Gastric cancer incidence trends in China and Japan from 1990 to 2019: Disentangling age-period-cohort patterns.

BACKGROUND: Recent data have shown divergent trends in gastric cancer (GC) incidence between China and Japan; however, the cause for has not been explored. METHODS: We retrieved GC incidence data from 1990 to 2019 from the Global Burden of Disease study, stratified by sex for both countries. We analyzed annual average percentage change (AAPC) via a joinpoint regression model and estimated the effects of age, period, and cohort via the age-period-cohort model. RESULTS: The age-standardized incidence rate trends for GC decreased in both countries and both sexes, but the reduction was more pronounced in Japan because the AAPC for Japanese males (AAPC = -2.65%; 95% CI, -2.98 to -2.32) was eight times greater than that of Chinese males (AAPC = -0.30%; 95% CI, -0.5 to -0.09). The age and cohort effects on the trend are similar in both countries: the risk of GC incidence increased with age among the Chinese and the Japanese but was lower among younger birth cohorts. The two countries showed contrasting trends over the study period; although the risk of GC rapidly decreased for Japanese males and females, it increased by twofold among Chinese males. CONCLUSIONS: The period effect is the main reason for the divergent trends in age-standardized incidence rate for GC in China and Japan. By comparing national cancer control programs in both countries, we concluded that countries with a high prevalence of GC, such as China, can learn from Japan's experience in controlling GC by actively conducting national population screening, which is expected to facilitate both prevention and treatment of GC. LAY SUMMARY: More than one-half of all new gastric cancer (GC) worldwide occur in China and Japan, but the reasons for the different incidence trends have not been thoroughly analyzed. Analysis using the age-period-cohort model confirmed that the cohort effect was the main reason for the decline in age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) for GC and that the period effect may be the main reason for the divergent trends in gastric cancer ASIR in China and Japan.

Change of sexual behavior among men who have sex with men before, during and after COVID-19 pandemic in China: a cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 epidemic control and prevention strategies affected people's sexual activities and behaviors. Little was known about long-term effects of COVID-19 prevention and control strategies on sexual behaviors among men who have sex with men (MSM). This study aimed to examine changes in risky sexual behaviors of MSM before and after the local epidemic. METHODS: An online survey was conducted nationwide from June 1 to June 10, 2022. MSM aged 16 years and above, residing in China were recruited through convenience sampling. A generalized estimating equation model with modified Poisson regression was used to analyze changes in multiple sexual partners, unprotected sex, mobility for sexual activity, and recreational substance use before and after the local epidemic. RESULTS: Compared to the pre-pandemic (36.5%), the prevalence of multiple sexual partners (11.5%) significantly decreased during the local epidemic and then increased after the local epidemic (25.2%) but remained lower than pre-pandemic, as did the prevalence of unprotected sex (31.1%, 19.4%, and 26.1%), mobility for sexual activity (7.5%, 2.8%, and 4.1%) and recreational substance use (47.7%, 27.2%, and 39.5%). Compared to the pre-pandemic, higher declines in the prevalence of risky sexual behaviors during the local epidemic existed among MSM living without a regular partner (44% decrease in unprotected sex and 46% in recreational substance use), with a bachelor's degree and above (70% decrease in multiple sex partners, 39% in unprotected sex, 67% in mobility for sexual activity and 44% in recreational substance use), higher incomes (70% decrease in multiple sex partners), self-identified gay or bisexual/unsure (38-71%), and HIV infection (49-83% decrease respectively in these four indicators). After the local epidemic, the declines in the above indicators compared to the pre-pandemic were correspondingly. And higher declines existed among MSM living without a regular partner (8% decrease in unprotected sex and 13% in recreational substance use), with a bachelor's degree and above (33% decrease in multiple sex partners), higher incomes (55% decrease in mobility for sexual activity), self-identified gay (51% decrease in mobility for sexual activity), and HIV infection (32%, 68%, 24% decrease respectively in unprotected sex, mobility for sexual activity and recreational substance use). CONCLUSIONS: Risky sexual behaviors reduced considerably during the local epidemic, then seemed rebounded after the outbreak but wouldn't return to pre-pandemic levels. More attention should be paid to vulnerable people with lower socio-economic status, HIV-positive, and sexual minorities for sustained HIV and COVID-19 prevention.

Trend in the incidence of hepatitis A in mainland China from 2004 to 2017: a joinpoint regression analysis.

