Seminal plasma S100A8/A9 as a potential biomarker of genital tract inflammation.

ABSTRACT: Infections and inflammatory reactions in the male genital tract are the leading causes of male infertility with a prevalence of 6%-10%, primarily affecting testicular and epididymal function and ultimately compromising sperm quality. However, most infertile patients with genital infection/inflammation are asymptomatic and easily overlooked. Traditional indicators, including white blood cells, elastase, and other components in semen, can reflect inflammation of the genital tract, but there is still a lack of a uniform standard method of detection. Therefore, it is necessary to explore reliable markers in semen that reflect the inflammatory status of the genital tract. Using the experimental autoimmune orchitis (EAO) model to simulate noninfectious chronic orchitis, we successfully collected ejaculated seminal fluid from EAO rats using optimized electrical stimulation devices. Proteomic analysis was performed using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ). Compared to the control group, 55 upregulated and 105 downregulated proteins were identified in seminal plasma samples from the EAO group. In a preliminary screening, the inflammation-related protein S100A8/A9 was upregulated. We further verified that S100A8/A9 was increased in seminal plasma and highly expressed in testicular macrophages of the EAO model. In patients with oligoasthenospermia and genital tract infections, we also found that S100A8/A9 levels were remarkably increased in seminal plasma and testicular macrophages. S100A8/A9 in semen may be a potential biomarker for chronic genital inflammation. Our study provides a new potential biomarker for early diagnosis and further understanding of male infertility caused by genital inflammation.

Residential mobility and liver cancer risk: findings from a prospective cohort study in Chinese women.

BACKGROUND: Residential mobility is believed to influence the occurrence and development of cancer; however, the results are inconclusive. Furthermore, limited studies have been conducted on Asian populations. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between residential mobility and liver cancer risk among Chinese women. METHODS: We enrolled 72,818 women from urban Shanghai between 1996 and 2000, and then followed them until the end of 2016. Cox regression models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to assess the association between residential mobility and liver cancer risk. A linear trend test was conducted by ranking variables. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted, excluding participants with follow-up times of less than 2 years, to prevent potential bias. RESULTS: During the 1,269,765 person-years of follow-up, liver cancer was newly diagnosed in 259 patients. Domestic migration (HR = 1.47, 95% CI, 1.44-1.50), especially immigration to Shanghai (HR = 1.47, 95% CI, 1.44-1.50) was associated with an increased risk of liver cancer. In addition, migration frequency, age at initial migration and first immigration to Shanghai had linear trends with an increased liver cancer risk (Ptrend <0.001). The results were similar when excluding participants with less than two years of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The possible association between residential mobility and a higher risk of liver cancer in women could suggest the need for effective interventions to reduce adverse environmental exposures and enhance people's health.

Prediagnostic plasma metabolite concentrations and liver cancer risk: a population-based study of Chinese men.

BACKGROUND: Previous metabolic profiling of liver cancer has mostly used untargeted metabolomic approaches and was unable to quantitate the absolute concentrations of metabolites. In this study, we examined the association between the concentrations of 186 targeted metabolites and liver cancer risk using prediagnostic plasma samples collected up to 14 years prior to the clinical diagnosis of liver cancer. METHODS: We conducted a nested case-control study (n = 322 liver cancer cases, n = 322 matched controls) within the Shanghai Men's Health Study. Conditional logistic regression models adjusted for demographics, lifestyle factors, dietary habits, and related medical histories were used to estimate the odds ratios. Restricted cubic spline functions were used to characterise the dose-response relationships between metabolite concentrations and liver cancer risk. FINDINGS: After adjusting for potential confounders and correcting for multiple testing, 28 metabolites were associated with liver cancer risk. Significant non-linear relationships were observed for 22 metabolites. The primary bile acid biosynthesis and phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis were found to be important pathways involved in the aetiology of liver cancer. A metabolic score consisting of 10 metabolites significantly improved the predictive ability of traditional epidemiological risk factors for liver cancer, with an optimism-corrected AUC increased from 0.84 (95% CI: 0.81-0.87) to 0.89 (95% CI: 0.86-0.91). INTERPRETATION: This study characterised the dose-response relationships between metabolites and liver cancer risk, providing insights into the complex metabolic perturbations prior to the clinical diagnosis of liver cancer. The metabolic score may serve as a candidate risk predictor for liver cancer. FUNDING: National Key Project of Research and Development Program of China [2021YFC2500404, 2021YFC2500405]; US National Institutes of Health [subcontract of UM1 CA173640].

