The Effects of Different Durations of Night-Time Supplementary Lighting on the Growth, Yield, Quality and Economic Returns of Tomato.

To achieve higher economic returns, we employ inexpensive valley electricity for night-time supplementary lighting (NSL) of tomato plants, investigating the effects of various durations of NSL on the growth, yield, and quality of tomato. Tomato plants were treated with supplementary light for a period of 0 h, 3 h, 4 h, and 5 h during the autumn-winter season. The findings revealed superior growth and yield of tomato plants exposed to 3 h, 4 h, and 5 h of NSL compared to their untreated counterparts. Notably, providing lighting for 3 h demonstrated greater yields per plant and per trough than 5 h exposure. To investigate if a reduced duration of NSL would display similar effects on the growth and yield of tomato plants, tomato plants received supplementary light for 0 h, 1 h, 2 h, and 3 h at night during the early spring season. Compared to the control group, the stem diameter, chlorophyll content, photosynthesis rate, and yield of tomatoes significantly increased upon supplementation with lighting. Furthermore, the input-output ratios of 1 h, 2 h, and 3 h NSL were calculated as 1:10.11, 1:4.38, and 1:3.92, respectively. Nonetheless, there was no detectable difference in yield between the 1 h, 2 h, and 3 h NSL groups. These findings imply that supplemental LED lighting at night affects tomato growth in the form of light signals. Night-time supplemental lighting duration of 1 h is beneficial to plant growth and yield, and its input-output ratio is the lowest, which is an appropriate NSL mode for tomato cultivation.

Estimates of bladder cancer burden attributable to high fasting plasma glucose: Findings of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.

BACKGROUND: High fasting plasma glucose (FPG) has been listed as one of the risk factors for bladder cancer. We here estimated the global, regional, and national levels of bladder cancer burden attributable to high FPG from 1990 to 2019. METHODS: Bladder cancer data attributable to high FPG were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019, and analyzed by age, sex, year, and location. Age-standardized rates were utilized to evaluate the burden between different populations. The temporal trend of the burden was estimated through the Joinpoint analysis. RESULTS: In 2019, high FPG contributed to 22,823.33 (95% uncertainty interval [UI], 4694.88-48,962.26) deaths and 399,654.91 (95% UI, 81,609.35-865,890.95) disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of bladder cancer globally. Since 1990, the global age-standardized death and DALY rates of bladder cancer attributable to high FPG increased apparently by 39.18% and 41.48%, respectively. During the last 30 years, high FPG-related age-standardized death and DALY rates of bladder cancer have increased in all countries. In 2019, Central Europe showed the greatest high FPG-related age-standardized death and DALY rates of bladder cancer, but Andean Latin America had the lowest rates. Nationally, Lebanon showed the greatest high FPG-related age-standardized death and DALY rates of bladder cancer in 2019. High FPG-attributable deaths and DALYs of bladder cancer were more considerable among males and older people. Countries with high SDI showed higher levels of age-standardized death and DALY rates of bladder cancer due to high FPG and presented remarkable upward trends in rates in the last 30 years. CONCLUSIONS: Globally, the high FPG-associated bladder cancer burden has remarkably increased in all countries, and showed a higher level among countries with higher SDI. Monitoring FPG levels among patients with bladder cancer is critical to lower the corresponding burden.

Occurrence and Risk Assessment of Fluoroquinolone Residues in Chicken and Pork in China.

Antibiotics, especially fluoroquinolones, have been exhaustively used in animal husbandry. However, very limited information on the occurrence and exposure assessment of fluoroquinolone residues in chicken and pork in China is available to date. Thus, a total of 1754 chicken samples and 1712 pork samples were collected from 25 provinces in China and tested by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) for residual determination of six common fluoroquinolones. The results revealed that the detection frequencies of fluoroquinolone residues were 3.99% and 1.69% in chicken and pork samples. The overall violation frequencies were 0.68% and 0.41% for chicken and pork. Enrofloxacin and its metabolite ciprofloxacin were found to be the most predominant fluoroquinolones. The occurrence of these antibiotics in different sampling regions and market types was analyzed. The %ADI values of enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin were far less than 100, indicating the health risk associated with the exposure to these aforementioned fluoroquinolone residues via chicken and pork for Chinese children, adolescents, and adults was acceptable. The results provided useful references for Chinese consumers, and helped to appropriately use these antibiotics in poultry and livestock industry.