BACKGROUND: China has experienced a continuous decreasing trend in the incidence of hepatitis A in recent years. Temporal trend analyses are helpful in exploring the reasons for the changing trend. Thus, this study aims to analyse the incidence trend of viral hepatitis A by region and age group in mainland China from 2004 to 2017 to evaluate the effectiveness of prevention and control measures. METHODS: Data on hepatitis A and population information were collected and analysed with a joinpoint regression model. Annual percentage changes (APCs) and average annual percentage changes (AAPCs) were estimated for the whole country and for each region and age group. RESULTS: From 2004 to 2017, the seasonality and periodicity of hepatitis A case numbers were obvious before 2008 but gradually diminished from 2008 to 2011 and disappeared from 2012-2017. The national incidence of hepatitis A (AAPC = - 12.1%) and the incidence rates for regions and age groups showed decreasing trends, with differences in the joinpoints and segments. Regarding regions, the hepatitis A incidence in the western region was always the highest among all regions, while a nonsignificant rebound was observed in the northeastern region from 2011 to 2017 (APC = 14.2%). Regarding age groups, the hepatitis A incidence showed the fastest decrease among children (AAPC = - 15.3%) and the slowest decrease among elderly individuals (AAPC = - 6.6%). Among all segments, the hepatitis A incidence among children had the largest APC value in 2007-2017, at - 20.4%. CONCLUSION: The national annual incidence of hepatitis A continually declined from 2004 to 2017 and the gaps in hepatitis A incidence rates across different regions and age groups were greatly narrowed. Comprehensive hepatitis A prevention and control strategies, including the use of routine vaccination during childhood in mainland China, especially the implementation of the national Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) in 2008, resulted in substantial progress from 2004 to 2017. However, gaps remain. Regular monitoring and analysis of hepatitis A epidemic data and prompt adjustment of hepatitis A prevention and control strategies focusing on children, elderly individuals and those living in certain regions are recommended.

Directly probing redox-linked quinones in photosystem II membrane fragments via UV resonance Raman scattering.

In photosynthesis, photosystem II (PSII) harvests sunlight with bound pigments to oxidize water and reduce quinone to quinol, which serves as electron and proton mediators for solar-to-chemical energy conversion. At least two types of quinone cofactors in PSII are redox-linked: QA, and QB. Here, we for the first time apply 257-nm ultraviolet resonance Raman (UVRR) spectroscopy to acquire the molecular vibrations of plastoquinone (PQ) in PSII membranes. Owing to the resonance enhancement effect, the vibrational signal of PQ in PSII membranes is prominent. A strong band at 1661 cm(-1) is assigned to ring CC/CO symmetric stretch mode (ν8a mode) of PQ, and a weak band at 469 cm(-1) to ring stretch mode. By using a pump-probe difference UVRR method and a sample jet technique, the signals of QA and QB can be distinguished. A frequency difference of 1.4 cm(-1) in ν8a vibrational mode between QA and QB is observed, corresponding to ~86 mV redox potential difference imposed by their protein environment. In addition, there are other PQs in the PSII membranes. A negligible anharmonicity effect on their combination band at 2130 cm(-1) suggests that the 'other PQs' are situated in a hydrophobic environment. The detection of the 'other PQs' might be consistent with the view that another functional PQ cofactor (not QA or QB) exists in PSII. This UVRR approach will be useful to the study of quinone molecules in photosynthesis or other biological systems.

School bullying among Chinese third to fifth grade primary school students in a cross-sectional study: The protective effect of psychological resilience.

School bullying is a major concern for school-aged youth and has great impacts on children's health and well-being, and an increasing number of school bullying cases have been reported in China. Many studies have indicated that psychological resilience may have a well-established association with school bullying. However, only a limited number of studies have explored this association, especially among primary school students. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between school bullying and psychological resilience among primary school students from a Chinese city. The participants were 6,011 primary school students aged 7-14 years who were recruited in a cross-sectional survey in Luzhou, China. The statistical significance of differences between groups was tested using the χ2 test or t test. Binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to explore the association between psychological resilience and school bullying. The incidence rates of bullies and victims were 30.00% (1803/6011; 95% CI: 28.84%-31.16%) and 69.89% (4201/6011; 95% CI: 68.73%-71.05%), respectively. Psychological resilience was a protective factor of school bullying among primary school students (for bullying perpetrators, OR = 0.76, 95%CI:0.62-0.93, and for bully victims OR = 0.74, 95%CI:0.61-0.90), especially among female students (for bullying perpetrators, OR = 0.63, 95%CI: 0.47-0.85, and for bully victims, OR = 0.69, 95%CI: 0.53-0.90). School bullying among primary school students in Luzhou City was highly prevalent. High levels of psychological resilience might be a protective factor in preventing primary students from being involved in school bullying, especially among females.

Psychological Resilience May Be Related to Students' Responses to Victims of School Bullying: A Cross-Sectional Study of Chinese Grade 3-5 Primary School Students.

