Dryness-alleviating effect of processed Aurantii Fructus from Lingnan based on correlation of fecal metabolomics and dryness / 中国中药杂志

With the approach of untargeted metabolomics and correlation analysis, this study aimed to explore the mechanism of Aurantii Fructus from Lingnan region in alleviating dryness by analyzing the different effects of raw Aurantii Fructus(RAF) and processed Aurantii Fructus(PAF) on fecal endogenous metabolism in normal rats. Eighteen Sprague-Dawley(SD) rats were randomly divided into a control group(C), an RAF group(10 g·kg~(-1)), and a PAF group(10 g·kg~(-1)). After seven days of administration, the effects of RAF and PAF on dryness-related indexes were compared, including water intake, fecal water content, salivary secretion, the expression of AQP5, VIP, and 5-HT in the submandibular gland, as well as the expression of AQP3, VIP, and 5-HT in the colon. The fecal samples in each group were determined by LC-MS. Multivariate statistical analysis and Pearson correlation coefficient were used for screening the differential metabolites and metabolic pathways in alleviating dryness of RAF. The results indicated that both RAF and PAF showed certain dryness, and the dryness of RAF was more significant. Moreover, PAF could alleviate dryness of RAF to a certain extent by reducing the water intake, fecal water content, and the expression of AQP3, VIP, and 5-HT in the colon and increasing the salivary secretion and the levels of AQP5, VIP, and 5-HT in the submandibular gland. According to the analysis of fecal metabolomics, 99 and 58 metabolites related to dryness were found in RAF and PAF respectively, where 16 of them played an important role in alleviating dryness of RAF. Pathway analysis revealed that the mechanism of PAF in alleviating dryness of RAF was presumably related to the regulation of riboflavin metabolism, purine metabolism, arginine biosynthesis, pyrimidine metabolism, alanine metabolism, aspartate metabolism, glutamate metabolism, and retinol metabolism pathways. This study suggested that PAF might alleviate dryness of RAF by affecting the metabolic levels of the body, which provides a new basis for further clarifying the processing mechanism of PAF.

Changes in Notified Incidence of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in China, 2005-2020 / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

OBJECTIVE@#To evaluate the trend of notified incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in China at different periods by population and region and to explore the effect of TB prevention and control in recent years.@*METHODS@#Using pooled data on TB cases reported by the TB Information Management Reporting System (TBIMS) from 2005 to 2020, we calculated the annual percentage change (APC) using the Joinpoint regression model.@*RESULTS@#From 2005 to 2020, a total of 16.2 million cases of PTB were reported in China, with an average notified incidence of 75.5 per 100,000 population. The age standardization rate (ASR) continued to decline from 116.9 (/100,000) in 2005 to 47.6 (/100,000) in 2020, with an average annual decrease of 5.6% [APC = -5.6, 95% confidence interval ( CI): -7.0 to -4.2]. The smallest decline occurred in 2011-2018 (APC = -3.4, 95% CI: -4.6 to -2.3) and the largest decrease in 2018-2020 (APC = -9.2, 95% CI: -16.4 to -1.3). From 2005 to 2020, the ASR in males (159.8 per 100,000 in 2005, 72.0 per 100,000 in 2020) was higher than that in females (62.2 per 100,000 in 2005, 32.3 per 100,000 in 2020), with an average annual decline of 6.0% for male and 4.9% for female. The average notified incidence was the highest among older adults (65 years and over) (182.3/100,000), with an average annual decline of 6.4%; children (0-14 years) were the lowest (4.8/100,000), with an average annual decline of 7.3%, but a significant increase of 3.3% between 2014 and 2020 (APC = 3.3, 95% CI: 1.4 to 5.2); middle-aged (35-64 years) decreased by 5.8%; and youth (15-34 years) decreased by an average annual rate of 4.2%. The average ASR in rural areas (81.3/100,000) is higher than that in urban areas (76.1/100,000). The average annual decline in rural areas was 4.5% and 6.3% in urban areas. South China had the highest average ASR (103.2/100,000), with an average annual decline of 5.9%, while North China had the lowest (56.5/100,000), with an average annual decline of 5.9%. The average ASR in the southwest was 95.3 (/100,000), with the smallest annual decline (APC = -4.5, 95% CI: -5.5 to -3.5); the average ASR in the Northwest China was 100.1 (/100,000), with the largest annual decline (APC = -6.4, 95% CI: -10.0 to -2.7); Central, Northeastern, and Eastern China declined by an average of 5.2%, 6.2%, and 6.1% per year, respectively.@*CONCLUSIONS@#From 2005 to 2020, the notified incidence of PTB in China continued to decline, falling by 55%. For high-risk groups such as males, older adults, high-burden areas in South, Southwest, and Northwest China, and rural regions, proactive screening should be strengthened to provide timely and effective anti-TB treatment and patient management services for confirmed cases. There is also a necessity to be vigilant about the upward trend of children in recent years, the specific reasons for which need to be further studied.

