Quantifying spatial CXCL9 distribution with image analysis predicts improved prognosis of triple-negative breast cancer.

Background: The C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 9 (CXCL9) plays a pivotal role in tumor immunity by recruiting and activating immune cells. However, the relationship between CXCL9 expression and prognosis in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is unclear. Methods: We investigated CXCL9 mRNA expression, clinicopathological features, and prognosis in TNBC patients. We also used computational image analysis to quantify and assess the distribution of CXCL9 protein in the tumor core (TC) and invasive margin (IM). Results: CXCL9 mRNA expression was significantly higher in TNBC tumors compared to normal tissue (p < 0.001) and was associated with smaller tumors (p = 0.022) and earlier stages (p = 0.033). High CXCL9 mRNA expression was correlated with improved overall survival (OS) in three independent cohorts (all p < 0.05). In a separate analysis, low CXCL9 protein expression was associated with increased lymph node metastasis (p = 0.018 and p = 0.036). High CXCL9 protein expression in the TC, IM, or both was associated with prolonged OS (all p < 0.001). Conclusion: High CXCL9 expression, at both the mRNA and protein levels, is associated with improved prognosis in TNBC patients. CXCL9 expression in the TC and/or IM may be an independent prognostic factor.

Role of atmospheric rivers in shaping long term Arctic moisture variability.

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) reaching high-latitudes in summer contribute to the majority of climatological poleward water vapor transport into the Arctic. This transport has exhibited long term changes over the past decades, which cannot be entirely explained by anthropogenic forcing according to ensemble model responses. Here, through observational analyses and model experiments in which winds are adjusted to match observations, we demonstrate that low-frequency, large-scale circulation changes in the Arctic play a decisive role in regulating AR activity and thus inducing the recent upsurge of this activity in the region. It is estimated that the trend in summertime AR activity may contribute to 36% of the increasing trend of atmospheric summer moisture over the entire Arctic since 1979 and account for over half of the humidity trends in certain areas experiencing significant recent warming, such as western Greenland, northern Europe, and eastern Siberia. This indicates that AR activity, mostly driven by strong synoptic weather systems often regarded as stochastic, may serve as a vital mechanism in regulating long term moisture variability in the Arctic.

The first specific probe for pyrrolidine with multifunction by the interaction mechanism of atomic economic reaction.

Pyrrolidine (PyD) has an important impact on the environment and human health. However, there is currently no method for trace detection of PyD. Here, we successfully designed diaminomethylene-4H-pyran (1) as the first specific fluorescent probe for PyD. Only by adding PyD to probe 1, there is blue fluorescence at 455 nm, and the color of the solution changes from colorless to yellow. The detection limit is 1.12 × 10-6 M, and the response time is less than 5 min. Meanwhile, probe 1 can also sense the gaseous PyD and detect PyD in actual water samples. Moreover, due to the low biological toxicity, probe 1 can detect the exogenous PyD in zebrafish. The preliminary mechanism shows that probe 1 and PyD undergo a combination-type chemical reaction to generate a new substance 1-PyD. Therefore, the 100% atom utilization reaction enables probe 1 to exhibit specific adsorption and removal of PyD.

Compressive strain in Cu catalysts: Enhancing generation of C2+ products in electrochemical CO2 reduction.

Elastic strain in Cu catalysts enhances their selectivity for the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (eCO2RR), particularly toward the formation of multicarbon (C2+) products. However, the reasons for this selectivity and the effect of catalyst precursors have not yet been clarified. Hence, we employed a redox strategy to induce strain on the surface of Cu nanocrystals. Oxidative transformation was employed to convert Cu nanocrystals to CuxO nanocrystals; these were subsequently electrochemically reduced to form Cu catalysts, while maintaining their compressive strain. Using a flow cell configuration, a current density of 1 A/cm2 and Faradaic efficiency exceeding 80% were realized for the C2+ products. The selectivity ratio of C2+/C1 was also remarkable at 9.9, surpassing that observed for the Cu catalyst under tensile strain by approximately 7.6 times. In-situ Raman and infrared spectroscopy revealed a decrease in the coverage of K+ ion-hydrated water (K·H2O) on the compressively strained Cu catalysts, consistent with molecular dynamics simulations and density functional theory calculations. Finite element method simulations confirmed that reducing the coverage of coordinated K·H2O water increased the probability of intermediate reactants interacting with the surface, thereby promoting efficient C-C coupling and enhancing the yield of C2+ products. These findings provide valuable insights into targeted design strategies for Cu catalysts used in the eCO2RR.