BACKGROUND: School bullying is a major public health problem with a large impact on children's health. There is an increasing number of cases of school bullying reported in China. Studies have shown that the health consequences of different ways of responding to school bullying may be quite different and that psychological resilience is also closely related to aggressive behaviors. However, there has been little research on whether individuals with different psychological resilience levels respond differently. OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between responses to school bullying and psychological resilience, which may provide new ideas and strategies to better prevent and intervene in school bullying. METHODS: A random sample of 5425 primary school students aged 7-14 years were recruited in Luzhou, China. All students completed a questionnaire anonymously. The statistical significance of differences between groups was tested using the χ2 test or t test. Binary logistic regression was conducted to explore the relationship between responses and psychological resilience. RESULTS: Over two-thirds of primary school students in this study reported experiencing bullying in the past year. The rate of positive responses among victims was 69.10% (2596/3757, 95% CI: 67.62~70.58%). There was a positive relationship between psychological resilience and positive responses. This relationship was observed for all victims (OR = 1.605, 95% CI: 1.254~2.055), especially male victims (OR = 2.300, 95% CI: 1.624~3.259). CONCLUSIONS: There was a positive relationship between primary school bullying responses and psychological resilience among victims, with differences by sex. Therefore, increasing students' level of psychological resilience, possibly by improving their responses, is important for preventing school bullying. Meanwhile, effective interventions for school bullying should be developed from multiple perspectives, particularly sex, bullying roles, and psychological resilience.

Association Between MTHFR Polymorphisms and the Risk of Essential Hypertension: An Updated Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Since the 1990s, there have been a lot of research on single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and different diseases, including many studies on 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) polymorphism and essential hypertension (EH). Nevertheless, their conclusions were controversial. So far, six previous meta-analyses discussed the internal relationship between the MTHFR polymorphism and EH, respectively. However, they did not evaluate the credibility of the positive associations. To build on previous meta-analyses, we updated the literature by including previously included papers as well as nine new articles, improved the inclusion criteria by also considering the quality of the papers, and applied new statistical techniques to assess the observed associations. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to explore the degree of risk correlation between two MTHFR polymorphisms and EH. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, CNKI, and Wan Fang electronic databases were searched to identify relevant studies. We evaluated the relation between the MTHFR C677T (rs1801133) and A1298C (rs1801131) polymorphisms and EH by calculating the odds ratios (OR) as well as 95% confidence intervals (CI). Here we used subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis, cumulative meta-analysis, assessment of publication bias, meta-regression meta, False-positive report probability (FPRP), Bayesian false discovery probability (BFDP), and Venice criterion. RESULTS: Overall, harboring the variant of MTHFR C677T was associated with an increased risk of EH in the overall populations, East Asians, Southeast Asians, South Asians, Caucasians/Europeans, and Africans. After the sensitivity analysis, positive results were found only in the overall population (TT vs. CC: OR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.00-1.30, P h = 0.032, I 2 = 39.8%; TT + TC vs. CC: OR = 1.15, 95% CI: 1.01-1.29, P h = 0.040, I 2 = 38.1%; T vs. C: OR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.04-1.25, P h = 0.005, I 2 = 50.2%) and Asian population (TC vs. CC: OR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.01-1.28, P h = 0.265, I 2 = 16.8%; TT + TC vs. CC: OR = 1.17, 95% CI: 1.04-1.30, P h = 0.105, I 2 = 32.9%; T vs. C: OR = 1.10, 95% CI: 1.02-1.19, P h = 0.018, I 2 = 48.6%). However, after further statistical assessment by FPRP, BFDP, and Venice criteria, the positive associations reported here could be deemed to be false-positives and present only weak evidence for a causal relationship. In addition, when we performed pooled analysis and sensitivity analysis on MTHFR A1298C; all the results were negative. CONCLUSION: The positive relationships between MTHFR C677T and A1298C polymorphisms with the susceptibility to present with hypertension were not robust enough to withstand statistical interrogation by FPRP, BFDP, and Venice criteria. Therefore, these SNPs are probably not important in EH etiology.

Inhibition of miR-217 Protects Against Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury Through Inactivating NF-κB and MAPK Pathways.