Spatiotemporal evolution of COVID-19 epidemic in the early phase in China / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective: Based on the geographic information systems, we exploreed the spatiotemporal clustering and the development and evolution of COVID-19 epidemic at prefectural level in China from the time when the epidemic was discovered to the time when the lockdown ended in Wuhan. Methods: The information and data of the confirmed COVID-19 cases from December 8, 2019 to April 8, 2020 were collected from 367 prefectures in China for a spatial autocorrelation analysis with software GeoDa, and software ArcGIS was used to visualize the results. Software SatScan was used for spatiotemporal scanning analysis to visualize the hot-spot areas of the epidemic. Results: The incidence of new cases of COVID-19 had obvious global autocorrelation and the partial autocorrelation results showed that incidence of COVID-19 had different spatial distribution at different times from December 8, 2019 to March 4, 2020. There was no significant difference in global autocorrelation coefficient from March 5, 2020 to April 8, 2020. The statistical analysis of spatiotemporal scanning identified two kinds of spatiotemporal clustering areas, the first class clustering areas included 10 prefectures, mainly distributed in Hubei, from January 13 to February 25, 2020. The secondary class clustering areas included 142 prefectures, mainly distributed in provinces in the north and east of Hubei, from January 23 to February 1, 2020. Conclusions: There was a clear spatiotemporal correlation in the distribution of the outbreaks in the early phase of COVID-19 epidemic (December 8, 2019-March 4, 2020) in China. With the decrease of the case and effective prevention and control measures, the epidemics had no longer significant correlations among areas from March 5 to April 8. The study results showed relationship with time points of start and adjustment of emergency response at different degree in provinces. Furthermore, improving the early detection of new outbreaks and taking timely and effective prevention and control measures played an important role in blocking the transmission.

Gene transcriptome analysis of nasal epithelial cells in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

Objective: To identify the differentially expressed genes in nasal epithelial cells from chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP), and to analyze related genes which are involved in deficiency of nasal epithelial barrier in CRSwNP patients by analyzing the datasets download from the gene expression omnibus(GEO) database. Methods: The mRNA expression microarray data numbered GSE107624 (7 CRSwNP and 7 controls) and GSE69093 (13 CRSwNP and 11 controls) were downloaded from the publicly available GEO database. These two datasets were jointly analyzed to screen the differentially expressed genes in nasal epithelial cells of controls and CRSwNP patients. In the meanwhile, we further evaluated the function annotation and regulatory pathways of the differentially expressed genes. To further confirmed what we have observed, sinus tissues were collected from patients with CRSwNP (14 cases, 46.8±17.9 years) and uncinate process tissues were collected from patients with nasal septum deviation (7 cases, 23.4±2.3 years) as control group. The primary epithelial cells of nasal mucosa were cultured and the mRNA level of screened genes were measured by Q-PCR. SPSS 22.0 software was used to for statistical analysis. Results: GSE107624 dataset showed that there were 3 856 differentially genes in nasal epithelial cells between CRSwNP and control group, while there were 771 differentially expressed genes in GSE69093 dataset. Finally, 55 up-regulated genes and 3 down-regulated genes were noticed in nasal epithelial cells of CRSwNP patients in the two datasets. GO gene functional annotation analysis showed that SPTBN1, FNBP1L, VAPB and SNX1 were involved in cell adhesion function, MAP1B was participated in the formation of microtubule related complex. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis indicated that BAMBI and SIAH1 were involved in regulation of Wnt pathway, COL6A1 and EIF4E were involved in the regulation of PI3K-AKT pathway. String protein interaction network analysis assumed that MAP1B and VAPB were the core functional proteins. Among top 3 differentially expressed genes COL6A1, MAP1B and BAMBI, only MAP1B gene was increased in nasal epithelial cells of CRSwNP patients in comparison to controls. Conclusion: The increased MAP1B gene in epithelial cells of CRSwNP, as well as abnormal regulation of Wnt and PI3K-AKT signal pathways may mediate the barrier dysfunction in CRSwNP.

