Electrical impedance tomography as a bedside assessment tool for COPD treatment during hospitalization.

For patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the assessment of the treatment efficacy during hospitalization is of importance to the optimization of clinical treatments. Conventional spirometry might not be sensitive enough to capture the regional lung function development. The study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of using electrical impedance tomography (EIT) as an objective bedside evaluation tool for the treatment of acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD). Consecutive patients who required hospitalization due to AECOPD were included prospectively. EIT measurements were conducted at the time of admission and before the discharge simultaneously when a forced vital capacity maneuver was conducted. EIT-based heterogeneity measures of regional lung function were calculated based on the impedance changes over time. Surveys for attending doctors and patients were designed to evaluate the ease of use, feasibility, and overall satisfaction level to understand the acceptability of EIT measurements. Patient-reported outcome assessments were conducted. User's acceptance of EIT technology was investigated with a five-dimension survey. A total of 32 patients were included, and 8 patients were excluded due to the FVC maneuver not meeting the ATS criteria. Spirometry-based lung function was improved during hospitalization but not significantly different (FEV1 %pred.: 35.8% ± 6.7% vs. 45.3% ± 8.8% at admission vs. discharge; p = 0.11. FVC %pred.: 67.8% ± 0.4% vs. 82.6% ± 5.0%; p = 0.15. FEV1/FVC: 0.41 ± 0.09 vs. 0.42 ± 0.07, p = 0.71). The symptoms of COPD were significantly improved, but the correlations between the improvement of symptoms and spirometry FEV1 and FEV1/FVC were low (R = 0.1 and -0.01, respectively). The differences in blood gasses and blood tests were insignificant. All but one EIT-based regional lung function parameter were significantly improved after hospitalization. The results highly correlated with the patient-reported outcome assessment (R > 0.6, p < 0.001). The overall acceptability score of EIT measurement for both attending physicians and patients was high (4.1 ± 0.8 for physicians, 4.5 ± 0.5 for patients out of 5). These results demonstrated that it was feasible and acceptable to use EIT as an objective bedside evaluation tool for COPD treatment efficacy.

Enhancing Efficiency and Stability in Carbon-Based Perovskite Solar Cells by Double Passivation with Ultralow-Cost Coal-Derived Graphene and Its Derivatives.

Coal-derived carbon nanomaterials possess numerous superior features compared to other classic carbon, such as readily accessible surfaces, tunable pore structure, and facile and precise surface functionalization. Therefore, the controllable preparation of coal-derived carbon nanomaterials is anticipated to be of great significance for the performance improvement and commercialization process of carbon-based perovskite solar cells (C-PSCs). In this study, we successfully synthesized highly stable and commercially valuable graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) utilizing coal. Compared to traditional methods and commercial graphene, the chemical oxidation and pyrolysis process used in this study is mild and simple, offering the advantages of controlled composition and the absence of other impurities. GO or rGO was incorporated into the top of the SnO2 electron transport layer (ETL) of C-PSCs. Under optimized conditions and ultraviolet-ozone (UVO) irradiation, the ultimate power conversion efficiency (PCE) increased from the unmodified 12.4 to 14.04% (based on rGO) and 15.18% (based on GO), representing improvements of 22 and 31%, respectively. The improved photovoltaic performance is mainly owing to enhanced charge transport capabilities, denser interfacial contacts, improved carrier separation properties, increased conductivity, and abundance of hydrophilic functional groups in GO, which can form more stable hydrogen bonds with SnO2. After being stored at room temperature and ambient humidity for 30 days, the modified, unpacked devices retained 87% of the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE). This study introduces a practical and manageable method to enhance the performance of C-PSCs by using functional carbon nanomaterials derived from coal.