PURPOSE: Recent studies have demonstrated that miRNAs play a vital role in regulating myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury (MIRI). MiR-217 has been proven to be implicated in cardiac diseases such as chronic heart failure and cardiac myxoma. However, the role of miR-217 in MIRI is not clear. METHODS: A mouse MIRI model was established and the myocardial infarct size was evaluated by TTC staining. The expression level of miR-217 in I/R group was determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Subsequently, MIRI mice and H9C2 cells were administrated with miR-217 inhibitor in vivo and in vitro, respectively. The levels of TNF-α and IL-6 were measured by commercially available ELISA kits. Blood and cell samples were collected for the measurement of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level and caspase-3 activity. Cell viability was assessed with the CCK-8 assay. We then explored the detailed molecular mechanisms by TargetScan 7.1 database and further studies were performed to prove the prediction by dual-luciferase reporter assay. RESULTS: Larger stainless infarct areas were observed in the MIRI group, accompanied by inceased serum LDH activity, indicating the mouse MIRI model was successfully established. MiR-217 was up-regulated in MIRI mice and hypoxia/reoxygenation-treated H9C2 cells. MiR-217 knockdown alleviated the MIRI in MIRI mouse model, and also attenuated the myocardial hypoxia/reoxygenation injury in H9C2 cells. Moreover, dual specificity protein phosphatase 14 (DUSP14) was proved to be a target of miR-217. Besides, further study indicated that inhibition of miR-217 protected against MIRI through inactivating NF-κB and MAPK pathways via targeting DUSP14. CONCLUSIONS: MiR-217 inhibition protected against MIRI through inactivating NF-κB and MAPK pathways by targeting DUSP14. This study may provide valuable diagnostic and factors and therapeutic agents for MIRI.

Case Study: Using Electronic Medication Administration Record to Enhance Medication Safety and Improve Efficiency in Long-Term Care Facilities.

The electronic medication administration record (eMAR) has been used in hospitals and acute care facilities in Canada for over a decade. Unfortunately, the Canadian continuing care sector has been slow to adopt eMAR usage. Medication delivery in long-term care has traditionally been through paper-based orders and manual documentation in the paper medication administration record. The effectiveness of this manual system as it relates to medication incidents, patient safety and nursing efficiency is not well understood because most of the information is based on anecdotal evidence. Peer-reviewed scientific literature supports the premise that the eMAR, compared to the MAR, is more efficient, significantly reduces medication incidents, promotes patient safety and improves workflow efficiency. In April 2016, the Brenda Strafford Foundation committed to implementing the eMAR at each of our three long-term care facilities to improve medication delivery, reducing and eliminating medication incidents and evaluating the benefits of the electronic system. Under the direction of the clinical team, including nurses, physicians, pharmacists, and the software provider/vendor, an electronic system was developed and new processes for medication delivery were instituted within eight months of starting the project. Since the past year, the evaluation of the eMAR at the Brenda Strafford Foundation demonstrated a reduction in medication delivery time allowing for more time for direct care and a decrease in medication incidents, which directly affects resident health and safety. Nursing and the healthcare aides trained in medication management were surveyed and indicated that the eMAR provides a holistic view of the resident and provides important information readily available to improve the quality of resident care.

The association of psychological symptoms with unintentional injuries among retired employees of a university in China.

To investigate the association of psychological symptoms with injury risk, psychological symptoms were measured using symptom checklist-90 revised (SCL-90-R) and the unintentional injury information was followed up for 1 year among retired employees at a university in China. The injury rate had a significant difference between groups of raw mean score > or =2.0 and <2.0 for SCL-90-R global factor and subscale factors of obsessive compulsiveness, interpersonal sensitivity, depression and anxiety. After accounting for the factors of daily housework, physical activities, living alone and demographic factors, SCL-90-R global factor (odds ratio (OR) = 1.87, 95% CI: 1.20-2.91) and subscales factors of obsessive compulsiveness (OR = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.31-2.85), interpersonal sensitivity (OR = 2.05, 95% CI: 1.09-3.02), depression (OR = 2.09, 95% CI: 1.40-3.12) and anxiety (OR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.03-2.44) were still significantly associated with an elevated risk of unintentional injury among the retired employees. In order to reduce the risk of unintentional injuries among the elderly, a psychological health service should be provided in the community.

Self-Adaptable Quinone-Quinol Exchange Mechanism of Photosystem II.

The step of plastoquinone (PQ) reduction to plastoquinol (PQH2) can regulate the photoreaction rate of photosystem II (PSII). To experimentally unravel the PQ-PQH2 exchange mechanism of PSII, we investigate the reaction kinetics of plant PSII membranes and the subunits-trimmed PSII core complexes with various PQ analogues and directly probe the reductions of PQ and other quinones by 257 nm resonance Raman scattering. Two phases of quinone concentration effect on the reaction rate originate from the quinone-quinol exchange mechanism. The results indicate that high concentrations of quinone, more than one movable quinone molecule per PSII reaction center, could trigger quinone-quinol exchange adapting to the unidirectional route: quinones enter through channel I and/or III, and quinols leave through channel II. A weak quinone binding site near QB probably plays a crucial role in pushing quinone-quinol exchange forward in the unidirectional route. Our work provides experimental proofs demonstrating a self-adaptable quinone-quinol exchange mechanism of PSII.