Sex-specific impact of dietary patterns on liver cancer incidence: updated results from two population-based cohort studies in China.

PURPOSE: The associations between dietary patterns and liver cancer risk have received much attention, but evidence among the Chinese population is scarce. This study aims to update the results of two cohort studies and provide the sex-specific associations in the Chinese population. METHODS: This study was based on two cohorts from the Shanghai Men's Health Study (SMHS) and the Shanghai Women's Health Study (SWHS). Diet information was collected by validated food frequency questionnaires. Dietary patterns were derived by factor analysis. Cox regression model was utilized to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for associations between dietary patterns and liver cancer risk. RESULTS: During median follow-up years of 11.2 (male) and 17.1 (female) years, 427 males and 252 females were identified as incident primary liver cancer cases. In males, vegetable-based dietary pattern was inversely associated with liver cancer (HRQ4-Q1: 0.67, 95%CI 0.51-0.88, Ptrend < 0.001). Interaction analysis indicated that in males lower vegetable-based dietary pattern score and older age/medical history of chronic hepatitis combined increase the hazard of liver cancer more than the sum of them, with a 114% and 1061% higher risk, respectively. In females, the fruit-based dietary pattern was associated with a reduced risk of liver cancer (HRQ4-Q1: 0.63, 95%CI 0.42-0.95, Ptrend = 0.03). In both males and females, null associations were observed between the meat-based dietary pattern and the risk of liver cancer. CONCLUSION: A vegetable-based dietary pattern in males and a fruit-based dietary pattern in females tended to have a protective role on liver cancer risk. This study provided updated information that might be applied to guide public health action for the primary prevention of liver cancer.

A diet-wide association study for liver cancer risk: findings from a prospective cohort study in Chinese men.

Dietary factors have been extensively investigated as possible risk factors for liver cancer, but the evidence is inconclusive. Our study systematically assessed the association between 142 foods and nutrients and liver cancer risk in a Chinese population using a diet-wide association study. Based on data from 59,844 men in the Shanghai Men's Health Study (SMHS), we assessed the diet intake by dietary questionnaires. Cox regression was used to quantify the association between each food and nutrient and liver cancer risk. A false discovery rate (FDR) of 0.05 was used to select the foods and nutrients for validation. In the cohort, 431 liver cancer cases were identified during 712,373 person-years of follow-up. Retinol (HR per 1 SD increment = 1.09, 95% CI: 1.03-1.14) was associated with a higher risk of liver cancer, whereas onions (HR per 1 SD increment = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.54-0.84) and manganese (HR per 1 SD increment = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.78-0.94) were inversely associated with liver cancer risk. In the replication analysis, estimates for these foods and nutrients were similar in magnitude and direction. Our findings confirm that retinol, onions and manganese were associated with liver cancer risk, which provides reliable evidence between diet and liver cancer development.

Effect of Food Restriction on Food Grinding in Brandt's Voles.

Food grinding is supposed to be influenced by multiple factors. However, how those factors affecting this behavior remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the effect of food restriction on food grinding in Brandt's voles (Lasiopodomys brandtii), as well as the potential role of the gut microbiota in this process, through a comparison of the variations between voles with different food supplies. Food restriction reduced the relative amount of ground food to a greater extent than it lowered the relative food consumption, and altered the abundance of Staphylococcus, Aerococcus, Jeotgalicoccus, and Un--s-Clostridiaceae bacterium GM1. Fecal acetate content for the 7.5 g-food supply group was lower than that for the 15 g-food supply group. Our study indicated that food restriction could effectively inhibit food grinding. Further, Un--s-Clostridiaceae bacterium GM1 abundance, Aerococcus abundance, and acetate content were strongly related to food grinding. Variations in gut microbial abundance and short-chain fatty acid content induced by food restriction likely promote the inhibition of food grinding. These results could potentially provide guidance for reducing food waste during laboratory rodent maintenance.

FaceScape: 3D Facial Dataset and Benchmark for Single-View 3D Face Reconstruction.