Occurrence, removal, and risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their derivatives in typical wastewater treatment plants.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have a certain removal capacity for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their derivatives, but some of them are discharged with effluent into the environment, which can affect the environment. Therefore, to understand the presence, sources, and potential risks of PAHs and their derivatives in WWTPs. Sixteen PAHs, three chlorinated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (ClPAHs), three oxidized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OPAHs), and three methylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (MPAHs) were detected in the influent and effluent water of three WWTPs in China. The average concentrations of their influent ∑PAHs, ∑ClPAHs, ∑OPAHs, and ∑MPAHs ranged from 2682.50 to 2774.53 ng/L, 553.26-906.28 ng/L, 415.40-731.56 ng/L, and 534.04-969.83 ng/L, respectively, and the effluent concentrations ranged from 823.28 to 993.37 ng/L, 269.43-489.94 ng/L, 285.93-463.55 ng/L, and 376.25-512.34 ng/L, respectively. The growth of heat transport and industrial energy consumption in the region has a significant impact on the level of PAHs in WWTPs. According to the calculated removal efficiencies of PAHs and their derivatives in the three WWTPs (A, B, and C), the removal rates of PAHs and their derivatives were 69-72%, 62-71%, and 68-73%, respectively, and for the substituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (SPAHs), the removal rates were 41-49%, 31-40%, and 33-39%, respectively; moreover, the removal rates of PAHs were greater than those of SPAHs in the WWTPs. The results obtained via the ratio method indicated that the main sources of PAHs in the influent of WWTPs were the combustion of coal and biomass, and petroleum contamination was the secondary source. In risk evaluation, there were 5 compounds for which the risk quotient was considered high ecological risk. During chronic disease evaluation, there were 11 compounds with a risk quotient considered to indicate high risk. PAHs and SPAHs with high relative molecular masses in the effluent of WWTPs pose more serious environmental hazards than their PAHs counterparts.

Distribution, seasonal variation and ecological risk assessment of phthalates in the Yitong River, a typical urban watercourse located in Northeast China.

Phthalates (PAEs) are a typical class of endocrine disruptors (EEDs). As one of the most commonly used plasticizers, they have received widespread attention due to their wide application in various countries and high detection rates in various environmental media. To be able to clarify the contamination status of PAEs pollutants in a typical northern cold-temperate urban river, 30 water samples from Yitong River in Changchun City, northern China were collected, during the 2023 dry season (March), normal season (May) and wet season (July). Using these samples, a total of 16 target PAEs are investigated. The resulting total PAEs concentrations are: dry season 408 to 1494 ng/L, wet season 491 to 1299 ng/L, and normal season 341 to 780 ng/L. The average concentration of the 16 PAEs over the three seasons is 773 ng/L. Di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) and Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) have the highest concentrations, ranging from 12 to 403 ng/L and 28-680 ng/L respectively. The ecological risks within the Yitong River Basin are evaluated based on the degree of PAEs contamination. DBP and DEHP pose higher risk assessment levels for algae, crustaceans and fish than the other target PAEs. The accurate determination of PAEs provided baseline data on PAEs for the management of the Yitong River, which is of great significance for the prediction of ecological risk assessment and the development of corresponding control measures, supported further research on PAEs in the cold-temperate zone aquatic environments, and shed light on the seasonal variations of PAEs in the Northeast region in the future. Moreover, considering the bioaccumulation and persistence of PAEs, it is necessary to continue to pay attention to the pollution status of cold-temperate zones rivers and the changes in ecological risks in the future.

Identification, characterization, and insights into the mechanism of novel dipeptidyl peptidase-IV inhibitory peptides from yak hemoglobin by in silico exploration, molecular docking, and in vitro assessment.

Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) inhibitory peptides were screened and identified from yak hemoglobin for the first time by in silico analysis, molecular docking, and in vitro evaluation. Results showed that yak hemoglobin had a high potential to produce DPP-IV inhibitory peptides based on the sequence alignment and bioactive potential evaluation. Furthermore, "pancreatic elastase + stem bromelain" was the optimal combined-enzymatic strategy by simulated proteolysis. Additionally, 25 novel peptides were found from its simulated hydrolysate, among which 10 peptides had high binding affinities with DPP-IV by molecular docking. Most of these peptides were also in silico characterized with favorable physicochemical properties and biological potentials, including relatively low molecular weight, high hydrophobicity, several net charges, good water solubility, nontoxicity, acceptable sensory quality, and good human intestinal absorption. Finally, six novel DPP-IV inhibitory peptides were identified via in vitro assessment, among which EEKA (IC50 = 235.26 µM), DEV (IC50 = 339.45 µM), and HCDKL (IC50 = 632.93 µM) showed the strongest capacities. The hydrogen bonds and electrostatic attractions formed with core residues within the S2 pocket of DPP-IV could be mainly responsible for their inhibition performances. This work provided a time-saving method and broadened application for yak by-products development as sources of functional foods.