Age-specific composition of milk microbiota in Tibetan sheep and goats.

This study investigates the dynamic changes in milk nutritional composition and microbial communities in Tibetan sheep and goats during the first 56 days of lactation. Milk samples were systematically collected at five time points (D0, D7, D14, D28, D56) post-delivery. In Tibetan sheep, milk fat, protein, and casein contents were highest on D0, gradually decreased, and stabilized after D14, while lactose and galactose levels showed the opposite trend. Goat milk exhibited similar initial peaks, with significant changes particularly between D0, D7, D14, and D56. 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed increasing microbial diversity in both species over the lactation period. Principal coordinates analysis identified distinct microbial clusters corresponding to early (D0-D7), transitional (D14-D28), and mature (D56) stages. Core phyla, including Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria, dominated the milk microbiota, with significant temporal shifts. Core microbes like Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, and Streptococcus were common in both species, with species-specific taxa observed (e.g., Pediococcus in sheep, Shewanella in goats). Furthermore, we observed a highly shared core microbiota in sheep and goat milk, including Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, and Streptococcus. Spearman correlation analysis highlighted significant relationships between specific microbial genera and milk nutrients. For instance, Lactobacillus positively correlated with total solids, non-fat milk solids, protein, and casein, while Mannheimia negatively correlated with protein content. This study underscores the complex interplay between milk composition and microbial dynamics in Tibetan sheep and goats, informing strategies for livestock management and nutritional enhancement. KEY POINTS: • The milk can be classified into three types based on the microbiota composition • The changes of milk microbiota are closely related to the variations in nutrition • Filter out microbiota with species specificity and age specificity in the milk.

Financial toxicity, coping strategies, and quality of life among Chinese patients with hematologic malignancies: a cross-sectional study.

PURPOSE: Financial toxicity is used to describe the financial hardship experienced by cancer patients. Financial toxicity may cause negative consequences to patients, whereas little is known in Chinese context. This study aimed to explore the level of financial toxicity, coping strategies, and quality of life among Chinese patients with hematologic malignancies. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a prospective, observational study among 274 Chinese patients with hematologic malignancies from November 2021 to August 2022 in Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. Clinical data were extracted from electronic clinical records. Data on financial toxicity, coping strategies, and quality of life were collected using PRO measures. Chi-square or independent t test and multivariate logistic regression were performed to explore the associated factors of financial toxicity and quality of life, respectively. Effects of financial toxicity on coping strategies were examined using Chi-square. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 50.2 (± 14.6) years. Male participants accounted for 57.3%. About half of the participants reported high financial toxicity. An average median of ¥200,000 on total medical expenditures since the diagnosis was reported. The average median monthly out-of-pocket health expenditure relating to cancer treatment was ¥20,000 (range ¥632-¥172,500) after reimbursement. Reduce daily living expenses (64.9%), borrowing money (55.7%), and choosing cheaper regimens (19.6%) were the commonly used strategies to cope with financial burden. Financial toxicity was negatively associated with quality of life (ß = 0.071, P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Financial toxicity was not uncommon in patients with hematological malignancies. Reducing daily living expenses, abandoning treatment sessions, and borrowing money were the strategies commonly adopted by participants to defray cancer costs. Additionally, participants with high level of financial toxicity tended to have worse quality of life. Therefore, actions from healthcare providers, policy-makers, and other stakeholders should be taken to help cancer patients mitigate their financial toxicity.

Pleural carbohydrate antigen 50 and malignant pleural effusion: a prospective, double-blind diagnostic accuracy test.

