Mental illness and pulmonary tuberculosis: a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

Background: Observational studies have confirmed that mental illness and pulmonary tuberculosis are closely related and increase each other's incidence; however, whether there is a causal genetic association between the two diseases remains unknown. We attempted to answer this question using bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) in a large cohort study. Method: We performed a bidirectional MR analysis between mental illness (major depressive, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia) and pulmonary tuberculosis using summary statistics from genome-wide association studies in European individuals. The inverse-variance weighted method was used as the primary analytical method to assess causality. In addition, other additional MR methods (weighted median, MR-Egger, and weighted mode) were used to supplement the inverse-variance weighted results. Furthermore, several sensitivity analyses were performed to assess heterogeneity, horizontal pleiotropy, and stability. Result: We identified no causal genetic association between mental illness and pulmonary tuberculosis after applying the inverse variance weighted method (major depressive: odds ratio (OR) = 1.00, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.59-1.71, P = 0.98; anxiety disorder: OR = 1.72, 95% CI = 0.05-67.67, P = 0.76; bipolar disorder OR = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.66-1.22, P = 0.48; and schizophrenia: OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 0.91-1.20, P = 0.51). Similarly, pulmonary tuberculosis was not caustically associated with mental illness (major depressive: OR = 1.01, 95% CI = 1.00-1.02, P = 0.17; anxiety disorder: OR = 1.00, 95% CI = 0.99-1.01, P = 0.06; bipolar disorder: OR = 1.02, 95% CI = 0.98-1.07, P = 0.38; and schizophrenia: OR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.97-1.05, P = 0.66). Conclusion: Our research does not support a bidirectional causal association between the aforementioned mental illnesses and pulmonary tuberculosis.

A novel alginate-embedded magnetic biochar-anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria composite microspheres for multipollutant removal: Mechanisms of photo-bioelectrochemical enhancement and excellent reusability performance.

Existing wastewater treatment technologies face the key challenge of simultaneously removing emerging contaminants and nutrients from wastewater efficiently, with a simplified technological process and minimized operational costs. In this study, a novel alginate-embedded magnetic biochar-anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria composite microspheres (CA-MBC-PSB microspheres) was prepared for efficient, cost-effective and one-step removal of antibiotics and NH4+-N from wastewater. Our results demonstrated that the CA-MBC-PSB microspheres removed 97.23% of sulfadiazine (SDZ) within 7 h and 91% of NH4+-N within 12 h, which were 21.23% and 38% higher than those achieved by pure calcium alginate-Rhodopseudomonas palustris microspheres (53% and 45.7%), respectively. The enhanced SDZ and NH4+-N removal were attributed to the enhanced photoheterotrophic metabolism and excretion of extracellular photosensitive active substances from R. Palustris through the photo-bioelectrochemical interaction between R. Palustris and magnetic biochar. The long-term pollutants removal performance of the CA-MBC-PSB microspheres was not deteriorated but continuously improved with increasing ruse cycles with a simultaneous removal efficiency of 99% for SDZ and 92% for NH4+-N after three cycles. The excellent stability and reusability were due to the fact that calcium alginate acts as an encapsulating agent preventing the loss and contamination of R. palustris biomass. The CA-MBC-PSB microspheres also exhibited excellent performance for simultaneous removal of SDZ (89% in 7 h) and NH4+-N (90.7% in 12 h) from the secondary effluent of wastewater treatment plant, indicating the stable and efficient performance of CA-MBC-PSB microspheres in practical wastewater treatment.

Neoantigen load as a prognostic and predictive marker for stage II/III non-small cell lung cancer in Chinese patients.

BACKGROUND: The prognosis for patients with stage II/III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is unsatisfactory, even after complete tumor resection and adjuvant chemotherapy. Here, we assessed the prognostic and predictive value of immunogenomic signatures for stage II/III NSCLC in Chinese patients. METHODS: A total of 91 paired resected stage II/III NSCLC and normal tissues, including 47 squamous cell lung carcinomas (SCC) and 44 lung adenocarcinomas (ADC), were collected and analyzed using whole exome sequencing (WES) to identify immunogenomic signatures for association with clinicopathological variables and disease-free survival (DFS). RESULTS: Higher neoantigen load (NAL, >2 neoantigens/Mb) exhibited better DFS for SCC patients (p = 0.021) but not ADC patients. A benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy was correlated with lower NAL (≤2 neoantigens/Mb) (p = 0.009). However, tumor mutation burden (TMB), mutations of individual gene, oncogene pathways, and antigen presentation machinery genes, and human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-I number and HLA-I loss of heterozygosity (LOH) had no prognostic or predictive value for DFS of SCC or ADC patients. CONCLUSIONS: NAL is a useful biomarker for lung SCC prognosis and prediction of chemotherapy responses in Chinese patients. The predictive value of NAL for adjuvant immunotherapy should be further explored in patients with resected NSCLC.

Follow-up Study of Long-time Positive RT-PCR in Stool Specimens From Asymptomatic Children Infected With SARS-CoV-2.

In the current study, we report on 4 children with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, of which 3 of them were asymptomatic. These patients had both pharyngeal swabs and anal swabs testing during hospital or after discharge. All the 4 children showed long-time positive viral RNA in the stool specimens after pharyngeal swabs turned negative during the follow-up stage, especially in the asymptomatic children. The positive RNA in stool specimens of asymptomatic children last for more than 54 days after admission or 30 days after discharge.

A follow-up study of children infected with SARS-CoV-2 from western China.

BACKGROUND: To clarify the characteristic and the duration of positive nucleic acid in children infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), including asymptomatic children. METHODS: A total of 32 children confirmed with SARS-CoV-2 infection between January 24 and February 12, 2020 from four provinces in western China were enrolled in this study and followed up until discharge and quarantine 14 days later. RESULTS: Eleven children (34%) were asymptomatic, among whom six children had normal computed tomographic (CT) scan images. Age and gender were not associated with clinical symptoms or the results of CT scan in children infected with SARS-CoV-2. The concentrations of white blood cells and neutrophils were higher in children with asymptomatic infection than in children with clinical symptoms or CT abnormalities. Patients who presented with CT abnormalities had lower D-dimer or lower total bilirubin than those who had normal CT scan but clinical symptoms. All children recovered and no one died or was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). The mean duration of positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid was 15.4 (SD =7.2) days and similar for both asymptomatic children and children with symptoms or CT abnormalities. We found a significant negative correlation between the lymphocyte count and the duration of positive nucleic acid test. CONCLUSIONS: Children with asymptomatic infection should be quarantined for the same duration as symptomatic patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. The clinical significance and mechanism behind the negative correlation between the number of lymphocytes and the duration of positive SARS-CoV-2 needs further study.