Review of the Perspectives and Study of Thermo-Responsive Polymer Gels and Applications in Oil-Based Drilling Fluids.

Thermoresponsive polymer gels are a type of intelligent material that can react to changes in temperature. These materials possess excellent innovative properties and find use in various fields. This paper systematically analyzes the methods for testing and regulating phase transition temperatures of thermo-responsive polymer gels based on their response mechanism. The report thoroughly introduces the latest research on thermo-responsive polymer gels in oil and gas extraction, discussing their advantages and challenges across various environments. Additionally, it elucidates how the application limitations of high-temperature and high-salt conditions can be resolved through process optimization and material innovation, ultimately broadening the scope of application of thermo-responsive polymer gels in oil and gas extraction. The article discusses the technological development and potential applications of thermo-responsive polymer gels in oil-based drilling fluids. This analysis aims to offer researchers in the oil and gas industry detailed insights into future possibilities for thermo-responsive polymer gels and to provide helpful guidance for their practical use in oil-based drilling fluids.

Occurrence and Health Risk Assessment of Sulfonamide Antibiotics in Different Freshwater Fish in Northeast China.

This study aimed to investigate the levels of 12 sulfonamide antibiotics in freshwater fish species obtained from three cities in northeastern China (Harbin, Changchun, and Shenyang). The analysis was conducted using HPLC-MS/MS to accurately quantify the antibiotic concentrations in the fish samples. The results showed that the average levels of sulfonamide antibiotics in fish samples from Harbin, Changchun, and Shenyang were 1.83 ng/g ww, 0.98 ng/g ww, and 1.60 ng/g ww, respectively. Sulfamethoxazole displayed the highest levels and detection rates in all three cities, whereas sulphapyridine exhibited the lowest concentrations in all the fish samples. The levels of sulfonamide antibiotic residues in the different fish species varied widely among the cities, and the highest level of antibiotic residues was found in the muscle of carnivorous fish. The results from a health risk evaluation on the consumption of these fish indicated that the risk from long-term antibiotic exposure to local residents from the intake of the sampled fish was small and not sufficient to pose a significant health risk to consumers.

Association of greenness with the disease burden of lower respiratory infections and mediation effects of air pollution and heat: a global ecological study.

Exposure to greenness is increasingly linked to beneficial health outcomes, but the associations between greenness and the disease burden of lower respiratory infections (LRIs) are unclear. We used the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the leaf area index (LAI) to measure greenness and incidence, death, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to LRIs to represent the disease burden of LRIs. We applied a generalized linear mixed model to evaluate the association between greenness and LRI disease burden and performed a stratified analysis, after adjusting for covariates. Additionally, we assessed the potential mediating effects of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and heat on the association between greenness and the disease burden of LRIs. In the adjusted model, one 0.1 unit increase of NDVI and 0.5 increase in LAI were significantly inversely associated with incidence, death, and DALYs due to LRIs, respectively. Greenness was negatively correlated with the disease burden of LRIs across 15-65 age group, both sexes, and low SDI groups. PM2.5, O3, and heat mediated the effects of greenness on the disease burden of LRIs. Greenness was significantly negatively associated with the disease burden of LRIs, possibly by reducing exposure to air pollution and heat.

Gastrointestinal microbiome, resistance genes, and risk assessment of heavy metals in wild giant pandas.

