Smartphone-based low-cost and rapid quantitative detection of urinary creatinine with the Tyndall effect.

This research aims to develop a robust and quantitative method for measuring creatinine levels by harnessing the enhanced Tyndall effect (TE) phenomenon. The envisioned sensing assay is designed for practical deployment in resource-limited settings or homes, where access to advanced laboratory facilities is limited. Its primary objective is to enable regular and convenient monitoring of renal healthcare, particularly in cases involving elevated creatinine levels. The creatinine sensing strategy is achieved based on the aggregation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) triggered via the direct crosslinking reaction between creatinine and AuNPs, where an inexpensive laser pointer was used as a handheld light source and a smartphone as a portable device to record the TE phenomenon enhanced by the creatinine-induced aggregation of AuNPs. After evaluation and optimization of parameters such as AuNP concentrations and TE measurement time, the subsequent proof-of-concept experiments demonstrated that the average gray value change of TE images was linearly related to the logarithm of creatinine concentrations in the range of 1-50 µM, with a limit of detection of 0.084 µM. Meanwhile, our proposed creatinine sensing platform exhibited highly selective detection in complex matrix environments. Our approach offers a straightforward, cost-effective, and portable means of creatinine detection, presenting an encouraging signal readout mechanism suitable for point-of-care (POC) applications. The utilization of this assay as a POC solution exhibits potential for expediting timely interventions and enhancing healthcare outcomes among individuals with renal health issues.

Occurrence and risk assessment of organophosphate esters in global aquatic products.

Organophosphate esters (OPEs), as an important class of new pollutants, have been pervasively detected in global aquatic products, arousing widespread public concern due to their potential bioaccumulative behavior and consequent risks. With the continuous improvement of living standards of citizens, there have been constant increment of the proportion of aquatic products in diets of people. The levels of OPEs exposed to residents may also be rising due to the augmented consumption of aquatic products, posing potential hazards on human health, especially for people in coastal areas. The present study integrated the concentrations, profiles, bioaccumulation, and trophic transfer of OPEs in global aquatic products, including Mollusca, Crustacea, and fish, evaluated health risks of OPEs through aquatic products in daily diets by Mont Carol Simulation (MCS), and found Asia has been the most polluted area in terms of the concentration of OPEs in aquatic products, and would have been increasingly polluted. Among all studied OPEs, chlorinated OPEs generally showed accumulation predominance. It is worth noting that some OPEs were found bioaccumulated and/or biomagnified in aquatic ecosystems. Though MCS revealed relative low exposure risks of residents, sensitive and special groups such as children, adolescents, and fishermen may face more serious health risks than the average residents. Finally, knowledge gaps and recommendations for future research are discussed encouraging more long-term and systematic global monitoring, comprehensive studies of novel OPEs and OPEs metabolites, and more toxicological studies to completely evaluate the potential risks of OPEs.

Micro-Raman Analysis of Sperm Cells on Glass Slide: Potential Label-Free Assessment of Sperm DNA toward Clinical Applications.

Routine assessment of sperm DNA integrity involves the time-consuming and complex process of staining sperm chromatin. Here, we report a Raman spectroscopy method combined with extended multiplicative signal correction (EMSC) for the extraction of characteristic fingerprints of DNA-intact and DNA-damaged sperm cells directly on glass slides. Raman results of sperm cell DNA integrity on glass substrates were validated one-to-one with clinical sperm cell staining. Although the overall Raman spectral pattern showed considerable similarity between DNA-damaged and DNA-intact sperm cells, differences in specific Raman spectral responses were observed. We then employed and compared multivariate statistical analysis based on principal component analysis-linear discriminant analysis (PCA-LDA) and partial least-squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), and the classifications were validated by leave-one-out-cross-validation (LOOCV) and k-fold cross-validation methods. In comparison, the PLS-DA model showed relatively better results in terms of diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and the classification rate between the sperm DNA damaged group and the DNA intact group. Our results demonstrate the potential of Raman based label-free DNA assessment of sperm cell on glass substrates as a simple method toward clinical applications.

Determination and dietary intake risk assessment of 35 pesticide residues in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp) from Hainan province, China.