Economic evaluation of margetuximab vs. trastuzumab for pretreated ERBB2-positive advanced breast cancer in the US and China.

Objective: To assess the economic evaluation of margetuximab plus chemotherapy over trastuzumab plus chemotherapy for women with pretreated ERBB2-positive advanced breast cancer in the United States (US) and China. Methods: Based on the SOPHIA trial, a three-state Markov model was developed to compare the cost and efficacy of margetuximab to trastuzumab for previously treated women with ERBB2-positive advanced breast cancer. The model inputs were derived from existing literature and the US life table. Primary outcomes included lifetime costs in US dollars, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted to evaluate the impact of uncertainty. Results: The base case analyses demonstrated that margetuximab plus chemotherapy had an increasing cost of $68,132 and $20,540 over trastuzumab plus chemotherapy in the US and China, respectively, with a gain of 0.11 and 0.09 QALYs both favored margetuximab. The ICERs for two treatment strategies were $260,176 in the US and $630,777 in China, resulting in a poor cost-effectiveness at their respective threshold of willingness to play. One-way sensitivity analyses showed that the results to be most sensitive to the price of margetuximab and that of trastuzumab. And an 11 and 82% price reduction of margetuximab would make this regimen cost-effective in the US and China, respectively. Conclusion: In the US and China, margetuximab plus chemotherapy is not likely to be cost-effective for women with pretreated ERBB2-positive advanced breast cancer, whereas price reduction effectively improves insufficient cost-effectiveness.

Atom- and step-economic 1,3-thiosulfonylation of activated allenes with thiosulfonates to access vinyl sulfones/sulfides.

A new type of organocatalyzed 1,3-thiosulfonylation has been developed to straightforwardly access highly functionalized vinyl sulfones, which features mild conditions, atom- and step-economy, practicability, conciseness, and environmental friendliness. Moreover, these valuable products can be transformed to vinyl sulfides via a base-promoted isomerization. The versatile route can efficiently and rapidly introduce SCD3 groups with excellent levels of deuterium content (>99% D) by utilizing our newly developed SCD3 reagents. Gram-scale operations and further transformations are smoothly carried out, providing promising applications for drug discovery.

Management of gestational weight gain in obese or overweight women based on resting energy expenditure: A pilot cohort study.

Resting energy expenditure (REE) comprises 60% of total energy expenditure and variations may be associated with gestational weight gain (GWG). This study aims to explore the usability and feasibility of REE guided intervention for GWG in obese and overweight women. We conducted a prospective cohort study in LuHe Hospital of Capital Medical University in Beijing, China between May 1, 2017 and May 31, 2018. Obese/overweight women who had routine prenatal care visit at 10 to 13 weeks of gestation, were recruited after written informed consent was obtained. The intervention group (those women who were recruited between January 1 and May 31, 2018) used REE calculated daily total energy to manage GWG, while the control group (those women who were recruited between May 1 and December 31, 2017) used prepregnancy body mass index calculated daily total energy to manage GWG. GWG and daily total energy between the 2 groups were recorded from 10 to 13 weeks of gestation to delivery. A total of 68 eligible women (35 in intervention group and 33 in control group) were included in the final analysis. Daily total energy in the intervention group increased less than the control group, especially from 2nd trimester to 3rd trimester (1929.54 kcal/d vs. 2138.33 kcal/d). The variation of daily total energy from 1st trimester to 3rd trimester in the intervention group was lower than the control group (226.17 kcal/d vs 439.44 kcal/d). Overall GWG of the intervention group (13.45 kg) was significantly lower than the control group (18.20 kg). The percentage of excess-GWG in the intervention group (31.42%) was also significantly lower than the control (57.57%). Findings from our pilot study suggest that diet recommendation basting on REE may improve management of GWG in obese/overweight women.

Global Burden of Respiratory Diseases Attributable to Ambient Particulate Matter Pollution: Findings From the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.