The gastrointestinal microbiome (GM) of giant panda (GP) plays an important role in food utilization and health and is also an essential reservoir of resistance genes. Currently, little knowledge is available on the GM, acid resistance genes (AcRGs), antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), metal resistance genes (MRGs), and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in wild GPs. We sampled the gastrointestinal tract of a dead GP and explored the composition and function of GM and resistance genes through cryo-scanning electron microscopy, metagenomic sequencing, and genome-resolved metagenomics. The concentration of metals in the gastrointestinal lumen, feces, bamboo, and soil was measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Results showed that the composition of the microbiota varied in different gastrointestinal regions. Fecal microbiota was highly associated with small intestinal and colonic microbes. The lignocellulosic cross-linked structure of bamboo was destroyed in the stomach initially and destroying degree increased from stomach to anus. Reconstruction of metagenome-assembled-genomes confirmed that core GM, e.g., Streptococcus, Clostridium, Lactococcus, Leuconostoc, and Enterococcus, carried genes encoding the lignocellulose degradation enzyme. There were no significant differences of resistance genes between gastrointestinal and fecal samples, except MGEs. Multidrug and multi-metal resistance genes were predominant in all samples, while the transposase gene tnpA was the major type of MGE. Significant correlations were observed among the abundance of GM, resistance genes, and MGEs. Gastrointestinal and fecal mercury and chromium were the main metals influencing GM and resistance genes. The content of gastrointestinal and fecal metals was significantly associated with the presence of the same metals in bamboo, which could pose a threat to the health of wild GPs. This study characterized the gastrointestinal microbiome of wild GPs, providing new evidence for the role of the gastrointestinal microbiome in degrading lignocellulose from bamboo and highlighting the urgent need to monitor metal levels in soil and bamboo.

Scalp ripple rates for rapid epilepsy differentiation and seizure activity assessment: Applicability and influential factors.

OBJECTIVE: We aim to determine whether automatically detected ripple rate (ADRR) of 10-min scalp electroencephalography (EEG) during slow-wave sleep can be a useful tool for rapid epilepsy differentiation and seizure activity assessment, and we analyze the clinical factors that may affect the scalp ripple rates. METHODS: We retrospectively included 336 patients who underwent long-term video-EEG with a sampling rate ≥1000 Hz, and three groups were established based on their final clinical diagnosis (non-epilepsy; non-active epilepsy [epilepsy being seizure-free for at least 1 year]; and active epilepsy [epilepsy with one or more seizures in the past year]). ADRRs between groups were compared and diagnostic thresholds set according to the maximum of Youden index with the receiver-operating characteristic curve. RESULTS: The 336 patients comprised 49 non-epilepsy and 287 epilepsy patients (95 non-active epilepsy and 192 active epilepsy). The median ADRR of the epilepsy group was significantly greater than in the non-epilepsy group, with a diagnostic threshold of 4.25 /min (specificity 89.8%, sensitivity 47.74%, p<.001). Following stratification by age, the area under the curve was greatest in the 0-20 year subgroup, threshold 4.10 /min (specificity 100%, sensitivity 52.47%, p<.001). Regarding distinguishing active epilepsy from non-active epilepsy patients, the area under the curve was also greatest in patients 0-20 years of age, threshold 13.05/min (specificity 98.36%, sensitivity 35.64%, p<.001). Following stratification by epilepsy type, the diagnostic efficiency was best in children with developmental and epileptic encephalopathies/epileptic encephalopathies (DEEs/EEs) (threshold 5.20/min, specificity 100%, sensitivity 100%) and self-limited focal epilepsies (SeLFEs) (threshold 5.45/min, specificity 80%, sensitivity 100%). Multivariate analysis revealed that the influential factors of ADRRs were age, depth of epileptogenic lesion, and seizure frequency. SIGNIFICANCE: ADRR of scalp EEG can be a rapid and specific method to differentiate epilepsy and evaluate seizure activity. This method is especially suitable for young patients.

Spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of antibiotics and heavy metals in the Yitong River basin and ecological risk assessment.

Due to rapid socioeconomic development, antibiotic pollution and heavy metal pollution are receiving increasing amounts of attention. Both antibiotics and heavy metals in the environment are persistent and toxic, and the interactions between the pollutants create potential long-term hazards for the ecological environment and human health as mixed pollutants. In this study, the surface water of the Yitong River in Changchun was used as the research object, and the hazards associated with antibiotics and heavy metals in the surface water were assessed by analyzing the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of antibiotics and heavy metals and by using ecological risk assessment and human health risk assessment models. The results showed that ofloxacin (OFL) and norfloxacin (NOR) varied seasonally according to the seasonal climate, with total concentrations ranging from 17.65 to 902.47 ng/L and ND to 260.49 ng/L for OFL and NOR, respectively, and from 8.30 to 120.40 µg/L, 1.52 to 113.41 µg/L and 0.03 to 0.04 µg/L for copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd), respectively. In terms of spatial distribution, the concentration of antibiotics in the urban sections, which had intensive human activities, was higher than that in the suburban sections, while the concentration of heavy metals in the suburban sections, which had intensive agricultural operations, was greater than that in the urban section. Ecological risk evaluation showed that NOR and OFL were present in the water bodies at a high-risk level, Cd was at a low pollution level, and the heavy metal Cd was the primary pollutant associated with health risks toward for adults and children, and it was mainly at a medium risk level. Additionally, both antibiotics and heavy metals posed higher health risks for children than for adults.