Background: Serum carbohydrate antigen 50 (CA50) is an auxiliary diagnostic marker for various solid tumors, but it remains unclear whether CA50 in pleural fluid can assist in the diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion (MPE). This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of pleural fluid CA50 for MPE in pleural effusion patients with undetermined causes. Methods: This study prospectively recruited pleural effusion patients with undetermined causes who visited the Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University between September 2018 and July 2021. We measured pleural fluid CA50 level with an electrochemiluminescence assay. We analyzed the diagnostic accuracy of CA50 and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) for MPE with the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The net benefits of CA50 and CEA were analyzed using the decision curve analysis (DCA). Results: We enrolled 66 MPEs and 87 benign pleural effusions (BPEs). MPE patients had significantly higher CA50 and CEA than BPE patients. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of CA50 was 0.72 (95% CI: 0.63-0.80). CA50 had a sensitivity of 0.30 (95% CI: 0.19-0.41) and a specificity of 1.00 (95% CI: 1.00-1.00) at the threshold of 15 IU/mL. The decision curve of CA50 was above the reference line at the calculated risk probability of between 0.30 and 1.00. Venn diagram indicated that some patients with low CEA (<50 or <150 ng/mL) and/or negative cytology can be identified by positive CA50 (>15 IU/mL). Conclusions: Pleural fluid CA50 has moderate accuracy and net benefit for detecting MPE. CA50 >15 IU/mL can be used to diagnose MPE. The combination of CA50 and CEA improves the diagnostic sensitivity for MPE.

Heterogeneous metabolic changes of brown and white adipose tissues are associated with metabolic adaptations in periparturient mice.

Pregnancy requires metabolic adaptations in order to meet support fetal growth with nutrient availability. In this study, the influence of pregnancy on metabolically active organs (adipose tissues in particular) was investigated. Our results showed that maternal weight and adipose mass presented dynamic remodeling in the periparturient mice. Meanwhile, pregnancy mice displayed obvious glucose intolerance and insulin resistance in late pregnancy as compared to non-pregnancy, which were partially reversed at parturition. Further analysis revealed that different fat depots exhibited site-specific adaptions of morphology and functionality as pregnancy advanced. Brown and inguinal white adipose tissue (BAT and IngWAT) exhibited obviously decreased thermogenic activity; by contrast, gonadal white adipose tissue (GonWAT) displayed remarkably increased lipid mobilization. Notably, we found that mammary gland differentiation was enhanced in IngWAT, followed by BAT, but not in GonWAT. These result indicated that brown and white adipose tissues might synergistically play a crucial role in maintaining the maxicum of energy supply for mother and fetus, which facilitates the mammary duct luminal epithelium development as well as the growth and development of fetus. Accompanied with adipose adaptation, however, our results revealed that the liver and pancreas also displayed significant metabolic adaptability, which together tended to trigger the risk of maternal metabolic diseases. Importantly, pregnancy-dependent obesity in our mice model resembled the disturbed metabolic phenotypes of pregnant women such as hyperglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia. Our findings in this study could provide valuable clues for better understanding the underlying mechanisms of metabolic maladaptation, and facilitate the development of the prevention and treatment of metabolic diseases.

Potential diagnostic biomarkers for immunogenic cell death in elderly female patients with ischemic stroke: identification and analysis.

Ischemic stroke (IS) is of increasing concern given the aging population and prevalence of unhealthy lifestyles, with older females exhibiting higher susceptibility. This study aimed to identify practical diagnostic markers, develop a diagnostic model for immunogenic cell death (ICD)-associated IS, and investigate alterations in the immune environment caused by hub genes. Differentially expressed genes associated with ICD in IS were identified based on weighted gene co-expression network analysis and the identification of significant modules. Subsequently, machine learning algorithms were employed to screened hub genes, which were further assessed using Gene Ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis. A nomogram mode lwas then constructed for IS diagnosis, and its diagnostic value was assessed using a receiver operating characteristic curve. Finally, alterations in immune cell infiltration were assessed within patients with IS, and the pan-cancer expression patterns of hub genes were evaluated. Three hub genes associated with ICD (PDK4, CCL20, and FBL) were identified. The corresponding nomogram model for IS diagnosis could effectively identify older female patients with IS (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.9555). Overall, the three hub genes exhibit good diagnostic value (AUC > 0.8). CCL20 and FBL are significantly associated with the extent of immune cells infiltration. Moreover, a strong link exists between hub gene expression and pan-cancer prognosis. Cumulatively, these results indicate that ICD-related hub genes critically influence IS progression in older females, presenting novel diagnostic and therapeutic targets for personalized treatment.

