Dysbiosis of lower respiratory tract microbiome are associated with inflammation and microbial function variety.

BACKGROUND: Lower respiratory tract (LRT) microbiome has been reported to associate with pulmonary diseases. Unregulated inflammation is an underlying cause of variable lung diseases. The lung microbiome may play an important role in the smoking-induced inflammatory lung diseases. What's more, the function of microbiome may be more important for understanding how microbes interact with host. Our study aims to explore the effects of smoking on the lower respiratory tract microbiome, the association between variation of lower respiratory tract microbiome and inflammation and whether smoking exposure changes the function of lower respiratory tract microbime. METHODS: Forty male mice were randomly divided into smoking group and non-smoking group, and the smoking group was exposed to cigarette smoke for 2 h per day for 90 days. After experiment, the blood samples were collected to measure the concentration of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C reactive protein (CRP) by ELISA. Lung tissue samples were used to detect the community and diversity of lower respiratory tract microbiome through 16S rRNA gene quantification and sequencing technology. ANOSIM and STAMP were performed to analyze the differences of the microbial community structure between smoking group and non-smoking group. SPSS 24.0 software was used to analyze the correlations between microbiome and inflammation mediators through scatter plots and Spearman correlation coefficient. Microbial metabolic function was predicted by PICRUSt based on the 16 s rRNA gene quantification and sequencing results. PATRIC database was searched for the potential pathogenic bacteria in lower respiratory tract. RESULTS: Our results suggested that smoking had markedly effects on the microbiota structure of lower respiratory tract based on Bray-Curtis distance (R2 = 0.084, p = 0.005) and on unweighted uniFrac distance (R2 = 0.131, p = 0.002). Smoking mainly affected the abundance of microbiome which belong to Proteobacteria phyla and Firmicutes phyla. Moreover, our results also found that smoking increased the abundance of Acinetobacter, Bacillus and Staphylococcus, which were defined as pathogenic bacteria. Inflammatory mediators were observed to associate with certain microbiome at every level. Most of microbiome which were associated with inflammation belonged to Proteobacteria phyla or Firmicutes phyla. Moreover, we found that the decreased microbiome in smoking group, including Oceanospirillales, Desulfuromonadales, Nesterenkonia, and Lactobacillaceae, all were negatively correlated with IL-6 or CRP. Based on the level of inflammation, the abundance of microbiome differs. At genus level, Lactobacillus, Pelagibacterium, Geobacter and Zoogloea were significantly higher in smoking group with lower IL-6 concentration. The abundance of microbiome was not observed any statistical difference in subgroups with different weight. Three dominant genus, defined as pathogen, were found higher in the smoking group. The microbial functional prediction analysis revealed that ABC-type transport systems, transcription factors, amino acide transport and metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism et al. were distinctively decreased in smoking group, while the proportions of replication, recombination and repair, ribosome, DNA repair and recombination proteins were increased in smoking group (q < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Members of Proteobacteria phyla and Firmicutes phyla played an important role in the microbial community composition and keeping a relatively balanced homeostasis. Microbiome dysbiosis might break the balance of immune system to drive lung inflammation. There might exist potential probiotics in lower respiratory tract, such as Lactobacillaceae. The altered function of Lower respiratory tract microbiome under smoking exposure may affect the physiological homeostasis of host.

[Prediction of Land Use and Habitat Quality in Harbin City Based on the PLUS- InVEST Model].

Analyzing the spatiotemporal evolution of urban land use and habitat quality can reveal the correlation between land use and habitat quality, aiding in rational urban land policies and high-quality ecological environment development. This study was based on land use transition matrices and an Intensity-Migration （IM） model to analyze the changes in land use in Harbin from 2000 to 2020. It combined the PLUS model to explore the driving factors of land use expansion for various land types and predicted land use scenarios for 2030 under natural development, ecological protection, farmland protection, and urban development scenarios. Finally, the InVEST model was used to complete the habitat quality analysis. The results indicated： ① The dominant land use types in Harbin were cropland, forest land, and grassland. From 2000 to 2020, there was a significant tendency of conversion into grassland, cropland, forest land, and artificial surfaces, with noticeable changes in land use intensity. Water bodies, bare land, and wetland types showed less conversion and tended to be restrictive. ② Elevation was the primary factor influencing the expansion of grassland, cropland, forest land, bare land, wetland, and water bodies. Socioeconomic factors were the main factor affecting the expansion of artificial surfaces. ③ Simulation of land use types in Harbin for 2030 under the four scenarios showed an increase in forest land area and a decrease in grassland area, with insignificant changes in wetland, water bodies, and bare land areas. Except for in the ecological protection scenario, the area of artificial surfaces increased, whereas cropland decreased. ④ Overall, habitat quality in Harbin improved from 2000 to 2020. ⑤ In 2030, the spatial pattern of habitat quality in Harbin remained consistent across all scenarios, showing an overall improvement in habitat quality. Under the ecological protection scenario, areas with low and medium habitat quality decreased, whereas areas with higher habitat quality increased, indicating a relatively significant improvement in habitat quality. The research results provide a scientific basis and insights for the development of ecological civilization and urban planning and construction in Harbin.

Childhood neglect and problematic smartphone use among chinese young adults: the mediating roles of peer attachment and fear of missing out.