Development of a Lateral Flow Strip-Based Recombinase Polymerase Amplification Assay for the Detection of Haemonchus contortus in Goat Feces

Haemonchosis remains a significant problem in small ruminants. In this study, the assay of recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) combined with the lateral flow strip (LFS-RPA) was established for the rapid detection of Haemonchus contortus in goat feces. The assay used primers and a probe targeting a specific sequence in the ITS-2 gene. We compared the performance of the LFS-RPA assay to a PCR assay. The LFS-RPA had a detection limit of 10 fg DNA, which was 10 times less compared to the lowest detection limit obtained by PCR. Out of 24 goat fecal samples, LFS-RPA assay detected H. contortus DNA with 95.8% sensitivity, compared to PCR, 79.1% sensitivity. LFS-RPA assay did not detect DNA from other related helminth species and demonstrated an adequate tolerance to inhibitors present in the goat feces. Taken together, our results suggest that LFS-RPA assay had a high diagnostic accuracy for the rapid detection of H. contortus and merits further evaluation.

Development of a Lateral Flow Strip-Based Recombinase Polymerase Amplification Assay for the Detection of Haemonchus contortus in Goat Feces

Haemonchosis remains a significant problem in small ruminants. In this study, the assay of recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) combined with the lateral flow strip (LFS-RPA) was established for the rapid detection of Haemonchus contortus in goat feces. The assay used primers and a probe targeting a specific sequence in the ITS-2 gene. We compared the performance of the LFS-RPA assay to a PCR assay. The LFS-RPA had a detection limit of 10 fg DNA, which was 10 times less compared to the lowest detection limit obtained by PCR. Out of 24 goat fecal samples, LFS-RPA assay detected H. contortus DNA with 95.8% sensitivity, compared to PCR, 79.1% sensitivity. LFS-RPA assay did not detect DNA from other related helminth species and demonstrated an adequate tolerance to inhibitors present in the goat feces. Taken together, our results suggest that LFS-RPA assay had a high diagnostic accuracy for the rapid detection of H. contortus and merits further evaluation.

Association between Selenium in Soil and Diabetes in Chinese Residents Aged 35-74 Years: Results from the 2010 National Survey of Chronic Diseases and Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

Objective@#To explore the association between soil selenium levels and the risk of diabetes in Chinese adults aged 35-74 years.@*Methods@#Data for this study were derived from the China Chronic Diseases and Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance 2010 survey. Selenium concentrations in soil were obtained from the Atlas of Soil Environmental Background Values in China. A two-level binary logistic regression model was used to determine the association between soil selenium concentrations and the risk of diabetes, with participants nested within districts/counties.@*Results@#A total of 69,332 participants aged 35-74 years, from 158 districts/counties were included in the analysis. Concentrations of selenium in soil varied greatly across the 158 districts/counties, with a median concentration of 0.219 mg/kg ( : 0.185-0.248). The results showed that both Quartile 1 (0.119-0.185 mg/kg) and Quartile 4 (0.249-0.344 mg/kg) groups were positively associated with diabetes compared to a soil selenium concentration of 0.186-0.219 mg/kg (Quartile 2), crude odds ratios ( s) (95% ) were 1.227 (1.003-1.502) and 1.280 (1.048-1.563). The values were 0.045 and 0.013, for Quartile 1 and Quartile 4 groups, respectively. After adjusting for all confounding factors of interest, the Quartile 1 group became non-significant, and the Quartile 4 group had an adjusted (95% ) of 1.203 (1.018-1.421) relative to the reference group (Quartile 2), the values was 0.030. No significant results were seen for the Quartile 3 group (0.220-0.248 mg/kg) compared to the reference group.@*Conclusion@#Excessive selenium concentrations in soil could increase the risk of diabetes among Chinese adults aged 35-74 years.