Safety and feasibility analysis of rapid daratumumab infusion in Chinese patients with multiple myeloma.

BACKGROUND: With the increasing use of daratumumab (DARA)-containing regimens for multiple myeloma (MM) patients in China, the standard infusion time of DARA is long, with the potential for infusion-related reactions (IRRs) and increased hospitalization and use of resources. Shortening the duration of DARA infusion helps to optimize the hospital stay and enhance the patient treatment experience. The current, commonly used 90-min rapid DARA infusion regimen may not be applicable to Chinese MM patients, and therefore, we explored a new 110-min rapid DARA infusion regimen aimed at reducing the treatment burden on patients to guarantee therapeutic safety. METHODS: MM inpatients treated with the DARA regimen were divided into two groups according to the number of times the DARA regimen was used: a standard infusion regimen for patients treated with the first two doses of DARA and a 110-min rapid infusion regimen for patients treated with more than two doses of DARA. Anti-allergy medications were routinely administered prior to the start of DARA infusion, patient consent, and authorization was obtained for all treatments, and statistical evaluation of the results was conducted via descriptive analyses, one-way ANOVA and chi-square tests. RESULTS: A total of 129 patients were included in this study: 68 in the standard infusion group, with 121 DARA infusions, and 129 in the rapid infusion group (patients who participated in the standard infusion subsequently participated in the rapid infusion), with 738 DARA infusions. The incidence of IRRs was 27.27% (36/121) in the standard infusion group and 1.35% (10/738) in the rapid infusion group, which were significantly different (p < 0.001). The incidence of IRRs after rapid infusion in other studies was <6%. The incidence of grade 1 IRRs in the rapid infusion group was 0.81% (6/738), the incidence of grade 2 IRRs was 0.54% (4/738), and there were no IRRs above grade 3; age, sex, and underlying disease had no effect on the choice of infusion method (p > 0.05). The mean infusion time after the occurrence of IRRs was also shorter in the rapid infusion group than in the standard infusion group (F = 24.781, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The 110-min rapid infusion DARA regimen is feasible and safe for use in Chinese MM patients.

Fluorinated benzothiadiazole fluorescent probe based on ICT mechanism for highly selectivity and sensitive detection of fluoride ion.

Excessive fluoride ion (F-) in the environment can affect health and even endanger life when ingested by the human body. However, most fluoride probes have the disadvantages of low sensitivity and long detection time. Herein, fluorescent probe 3a is successfully synthesized by linking two acetylenyltrimethylsilyl groups at both ends of the fluorinated benzothiadiazole core. After the addition of F- to 3a, the emission at 436 nm is significantly quenched and slightly blue-shifted. It is confirmed by electrospray ionization high-resolution mass spectrometry (ESI-HRMS) and density functional theory calculations (DFT) that these changes are due to the F- triggered Si-C bond cleavage and the subsequent inactivation of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT). The detection limit and response time of probe 3a for F- are 10-8 mol/L and 25 s, respectively. Importantly, fluorescent material 3a can be processed into portable test tools for the visual detection of fluoride ion.

Cone-beam CT evaluation of post-extraction alveolar bone changes at the maxillary incisor sites in an East Asian population: A cross-sectional study.