Background: Exposure to ambient particulate matter pollution (APMP) is a global health issue that directly affects the human respiratory system. Thus, we estimated the spatiotemporal trends in the burden of APMP-related respiratory diseases from 1990 to 2019. Methods: Based on the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019, data on the burden of APMP-related respiratory diseases were analyzed by age, sex, cause, and location. Joinpoint regression analysis was used to analyze the temporal trends in the burden of different respiratory diseases over the 30 years. Results: Globally, in 2019, APMP contributed the most to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), with 695.1 thousand deaths and 15.4 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs); however, the corresponding age-standardized death and DALY rates declined from 1990 to 2019. Similarly, although age-standardized death and DALY rates since 1990 decreased by 24% and 40%, respectively, lower respiratory infections (LRIs) still had the second highest number of deaths and DALYs attributable to APMP. This was followed by tracheal, bronchus, and lung (TBL) cancer, which showed increased age-standardized death and DALY rates during the past 30 years and reached 3.78 deaths per 100,000 persons and 84.22 DALYs per 100,000 persons in 2019. Among children aged < 5 years, LRIs had a huge burden attributable to APMP, whereas for older people, COPD was the leading cause of death and DALYs attributable to APMP. The APMP-related burdens of LRIs and COPD were relatively higher among countries with low and low-middle socio-demographic index (SDI), while countries with high-middle SDI showed the highest burden of TBL cancer attributable to APMP. Conclusions: APMP contributed substantially to the global burden of respiratory diseases, posing a significant threat to human health. Effective actions aimed at air pollution can potentially avoid an increase in the PM2.5-associated disease burden, especially in highly polluted areas.

[Feeding patterns and influencing factors of infants under 0-6 months of age in rural areas of Nanchong City in 2019].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feeding patterns of infants under 6 months of age in rural areas of Nanchong City, Sichuan Province, and to explore the driving factors of different feeding patterns. METHODS: A total of 837 pairs of infants under 6 months of age(<183 days of age) and their primary caregivers(450 male infants and 387 female infants, with an average age of(2.9±1.8) months, most of the primary caregivers were mothers(95.70%)) were selected by multi-stage random cluster sampling in Nanchong City in 2019.An electronic tablet equipped with a computer assisted system was used to input the face-to-face inquiry questionnaire to collect information, mainly including the sociodemographic characteristics of the subjects, infant feeding patterns, mothers' feeding knowledge, mothers' feeding attitudes, family support for breastfeeding, negative support from the surrounding population and other relevant information. Using disordered multi-classification Logistic regression, excluding non-maternal nursing samples, non-lactating mothers and mothers unable to breastfeed due to disease, 789 pairs of infants and their mothers were included in the regression model. After controlling the demographic characteristics of infants and their mothers, the independent influencing factors of exclusive breastfeeding relative to mixed feeding and artificial feeding were analyzed. RESULTS: The rates of exclusive breastfeeding, mixed feeding and artificial feeding were 35.13%(294/837), 50.30%(421/837) and 14.57%(122/837) in rural areas of Nanchong. Compared with mixed feeding, mothers with high feeding knowledge(OR=2.06, 95%CI 1.47-2.86) were more likely to exclusively breastfeed. Compared with artificial feeding, mothers with high feeding knowledge(OR=2.48, 95%CI 1.36-4.54), positive attitude towards breastfeeding(OR=2.57, 95%CI 1.12-5.87) and high family support for breastfeeding(OR=3.01, 95%CI 1.73-5.24) were more likely to exclusively breastfeed, and mothers with negative support from the surrounding population(OR=0.37, 95%CI 0.14-0.98) were more likely to carry out artificial feeding. CONCLUSION: In rural areas of Nanchong City, Sichuan Province, three ways of exclusive breastfeeding, mixed feeding and artificial feeding coexist. Mixed-feeding is the main method, and the rate of exclusive breastfeeding is low. Mothers' feeding knowledge is an important factor influencing feeding patterns, and breastfeeding attitudes and breastfeeding family support are the main drivers of artificial feeding.

Cost-Sensitive Siamese Network for PCB Defect Classification.