In this article, we present a large-scale detailed 3D face dataset, FaceScape, and the corresponding benchmark to evaluate single-view facial 3D reconstruction. By training on FaceScape data, a novel algorithm is proposed to predict elaborate riggable 3D face models from a single image input. FaceScape dataset releases 16,940 textured 3D faces, captured from 847 subjects and each with 20 specific expressions. The 3D models contain the pore-level facial geometry that is also processed to be topologically uniform. These fine 3D facial models can be represented as a 3D morphable model for coarse shapes and displacement maps for detailed geometry. Taking advantage of the large-scale and high-accuracy dataset, a novel algorithm is further proposed to learn the expression-specific dynamic details using a deep neural network. The learned relationship serves as the foundation of our 3D face prediction system from a single image input. Different from most previous methods, our predicted 3D models are riggable with highly detailed geometry under different expressions. We also use FaceScape data to generate the in-the-wild and in-the-lab benchmark to evaluate recent methods of single-view face reconstruction. The accuracy is reported and analyzed on the dimensions of camera pose and focal length, which provides a faithful and comprehensive evaluation and reveals new challenges. The unprecedented dataset, benchmark, and code have been released to the public for research purpose.

Sex-Specific Correlation Analysis of Branched-Chain Amino Acids in Dietary Intakes and Plasma among Chinese Adults.

BACKGROUND: Previous findings about the influence of dietary intakes of the branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) on their plasma concentrations have been limited and inconsistent, and evidence from the Chinese population was lacking. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the diet-plasma BCAA correlations in Chinese male and female adults. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was based on a nested case-control study within 2 prospective population-based cohorts in Shanghai, China. Diet information was collected by the food frequency questionnaires. Plasma BCAA concentrations were measured by ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Spearman correlations and linear regression models were conducted to examine the relationships between dietary BCAA intakes and plasma BCAA. The multivariable model was adjusted for age at the interview, total energy intake, time of blood collection from last meal, dietary patterns, body mass index (in kg/m2), type 2 diabetes, and physical activity. RESULTS: A total of 322 males (median age of 57.0 y) and 187 females (median age of 60.0 y) were included in this cross-sectional study. The geometric means of dietary intake of leucine, isoleucine, valine, and BCAA were 4937.7, 3029.6, 3268.5, and 11237.4 mg/d in males, and 4125.7, 2567.8, 2754.3, and 9449.4 mg/d in females. The geometric means of plasma concentrations of leucine, isoleucine, valine, and BCAA were 181.9, 65.0, 219.8, and 469.4 µM/L in males and 161.6, 61.1, 206.5, and 431.6 µM/L in females. Only leucine (r = 0.1660, P = 0.0028) and total BCAA (r = 0.1348, P = 0.0155) in males exhibited weak positive correlation coefficients. After adjustment for the covariates, leucine, isoleucine, valine, and total BCAA in dietary intakes and plasma were not correlated in both males and females. CONCLUSIONS: In Chinese male and female adults, dietary intakes are not major determinants of plasma concentrations of BCAA, and plasma concentrations might not be reflected by usual dietary intakes of BCAA.

A dramatic decline in fruit citrate induced by mutagenesis of a NAC transcription factor, AcNAC1.

Citrate is a common primary metabolite which often characterizes fruit flavour. The key regulators of citrate accumulation in fruit and vegetables are poorly understood. We systematically analysed the dynamic profiles of organic acid components during the development of kiwifruit (Actinidia spp.). Citrate continuously accumulated so that it became the predominate contributor to total acidity at harvest. Based on a co-expression network analysis using different kiwifruit cultivars, an Al-ACTIVATED MALATE TRANSPORTER gene (AcALMT1) was identified as a candidate responsible for citrate accumulation. Electrophysiological assays using expression of this gene in Xenopus oocytes revealed that AcALMT1 functions as a citrate transporter. Additionally, transient overexpression of AcALMT1 in kiwifruit significantly increased citrate content, while tissues showing higher AcALMT1 expression accumulated more citrate. The expression of AcALMT1 was highly correlated with 17 transcription factor candidates. However, dual-luciferase and EMSA assays indicated that only the NAC transcription factor, AcNAC1, activated AcALMT1 expression via direct binding to its promoter. Targeted CRISPR-Cas9-induced mutagenesis of AcNAC1 in kiwifruit resulted in dramatic declines in citrate levels while malate and quinate levels were not substantially affected. Our findings show that transcriptional regulation of a major citrate transporter, by a NAC transcription factor, is responsible for citrate accumulation in kiwifruit, which has broad implications for other fruits and vegetables.