Objective: Understanding the characteristics of alveolar bone resorption in an East Asian population after maxillary incisor extraction and providing a reference for implant treatment plans. Study design: Cone-beam computerized tomography (CBCT) data of 125 East Asian patients with unilateral extraction of maxillary incisors for 3 months were collected. The alveolar bone width and height in the extraction sites were measured and compared with the corresponding contralateral sites. Results: The differences in alveolar bone width between the extraction site and contralateral site were as follows: 4.11 mm, 2.68 mm, and 2.09 mm (3 mm, 5 mm, 7 mm apical from CEJ of the contralateral tooth). Data are expressed as the median. The horizontal resorption ratio of alveolar bone was 49.94 %, 31.5 %, and 24.46 %. The difference in alveolar bone height was 0.78 mm. The vertical resorption ratio was 7.78 %. The resorption did not differ significantly between sexes and was not significantly affected by tooth positions. Conclusions: In the studied East Asian population, significant horizontal and vertical alveolar bone resorption occurs after natural healing of maxillary incisor extraction for 3 months. The closer to the alveolar ridge crest, the more significant the horizontal resorption, resulting in an "inverted triangle" shape residual alveolar bone.

TUBB, a robust biomarker with satisfying abilities in diagnosis, prognosis, and immune regulation via a comprehensive pan-cancer analysis.

Purpose: TUBB can encode a beta-tubulin protein. At present, the role of TUBB has not been ascertained in cancers. Hence, the importance of further systematic pan-cancer analyses is stressed to explore its value in the diagnosis, prognosis, and immune function of cancers. Methods: By collecting and handling integrative data from the TCGA, Firehose, UCSC Xena, cBioPortal, GEO, CPTAC, TIMER2.0, TISCH, CellMiner, GDSC, and CTRP databases, we explored the potential diagnostic and prognostic roles of TUBB in pan-cancers from multiple angles. Moreover, the GSEA analysis was conducted to excavate the biological functions of TUBB in pan-cancers. In addition, survival profiles were described, and the differential expressions of TUBB in different molecular subtypes were discussed. Also, we utilized the cMAP function to search drugs or micro-molecules that have an impact on TUBB expressions. Results: Based on the TCGA data, we found that TUBB was differentially expressed in a variety of tumors and showed an early-diagnostic value. Mutations, somatic copy number alterations, and DNA methylation would lead to its abnormal expression. TUBB expressions had relations with many clinical features. What's more, TUBB expressions were validated to be related to many metabolism-related, metastasis-related, and immune-related pathways. High TUBB expressions were proved to have a great impact on the prognosis of various types of cancers and would affect the sensitivity of some drugs. We also demonstrated that the expression of TUBB was significantly correlated to immunoregulator molecules and biomarkers of lymphocyte subpopulation infiltration. Conclusion: TUBB and its regulatory genes were systemically analyzed in this study, showing that TUBB had satisfying performances in disease diagnosing and prognosis predicting of multiple cancers. It could remodel the tumor microenvironment and play an integral role in guiding cancer therapies and forecasting responses to chemotherapy.

Factors associated with return to work after acute myocardial infarction: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of young acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is increasing. Return-to-work is an important indicator for patients' psycho-social recovery. However, factors influencing return-to-work after AMI are yet to be determined. OBJECTIVE: To summary available evidence on rate and factors associated with return-to-work among AMI patients. METHODS: The Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopes and two Chinese databases (CNKI and VIP) were searched from inception to October 3, 2023. Pooled rate of return-to-work (%) and odds ratio (OR) were calculated with Stata 17 software. RESULTS: Of 2403 records screened, 19 studies were included. Pooled rate of return-to-work at 3, 6, 12, and 24 and above months after AMI was 74%, 87%, 87%, 80% respectively. Factors associated with lower rate of return-to-work were comorbidity of diabetes (OR = 0.65; 95% CI, 0.46-0.93), history of heart failure (OR = 0.43; 95% CI, 0.23-0.80), manual labor (OR = 0.51; 95% CI, 0.35-0.76) and depression (OR = 0.59; 95% CI, 0.37-0.93). Male (OR = 1.42; 95% CI, 1.09-1.85) and higher education level (OR = 1.45; 95% CI, 1.25-1.69) were protective factors. Age, marital status and smoking were not significantly associated with return-to-work. CONCLUSIONS: More than half of patients could return to work at 3-month post-AMI, return-to-work rate was increased during one-year post-AMI followed by a decrease. Comorbidity of diabetes, history of heart failure, manual labor and depression were negative predictors of return-to-work, while male and higher education level were protective factors. This would assist the professionals to identify the patient who was risk for unable to return-to-work and provide support for AMI patents.