An epidemiological survey on the incidence of non-fatal injury and influencing factors among children under 5 years old in China / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective To determine the incidence of non-fatal injuries and related influencing factors among children under 5 years old in China. Methods Data involving 10 819 children under 5 years old was from the Fourth National Health Service Survey of China. Injury-related indicators include: history of ever having had an injury, its frequency, cause, location and severity of the injury.A two-level Poissun regression was used to examine the significance of related socio-economic variables. Results The overall incidence rate of nonfatal injuries among children under 5 years old was 16.0 per 1000 population in the prior 12 months. The first three leading causes of non-fatal injuries were falls,animal bite, fire/bum among children under 1 year old,with the rates as 3.9, 1.8 and 1.8 per 1000 population, respectively. For children aged I to 4 years old, the first three leading causes were animal bite, fall, fire/burn with rates as 6.5,6.0 and 2.9 per 1000 population, respectively. 83.0% and 69.0% of last injuries occurred at home for the above said two age groups. No disability was found among children younger than 1 year old who suffered from a nonfatal injury while for the 1-4 age group, the disability accounted for 1.0% of injury-induced outcomes. After adjusting other variables,boys had 1.57 times the risk of injury compared with girls in the 1-4 age group (P＜0.05). The differences on the effects regarding ethmicity,per capita household income, and place were insignificant (P＞0.05). None of the socio-economic variables was found that significantly related to the non-fatal injury risk among children under 1 year old (P＞0.05). Conclusion The incidence of nonfatal injuries among children under 5 years old was 16.0 per 1000 population in the prior 12 months. The three leading causes of injuries were animal bite, falls, fire/bum respectively. Home was the most common place that non-fatal injuries occurred. Boys had a higher risk of injury compared with girls among children aged 1 to 4 years old and the difference was significant.

Application of Susceptible-Infected-Recovered model in dealing with an outbreak of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis on one school campus / 中华流行病学杂志

To simulate intervention measures in controlling an outbreak of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis on one school campus by using the Susceptible-Infected-Recovered (SIR) model, to provide evidence for preparedness and response to the epidemic. Classical SIR model was used to model the epidemic. Malthusian exponential decline method was employed to estimate the infective coefficient β for interventions. The initial value of parameters was determined based on empirical data. The modeling was implemented using Matlab 7.1 software. Without interventions, the outbreak was expected to experience three phrases: (1)early stage (the first 5 days) in which the epidemic developed slowly and could be intervened easily; (2) rapid growing stage (6-15 days) in which the number of infected cases increased quickly and the epidemic could not be well controlled;and (3) medium and late stage (16 days and later) in which more than 90% of the susceptible persons were infected but the intervention measures failed to prevent the epidemic. With the implementation of interventions, the epidemic was predicted to be controlled in the early stage, under the SIR model. The simulation based on the SIR model kept an acceptable consistency with the actual development of epidemic after the implementation of intervention measures. The SIR model seemed effective in modeling interventions to the epidemic of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis in the schools.

Alprazolam use improves psychological status and reduces hospitalization costs in patients with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia underwent radiofrequency catheter ablation / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effect of alprazolam use on psychological status and hospitalization cost in patient with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia underwent electrophysiology studies or radiofrequency catheter ablation.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In this prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 142 inpatients [77 males, mean age (43.1 +/- 14.5) years] were randomly assigned to receive alprazolam (0.4 mg qd at 10PM for 3 days, n = 72) or placebo (n = 70) 3 days before scheduled electrophysiology studies or radiofrequency catheter ablation. All patients were examined by the Chinese version of Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) at 24 hours before the procedure.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the placebo group, the scores of somatization (1.38 +/- 0.40 vs. 1.65 +/- 0.56, P < 0.01), anxiety (1.50 +/- 0.39 vs. 1.69 +/- 0.50, P < 0.05), phobic anxiety (1.24 +/- 0.36 vs. 1.47 +/- 0.57, P < 0.01), psychotism constructs (1.24 +/- 0.34 vs. 1.35 +/- 0.30, P < 0.05) and global severity index (1.36 +/- 0.35 vs. 1.49 +/- 0.37, P < 0.05) were significantly decreased in alprazolam group. The hospitalization costs were also significantly lower in alprazolam group (32 498 +/- 1170) yuan compared to placebo group (32 947 +/- 1096) yuan, P < 0.05.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The alprazolam use before electrophysiology studies and radiofrequency catheter ablation can improve the patients' psychological status and reduce the hospitalization costs.</p>