The presence of pesticide residues in cowpea raises serious health concerns. In this study, a novel, sensitive, high-performance method was developed to simultaneously analyze the residues of 35 pesticides in cowpea samples from growing areas in the Hainan province of China, from November 2018 to June 2021. The method employs modified QuEChERS sample pretreatment coupled with gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The limits of quantification of the 35 pesticides in the cowpea matrix ranged from 1.0 to 8.0 µg/kg. Twenty-seven of the 35 pesticides were detected, twelve of which are banned for use on legumes in China. Residues for ten pesticides in 17.1% of the samples exceeded their MRLs, with the highest exceedance of 380% observed in difenoconazole. Moreover, 80.8% of the samples contained one or more pesticide residues, with the most frequently detected pesticide being chlorfenapyr with a detection rate of 46.3%. In addition, the pesticide triazophos was detected through different years and regions. Notably, the chronic dietary exposure risk (%ADI) of the detected pesticides, evaluated from the national estimated acceptable daily intake, was lower than 100% in Chinese people of different age groups.

Cost-effective and robust DSP scheme for a short-reach coherent system in the presence of transmitter IQ skew and chromatic dispersion.

A cost-effective and robust digital signal processing (DSP) scheme is proposed and demonstrated experimentally in a coherent 61 GBaud PDM 16QAM system. In our scheme, multi-stage DSP blocks are used to deal with channel effects, transceiver in-phase and quadrature (IQ) skew, and phase noise. A 4×4 real-valued multiple-input multiple-output (RV-MIMO) with N1 taps is for polarization recovery and receiver IQ skew calibration. After frequency offset compensation, two 2×2 RV-MIMO with N2 taps are used to compensate for chromatic dispersion (CD), inter-symbol interference, transmitter IQ skew, and phase noise. Finally, the residual phase noise is eliminated by the maximum likelihood (ML) estimator. The experimental results indicate that the proposed scheme provides better received optical power sensitivity and CD tolerance than the existing simplified DSP schemes. In addition, the proposed scheme can tolerate transmitter IQ skew up to 7 ps in a 10 km case, which outperforms both simplified and conventional DSP schemes. Meanwhile, the proposed scheme can keep the same transceiver IQ skew and CD tolerance and has reduced complexity by 25% after 10 km links, compared to 4×4 RV-MIMO followed by a transmitter skew compensator. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed scheme is the most cost-effective solution for a high baud rate datacenter interconnects where transmitter IQ skew and CD have to be dealt with.

Changes in Direct Medical Cost and Medications for Managing Diabetes in Beijing, China, 2016 to 2018: Electronic Insurance Data Analysis.

PURPOSE: Although the cost and complexity of managing diabetes is increasing around the world, placing greater burden on patients and their families, the cost of drug regimens prescribed to Chinese patients has not been evaluated. This study was conducted to evaluate the temporal changes in the costs and drugs used for people with diabetes. METHODS: Patients enrolled in Beijing Medical Insurance with outpatient medical records from 2016 through 2018 were included in this study. The outcomes of interest were: (1) the number of outpatient medications, (2) the number of comorbidities diagnosed, (3) the estimated annual cost of the outpatient drug regimen, (4) the drug therapy strategies used for diabetic patients, and (5) the most commonly prescribed classes of drugs. RESULTS: Over the 3-year period, there was a significant decrease (9.0%, P <.001) in the average number of diabetes medications used. Both antiglycemic and non-antiglycemic drug use decreased by 3.6% and 12.9%, respectively. Similarly, for estimated annual costs of medication, an 18.4% (P <.05) decrease was observed, with a gradual decreased from ¥6,868 ($1,059) in 2016 to ¥5,605 ($865) in 2018. CONCLUSION: This is the first large-scale cost analysis of the medical management of diabetes since the implementation of medical insurance in China. Despite the increasing availability of newer, more expensive diabetes drugs, there was a significant reduction in the number of diabetes medications used, that may be due to a more rational approach to optimizing metabolic targets.