Pharmacokinetics of Nifedipine-Sustained Release Tablets in Healthy Subjects After a Single Oral Administration: Bioequivalence Analysis and Food Effects.

We compared newly developed delayed-release oral tablets (test) of 30-mg nifedipine (NFP) with its marketed counterpart (30 mg; reference) in healthy adult Chinese volunteers to assess the former's bioequivalence. This was a randomized, open-label, four-period, crossover trial study including fasting and fed trials. The participants were randomly administered test or reference formulations (1:1 ratio) throughout each period, with a 7-day washout period. In the next session, they were administered the alternate products. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and WinNonlin software were used to evaluate the bioequivalence of the maximum plasma concentration (Cmax ) of NFP and the area under the concentration-time curve (AUC). In total, 46 and 48 people participated in the fasting and postprandial trials. In both groups, the 90% confidence intervals of geometric mean ratios of Cmax , AUC from time zero to time t, and AUC from time zero to infinity were in the equivalence range (80%-125%). When NFP was administered concomitantly with a high-fat meal, time to maximum concentration was approximately twofold earlier, absorption was approximately 4.8% less, and Cmax exhibited a slight change relative to those under fasting conditions. Moreover, no serious adverse events were recorded in the participants. The present findings confirm the bioequivalence of test and reference formulations of NFP tablets under fasting and postprandial conditions.

Cross-sectional relationships between general and central adiposity and plasma amino acids in Chinese adults.

Adiposity is an important determinant of blood metabolites, but little is known about the variations of blood amino acids according to general and central adiposity status among Chinese population. This study included 187 females and 322 males who were cancer-free subjects randomly selected from two cohorts in Shanghai, China. Participants' plasma concentrations of amino acids were measured by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. Linear regression models were used to examine the cross-sectional correlations between general and central adiposity and amino acid levels. A total of 35 amino acids in plasma were measured in this study. In females, alanine, aspartic acid and pyroglutamic acid were positively correlated with general adiposity. In males, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, valine and pyroglutamic acid showed positive correlations, and glutamine, serine and glycine showed negative correlations with both general and central adiposity; phenylalanine, isoleucine and leucine were positively correlated and N-phenylacetylglutamine was negatively correlated with general adiposity; asparagine was negatively correlated with central adiposity. In summary, general adiposity and central adiposity were correlated with the concentrations of specific plasma amino acids among cancer-free female and male adults in China. Adiposity-metabolite characteristics and relationships should be considered when studying blood biomarkers for adiposity-related health outcomes.

Direct and Indirect Pathways of CdTeSe Magic-Size Cluster Isomerization Induced by Surface Ligands at Room Temperature.

The field of isomerization reactions for colloidal semiconductor magic-size clusters (MSCs) remains largely unexplored. Here, we show that MSCs isomerize via two fundamental pathways that are regulated by the acidity and amount of an incoming ligand, with CdTeSe as the model system. When MSC-399 isomerizes to MSC-422 at room temperature, the peak red-shift from 399 to 422 nm is continuous (pathway 1) and/or stepwise (pathway 2) as monitored in situ and in real time by optical absorption spectroscopy. We propose that pathway 1 is direct, with intracluster configuration changes and a relatively large energy barrier. Pathway 2 is indirect, assisted by the MSC precursor compounds (PCs), from MSC-399 to PC-399 to PC-422 to MSC-422. Pathway 1 is activated when PC-422 to MSC-422 is suppressed. Our findings unambiguously suggest that when a change occurs directly on a nanospecies, its absorption peak continuously shifts. The present study provides an in-depth understanding of the transformative behavior of MSCs via ligand-induced isomerization upon external chemical stimuli.

