Nomogram-based risk assessment model for left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with essential hypertension: Incorporating clinical characteristics and biomarkers.

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a hypertensive heart disease that significantly escalates the risk of clinical cardiovascular events. Its etiology potentially incorporates various clinical attributes such as gender, age, and renal function. From mechanistic perspective, the remodeling process of LVH can trigger increment in certain biomarkers, notably sST2 and NT-proBNP. This multicenter, retrospective study aimed to construct an LVH risk assessment model and identify the risk factors. A total of 417 patients with essential hypertension (EH), including 214 males and 203 females aged 31-80 years, were enrolled in this study; of these, 161 (38.6%) were diagnosed with LVH. Based on variables demonstrating significant disparities between the LVH and Non-LVH groups, three multivariate stepwise logistic regression models were constructed for risk assessment: the "Clinical characteristics" model, the "Biomarkers" model (each based on their respective variables), and the "Clinical characteristics + Biomarkers" model, which amalgamated both sets of variables. The results revealed that the "Clinical characteristics + Biomarkers" model surpassed the baseline models in performance (AUC values of the "Clinical characteristics + Biomarkers" model, the "Biomarkers" model, and the "Clinical characteristics" model were .83, .75, and .74, respectively; P < .0001 for both comparisons). The optimized model suggested that being female (OR: 4.26, P <.001), being overweight (OR: 1.88, p = .02) or obese (OR: 2.36, p = .02), duration of hypertension (OR: 1.04, P = .04), grade III hypertension (OR: 2.12, P < .001), and sST2 (log-transformed, OR: 1.14, P < .001) were risk factors, while eGFR acted as a protective factor (OR: .98, P = .01). These findings suggest that the integration of clinical characteristics and biomarkers can enhance the performance of LVH risk assessment.

Burden of Lung Cancer in China, 1990-2019: Findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in the world. It has become an increasingly important public health problem in China. In this study, we systematically assessed the lung cancer situation in China from 1990 to 2019 and provided an epidemiological knowledge base for the revision of health policies. The relevant data were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) database. METHODS: Based on GBD 2019 data, we evaluated the incidence, prevalence, and death rates of lung cancer in China and their change trends from 1990 to 2019, making comparisons by gender and age. RESULTS: The age-standardized incidence and death rates (ASIR and ASDR, respectively) of lung cancer in China were higher than the average levels in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania and also higher than those of neighboring Asian countries. Lung cancer rose from the seventh leading cause of death in 1990 to the fourth leading one in 2019, indicating that the disease burden of lung cancer is increasing. In 2019, the incidence, prevalence, and death rates of lung cancer were all higher in men than in women across all age groups. All three indices were lower in men and women <50 years old than in men and women >50 years. From 1990 to 2019, the ASIR, age-standardized prevalence rate (ASPR), and ASDR showed trends of increase (P < .05), and the rise in the ASPR (average annual percentage change [AAPC] = 1.9) was greater than those in the ASIR (AAPC = 1) and ASDR (AAPC = .8). CONCLUSIONS: From 1990 to 2019, the incidence, prevalence, and death rates of lung cancer continued to increase in China. To reduce this burden, prevention and management of known risk factors should be promoted through national policies.

MRI-based radiomics assessment of the imminent new vertebral fracture after vertebral augmentation.

BACKGROUND: Imminent new vertebral fracture (NVF) is highly prevalent after vertebral augmentation (VA). An accurate assessment of the imminent risk of NVF could help to develop prompt treatment strategies. PURPOSE: To develop and validate predictive models that integrated the radiomic features and clinical risk factors based on machine learning algorithms to evaluate the imminent risk of NVF. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, a total of 168 patients with painful osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures treated with VA were evaluated. Radiomic features of L1 vertebrae based on lumbar T2-weighted images were obtained. Univariate and LASSO-regression analyses were applied to select the optimal features and construct radiomic signature. The radiomic signature and clinical signature were integrated to develop a predictive model by using machine learning algorithms including LR, RF, SVM, and XGBoost. Receiver operating characteristic curve and calibration curve analyses were used to evaluate the predictive performance of the models. RESULTS: The radiomic-XGBoost model with the highest AUC of 0.93 of the training cohort and 0.9 of the test cohort among the machine learning algorithms. The combined-XGBoost model with the best performance with an AUC of 0.9 in the training cohort and 0.9 in the test cohort. The radiomic-XGBoost model and combined-XGBoost model achieved better performance to assess the imminent risk of NVF than that of the clinical risk factors alone (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Radiomic and machine learning modeling based on T2W images of preoperative lumbar MRI had an excellent ability to evaluate the imminent risk of NVF after VA.