After the production of printed circuit boards (PCB), PCB manufacturers need to remove defected boards by conducting rigorous testing, while manual inspection is time-consuming and laborious. Many PCB factories employ automatic optical inspection (AOI), but this pixel-based comparison method has a high false alarm rate, thus requiring intensive human inspection to determine whether alarms raised from it resemble true or pseudo defects. In this paper, we propose a new cost-sensitive deep learning model: cost-sensitive siamese network (CSS-Net) based on siamese network, transfer learning and threshold moving methods to distinguish between true and pseudo PCB defects as a cost-sensitive classification problem. We use optimization algorithms such as NSGA-II to determine the optimal cost-sensitive threshold. Results show that our model improves true defects prediction accuracy to 97.60%, and it maintains relatively high pseudo defect prediction accuracy, 61.24% in real-production scenario. Furthermore, our model also outperforms its state-of-the-art competitor models in other comprehensive cost-sensitive metrics, with an average of 33.32% shorter training time.

Combined Assessment of Elevated Plasma Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2 and Plaque Enhancement Improved Accuracy in the Risk of Acute Ischemic Stroke in Patients with Intracranial Artery Stenosis.

PURPOSE: We evaluated the relationship between plasma lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) concentration and plaque characteristics in patients with intracranial artery stenosis and their clinical relevance in acute ischemic stroke. METHODS: Eighty-seven patients with intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (66 males, 21 females) were retrospectively enrolled. Plasma Lp-PLA2 concentration was measured, and vessel wall magnetic resonance imaging (VW-MRI) was used to determine intracranial vascular stenosis and plaque characteristics, including plaque enhancement, surface morphology, and T1 hyperintensity. Binary logistic regression was used to evaluate the relationship between Lp-PLA2 concentration and plaque characteristics of intracranial artery after adjusting for demographic and confounding factors and to assess their diagnostic efficacy for the risk of acute ischemic stroke. RESULTS: After adjustment for demographic, medication and related lipid factors, Lp-PLA2 elevation was associated with plaque enhancement (odds ratio [OR]=12.7, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.51-64.82, P=0.002) and surface irregularity (OR=2.9, 95% CI 1.06-7.98, P=0.038). Both Lp-PLA2 elevation (OR=8.8, 95% CI 1.64-47.72, P=0.011) and plaque enhancement (OR=34.3, 95% CI 5.88-200.4, P=0.001) were associated with acute ischemic stroke. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the area under the curve for Lp-PLA2 concentration and plaque enhancement combined in the diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke was 0.884, significantly higher than that for Lp-PLA2 concentration (0.724) and plaque enhancement (0.794) alone. CONCLUSION: Elevated Lp-PLA2 is associated with plaque enhancement and plaque surface irregularity. Combined assessment of Lp-PLA2 concentration and plaque enhancement is of greater diagnostic value for the risk of acute ischemic stroke in patients with intracranial artery stenosis.

Estimates of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Burden Attributable to Particulate Matter Pollution and Its 30-Year Change Patterns: A Systematic Analysis of Data From the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.

Background: Epidemiological trends of type 2 diabetes mellitus attributable to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution remain unclear. Here, we estimated spatiotemporal trends of type 2 diabetes mellitus burden attributable to PM2.5 pollution, including ambient particulate matter pollution (APMP) and household air pollution (HAP), from 1990-2019. Methods: Data were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 and were analyzed by age, sex, year, and location. Joinpoint regression analysis was applied in the analysis of temporal trends in type 2 diabetes mellitus burden over the 30 years. Results: Globally, PM2.5 pollution contributed to 292.5 thousand deaths and 13 million disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in 2019. APMP ranked third among all risk factors, causing an increase in type 2 diabetes mellitus burden from 1990, whereas the impact of HAP significantly fell during the same period. Both APMP and HAP contributed the most to deaths and DALYs of type 2 diabetes mellitus among older people. However, the age-standardized death and DALY rates of type 2 diabetes mellitus attributable to APMP were greater among males and people in the middle socio-demographic index countries, especially in Southern Sub-Saharan Africa. For HAP, type 2 diabetes mellitus burden was modestly higher in females and was highest in Oceania, which was the only region with an increase from 1990. Conclusions: PM2.5 pollution resulted in substantial and increasing type 2 diabetes mellitus burden worldwide. Hence, governments and health systems should take steps to reduce air pollution to mitigate this increasing burden.