The Impact of Household Debt on the Health of the Elderly in China: Evidence from China Family Panel Studies.

With the aging of China's population and the expansion of household debt, the health of the elderly has become an important social issue. Based on the 2018 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) database, we explored the impact of household debt on the health of older adults and the mechanism of transmission. The Oprobit and IV-Oprobit models were employed for our analysis. Results: (1) Household debt had a significant negative impact on both the physical and mental health of older adults. (2) Female older adults were more sensitive to the impact of household debt. Additionally, a higher education level led to an increasing impact of debt on mental health, but physical health was only affected in the low-education group. (3) The impact of household debt had an inverted U-shape relationship with household income, indicating that, as household income increases, the impact on health level first rises and then reduces after peaking at a middling level of income. (4) According to the mechanism analysis, household debt affects the health of the elderly by causing them to return to work and reducing their medical expenditures. Considering the above conclusions, we put forward some policy implications to alleviate the health problems of the elderly.

Antibiotic and heavy metal resistance genes in sewage sludge survive during aerobic composting.

Municipal sewage sludge has been generated in increasing amounts with the acceleration of urbanization and economic development. The nutrient rich sewage sludge can be recycled by composting that has a great potential to produce stabilized organic fertilizer and substrate for plant cultivation. However, little is known about the metals, pathogens and antibiotic resistance transfer risks involved in applying the composted sludge in agriculture. We studied changes in and relationships between heavy metal contents, microbial communities, and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), heavy metal resistance genes (HMRGs) and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in aerobic composting of sewage sludge. The contents of most of the analyzed heavy metals were not lower after composting. The bacterial α-diversity was lower, and the community composition was different after composting. Firmicutes were enriched, and Proteobacteria and potential pathogens in the genera Arcobacter and Acinetobacter were depleted in the composted sludge. The differences in bacteria were possibly due to the high temperature phase during the composting which was likely to affect temperature-sensitive bacteria. The number of detected ARGs, HMRGs and MGEs was lower, and the relative abundances of several resistance genes were lower after composting. However, the abundance of seven ARGs and six HMRGs remained on the same level after composting. Co-occurrence analysis of bacterial taxa and the genes suggested that the ARGs may spread via horizontal gene transfer during composting. In summary, even though aerobic composting is effective for managing sewage sludge and to decrease the relative abundance of potential pathogens, ARGs and HMRGs, it might include a potential risk for the dissemination of ARGs in the environment.

Research on the Effect of Manufacturing Agglomeration on Green Use Efficiency of Industrial Land.

Manufacturing agglomeration (MA) is an important way to achieve high-quality industrial development and promote land use efficiency in China. However, there is a lack of research on the relationship between MA and the green use efficiency of industrial land (GUEIL). Based on the panel data of 279 prefecture-level cities in China, from 2004 to 2019, this study analyzes the spatial and temporal differentiation characteristics of MA and GUEIL, then empirically analyzes the impact of MA on GUEIL. The results show that: (1) during the study period, the national MA levels showed a slight decline, followed by a small increase. In addition, the inter-regional differences are mainly characterized as eastern region > central region > northeast region > western region. (2) The national and regional GUEIL showed a trend of increasing, slightly decreasing, and then increasing again. The overall regional differences in efficiency show the characteristics of: eastern region > central region > western region > northeastern region. (3) At the national scale, MA had a "U-shaped" relationship with GUEIL; at the regional scale, MA had a significant "U-shaped" effect on GUEIL in the northeast, central and western regions, while having a single negative effect in the eastern region. Finally, this study provides suggestions for optimizing the manufacturing structure and improving the GUEIL.