BACKGROUND: Research has revealed that childhood neglect may be a risk factor for problematic smartphone use among young adults in China. However, few studies have examined the mediating roles of peer attachment and the fear of missing out in the relationship between childhood neglect and problematic smartphone use. To fill this gap, the present study proposes a multiple mediation model to understand the relationships among childhood neglect, peer attachment, fear of missing out, and problematic smartphone use among young adults. METHODS: A total of 869 young adults in China completed questionnaires for evaluating different levels of the relationships between childhood neglect, peer attachment, the fear of missing out, and problematic smartphone use. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 23.0 and MPLUS8.3. RESULTS: The results showed that childhood neglect was positively associated with problematic smartphone use among young adults in China. Moreover, peer attachment and the fear of missing out had partial mediating effects as well as sequential mediating effects in the relationship between childhood neglect and problematic smartphone use among young adults. CONCLUSION: Based on these findings, peer attachment and the fear of missing out, as mediators, could be considered proximal factors affecting problematic smartphone use among young adults. These findings broaden our understanding of the psychological processes that underlie the association between childhood neglect and problematic smartphone use and afford practical guidance on reducing the risks associated with problematic smartphone use.

A performance evaluation of an immuno-latex chromatography card for the rapid detection of Candida spp.

This report evaluates the performance and species specificity of an immuno-latex chromatography card (ICC) for rapid detection of Candida spp. Double-manipulator single-blind Gram staining smear examination (GSSE) and ICC were used to analyze 354 vaginal discharge specimens (VDS) (including 98 tested as positive by GSSE) from women with suspected candidal vaginitis, simulated specimens with a concentration gradient, and vaginitis causing organism suspensions (0.9% NaCl) of 22 species from nine genera. Limit of detection, semi-quantitative detection performance, total detection performance and species specificity were determined for ICC, and the results were compared with those of the GSSE method. The limits of detection of ICC for Candida spp. in organism suspensions with 0.9% NaCl and simulated specimens were 7 × 106 cells/L and 7 × 108 cells/L respectively. For species specificity, the results were positive for six Candida spp. (C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis, C. tropicalis, C. krusei and C. guilliermondii) and negative for the remaining 16 species (C. lusitaniae, Saccharomyces cerevisiae; three Gram-positive coccus species, four Gram-negative bacillus species, three Gram-negative coccus species and four common microbes causing vaginal infection) from eight genera. The overall sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of ICC for VDS were 93.81%, 99.10%, 97.31, 98.14% and 96.90%, respectively. The above indicators in the 98 VDS evaluated as positive were 84.39%, 92.86%, 86.74%, 96.72% and 70.27%, respectively. In summary, ICC offered better specificity, sensitivity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value for the detection of Candida spp. in VDS.

Postoperative Pain Self-Management Behavior in Patients Who Underwent Total Knee or Hip Arthroplasty.

The self-management of acute postoperative pain is not well researched. This cross-sectional study investigates postoperative pain and pain self-management behavior. We recruited 127 patients who underwent total knee or total hip arthroplasty in an acute care hospital. We measured postoperative pain intensity and pain self-management behavior for three postoperative days. The results showed that the participants experienced mild and moderate pain intensity and perceived moderate to severe pain interference, which influenced their mood, sleep patterns, ability to walk, and performance of general activities and rehabilitation exercises. Female participants reported significantly higher pain intensity and lower pain self-management behavior; highly educated participants reported significantly lower pain intensity and higher self-management behavior. Pain intensity scores had a significant negative correlation with the total self-management behavior score (r = -0.719, P < .01). Health care professionals must consider patients' demographic characteristics when providing education and support regarding pain self-management for postoperative pain control.

[A preliminary study of pharmacokinetics of evodiamine hydroxypropyl-ß-cyclodextrin inclusion complex].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the pharmacokinetic parameters of evodiamine hydroxypropyl-ß-cyclodextrin inclusion complex and free evodiamine suspension in rats, and investigate the pharmacokinetic characteristics of evodiamine inclusion complex. METHODS: Both water solubility and cumulative release percentage of EHD were tested with evodiamine as the control. Blood samples were collected from the venous plexus of SD rats after intravenous administration with evodiamine inclusion complex and free evodiamine at 100 mg/kg (equivalent evodiamine dose). Plasma concentrations of evodiamine were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and the pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated using DAS 2.1.1. RESULTS: The evodiamine inclusion complex showed a better water solubility (18.46±0.36 µg/mL) and a higher cumulative release percentage [(76.8±4.9)%] than free evodiamine. The pharmacokinetic parameters of evodiamine inclusion complex and free evodiamine in rats were as follows: Cmax, 252.5±12.43 vs 161.3±3.45 µg/L; T(max), 4.00±0 vs 4.07±0 h; MRT(0-∞), 8.46±0.91 vs 4.43±0.74 h; AUC(0-t), 2266.40±28.64 vs 911.92±8.53 µg·L(-1)·h(-1); AUC(0-∞), 2359.76±31.58 vs 919.16±9.73 µg·L(-1)·h(-1). The relative bioavailability of evodiamine inclusion complex was 256.73%. CONCLUSION: Compared with free evodiamine, evodiamine inclusion complex has a higher bioavailability.