Mechanism of organic phosphorus transformation and its impact on the primary production in a deep oligotrophic plateau lake during stratification.

Global warming is leading to extended stratification in deep lakes, which may exacerbate phosphorus (P) limitation in the upper waters. Conversion of labile dissolved organic P (DOP) is a possible adaptive strategy to maintain primary production. To test this, the spatiotemporal distributions of various soluble P fractions and phosphomonesterase (PME)/phosphodiesterase (PDE) activities were investigated in Lake Fuxian during the stratification period and the transition capacity of organic P and its impact on primary productivity were evaluated. The results indicated that the DOP concentration (mean 0.20 ± 0.05 µmol L-1) was significantly higher than that of dissolved inorganic P (DIP) (mean 0.08 ± 0.03 µmol L-1) in the epilimnion and metalimnion, which were predominantly composed of orthophosphate monoester (monoester-P) and orthophosphate diesters (diester-P). The low ratio of diester-P / monoester-P and high activities of PME and PDE indicate DOP mineralization in the epilimnion and metalimnion. We detected a DIP threshold of approximately 0.19 µmol L-1, corresponding to the highest total PME activity in the lake. Meta-analysis further demonstrated that DIP thresholds of PME activities were prevalent in oligotrophic (0.19 µmol L-1) and mesotrophic (0.74 µmol L-1) inland waters. In contrast to the phosphate-sensitive phosphatase PME, dissolved PDE was expressed independent of phosphate availability and its activity invariably correlated with chlorophyll a, suggesting the involvement of phytoplankton in DOP utilization. This study provides important field evidence for the DOP transformation processes and the strategy for maintaining primary productivity in P-deficient scenarios, which contributes to the understanding of P cycles and the mechanisms of system adaptation to future long-term P limitations in stratified waters.

Associations Among Outdoor Time, Skin Tanning, and the Risk of Surgically Treated Cataract for Australians 45 to 65 Years of Age.

Purpose: To investigate the association between outdoor time and the risk of cataract surgery in a large Australian population. Methods: This was a population-based prospective cohort study with 137,133 participants 45 to 65 years of age and without prior history of cataract surgery from the 45 and Up Study. Outdoor hours per day on weekdays and weekends, as well as tanning with repeated sun exposure, were assessed by a self-administered baseline questionnaire. Cataract surgery events were confirmed by the Medicare Benefits Schedule from baseline until the end of follow-up in 2016. Results: During a mean follow-up of 9 years, 14,338 participants received cataract surgery with a corresponding incidence of 10.5%. Multiple Cox regression analysis showed that more outdoor hours on weekends (P trend < 0.001) and the ability to get tanned by repeated sun exposure (P trend = 0.041) were significantly associated with a lower risk of cataract surgery, whereas more outdoor hours on weekdays were nominally significantly associated (P trend = 0.055). Participants who spent 10+ hours outdoors on weekends had 9% decreased risk compared with those who spent ≤2 hours outdoors. In addition, compared to participants who got very tanned by repeated sun exposure, those less likely to get tanned had a 5% to 7% increased risk of cataract surgery. Conclusions: In this large Australian cohort 45 to 65 years of age, more outdoor time and ease of tanning with sun exposure were associated with a lower incidence of cataract surgery. Translational Relevance: With proper sun protection, more outdoor time may lead to a lower risk of severe cataracts requiring surgery.

Clinical Characteristics and Prognosis of 218 Patients With COVID-19: A Retrospective Study Based on Clinical Classification.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging infectious disease that has spread worldwide. Methods: This was a retrospective case series involving 218 patients admitted to three tertiary hospitals in the Loudi, Shaoyang, and Xiangtan areas of China from January 21 to June 27, 2020, who were confirmed by RT-PCR to have SARS-CoV-2. The patients' clinical characteristics, laboratory results, treatments, and prognoses based on clinical classification were recorded. Poor outcome was defined as admission to an ICU, the use of mechanical ventilation, or death. Results: The patients were classified into four clinical groups based on disease severity, namely mild (10/218, 5%), moderate (146/218, 67%), severe (24/218, 11%), or critical (14/218, 6%); 24 (11%) asymptomatic cases were also included in the study. The most common symptoms were self-reported cough (162/218, 74%), fever (145/218, 67%), sputum production (99/218, 45%), and fatigue (77/218, 35%). Among the 218 patients, 192 (88%) received lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon-alpha inhalation, and 196 (90%) patients received traditional Chinese medicine. Among the severe and critical patients, 25 (11%) were admitted to an ICU with or without mechanical ventilation, and one patient died. The presence of diabetes [relative risk (RR), 3.0; 95% CI, 1.3-6.8; p = 0.007) or other comorbidities (RR, 5.9; 95% CI, 1.9-17.8; p = 0.002) was independently associated with poor outcome. To date, 20 (9%) patients have retested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA after recovering and being discharged. Conclusion: The majority of patients in this case series were clinically classified as having moderate COVID-19. Older patients tended to present with greater levels of clinical severity. The prognosis for patients who were elderly or had diabetes or other chronic comorbidities was relatively poor.

Emerging protective roles of shengmai injection in septic cardiomyopathy in mice by inducing myocardial mitochondrial autophagy via caspase-3/Beclin-1 axis.