The application value of serum 25(OH)D3, uric acid, triglyceride, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance in male patients with hyperuricemia combined with hypogonadism.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate the application value of serum 25(OH)D3, uric acid, triglyceride (TG), and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in male patients with hyperuricemia combined with hypogonadism. METHODS: From August 2018 to August 2020, a total of 198 male patients with primary hyperuricemia were prospectively enrolled in our hospital for inpatient treatment in the department of Metabolism and Endocrinology. They are divided into normal gonadal function group (normal group, n = 117) and hypogonadal function group (hypogonadism group, n = 81), according to free testosterone (FT) level, International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5), and androgen deficiency in the aging male (ADAM) questionnaires. Laboratory indexes were compared between two groups. Multivariate logistic regression was applied to analyze the influencing factors of hypogonadism. RESULTS: Among the 198 hyperuricemia patients, 40.91 % were hypogonadism. Compared with the normal group, the BMI, waist circumference (WC), and the prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), hyperlipidemia (HLP), and obesity (OB) in the hypogonadism group were higher, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05, respectively). The levels of fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting insulin (FINS), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), triacylglycerol (TG), serum uric acid (SUA), alanine transaminase (ALT) of hypogonadism group were higher than those of normal group, while the levels of TT, FT, E2, 25(OH)D3 of hypogonadism group were lower than those of normal group (P < 0.05, respectively). Pearson's linear correlation was used to analyze the correlation between the indicators with significant differences in general data and laboratory indicators and hypogonadism. BMI, WC, HOMA-IR, TG, SUA, TT, FT, 25(OH)D3, E2 were positively correlated with hypogonadism (r = 0.556, 0.139, 0.473, 0.143, 0.134, 0.462, 0.419, 0.572, 0.601, P = 0.012, 0.027, 0.018, 0.019, 0.028, 0.029, 0.030, 0.009, 0.003, respectively). Taking the above indicators as independent variables and hypogonadism as the dependent variable, logistic regression analysis found that the risk factors for hypogonadism were SUA, WC, BMI, HOMA-IR, TG, TT, FT, E2, and 25(OH) D3. CONCLUSIONS: Serum 25(OH)D3, SUA, HOMA-IR, TG levels were positively correlated with male hyperuricemia patients with hypogonadism. They have important application value in the diagnosis of male hyperuricemia patients with hypogonadism.

Can you voluntarily forget what you are planning to forget? Behavioral evidence for the underlying truth of the cost-benefit principle.

Directed forgetting (DF) or intentional forgetting can impair the recall of items cued to be forgotten (so-called cost) but can also improve the recall of items cued to be remembered (so-called benefit), following the cost-benefit principle. However, whether the forget cue is the cause of intentional forgetting is doubtful. Several studies suggest that intentional forgetting is extremely hard by introducing a noncue condition, but it is not enough to explain how the cost-benefit principle works without forgetting. Here, two series of experiments are designed to test the voluntary control ability of attentional resource allocation from memory benefits to costs. In the Experiment 1 series, we changed the position and content of cues, replicating the DF effect and the analogous effect without a forget cue. The results showed that precueing can mildly upregulate memory attentional resources to improve performance while incurring memory costs for other items. Since forced remembering can also induce memory costs and benefits, the cost-benefit principle may not be attributed to DF. In the Experiment 2 series, we further demonstrated that memory costs and benefits exist when implicit cues are employed. Overall, when the results of all memory costs in the above experiments are compared with a noncue condition as the baseline in Experiment 2c, there exist no significant differences. The current results indicate that we can voluntarily upregulate our memory performance for certain items but cannot voluntarily downregulate memory encoding, generalizing the selective attentional resource control account to the cost-benefit principle beyond the directed-forgetting effect.

Measurement and Assessment of Physical Activity by Information and Communication Technology.

This study provides explorative insights into the information and communication technology (ICT) for promoting the physical activity level. ICT has provided innovative ideas and perspectives for PA measurement, assessment, evaluation and health intervention. ICT that aims to increase exercise for the entire population should be of a well-oriented and easy-to-use design with the options of tailored and personalized feedback, coaching, and ranking and supporting; it should be capable of setting goals and working with a schedule and be accompanied by a website to provide overviews of the users' exercise results and progress.

Great Disparity in Photoluminesence Quantum Yields of Colloidal CsPbBr3 Nanocrystals with Varied Shape: The Effect of Crystal Lattice Strain.