Modification of myofibrillar protein structural characteristics: Effect of ultrasound-assisted first-stage thermal treatment on unwashed Silver Carp surimi gel.

The hardness properties of unwashed surimi gel are considered as the qualities of gelation defect. This research investigated the effect of ultrasound-assisted first-stage thermal treatment (UATT) on the physicochemical properties of unwashed Silver Carp surimi gel, and the enhancement mechanism. UATT could reduce protein particle size, which significantly reduced from 142.22 µm to 106.70 µm after 30 min of UATT compared with the nature protein. This phenomenon can promote the protein crosslinking, resulting in the hardness of surimi gel increased by 15.08 %. Partially unfolded structure of myofibrillar protein and exposures of tryptophan to water, lead to the increase in the zeta potential absolute value, driven by UATT. The reduced SH group level and the conformational conversion of proteins from random coiling to α-helix and ß-sheet, which was in support of intermolecular interaction and gel network construction. The results are valuable for processing protein gels and other food products.

Bio-inspired hierarchical wearable patch for fast sweat collection.

Sweat contains abundant physiological and metabolic data to evaluate an individual's physical health. Since the non-exercise sweat secretion rate is low, with an average value of 1-10 µl h-1 cm-2, sweat is generally collected during exercise for existing wearable sweat sensors. To expand their applications to include daily scenarios, these sensors developed for sports and fitness are challenged by the difficulty of collecting trace amounts of sweat. This study proposes a wearable patch inspired by the hierarchical structure of Sarracenia trichomes, allowing for the spontaneous and fast collection of a small amount of secreted sweat. The patch contains microfluidic channels featuring a 20 µm-wide rib structure, fully utilizing the capillary force, thereby eliminating the issue of sweat hysteresis. Furthermore, with only 0.5 µl of the sweat secreted at the collection site, it can converge on the detection medium located within the center reservoir. Volunteer verification demonstrated a twofold increase in sweat collection efficiency compared to traditional wearable patches. This patch serves as an efficient sweat-collection configuration, promising potential for diverse in situ sweat colorimetric analyses.

pH-Universal Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction with Ampere-Level Current Density on Doping-Engineered Bismuth Sulfide.

The practical application of the electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) to form formic acid fuel is hindered by the limited activation of CO2 molecules and the lack of universal feasibility across different pH levels. Herein, we report a doping-engineered bismuth sulfide pre-catalyst (BiS-1) that S is partially retained after electrochemical reconstruction into metallic Bi for CO2RR to formate/formic acid with ultrahigh performance across a wide pH range. The best BiS-1 maintains a Faraday efficiency (FE) of ~95 % at 2000 mA cm-2 in a flow cell under neutral and alkaline solutions. Furthermore, the BiS-1 catalyst shows unprecedentedly high FE (~95 %) with current densities from 100 to 1300 mA cm-2 under acidic solutions. Notably, the current density can reach 700 mA cm-2 while maintaining a FE of above 90 % in a membrane electrode assembly electrolyzer and operate stably for 150 h at 200 mA cm-2. In situ spectra and density functional theory calculations reveals that the S doping modulates the electronic structure of Bi and effectively promotes the formation of the HCOO* intermediate for formate/formic acid generation. This work develops the efficient and stable electrocatalysts for sustainable formate/formic acid production.

Sex-Specific Differences in the Progression of Huntington's Disease Symptoms - A National Study in China.

