Epidemiological variations and trends in glaucoma burden in the Belt and Road countries.

BACKGROUND: Analyzing the glaucoma burden in "Belt and Road" (B&R) countries based on age, gender, and risk factors from 1990 to 2019 in order to provide evidence for future prevention strategies. METHODS: We applied global burden of disease(GBD) 2019 to compare glaucoma prevalence and Years lived with disabilities (YLDs) from 1990 to 2019 in the B&R countries. Trends of disease burden between 1990 and 2019 were evaluated using the average annual percent change and the 95% uncertainty interval (UI) were reported. RESULTS: From 1990 to 2019, most B&R countries showed a downward trend in age-standardized prevalence and YLDs (all P < 0.05). Additionally, only the age-standardized YLDs in males of Pakistan has a 0.35% increase (95%CI:0.19,0.50,P < 0.001), and most B&R countries has a decline(all P < 0.05) in age-standardized YLDs in every 5 years age group after 45 years old except for Pakistan(45-79 years and > 85 years), Malaysia(75-84 years), Brunei Darussalam(45-49 years), Afghanistan(70-79 years). Finally, in all Central Asian countries, the age-standardized YLDs due to glaucoma caused by fasting hyperglycemia demonstrated have an increase between 1990 and 2019 (all P < 0.05), but Armenia and Mongolia have a decrease between 2010 and 2019 (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of glaucoma continues to pose a significant burden across regions, ages, and genders in countries along the "B&R". It is imperative for the "B&R" nations to enhance health cooperation in order to collaboratively tackle the challenges associated with glaucoma.

Neurostructural correlates of optimism: Gray matter density in the putamen predicts dispositional optimism in late adolescence.

Dispositional optimism reflects one's generalized positive expectancies for future outcomes and plays a crucial role in personal developmental outcomes and health (e.g., counteracting related mental disorders such as depression and anxiety). Increasing evidence has suggested that extraversion is an important personality factor contributing to dispositional optimism. However, less is known about the association between dispositional optimism and brain structure and the role of extraversion in this association. Here, we examined these issues in 231 healthy high school students aged 16 to 20 years (110 males, mean age = 18.48 years, SD = 0.54) by estimating regional gray matter density (rGMD) using a voxel-based morphometry method via structural magnetic resonance imaging. Whole-brain regression analyses revealed a significant positive correlation between dispositional optimism and the rGMD of the bilateral putamen after adjusting for age, sex, family socioeconomic status (SES), general intelligence, and total gray matter volume (TGMV). Moreover, prediction analyses using fourfold balanced cross-validation combined with linear regression confirmed a significant connection between dispositional optimism and putamen density after adjusting for age, sex, and family SES. More importantly, subsequent mediation analysis showed that extraversion may account for the association between putamen density and dispositional optimism after adjusting for age, sex, family SES, general intelligence, TGMV, and the other four Big Five personality traits. Taken together, the current study provides new evidence regarding the neurostructural basis underlying dispositional optimism in adolescents and underscores the importance of extraversion as an essential personality factor for dispositional optimism acquisition.

[Pollution characteristics and health assessment of particulate mercury in Hebei rural households].

Environment problems in rural areas have been increasing dramatically in recent years. Atmospheric particulate mercury has posed increasingly obvious threats to human health. However, there were few studies attaching importance on mercury pollution in rural residential environment. Taking particulate mercury as research objects, the studies in six villages of Hebei Province were carried out in July/August 2009 and October/September 2010. A number of PM10 and PM2.5 samples were taken in 34 typical households, using cold vapor atomic fluorescence to determine the content of particulate mercury. The results showed that the mercury concentration in PM10 in kitchen was about twice that in the courtyard. In the same space, the mercury contents in PM10 in a descending order were as follows: winter (3.004 ng x m(-3)), autumn (1.550 ng x m(-3)), summer (1.127 ng x m(-3)); in the same season, the mercury levels in PM2.5 in a descending order were as follows: kitchen (0.795 ng x m(-3) +/- 0.337 ng x m(-3)), living room (0.398 ngx m(-3) +/- 0.159 ng x m(-3)), yard (0.321 ng x m(-3) +/- 0.143 ng x m(-3)); the Mercury content in PM2.5 accounted for (52.4 +/- 13.5)% of that in PM10. Evaluation of the health risks of mercury in PM2.5 revealed that children were exposed to the highest level, whose average annual excess risk was below 10(-8). Therefore, the health risk of peasants living in rural residential environment was at a negligible level.