A Cross-sectional Survey Assessing Carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae in a Healthy Population in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China.

The carriage rate and serotype distribution of Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) in a healthy population in China remains unclear. In this study, we collected the oropharyngeal swabs from 513 individuals in Xinjiang, China. Real-time PCR targeting the lytA gene and 12 serotypes were assessed to identify S. pneumoniae carriage. The total carriage rate of S. pneumoniae was 70.4% (361/513). The most prevalent serotypes were 19B/F, 18B/C, 5, and 6A/B. The highest carriage rate of S. pneumoniae was noted in children aged 6-10 years (88.6%), which merits further attention. The co-colonization rate of two or more S. pneumoniae serotypes was 79.8% (264/331). This study aimed to investigate the baseline pneumococcal carriage rate among healthy individuals in China to improve our understanding of the epidemiology of S. pneumoniae.

Serum Tumor Marker Carbohydrate Antigen 125 Levels and Carotid Atherosclerosis in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease.

OBJECTIVE: We assessed the correlation between serum carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS: We collected 518 CAD patients from the cardiovascular disease center in our hospital, and all cIMT values were measured in patients with CAD. RESULTS: The serum CA125 concentrations were found to be increased in CAD patients with early carotid atherosclerosis compared with patients without early carotid atherosclerosis (20.1±7.72 vs. 17.7±6.41 U/mL, p<0.001). The cIMT values were increased in patients with higher serum CA-125 levels than those with lower serum CA-125 concentrations (1.16±0.32 vs. 0.98±0.29 mm, p<0.001). There was a positive correlation between serum CA125 and cIMT in CAD patients (r=0.262, p<0.001). Moreover, the serum CA125 concentrations also were positively correlated with cIMT in subjects with early carotid atherosclerosis and without early carotid atherosclerosis (r=0.255, p<0.001; r=0.189, p=0.002). We found that serum CA-125 concentrations were independently correlated with cIMT (beta = 0.293, p<0.001) in multiple linear regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: We found that serum CA125 concentrations were positively correlated with cIMT in CAD patients, serum CA125 might be a potential biochemical marker for the estimation of atherosclerosis in patients with CAD.

64-qubit quantum circuit simulation.

Classical simulations of quantum circuits are limited in both space and time when the qubit count is above 50, the realm where quantum supremacy reigns. However, recently, for the low depth circuit with more than 50 qubits, there are several methods of simulation proposed by teams at Google and IBM. Here, we present a scheme of simulation which can extract a large amount of measurement outcomes within a short time, achieving a 64-qubit simulation of a universal random circuit of depth 22 using a 128-node cluster, and 56- and 42-qubit circuits on a single PC. We also estimate that a 72-qubit circuit of depth 23 can be simulated in about 16 h on a supercomputer identical to that used by the IBM team. Moreover, the simulation processes are exceedingly separable, hence parallelizable, involving just a few inter-process communications. Our work enables simulating more qubits with less hardware burden and provides a new perspective for classical simulations.

[Measurement of the minimum alveolar concentration of sevoflurane during combined anesthesia with sevoflurane, small-dose dexmedetomidine and fentanyl].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the minimum alveolar concentration (EC(50) and EC(95)) of sevoflurane in body movement response to surgical incision during combined anesthesia with dexmedetomidine, sevoflurane and fentanyl. METHODS: Twenty-six ASA class I or II patients (aged 18-60 years) underwent selective surgery for lumbar disc herniation under general anesthesia with the combination of with dexmedetomidine, sevoflurane and fentanyl. All the patients received infusion with 0.5 mg/kg dexmedetomidine for 10 min before anesthesia induction with intravenous injection of 3 µg/kg fentanyl 8% sevoflurane inhalation. Upon loss of consciousness, sevoflurane concentration was reduced to 5% with intravenous injection of 1-2 mg/kg succinylcholine, and intubation was started after muscles relaxation. Anesthesia was maintained by sevoflurane and dexmedetomidine (0.2 µg·kg(-1)·h(-1)). Before the surgery, a steady state end-tidal sevoflurane concentration was maintained for at least 10 min. The first patient of the series was tested with 1.5% sevoflurane, and the concentration was adjusted according to modified Dixons up-and-down method (with a step size of 0.2%). Probit analysis was used for calculating EC(50), EC(95) and the 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: The EC(50) of sevoflurane was 0.94% (95%CI of 0.76%-1.07% ) and EC(95) was 1.23% (95%CI 1.09%-2.05% ). CONCLUSION: The EC(50) and EC(95) of sevoflurane are 0.94% and 1.23%, respectively, for suppressing body movement in response to surgical incision during combined anesthesia with sevoflurane, dexmedetomidine and fentanyl.