Sialic acid in human milk and infant formulas in China: concentration, distribution and type.

This study compared the concentrations, types and distributions of sialic acid (SA) in human milk at different stages of the postnatal period with those in a range of infant formulas. Breast milk from mothers of healthy, full-term and exclusively breastfed infants was collected on the 2nd (n 246), 7th (n 135), 30th (n 85) and 90th (n 48) day after birth. The SA profiles of human milk, including their distribution, were analysed and compared with twenty-four different infant formulas. Outcome of this observational study was the result of natural exposure. Only SA of type Neu5Ac was detected in human milk. Total SA concentrations were highest in colostrum and reduced significantly over the next 3 months. Approximately 68·7­76·1 % of all SA in human milk were bound to oligosaccharides. Two types of SA, Neu5Ac and Neu5Gc, have been detected in infant formulas. Most SA was present in infant formulas combined with protein. Breastfed infants could receive more SA than formula-fed infants with the same energy intake. Overall, human milk is a preferable source of SA than infant formulas in terms of total SA content, dynamics, distribution and type. These SA profiles in the natural state are worth to be considered by the production of formulas because they may have a great effect on infant nutrition and development.

The impact of government reimbursement negotiation on targeted anticancer medicines use and cost in China: A cohort study based on national health insurance data.

Background: High prices of targeted anticancer medicines (TAMs) result in financial toxicity for patients and the health insurance system. How national price negotiation and reimbursement policy affect the accessibility of TAMs for cancer patients remains unknown. Methods: In this population-based cohort study, we used national health insurance claims data in 2017 and identified adult patients with cancer diagnoses for which price-negotiated TAMs were indicated. We estimated the half-month prevalence of price-negotiated TAMs use before and after the policy implementation in September 2017. We calculated direct medical costs, out-of-pocket (OOP) costs, and the proportion of OOP cost for each cancer patient to measure their financial burden attributable to TAMs use. We performed segmented linear and multivariable logistic regression to analyse the policy impact. Results: We included 39 391 of a total 118 655 cancer beneficiaries. After September 2017, the prevalence of price-negotiated TAMs use increased from 1.4%-2.1% to 2.9%-3.1% (P = 0.005); TAMs users' daily medical costs increased from US$261.3 to US$292.5 (P < 0.001), while median daily OOP costs (US$68.2 vs US$65.7; P = 0.134) and OOP costs as a proportion of daily medical costs persisted (28.5% vs 28.5%; P = 0.995). Compared with resident beneficiaries, the relative probability of urban employee beneficiaries on TAMs uses decreased after the policy (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 2.4 vs aOR = 2.2). Conclusions: The government price negotiation and reimbursement policy improved patient access to TAMs and narrowed disparities among insurance schemes. China's approach to promoting the affordability of expensive medicines provides valuable experience for health policy decision-makers.

Infrared metasurface absorber based on silicon-based CMOS process.

Metasurface with metal-insulator-metal (MIM) structure has absorption properties for incident light at specific wavelengths. In this paper, we propose an infrared metasurface absorber based on silicon-based complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process. By adding the prepared infrared metasurface absorber to the liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) chip, it is used as the absorbing layer of LCoS configured between the pixel unit and the CMOS driver circuit. The effect of zero-order light caused by the gap between pixels in LCoS spatial light modulator (LCoS-SLM) on the light modulation function of the device is effectively reduced. Experiments show that the LCoS-SLM with infrared metasurface absorption structure can eliminate the zero-order light interference between the pixel gaps to a great extent and improve the modulation efficiency of the device. The proposed LCoS-SLM integrating infrared metasurface absorber structure based on silicon-based CMOS process has the advantages of low-cost and high modulation efficiency, which has high application value in the fields of holographic display, optical computing and optical communication.

GC/MS-Based Urine Metabolomics Study on the Ameliorative Effect of Xanthoceras sorbifolia Extract on Alzheimer's Disease in Mice.

The cause of Alzheimer's disease, the most common type of dementia today, is still unclear, and in current research, there are no drugs that work relatively well. Therefore, the study for new drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease is an urgent research need. Research on the improvement of Alzheimer's disease with extracts of Xanthoceras sorbifolia has been increasing in recent years, but the mechanism is not fully understood. The experiments were conducted to validate the model and analyze the treatment effect through D-galactose and Aß 25-35 induced dementia model mice, using the Morris water maze, to detect the learning behavior and brain tissue section to observe the hippocampal tissue structure of mice. We performed a nontargeted metabolomic analysis of the urine obtained from different groups of mice using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Fourteen potential biomarkers were identified in the mice's urine, outlining five metabolic pathways of interest. It was shown that the extracts of Xanthoceras sorbifolia may exert protective effects on mice in dementia models through energy metabolism, neuroinflammation, and antioxidants. This study reveals the potential pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease and the possible therapeutic mechanism of Xanthoceras sorbifolia, suggests relevant biomarkers, and provides an additional basis for the clinical application of Xanthoceras sorbifolia.

Recovery of phosphate and dissolved organic matter from aqueous solution using a novel CaO-MgO hybrid carbon composite and its feasibility in phosphorus recycling.

Metal oxide-Carbon composites have been developed tailoring towards specific functionalities for removing pollutants from contaminated environmental systems. In this study, we synthesized a novel CaO-MgO hybrid carbon composite for removal of phosphate and humate by co-pyrolysis of dolomite and sawdust at various temperatures. Increasing of pyrolysis temperature to 900 °C generated a composite rich in carbon, CaO and MgO particles. Phosphate and humate can be removed efficiently by the synthesized composite with the initial solution in the range of pH 3.0-11.0. The phosphate adsorption was best fitted by pseudo-second-order kinetic model, while the humate adsorption followed the pseudo-second-order and the intra-particle diffusion kinetic models. The maximum adsorption capabilities quantified by the Langmuir isotherm model were up to 207 mg phosphorus (or 621 mg phosphate) and 469 mg humate per one-gram composite used, respectively. Characterization of composites after adsorption revealed the contributions of phosphate crystal deposition and electrostatic attraction on the phosphate uptake and involvement of π - π interaction in the humate adsorption. The prepared composite has great potential for recovering phosphorus from wastewater, and the phosphate sorbed composite can be employed as a promising phosphorus slow-releasing fertilizer for improving plant growth.