisting of five famous edible flowers. The effects of microwave-assisted extraction parameters on the antioxidant activity of Five-Golden-Flowers tea were studied by single-factor experiments, and further investigated using response surface methodology. Under the optimal parameters (53.04 mL/g of solvent/material ratio, 65.52 °C, 30.89 min, and 500 W), the ferric-reducing antioxidant power, Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity, and total phenolic content of the herbal tea were 862.90 ± 2.44 µmol Fe2+/g dry weight (DW), 474.37 ± 1.92 µmol Trolox/g DW, and 65.50 ± 1.26 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g DW, respectively. The in vivo antioxidant activity of the herbal tea was evaluated on alcohol-induced acute liver injury in mice. The herbal tea significantly decreased the levels of aspartate aminotransferase, total bilirubin, and malonaldehyde at different doses (200, 400, and 800 mg/kg); improved the levels of liver index, serum triacylglycerol, and catalase at dose of 800 mg/kg. These results indicated its role in alleviating hepatic oxidative injury. Besides, rutin, chlorogenic acid, epicatechin, gallic acid, and p-coumaric acid were identified and quantified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), which could contribute to the antioxidant activity of the herbal tea.

[A Meta analysis of risk factors for asthma in Chinese children].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the main risk factors for asthma in Chinese children, and to provide a reference for the prevention and treatment of asthma. METHODS: The databases including CNKI, Wanfang Data, China Biology Medicine disc, VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals, Web of Science, and PubMed were searched for studies on risk factors for asthma in Chinese children published up to September 2017. Stata 12.0 was used for the Meta analysis. RESULTS: A total of 24 case-control studies were included, with 5 309 cases in the case group and 6 404 cases in the control group. The Meta analysis showed that a family history of asthma (OR=5.246, 95%CI: 3.435-8.011), a family history of allergy (OR=4.627, 95%CI: 2.450-8.738), atopic constitution (OR=4.659, 95%CI: 2.511-8.644), allergic rhinitis (OR=11.510, 95%CI: 6.769-19.574), a history of eczema/dermatitis (OR=4.919, 95%CI: 3.514-6.886), a history of allergies (OR=4.732, 95%CI: 2.802-7.989), a history of food allergies (OR=5.890, 95%CI: 3.412-10.166), a history of drug allergies (OR=4.664, 95%CI: 2.637-8.252), mold contamination at home (OR=2.483, 95%CI: 1.671-3.690), flowers at home (OR=1.748, 95%CI: 1.383-2.209), a history of house decoration (OR=2.823, 95%CI: 2.206-3.935), and cesarean section (OR=1.894, 95%CI: 1.166-3.077) were risk factors for asthma in children, while breastfeeding was a protective factor against asthma (OR=0.508, 95%CI: 0.396-0.653). CONCLUSIONS: The development of asthma in Chinese children is associated with a variety of factors, among which a family history of asthma, a family history of allergy, atopic constitution, a history of allergies, allergic comorbidities, cesarean section, and bad family environment can increase the risk of asthma in children, while breastfeeding can reduce the risk.

Selectivity/Specificity Improvement Strategies in Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Analysis.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a powerful technique for the discrimination, identification, and potential quantification of certain compounds/organisms. However, its real application is challenging due to the multiple interference from the complicated detection matrix. Therefore, selective/specific detection is crucial for the real application of SERS technique. We summarize in this review five selective/specific detection techniques (chemical reaction, antibody, aptamer, molecularly imprinted polymers and microfluidics), which can be applied for the rapid and reliable selective/specific detection when coupled with SERS technique.