Understanding the big discrepancy in the photoluminesence quantum yields (PLQYs) of nanoscale colloidal materials with varied morphologies is of great significance to its property optimization and functional application. Using different shaped CsPbBr3 nanocrystals with the same fabrication processes as model, quantitative synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction analysis reveals the increasing trend in lattice strain values of the nanocrystals: nanocube, nanoplate, nanowire. Furthermore, transient spectroscopic measurements reveal the same trend in the defect quantities of these nanocrystals. These experimental results unambiguously point out that large lattice strain existing in CsPbBr3 nanoparticles induces more crystal defects and thus decreases the PLQY, implying that lattice strain is a key factor other than the surface defect to dominate the PLQY of colloidal photoluminesence materials.

Assessment of biventricular systolic strain derived from the two-dimensional and three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography in lymphoma patients after anthracycline therapy.

The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of three-dimensional (3D) speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) for assessment of both left and right ventricular systolic function in patients with lymphoma after anthracycline chemotherapy, compared with two-dimensional (2D) STE. Totally eighty-nine patients undergoing anthracycline containing chemotherapy were studied. Echocardiographic assessment included 2D and 3D left ventricular (LV) global longitudinal strain (GLS), global circumferential strain (GCS) and right ventricular (RV) GLS. All the parameters were analyzed at baseline, after the completion of four cycles and at the end of the regimen respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was calculated to determine the capability of various echocardiographic parameters to discriminate between before and after chemotherapy. Compared with those at baseline, the 3D GLS and GCS of LV and GLS of RV decreased significantly after four cycles of the therapy (all p < 0.01). At the end of the treatment, 2D GLS and GCS of LV deteriorated markedly (both p < 0.05). The area under the curve for GLS, GCS of LV and GLS of RV derived by 3D were 0.81, 0.66 and 0.78, respectively. The cutoff value with -20.4% of LV GLS by 3D had sensitivity of 81% and specificity of 66% for differentiating patients after therapy from baselines. The cutoff value with -21.9% of RV GLS by 3D had sensitivity of 71% and specificity of 74% fordifferentiating patients after therapy from baselines. The data from this study demonstrated that both 2D and 3D STE can be conducted to evaluate the slight myocardial damage for lymphoma patients after anthracycline chemotherapy. 3D STE could examine subclinical biventricular dysfunction in earlier point than 2D STE.

Assessment of Correlation between Intravoxel Incoherent Motion Diffusion Weighted MR Imaging and Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MR Imaging of Sacroiliitis with Ankylosing Spondylitis.

The relationships between IVIM and DCE-MRI parameters in AS are not clear. We explore the correlation between intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) parameters obtained on MR images in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Forty-four patients with AS were prospectively examined using a 1.5-T MR system. IVIM DWI was performed with 11 b values (range, 0-800 s/mm2) for all patients. The correlation coefficients between IVIM and DCE-MRI parameters were analyzed using Spearman's method. Our results showed that intra- and interobserver reproducibility were excellent to relatively good (ICC = 0.804-0.981; narrow width of 95% limits of agreement). Moderate positive correlations were observed between pure molecular diffusion (Ds) and maximum enhancement (ME) and relative enhancement (RE) (r = 0.700, P < 0.001; r = 0.607, P < 0.001, resp.). Perfusion-related diffusion (Df) showed negative moderate correlation with ME (r = -0.608, P < 0.001). However, no correlation was observed between perfusion fraction (f) and any parameters of ME, RE, TTP, and BE (r = -0.093-0.213; P > 0.165). In conclusion, the IVIM parameters, especially f, might play a critical role in detecting the progression of AS, because it can provide more perfusion information compared with DCE-MRI; besides the IVIM MRI is a noninvasive method.

Early Warning Signals of Financial Crises with Multi-Scale Quantile Regressions of Log-Periodic Power Law Singularities.

We augment the existing literature using the Log-Periodic Power Law Singular (LPPLS) structures in the log-price dynamics to diagnose financial bubbles by providing three main innovations. First, we introduce the quantile regression to the LPPLS detection problem. This allows us to disentangle (at least partially) the genuine LPPLS signal and the a priori unknown complicated residuals. Second, we propose to combine the many quantile regressions with a multi-scale analysis, which aggregates and consolidates the obtained ensembles of scenarios. Third, we define and implement the so-called DS LPPLS Confidence™ and Trust™ indicators that enrich considerably the diagnostic of bubbles. Using a detailed study of the "S&P 500 1987" bubble and presenting analyses of 16 historical bubbles, we show that the quantile regression of LPPLS signals contributes useful early warning signals. The comparison between the constructed signals and the price development in these 16 historical bubbles demonstrates their significant predictive ability around the real critical time when the burst/rally occurs.