Global, Regional, and National Burden of Diabetes-Related Chronic Kidney Disease From 1990 to 2019.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a public health problem largely caused by diabetes. The epidemiology of diabetes mellitus-related CKD (CKD-DM) could provide specific support to lessen global, regional, and national CKD burden. Methods: Data were derived from the GBD 2019 study, including four measures and age-standardized rates (ASRs). Estimated annual percentage changes and 95% CIs were calculated to evaluate the variation trend of ASRs. Results: Diabetes caused the majority of new cases and patients with CKD in all regions. All ASRs for type 2 diabetes-related CKD increased over 30 years. Asia and Middle socio-demographic index (SDI) quintile always carried the heaviest burden of CKD-DM. Diabetes type 2 became the second leading cause of CKD and CKD-related death and the third leading cause of CKD-related DALYs in 2019. Type 2 diabetes-related CKD accounted for most of the CKD-DM disease burden. There were 2.62 million incident cases, 134.58 million patients, 405.99 thousand deaths, and 13.09 million disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) of CKD-DM worldwide in 2019. Age-standardized incidence (ASIR) and prevalence rate (ASPR) of type 1 diabetes-related CKD increased, whereas age-standardized death rate (ASDR) and DALY rate decreased for females and increased for males. In high SDI quintile, ASIR and ASPR of type 1 diabetes-related CKD remained the highest, with the slowest increase, whereas the ASDR and age-standardized DALY rate remained the lowest there. In high SDI quintile, ASIR of type 2 diabetes-related CKD was the highest, with the lowest increasing rate. In addition, type 2 diabetes-related CKD occurred most in people aged 80-plus years worldwide. The main age of type 2 diabetes-related CKD patients was 55-64 years in Asia and Africa. The prevalence, mortality, and DALY rate of type 2 diabetes-related CKD increased with age. As for incidence, there was a peak at 80 years, and after age of 80, the incidence declined. CKD-DM-related anemia was mainly in mild to moderate grade. Conclusions: Increasing burden of CKD-DM varied among regions and countries. Prevention and treatment measures should be strengthened according to CKD-DM epidemiology, especially in middle SDI quintile and Asia.

Do we really need a knowledge-based decision theory?

The paper investigates what type of motivation can be given for adopting a knowledge-based decision theory (hereafter, KBDT). KBDT seems to have several advantages over competing theories of rationality. It is commonly argued that this theory would naturally fit with the intuitive idea that being rational is doing what we take to be best given what we know, an idea often supported by appeal to ordinary folk appraisals. Moreover, KBDT seems to strike a perfect balance between the problematic extremes of subjectivist and objectivist decision theory. We argue that these alleged advantages do not stand up to a closer scrutiny: KBDT inherits the same kinds of problems as alternative decision theoretic frameworks but doesn't retain any of the respective advantages. Moreover, differently from other knowledge-action principles advanced in the literature, KBDT cannot fully explain the intuitive connections between knowledge and rational action. We conclude that the most serious challenge for knowledge-based decision theorists is to provide a substantive rationale for the adoption of such a view.

Dynamic environmental efficiency analysis of China's power generation enterprises: a game cross-Malmquist index approach.

Since the power unbundling reform in 2002, China's power industry has been a typical sector moving towards marketization. The supply-side structural reform that began in 2015 has intensified the competition among China's power generation enterprises. In this context, this paper combines a data envelopment analysis (DEA) game cross-efficiency model with the Malmquist index approach to investigate the dynamic environmental efficiency of China's power generation enterprises in a competitive market. Furthermore, the system generalized method of moments (SYS-GMM) is employed to analyze the influences of factors on the dynamic environmental efficiency. The results show that: (1) Compared with the basic DEA Charnes-Cooper-Rhodes (CCR)-Malmquist index model, the DEA game cross-Malmquist index approach can enhance the discrimination among the decision making units (DMUs). (2) The change in the overall dynamic environmental efficiency of China's power generation enterprises mainly comes from the catch-up effect, while technological progress has not played a role as significant as expected. (3) The installed capacity growth rate, implementation of carbon emission trading pilots, economic growth rate, and enterprise ownership all affect the dynamic environmental performance of China's power generation enterprises during the study period.

Assessment on the Effects of Hepatitis B Prevention and Control Measures in Western China: A Comparison of Three Population-based Serosurveys.