Multidimensional energy poverty and depression among China's older adults.

Older adults often face more pronounced energy inequality in their daily lives, which is one of the reasons for their accumulation of stress or anxiety and may further aggravate their depression. Analyzing the relationship between energy poverty and the depression level of China's older adults will provide policy enlightenment for solving the problems of older adults' relative poverty, energy poverty, and mental poverty and thus promote happy and healthy aging. In this paper, using the data of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study in 2018, we used the entropy weighting method to objectively assign weights to 10 indicators reflecting the status of energy poverty and construct a multidimensional energy poverty index for older adults. First, we analyzed the relationship between multidimensional energy poverty and the depression levels of older adults using multiple linear regression model and quantile regression models. Next, we used instrumental variable linear regression model and instrumental variable quantile regression models for endogeneity tests. Then, we performed a robustness check by replacing the core explanatory variable. After that, we conducted heterogeneity analyses by residential area, type of residence, and solitary status. Finally, we analyzed the mediating role of life satisfaction using structural equation modeling. Multidimensional energy poverty has aggravated depression among older adults, and the effect is greater for older adults with higher depression levels. The effect of multidimensional energy poverty on depression is greater for older adults in western China, urban areas, and those who live alone. Multidimensional energy poverty has aggravated depression among older adults by reducing their life satisfaction.

Assessment of Calf Skeletal Muscle in Male Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients With Different Courses Using T1ρ Mapping.

CONTEXT: The current clinical methods for detecting skeletal muscle complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are invasive and insensitive. There is an urgent need for noninvasive assessment of skeletal muscle microstructure changes during the disease progression and treatment to assist the clinical management. OBJECTIVE: This work aimed to investigate the T2DM caused changes in the fast-twitch tibialis anterior (TA) and slow-twitch soleus (SOL) skeletal muscles using T1ρ magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS: This cross-sectional study took place from December 2014 to December 2020 at Zhongda Hospital Southeast University. A total of 26 new-onset and 15 long-term T2DM patients were enrolled, with the addition of 20 young and 13 older healthy volunteers as age-matched controls. T1ρ relaxation times of SOL and TA muscles in different groups were measured. Parametric and nonparametric tests were used to analyze the relationship between the T1ρ values in SOL and TA muscles and the length of illness, level of fasting blood glucose, and status of homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). RESULTS: T1ρ relaxation times of SOL and TA muscles both of new-onset and long-term T2DM patients were significantly higher than those of the young (P < .01, P < .05) and older healthy controls (P < .05, P < .01). Positive correlations were observed between the T1ρ relaxation times of the TA or SOL and the duration of T2DM (R2 = 0.420, R2 = 0.326), the level of fasting blood glucose (R2 = 0.253, R2 = 0.071) and HOMA-IR (R2 = 0.232, R2 = 0.414). CONCLUSION: Quantitative MRI measurement of T1ρ provides a noninvasive tool to assess T2DM-induced changes in the skeletal muscles of T2DM patients.

Evaluation of effectiveness, safety and cost-benefit of the 23- valent pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide vaccine for HIV-Infected patients.

INTRODUCTION: Due to the lack of understanding of the protective effects and safety of 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23) in immune-deficient populations, the vaccination rate of PPV23 among HIV-infected patients is still very low in China. The main objectives of this study were to determine whether the efforts to assess measures for the prevention of pneumococcal pneumonia are still worthwhile, and provide designated vaccination program of HIV-infected persons for government policy based on. METHODS: 60 HIV-infected adults in Lanshan county who had never been vaccinated with any pneumococcal vaccine were enrolled in this study, voluntary vaccination of PPV23 and One-year follow-up after vaccination can be completed. RESULT: 76.67% patients (46/60) had serologic response at 12 months after vaccine, CD4 count(≤500 cells/ul or > 500 cells/ul) and Month from diagnosis to first antiviral therapy (≤1 month or > 1 month) were related to antibody responses (p < 0.05).In this study, PPV23 was well tolerated, no adversereaction was reported.11 Streptococcus pneumoniae pneumonia (9.17%,11/120) occurred in the Unvaccinated group and 1 case(1.67%,1/60)in the vaccination group within one year after vaccination(Fisher's exact probability, P = 0.225). The VE was 81.79%. The per capita benefit was 39.32 dollars, thebenefit-costratio = 1.19. There are significant statistical differences between the vaccinated group and the non-vaccinated group in outpatient costs (p < 0.05, 95 %CI: 9.29-32.11), Medicine costs (p = 0.017, 95 %CI: 2.47-24.44), and disease related indirect costs (p = 0.038, 95 %CI: 0.93-33.63) within one year of vaccination. CONCLUSION: Our study results showed that PPV23 can be safely and effectively administered to HIV-1 infected individuals and effectively preventing Streptococcal pneumonia. Considering the cost-benefit of vaccination among HIV-infected persons, as it has been reported in our study, it is necessary to promote the widespread use of the vaccine among HIV-infected persons in the future.