BACKGROUND: Sepsis, a life-threatening systemic syndrome related to inflammatory response, usually accompanied by major organ dysfunctions. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the role by which Shengmai injection (SMI) acts to septic cardiomyopathy. METHODS: Initially, the induced mice with septic cardiomyopathy were treated with SMI or normal saline (NS) with oe-caspase-3, and HL-1 cells were treated with oe-Beclin-1 and oe-caspase-3 and then cultured with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Subsequently, we measured the cardiac troponin I (cTnI) level, and expression of mitochondrial autophagy protein (parkin and pink1) and myocardial cell autophagy-related proteins (LC3-II and LC3-I). Additionally, we identified the cleavage of Beclin-1 by caspase-3 and detected the changes of mitochondrial membrane potential, level of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and apoptosis of myocardial cells in myocardial tissues of mice. RESULTS: It has been demonstrated that SMI contributed to the increase of myocardial mitochondrial autophagy, reduction of cTnI level, and elevation of mitochondrial membrane potential in septic cardiomyopathy mice. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments showed that caspase-3 promoted cleavage of Beclin-1 and release of ROS, whereas repressed lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced mitochondrial autophagy. Furthermore, the facilitation of myocardial mitochondrial autophagy and protection of myocardial mitochondria by SMI through inhibition of cleavage Beclin-1 by caspase-3 in septic cardiomyopathy mice were also proved by in vivo experiments. CONCLUSION: Taken together, SMI could protect myocardial mitochondria by promoting myocardial mitochondrial autophagy in septic cardiomyopathy via inhibition of cleavage of Beclin-1 by caspase-3. Our study demonstrates that SMI could represent a novel target for treatment of septic cardiomyopathy.

Are smoking intensity and cessation related to cataract surgical risk in diabetic patients? Findings from the 45 and Up Study.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate if smoking was related to the risk of cataract surgery in diabetic patients. METHODS: A total of 9578 diabetic participants aged 45-65 years were enrolled from the 45 and Up Study, the largest population-based cohort study in Australia. Baseline questionnaire data were linked to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) database, which were both available from 2004 to 2016. Cataract surgery was determined according to the MBS. Smoking status were assessed by questionnaire. Cox regression was used to evaluate the association between smoking and incidence of cataract surgery during the follow-up. RESULTS: During a mean follow-up of 8.4 years, 995 participants underwent cataract surgery with a corresponding incidence of 12.4 cases per 1000 person-years. In all, 10.8% of participants were current smokers at baseline, 38.7% were former smokers, and 50.5% were never smokers. The incidence of cataract surgery was non-significantly higher in never-smoker compared to former or current smokers. Regression analysis showed no significant difference in cataract surgical risk among former, current, and never smokers. In addition, neither time since quitting of smoking nor age at quitting was associated with the risk of cataract surgery, although there was a marginally significant trend in a lower risk of cataract surgery with longer smoking cessation time for participant with normal weight (P for trend = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Despite that smoking was found to be related to the cataract and cataract surgery in the general population, we did not find any association between smoking and cataract surgery in diabetic patients.

Does daily dietary intake affect diabetic retinopathy progression? 10-year results from the 45 and Up Study.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To evaluate the associations of dietary consumption with the 10-year incidence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) progression in working-aged Australians with diabetes. METHODS: We obtained longitudinal data of all diabetic subjects aged 45-65 years from the baseline of the 45 and Up Study and linked this data with Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme claims until 2016. Retinal photocoagulation (RPC), as determined based on the MBS data, was used as a proxy measure of DR progression. Dietary measurements were assessed via self-reported consumption of meat, dairy products, whole-meal bread, breakfast cereal, vegetables, fruit and fruit juice using a self-administered questionnaire at baseline. Cox regression was used to assess the association between dietary consumption and incident RPC during the follow-up period. RESULTS: A total of 8122 participants were included in the current analysis with a mean age of 57.2±5.2 years. During a mean follow-up of 8.6 years, 314 participants (3.8% of baseline) received RPC. Higher consumption of cheese and whole-meal bread was associated with a lower risk of incident RPC, with the HRs of the highest quartiles versus the lowest being 0.58 (95% CI 0.41 to 0.83; test for trend, p=0.007) and 0.64 (0.46 to 0.89; p=0.04), respectively. Body mass index, insulin treatment and gender were significant modifiers for the association between cheese/whole-meal bread and RPC. CONCLUSION: Consumption of cheese and whole-meal bread could reduce the risk of DR progression among the working-aged Australian population with diabetes.

The acute effect of pleasurable music on craving for alcohol: A pilot crossover study.

Chronic administration of drugs of abuse leads to a dopamine deficient state in the mesolimbic system, causing dysphoria in abstinence and contributing to craving and return to use. Recent functional imaging studies have shown that listening to personally pleasing music activates the mesolimbic reward system in a fashion similar to drugs of abuse. It has been proposed that such activation could ameliorate the dysphoria and craving of the hypodopaminergic state. The present study sought to evaluate the efficacy of listening to personally pleasing or moving music on reducing craving in abstinent alcoholics using a single-blind, within-subject randomized block design, with three randomly determined presentations of each condition. Twelve participants with Alcohol Use Disorder on a residential substance rehabilitation unit reported their level of craving with a Visual Analog Scale before and after listening to either the participant-selected song or white noise. Using a mixed model to analyze the crossover design, the music intervention was found to have a statistically significant advantage in craving reduction compared to the noise control. Our results indicate that personally pleasing music might have a role in augmenting substance use disorder treatment via craving reduction. Further study is warranted to elucidate factors which predict the most robust response from this intervention.

Report: Clinical curative effect of traditional Chinese medicine combined with doxycycline in the treatment of genital Chlamydia trachomatis and Urea plasma urealyticum infections.

This paper aims to study clinical curative effect of traditional Chinese medicine combined with doxycycline in treating genital Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) and Urea plasma urealyticum (Uu) infections. The observed subjects in this paper were 60 patients who had been randomly divided into two groups, among which the control group was treated with doxycycline and the treatment group with Chinese medicine combined with doxycycline. Results showed that the curative effect of the treatment group was much better than that of the control. So it is proved that Chinese medicine combined with doxycycline is worth promoting because it is a convenient and safe way, which does not easily produce drug-resistant strain.