OBJECTIVE: Despite the remarkable progress in efforts to control disease spread, the nationwide elimination of hepatitis B in China is still hindered by the persistently high rate of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in Western China. This study aimed to evaluate the strategy of hepatitis B prevention and control in Western China and identify potential areas and strategies for improvement. METHODS: Susceptible population vaccination, health education, professional training of doctors, and other prevention and control measures have been implemented in Wuwei city since 2010. Data were obtained from three representative cross-sectional serosurveys conducted in 2010, 2013, and 2015. The serum samples were subjected to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays to detect the following seromarkers: HBV surface antigen (HBsAg), antibody against hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs), and antibody against hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc). Estimates of variance were determined using Taylor series linearization methods. RESULTS: The three serosurveys revealed decreases in the prevalence of HBsAg (7.19% in 2010 vs. 6.51% in 2013 vs. 5.87% in 2015) and anti-HBc positivity (43.89% vs. 32.87% vs. 28.46%) and an increase in the prevalence of anti-HBs positivity (49.07% vs. 53.66% vs. 53.72%) over time. From 2010 to 2015, the legally reported incidence of hepatitis B in Wuwei city decreased from 686.53/100,000 to 53.72/100,000. Notably, persistently high HBsAg-positive rates (above 5.40%) were observed among subjects aged 20-69 years old in the three serosurveys; the prevalence of HBsAg was above 1% among children younger than 10 years old. Furthermore, rural subjects had higher rates of HBsAg and anti-HBc positivity than their urban counterparts (6.04% vs. 4.83% and 30.26% vs. 20.35%, respectively) in 2015 but had a lower rate of anti-HBs positivity (49.68 vs. 55.18%). Multivariate regression analysis showed that age, urban and rural areas, and education level were the main factors affecting HBV infection. CONCLUSION: Although vaccine-based prevention and control measures reduced the rate of HBV infection in Wuwei City over time, the hepatitis B infection rate in children younger than 10 years was still higher than the national average level. Therefore, the prevention and control of mother-to-child transmission and the management of the infected should be the focus of future prevention and control work.

Development of a quality of life questionnaire for nursing home residents in mainland China.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a quality of life (QOL) questionnaire for nursing home (NH) residents in mainland China. METHODS: A cross-sectional study including a development sample (n = 176) and validation sample (n = 371) of NH residents aged 60 and older was conducted between 2015 and 2016 in Jinan, Shandong Province, China. Resident interviews, literature reviews, expert panels, and pilot studies were used to identify QOL domains and items pertinent to NH life. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were used to develop and validate a QOL questionnaire. Reliability (internal consistency, spilt-half reliability, and test-retest reliability) and validity (construct and criterion validity) were evaluated for the questionnaire. RESULTS: The self-report Chinese NH QOL questionnaire had 9 domains and 38 items including physical health (4 items), food enjoyment (6 items), security (3 items), environmental comfort (5 items), autonomy (2 items), meaningful activity (3 items), interrelationship (6 items), family relationships (3 items), and mood (6 items). The nine-factor model was confirmed with the following fit indices: χ2/df = 1.872, root mean square error of approximation = 0.049, comparative fit index = 0.913, and Tucker-Lewis index = 0.903. The 38-item NH QOL questionnaire showed satisfactory construct validity, criterion validity, internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.89, spilt-half reliability = 0.73, test-retest reliability = 0.76). CONCLUSIONS: The NH QOL questionnaire appears to be a reliable and valid instrument and should be incorporated into a set of quality measures for use with NH residents in mainland China.

Sequential organ failure assessment in predicting mortality after paraquat poisoning: A meta-analysis.

Sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score is commonly used to determine disease severity and predict prognosis in critically ill patients. However, the prognostic value of SOFA after acute paraquat (PQ) poisoning remains unclear. This meta-analysis aimed to study the capability of SOFA to predict mortality in patients with PQ poisoning. Databases that included PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched through May 2018. Six studies involving 946 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Study-specific odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated, and then ORs with 95% CIs were pooled for the estimation of the prognostic role of SOFA in patients with PQ poisoning. Results showed that higher SOFA in patients with PQ poisoning was related to severe mortality (OR = 8.14, 95%CI 4.26-15.58, p<0.001). The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnostic OR, and area under the curve were 72% (95%CI 0.65-0.79), 75% (95%CI 0.65-0.83), 2.9 (95%CI 2.0-4.1), 0.37 (95%CI 0.28-0.41), 8 (95%CI 4-14), and 0.79 (95%CI 0.76-0.83), respectively. No evidence of publication bias was detected by funnel plot analysis and formal statistical tests. Sensitivity analyses showed no important differences in the estimates of effects. The high SOFA score (8.1-fold) was associated with severe mortality in patients with PQ poisoning.