Linking Green Human Resource Practices and Environmental Economics Performance: The Role of Green Economic Organizational Culture and Green Psychological Climate.

An eco-friendly environment with green strategies can help to achieve better environmental performance. However, literature on the relationship between green human resource management practices (GHRMP) and sustainable environmental efficiency (SEF) is limited. Moreover, there is limited knowledge about the factors that could mediate the relationship between GHRMP and SEF. Therefore, the present study examines the impact of green human resource management practices mediating through green psychological climate (GPC) and green organizational culture (GOC) for better environmental efficacy. For this purpose, the primary data on variables are collected by using structured assessment tools and analyzed through regression models. Unlike previous studies, this study adopts a mediation model and unfolds not only the role of green human resource practices in psychological climate and green organizational culture but also clarifies the mediating role of GPC and GOC in sustainable environmental efficiency. The findings unfolded that ecological factors such as green psychological climate, green organizational culture, and sustainable environmental efficiency are positively affected by green human resources management. In addition, green organizational culture and green psychological climate positively mediate the relationship between GHRMP and SEF. This study recommends adopting green human resource management strategies and increasing technical innovations to improve sustainability and economic performance.

Diffuse optical assessment of cerebral-autoregulation in older adults stratified by cerebrovascular risk.

Diagnosis of cerebrovascular disease (CVD) at early stages is essential for preventing sequential complications. CVD is often associated with abnormal cerebral microvasculature, which may impact cerebral-autoregulation (CA). A novel hybrid near-infrared diffuse optical instrument and a finger plethysmograph were used to simultaneously detect low-frequency oscillations (LFOs) of cerebral blood flow (CBF), oxy-hemoglobin concentration ([HbO2 ]), deoxy-hemoglobin concentration ([Hb]) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) in older adults before, during and after 70° head-up-tilting (HUT). The participants with valid data were divided based on Framingham risk score (FRS, 1-30 points) into low-risk (FRS ≤15, n = 13) and high-risk (FRS >15, n = 11) groups for developing CVD. The LFO gains were determined by transfer function analyses with MAP as the input, and CBF, [HbO2 ] and [Hb] as the outputs (CA ∝ 1/Gain). At resting-baseline, LFO gains in the high-risk group were relatively lower compared to the low-risk group. The lower baseline gains in the high-risk group may attribute to compensatory mechanisms to maintain stronger steady-state CAs. However, HUT resulted in smaller gain reductions in the high-risk group compared to the low-risk group, suggesting weaker dynamic CAs. LFO gains are potentially valuable biomarkers for early detection of CVD based on associations with CAs.

A Usability Study of Low-cost Wireless Brain-Computer Interface for Cursor Control Using Online Linear Model.

Computer cursor control using electroencephalogram (EEG) signals is a common and well-studied brain-computer interface (BCI). The emphasis of the literature has been primarily on evaluation of the objective measures of assistive BCIs such as accuracy of the neural decoder whereas the subjective measures such as user's satisfaction play an essential role for the overall success of a BCI. As far as we know, the BCI literature lacks a comprehensive evaluation of the usability of the mind-controlled computer cursor in terms of decoder efficiency (accuracy), user experience, and relevant confounding variables concerning the platform for the public use. To fill this gap, we conducted a two-dimensional EEG-based cursor control experiment among 28 healthy participants. The computer cursor velocity was controlled by the imagery of hand movement using a paradigm presented in the literature named imagined body kinematics (IBK) with a low-cost wireless EEG headset. We evaluated the usability of the platform for different objective and subjective measures while we investigated the extent to which the training phase may influence the ultimate BCI outcome. We conducted pre- and post- BCI experiment interview questionnaires to evaluate the usability. Analyzing the questionnaires and the testing phase outcome shows a positive correlation between the individuals' ability of visualization and their level of mental controllability of the cursor. Despite individual differences, analyzing training data shows the significance of electrooculogram (EOG) on the predictability of the linear model. The results of this work may provide useful insights towards designing a personalized user-centered assistive BCI.

Comparative Assessment of Computational Methods for Free Energy Calculations of Ionic Hydration.