Metabolic Modeling Identifies a Novel Molecular Type of Glioblastoma Associated with Good Prognosis.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the most aggressive forms of cancer. Although IDH1 mutation indicates a good prognosis and a potential target for treatment, most GBMs are IDH1 wild-type. Identifying additional molecular markers would help to generate personalized therapies and improve patient outcomes. Here, we used our recently developed metabolic modeling method (genome-wide precision metabolic modeling, GPMM) to investigate the metabolic profiles of GBM, aiming to identify additional novel molecular markers for this disease. We systematically analyzed the metabolic reaction profiles of 149 GBM samples lacking IDH1 mutation. Forty-eight reactions showing significant association with prognosis were identified. Further analysis indicated that the purine recycling, nucleotide interconversion, and folate metabolism pathways were the most robust modules related to prognosis. Considering the three pathways, we then identified the most significant GBM type for a better prognosis, namely N+P-. This type presented high nucleotide interconversion (N+) and low purine recycling (P-). N+P--type exhibited a significantly better outcome (log-rank p = 4.7 × 10-7) than that of N-P+. GBM patients with the N+P--type had a median survival time of 19.6 months and lived 65% longer than other GBM patients. Our results highlighted a novel molecular type of GBM, which showed relatively high frequency (26%) in GBM patients lacking the IDH1 mutation, and therefore exhibits potential in GBM prognostic assessment and personalized therapy.

Impact of being underweight on peri-operative and post-operative outcomes of total knee or hip arthroplasty: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Many systematic reviews have focused on assessing the effect of body mass index (BMI) on the outcomes and complications associated with total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA), but primarily dealt with obesity compared to normal weight (NW). None of these reviews attempted to assess the effect of low BMI or underweight (UW) compared to NW in patients undergoing THA or TKA. AIM: This review aims to compare specific operative outcomes such as operation duration, length of hospital stay, and post-operative complications including mortality, infections, deep vein thrombosis, etc. along with re-hospitalization and reoperation rates between UW and NW patients undergoing THA, TKA or both. METHODS: An electronic search was performed in PubMed, Scopus, Excerpta Medica database (EMBASE), Web of Science (WoS), and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) along with a manual search. The quality of the studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale for cohort studies. The data were subjected to both qualitative and quantitative analysis. RESULTS: Thirteen retrospective and five prospective cohort studies were included. The quality of included studies was assessed to be good to fair. The length of hospital stay after TKA or THA was found to be significantly higher for UW patients when compared to NW patients, with a mean difference: 0.39 95%CI: [0.06, 0.72], P = 0.02 (in days). Studies presenting both THA and TKA together as total joint arthroplasty showed an increased incidence of mortality in patients treated with THA or TKA alone, Odds ratio: 4.18 95%CI: [2.88, 6.07]. A higher incidence of post-operative complications was also observed in UW patients undergoing THA. CONCLUSION: UW patients undergoing THA or TKA had a higher incidence of post-operative complications and were associated with a higher readmission rate. Moreover, UW patients were associated with an increased incidence of mortality in the studies that reported THA and TKA together.

A prospective cohort study of cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking and liver cancer incidence in Chinese men.

OBJECTIVES: Population-based prospective studies on the associations of cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, and primary liver cancer remain limited in Mainland China. Our study was designed to evaluate such relationships in middle-aged Chinese men. METHODS: Self-reported habits of cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking were obtained from all cohort members at the baseline survey. The outcomes were identified through in-person follow-up and annual record linkage to multiple statistics of vital and cancer registration. Age-adjusted and multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) and their corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated utilizing the Cox regression model. RESULTS: After a median follow-up of 12.31 years, 329 cases of incident primary liver cancer occurred among 45 266 male participants. Compared with never smoker, former smoker was positively associated with liver cancer risk, with a multivariable-adjusted HR of 1.42 (95% CI 1.02-1.98). Individuals who had smoked for more than 40 years had a 49% increased risk of liver cancer (HR≥40 years  1.49, 95% CI 1.04-2.14). The association of alcohol drinking with liver cancer showed no statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provided evidence that cigarette smoking was positively associated with an increased liver cancer risk among Chinese men. Attention to such non-viral modifiable risk factors to prevent liver cancer effectively is needed.

Occurrence, transport and environmental risk assessment of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) at the mouth of Jiaozhou Bay, China based on stir bar sorptive extraction.

In recent years, research on pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the marine environment has attracted increasing attention worldwide. However, more work is needed to improve PPCPs detection methods, specifically for seawater environments. An analytical method based on stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) had been developed and fully optimized for the pretreatment and detection of ten widely used PPCPs that are commonly found in seawater samples. By optimizing several variables including the material of the stir bars, extraction temperature, extraction time, ionic strength, desorption solvent, and desorption time, the optimized method has achieved excellent results in the detection and quantification of target PPCPs with detection limits ranging from 0.03 to 1 ng/L. The distribution of target PPCPs at the mouth of Jiaozhou Bay was successfully determined by this method, and the concentrations and detection frequencies of PPCPs varied greatly from N.D. to 449.36 ng/L and from 9.1 % to 100 %, respectively. Moreover, the distributions of PPCPs were explained by the Lagrangian particle-tracking model, and the results showed that the Tuandao sewage treatment plant had the most significant impact on the study area. The environmental risk assessment results showed that several target PPCPs might pose risks to aquatic organisms. In particular, triclocarban should receive more attention and the risk quotients of the mixtures (MRQ) should not be ignored.