Comprehensive assessment of T-cell repertoire following autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for treatment of type 1 diabetes using high-throughput sequencing.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoires in type 1 diabetes (T1D) patients receiving autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) treatment. METHODS: High-throughput deep TCR beta (TCRB) chain sequencing was performed to assess millions of individual TCRs in five T1D patients receiving AHSCT treatment and another five patients receiving insulin treatment during 12 months of follow-up. RESULTS: No significant changes in TCRB sequence reads, complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3) sequences, or the usage of TCRB VJ gene-segments were observed at 12 months after AHSCT. Compared with the baseline, the usage of TCRB VJ gene-segments at 12 months decreased in the insulin treatment group (1836.4 ± 437.7 vs 2763.6 ± 390.6, P = 0.015), and the change rates were larger than those undergoing AHSCT (-0.62 ± 0.16 vs 0.06 ± 0.45, P = 0.002). Changes in the TCR repertoire were smaller after AHSCT than those with insulin treatment (P = 2.2*10-32 ). TCRBV 7-7/TCRBJ 2-5 was depleted after AHSCT while expanded with insulin treatment. TCRBV 12-4, TCRBV 10-3, TCRBV 12-3/TCRBJ 1-2 were expanded after AHSCT while ablated with insulin treatment. CONCLUSIONS: We found that AHSCT is safe without reduction in the diversity of TCR repertoires and TCR repertoires tend to be more stable after AHSCT. Furthermore, these four candidate TCRBV/TCRBJ gene usages on CDR3 regions may act as therapeutic targets and biomarkers.

Evaluating biapenem dosage regimens in intensive care unit patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections: a pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic analysis using Monte Carlo simulation.

This study was conducted to identify optimal dosage regimens and estimate pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) characteristics of short-infusion (SI) versus extended-infusion (EI) biapenem against Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in Chinese intensive care unit (ICU) patients. A total of 85 strains of P. aeruginosa were collected, and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of biapenem was measured by the serial two-fold agar dilution method. We designed four frequently used clinical regimens: biapenem 300 mg I.V. q12h, q8h, and q6h, and 600 mg q12h. The Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) was performed using previously published pharmacokinetic data to calculate the probability of target attainment (PTA) and the cumulative fraction of response (CFR) of these regimens as an SI (0.5 h) and an EI (1 h, 2 h, 3 h, and 4 h). For a target of 40%fT>MIC (serum drug concentration remains above the MIC for a dosing period), none of the regimens achieved any CFRs>90% for P. aeruginosa, multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa (MDR-PA) and even non-MDR-PA. The traditional biapenem SI regimens most commonly seen in clinical practice were insufficient in treating both MDR and non-MDR P. aeruginosa in ICU patients. However, biapenem 600 mg q12h over 2-4 h EI regimens could achieve CFR>90% with 20%fT>MIC. Clinical trials should aim to validate the potentially greater PK/PD index with higher, more frequent doses and longer extended infusions.

Cost effective synthesis of p-type Zn-doped MgAgSb by planetary ball-milling with enhanced thermoelectric properties.

As promising candidates for the progress of low-temperature thermoelectric devices, MgAgSb-based thermoelectric materials have drawn a great deal of attention. However, due to complicated phase changes, high content of impurities and high volatilization of Mg, it is difficult to synthesize pure phase MgAgSb-based thermoelectric materials via conventional methods. Here, MgAgSb alloy was successfully synthesized by a combination of common planetary ball milling and spark plasma sintering. Furthermore, the introduction of Zn improved the purity of alloys, leading to optimization of the electrical transport properties. As a result, the power factor was improved from 1087 µW m-1 K-2 for MgAg0.9Sb0.95 to 1394 µW m-1 K-2 for Mg0.97Zn0.03Ag0.9Sb0.95 at 473 K, and the ZT reached ∼0.7 at 473 K. These results suggest that MgAgSb-based thermoelectric materials have a good thermoelectric application potential and this study can be used as guidance for the synthesis and performance improvement of other thermoelectric materials. Our synthesis route sets forth a new avenue for accelerating commercial applications of MgAgSb-based thermoelectric power generation or refrigeration.