Experimental observations for ionic hydration free energies are highly debated mainly due to the ambiguous absolute hydration free energy of proton, ΔGhyd*(H+). Hydration free energies (HFEs) of the 112 singly charged ions in the Minnesota solvation database were predicted by six methods with explicit and implicit solvent models, namely, thermodynamic integration (TI), energy representation module (ERmod), three-dimensional reference interaction site model (3D-RISM), and continuum solvation models based on the quantum mechanical charge density (SMD) and on the Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) and generalized Born (GB) theories. Taking the solvent Galvani potential of water into account, the resulting real HFEs from TI calculations for the generalized Amber force field (GAFF) modeled ions best match the experiments based on ΔGhyd*(H+) = -262.4 kcal/mol (Randles Trans. Faraday Soc . 1956 , 52 , 1573 - 1581 ), in agreement with our previous work on charged amino acids (Zhang et al. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2017 , 8 , 2705 - 2712 ). The examined computational methods show an accuracy of ∼7 kcal/mol for the GAFF-modeled ions, except for SMD with a higher accuracy of ∼4 kcal/mol. A biased deficiency in modeling anionic compounds by GAFF is observed with a larger standard deviation (SD) of 9 kcal/mol than that for cations (SD ∼ 4 kcal/mol). The relatively cheap ERmod and 3D-RISM methods reproduce TI results with good accuracy, although ERmod yields a systematic underestimation for cations by 9 kcal/mol; PB and GB generate relative (but not absolute) HFEs comparable to the TI predictions. Computational accuracy is found to be more limited by the accuracy of force fields rather than the models themselves.

Trait Anxiety and Economic Risk Avoidance Are Not Necessarily Associated: Evidence from the Framing Effect.

According to previous literature, trait anxiety is related to the tendency to choose safety options during risk decision-making, that is, risk avoidance. In our opinion, anxious people's risk preference might actually reflect their hypersensitivity to emotional information. To examine this hypothesis, a decision-making task that could elicit the framing effect was employed. The framing effect indicates that risk preference could be modulated by emotional messages contained in the description (i.e., frame) of options. The behavioral results have showed the classic framing effect. In addition, individual level of trait anxiety was positively correlated with the framing effect size. However, trait anxiety was not correlated with risk-avoidance ratio in any condition. Finally, the relationship between anxiety and the framing effect remained significant after the level of depression was also taken into account. The theoretical significance and the major limitations of this study are discussed.

Chlorination decomposition of struvite and recycling of its product for the removal of ammonium-nitrogen from landfill leachate.

Struvite (MgNH4PO4⋅6H2O) precipitation is a promising method for ammonium (NH4(+)) removal from the wastewater. However, the high cost incurred with the use of magnesium and phosphate sources hinders the successful application of this method. This paper presents a novel recycling technology of struvite that is based on the chlorination decomposition of struvite. The study results indicated that struvite can be effectively decomposed by sodium hypochlorite and that the solid/liquid ratio of struvite in solution did not affect the ammonium-nitrogen (NH4-N) decomposition efficiency of struvite. Through the analysis of the reaction process, the mechanism of struvite decomposition was proposed to be simultaneous dissolution and oxidation of struvite, and the main component of the decomposition product generated was determined to be newberyite, dissolved HPO4(2-) and Mg(2+), and magnesium phosphate. When the decomposition product was recycled, its pH had to be adjusted for high NH4-N removal. NH4-N of 92% could be removed from landfill leachate when the decomposition product solution pH before recycling was adjusted to 3 and the precipitation pH was maintained at 9. A five-cycle recycling process showed that recycling of struvite chlorination decomposition product was a highly efficient and sustainable method for the removal of NH4-N. An economic evaluation showed that the use of recycled struvite for the five-process cycles by the proposed process could save the cost of chemicals by approximately 34% as compared to the use of pure chemicals.

Synthesis of high quality and stability CdS quantum dots with overlapped nucleation-growth process in large scale.

A low-cost, green, and reproducibly non-injection one-pot synthesis of high-quality CdS quantum dots (QDs) is reported. The synthesis was performed in the open air by mixing precursors cadmium stearate and S powder into a new solvent N-oleoylmorpholine. An overlapped nucleation-growth stage followed by a dominated growth stage was observed. The resulting QDs exhibited well-resolved absorption fine substructure and a dominant band-edge emission with a narrow size distribution (the full width at half maximum (fwhm) was only 22-24nm). The maximum photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (QY) was as high as 46.5%. Highly monodispersed CdS QDs with tunable sizes and similar PL fwhm and QYs could also be obtained from the CdS QDs in a large-scale synthesis. The high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern suggested that the as-prepared QDs with high crystallinity had a cubic structure. A significant PL improvement and a continuous QY increase for the CdS QDs were observed during a long storage time in air and in a glovebox under room temperature. A slow surface reconstruction was proposed to be the cause for the PL enhancement of CdS QDs.