Mental States: A Key Point in Scam Compliance and Warning Compliance in Real Life.

The internet's convenience and anonymity have facilitated different types of covert fraud, resulting in economic, mental, and social harm to victims. Understanding why people are deceived and implementing appropriate interventions is critical for fraud reduction. Based on the Bayesian brain theory, individuals' mental states may be a key point in scam compliance and warning compliance. Fraud victims with different mental states may construct various hypotheses and explanations about the fraud they are exposed to, causing different cognition and behavior patterns. Therefore, we first conducted a semi-structured in-depth interview with online fraud victims to investigate the individual and social factors that affect victims' mental states. Grounded theory analysis showed five core factors influencing scam compliance: psychological traits, empirical factors, motivation, cognitive biases, and emotional imbalance. Based on our findings of psychological processes and deception's influential factors, we then designed warnings to inform victims of fraud, particularly for those involving novel types of scams. Tested on a real-life setting, our designed warnings effectively enhanced warning compliance, allowing more fraud victims to avoid financial losses.

Automated whole-slide images assessment of immune infiltration in resected non-small-cell lung cancer: towards better risk-stratification.

BACKGROUND: High immune infiltration is associated with favourable prognosis in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but an automated workflow for characterizing immune infiltration, with high validity and reliability, remains to be developed. METHODS: We performed a multicentre retrospective study of patients with completely resected NSCLC. We developed an image analysis workflow for automatically evaluating the density of CD3+ and CD8+ T-cells in the tumour regions on immunohistochemistry (IHC)-stained whole-slide images (WSIs), and proposed an immune scoring system "I-score" based on the automated assessed cell density. RESULTS: A discovery cohort (n = 145) and a validation cohort (n = 180) were used to assess the prognostic value of the I-score for disease-free survival (DFS). The I-score (two-category) was an independent prognostic factor after adjusting for other clinicopathologic factors. Compared with a low I-score (two-category), a high I-score was associated with significantly superior DFS in the discovery cohort (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.54; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.33-0.86; P = 0.010) and validation cohort (adjusted HR, 0.57; 95% CI 0.36-0.92; P = 0.022). The I-score improved the prognostic stratification when integrating it into the Cox proportional hazard regression models with other risk factors (discovery cohort, C-index 0.742 vs. 0.728; validation cohort, C-index 0.695 vs. 0.685). CONCLUSION: This automated workflow and immune scoring system would advance the clinical application of immune microenvironment evaluation and support the clinical decision making for patients with resected NSCLC.

How Do Urban Land Expansion, Land Finance, and Economic Growth Interact?

Land finance has consumed a lot of China's urban land resources while contributing to its economic growth. Urban land expansion, land finance, and economic growth have attracted significant scholarly and social attention. However, the influence mechanisms among them have not yet been fully investigated. Based on a conceptual framework analysis, in this study, the panel unit-root test, system-GMM, panel Granger causality test, impulse-response analysis, and variance decomposition were used to analyze the interactional relationships among urban land expansion, land finance, and economic growth for 30 provinces in mainland China during the period of 2000-2017. The findings show that these three factors interact with each other. Land finance exhibits a positive effect on urban land expansion and economic growth. This result is further supported by the Granger causality tests. Moreover, the VAR Granger causality-test results show a unidirectional causality flowing from urban land expansion to economic growth. The impulse-response analysis also reveals that the responses of urban land expansion to shocks in land finance appear to be positive throughout the 10 periods, which is similar to the reaction of economic growth to shocks in land finance. The result of variance decomposition indicates that the explanatory power of urban land expansion for land finance increased from 0.20% to 1.90%. In contrast, the changes in economic growth made the lowest contributions to urban land expansion and land finance. The latter made the highest contribution to economic growth, with average contribution rate of 65.26%. The findings of this study provide valuable policy implications for China, heading for a high-quality development stage.

Acute Kidney Injury: Lessons from Pericardiectomy.