[Catastrophic Health Expenditure before and after Compensations from the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme in Rural Zigong of Sichuan Province].

OBJECTIVES: To estimate catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) of rural families in Zigong, and to determine the main influencing factors of CHE. METHODS: CHE was estimated using indicators such as occurrence and average deviations. The influencing factors of CHE were identified through binary logistic regression. RESULTS: We found 6.37% catastrophic health payment headcount, 1.13% mean catastrophic payment gap, and 17.80% mean positive gap after compensations. Compensations from the new rural cooperative medical scheme (NCMS) led to a reduction of 74.81% catastrophic health payment headcount for hospitalization costs and 48.00% catastrophic health payment headcount for outpatient costs, respectively. The numbers of hospitalizations in a family, presence of patients with chronic diseases, per capita household income, and numbers of family members with a job were found to be predictors of CHE. CONCLUSIONS: Rural families that have patients with chronic diseases are vulnerable to CHE.The government should develop policies to ease the financial burdens of the families with a high accumulated health expenditure over time.

Calculating the burden of disease of avian-origin H7N9 infections in China.

OBJECTIVE: A total of 131 cases of avian-originated H7N9 infection have been confirmed in China mainland from February 2013 to May 2013. We calculated the overall burden of H7N9 cases in China as of 31 May 2013 to provide an example of comprehensive burden of disease in the 21st century from an acute animal-borne emerging infectious disease. DESIGN: We present an accurate and operable method for estimating the burden of H7N9 cases in China. The main drivers of economic loss were identified. Costs were broken down into direct (outpatient and inpatient examination and treatment) and indirect costs (cost of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and losses in the poultry industry), which were estimated based on field surveys and China statistical year book. SETTING: Models were applied to estimate the overall burden of H7N9 cases in China. PARTICIPANTS: 131 laboratory-confirmed H7N9 cases by 31 May 2013. OUTCOME MEASURE: Burden of H7N9 cases including direct and indirect losses. RESULTS: The total direct medical cost was ¥16 422 535 (US$2 627 606). The mean cost for each patient was ¥10 117 (US$1619) for mild patients, ¥139 323 (US$22 292) for severe cases without death and ¥205 976 (US$32 956) for severe cases with death. The total cost of DALYs was ¥17 356 561 (US$2 777 050). The poultry industry losses amounted to ¥7.75 billion (US$1.24 billion) in 10 affected provinces and ¥3.68 billion (USD$0.59 billion) in eight non-affected adjacent provinces. CONCLUSIONS: The huge poultry industry losses followed live poultry markets closing down and poultry slaughtering in some areas. Though the proportion of direct medical losses and DALYs losses in the estimate of H7N9 burden was small, the medical costs per case were extremely high (particularly for addressing the use of modern medical devices). A cost-effectiveness assessment for the intervention should be conducted in a future study.

Clinical assessment and genomic landscape of a consanguineous family with three Kallmann syndrome descendants.

Although some genes that cause Kallmann syndrome (KS) have been identified by traditional linkage analysis and candidate gene techniques, the syndrome's molecular etiology in the majority of patients remains poorly understood. In this paper, we present the clinical assessments of a consanguineous Han Chinese family with three KS descendants. To understand the molecular etiology of KS from a genome-wide perspective, we investigated the genome-wide profile of structural variation in this family using the Affymetrix Genome-Wide Human SNP Array 6.0 platform. The results revealed that the three affected individuals had common copy number variants (microdeletions) on chromosomes 1p21.1, 2q32.2, 8q21.13, 14q21.2 and Xp22.31. Moreover, the copy number variants on Xp22.31 were located in the intron of KAL1, which causes X-linked KS. Two PCR assays were performed on these regions to validate the results obtained using the chips. In addition, genomic microdeletions in this region were verified in one of 29 Han Chinese sporadic KS cases and one of four other family cases, but not in 26 Han Chinese sporadic normosmic idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism cases and 100 unrelated Han Chinese normal controls. Our results provide a novel insight into the relative contributions of certain copy number variants to KS's molecular etiology and generate a list of interesting candidate regions for further studies.