INTRODUCTION: Huntington's disease (HD) is a rare, inherited neurodegenerative disorder. Despite extensive research on symptom progression and sex differences in Western populations, little is known about these aspects within the Chinese context. The objective of this study was to investigate the temporal trends of symptoms in individuals with HD in China. METHODS: A nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted in Chinese individuals diagnosed with HD. Symptom progression over time, encompassing physical, psychiatric, and cognitive symptoms, was self-reported. We calculated the proportions of individuals who currently had each symptom by disease duration, and tested corresponding temporal trends by linear regression analyses. RESULTS: A total of 269 individuals diagnosed with HD were included. Specific symptoms were found to progress more significantly in males compared to females over time, including psychotic symptoms (p = 0.007), urinary incontinence (p = 0.013), reduced concentration (p = 0.005), font alteration (p = 0.029), atypical facial expression (p = 0.037), and suicidal ideation (p = 0.047). In terms of cognitive and psychiatric symptoms, no significant temporal trends were identified in females, while males demonstrated significant increasing trends, with reduced concentration (p = 0.005) and psychotic symptoms (p = 0.007) standing out. CONCLUSIONS: This study emphasizes the existence of sex-specific symptom progression in HD within the Chinese population, underscoring the importance of considering sex in clinical practice. Further research should investigate the mechanisms behind these differences and explore tailored treatment options.

Blood Calcium, Genetic Risk, and Risk of Incident Kidney Stone: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between blood calcium concentration and incident kidney stone as well as to assess the role played by genetic susceptibility. METHODS: We performed a population-based cohort study based on participants from the UK Biobank. A multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs of incident kidney stone for blood calcium level and polygenic risk score (PRS). In addition, the potential interaction was explored. The study was conducted from January 28, 2023, through June 4, 2023. RESULTS: During the follow-up of 423,301 participants with a total of 5,490,332 person-years (median follow-up of 13.4 years), 4502 cases of kidney stone were recorded. Compared with the low blood calcium concentration group (first tertile), individuals in the high (third tertile) and moderate (second tertile) concentration groups had higher risks of kidney stone with HRs of 1.24 (95% CI, 1.15 to 1.33) and 1.11 (1.04 to 1.20), respectively. The PRS for kidney stone contained 40 independent single-nucleotide polymorphisms and was used to assign individuals to 3 groups according to the quintile. Participants with high (Q5) and moderate (Q2 to Q4) genetic risks had increased risks of kidney stone compared with low (Q1) genetic risk with HRs of 1.70 (1.53 to 1.89) and 1.31 (1.20 to 1.44), respectively. There was a joint cumulative risk of incident kidney stone between blood calcium concentration and genetic susceptibility. CONCLUSIONS: Blood calcium concentration and PRS are significantly associated with incident kidney stone risk. Excessive blood calcium concentration might bring additional stone risk in populations at high genetic risk. A nonlinear correlation between blood calcium concentration and kidney stone risk was indicated.

Profiles of work ability and associated factors in young and middle-aged acute myocardial infarction patients: A latent profile analysis.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is increasing among young and middle-aged people, and such patients need to be reemployed after AMI events from the individual and society perspectives. However, the situation of employment after AMI was not ideal. Early identification of patients vulnerable to decreased work ability and provided targeted intervention may be beneficial. OBJECTIVE: To identify the profiles and associated factors of work ability in young and middle-aged AMI patients. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Guangzhou, China, from September 2022 to October 2023. Work ability, self-efficacy for return-to-work, social support, anxiety, and depression were measured by the Work-ability Support Scale (WSS), Return-To-Work Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, Social Support Rating Scale, 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, and Patient Health Questionnaire 9, respectively. We performed latent profile analysis based on three subdomains of the WSS by using Mplus 8.3. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with work ability. RESULTS: A total of 155 participants (aged 48.58±7.153 years, 95.5 % male) were included. We identified three latent profiles of work ability: low work ability (28.1 %), moderate work ability (51 %), and high work ability (20.6 %). The per capita monthly household income, NYHA functional class, total cholesterol, length of hospital stay, social support, and self-efficacy for return-to-work were factors associated with work ability. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated different profiles and associated factors of work ability in young and middle-aged AMI patients. It is suggested that healthcare providers identify and monitor associated factors to improve work ability among this subpopulation.