BACKGROUND: Acute kidney (renal) injury (AKI) is a severe and common complication that occurs in ~40% of patients undergoing cardiac surgery. AKI has been associated with increased mortality and worse prognosis. This prospective study was conducted to determine the risk factors for AKI after pericardiectomy and decrease the operative risk of mortality and morbidity. METHODS: This was a prospective, observational cohort study of patients with constrictive pericarditis undergoing pericardiectomy. All patients underwent pericardiectomy via median sternotomy. Serum creatinine was used as the diagnostic standard of AKI according to Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes classification. All survivors were monitored to the end date of the study. RESULTS: Consecutive patients (N = 92) undergoing pericardiectomy were divided into 2 groups: with AKI (n = 25) and without AKI (n = 67). The incidence of postoperative AKI was 27.2% (25/92). Hemodialysis was required for 10 patients (40%), and there were 5 operative deaths. Mortality, intubation time, time in intensive care unit, fresh-frozen plasma, and packed red cells of the group with AKI were significantly higher than those of the group without AKI. Both univariate and multivariate analyses showed that statistically significant independent predictors of AKI include intubation time, chest drainage, fresh-frozen plasma, and packed red cells. The latest follow-up data showed that 85 survivors were New York Heart Association class I (97.7%) and 2 were class II (2.3%). CONCLUSIONS: AKI after pericardiectomy is a serious complication and contributes to significantly increased morbidity and mortality. Prevention of AKI development after cardiac surgery and optimization of pre-, peri-, and postoperative factors that can reduce AKI, therefore, contribute to a better postoperative outcome and leads to lower rates of AKI, morbidity, and mortality.

[Spatial Distribution Characteristics and Risk Assessment of Cadmium Pollution in Soil-crops system of an E-waste Dismantling Area].

With the rapid development of electronic technology, soil heavy metal contamination caused by electronic waste dismantling activities has attracted the attention of many researchers. To investigate the contamination status and spatial distribution of Cd in soil-crop systems around an e-waste dismantling area, 171 pairs of soil and crop samples were collected for analysis. The concentrations of cadmium in root vegetable soil, leaf vegetable soil, solanaceous vegetable soil, and orchard soil were (1.292±0.647), (1.010±0.201), (0.921±0.125), and (0.861±0.135) mg·kg-1, respectively. The average values of cadmium in these four soil types were 10.0, 7.8, 7.1, and 6.3 times the background values of soil Cd in Zhejiang Province, respectively, and 4.31, 3.4, 3.07, and 2.72 times the risk screening values for soil contamination of agricultural land, clearly indicating cadmium accumulation in the soil. However, only a small percentage of crops contained cadmium levels that exceeded food safety limits. Moreover, different types of crops showed different capacities for cadmium enrichment and can be ranked accordingly: leaf vegetables > root vegetables > solanaceous vegetables > fruits. The single factor pollution index and the potential ecological risk assessment revealed severe Cd contamination in the study area, with a high potential ecological risk. Cadmium exposure posed a higher health risk for children than for adults. However, the single heavy metal cadmium pollution index does not indicate a threat to local residents at this time. Moran's I index and kriging interpolation results revealed that Cd has significant spatial autocorrelation, with high values mainly concentrating around the e-waste dismantling area, indicating a significant correlation with e-waste dismantling activities.

Assessment of plasma cell-free DNA and ST2 as parameters in gestational hypertension and preeclampsia.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the differences and predictive efficacy of circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and human suppression of tumorigenesis 2 (ST2) among women with uncomplicated pregnancies and patients with gestational hypertension (GH) or preeclampsia (PE). This study included patients with GH (n = 41), patients with PE (n = 62), and women with uncomplicated pregnancies (n = 148). The cfDNA concentration was determined by qPCR, and the ST2 levels were measured by ELISA. A receiver operating characteristic curve was employed to measure the diagnostic performance of cfDNA and ST2. Our results showed that ST2 but not cfDNA was increased in the middle and third trimesters of normal pregnancy; ST2 and cfDNA were increased in GH and PE patients compared to women with uncomplicated pregnancies. More importantly, plasma cfDNA and ST2 served as diagnostic biomarkers for GH and PE, and the AUCs were 0.883 and 0.734 for GH and 0.838 and 0.816 for PE, respectively. Moreover, their combination significantly elevated the diagnostic efficiency for GH and PE, with AUCs of 0.906 and 0.916, respectively. Plasma cfDNA and ST2 could be used as parameters for GH and PE.