A Real-Time In Situ Demonstration of Direct and Indirect Transformation Pathways in CdTe Magic-Size Clusters at Room Temperature.

The transformations of colloidal semiconductor magic-size clusters (MSCs) are expected to occur with only discrete, step-wise redshifts in optical absorption. Here, we challenge this assumption presenting a novel, conceptually different transformation, for which the redshift is continuous. In the room-temperature transformation from CdTe MSC-448 to MSC-488 (designated by the peak wavelengths in nanometer), the redshift of absorption monitored in situ displays distinctly continuous and/or step-wise behavior. Based on conclusive evidence provided by real-time experiments, the former transformation is apparently direct and intra-cluster with a relatively large energy barrier. The latter transformation is indirect and assisted by MSC precursor compounds (PCs). The former transformation follows the latter often, being predominant at a relatively high temperature. The present findings encourage a reconsideration of the absorption redshift reported previously for transformations of binary II-VI MSCs, together with the pathway associated without the increase of cluster mass.

Pharmacokinetics of Esomeprazole Magnesium After Single Oral Doses in Healthy Subjects: Bioequivalence Study and Food Effects.

This study was designed to evaluate the bioequivalence of the newly developed delayed-release oral suspension (test) 40 mg esomeprazole magnesium compared to its marketed counterpart (40 mg; reference) in healthy adult Chinese subjects. We conducted randomized, open-label, two-period, single-dose, two-way crossover trials over a 7-day washout period, comprising a fasting trial and a fed trial. The subjects were administered the test or reference products in a 1:1 ratio at random throughout each period. Then, in the next session, they received the alternate products. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and WinNonlin software were used to assess the bioequivalence of esomeprazole peak plasma concentration (Cmax ) and area under the concentration-time curve (AUC). Overall, 33 subjects participated in the fasting trial and 42 subjects participated in the fed trial. Under both situations, the 90% confidence interval for the ratio of geometric means of Cmax , AUC0-t , and AUC0-∞ were within equivalence ranges (80%-125%). In these trials, no severe adverse events or protocol violations were observed. Moreover, when esomeprazole was administered while fed, the tmax was delayed, and both Cmax and AUC were reduced. The results of this research suggest that the test and reference formulations were bioequivalent under fasting and fed states.

Estimation of the net primary productivity of winter wheat based on the near-infrared radiance of vegetation.

Quantifying net primary productivity (NPP) is important for understanding the global carbon cycle and for assessing ecosystem carbon dynamics. However, uncertainties remain in NPP estimation. Using winter wheat data obtained from an experimental station in 2019, this study evaluated the ability of the near-infrared radiance of vegetation (NIRV,Rad) to estimate NPP at different time scales and established an estimation model based on NIRV,Rad, where NIRV,Rad was defined as the product of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the near-infrared radiance. The results showed that the linear relationship between NIRV,Rad and NPP was superior to the relationship between NPP and NDVI, enhanced vegetation index-2 (EVI2), and near-infrared reflectance of vegetation (NIRV,Ref) at each time scale (hourly, daily, and growth period). The advantage of NIRV,Rad was more evident on the hourly scale, in which the R2 of NIRV,Rad and NPP reached 0.77, whereas the R2 values of the correlation of NDVI, EVI2, and NIRV,Ref with NPP were 0.30, 0.16, and 0.14, respectively. There existed a strong linear relationship between absorbed photosynthetically active radiation, net photosynthetic rate, leaf area index, and NIRV,Rad, which explained the good relationship between NIRV,Rad and NPP. Through a comparative analysis of the various models, the NIRV,Rad model was found to have the strongest ability to estimate NPP and the R2, with the measured NPP reaching 0.81. The accuracy of NIRV,Rad provides a new method for estimating NPP and a scientific basis for estimating NPP using high-resolution satellite remote sensing data on a regional scale.

Impact of diabetes mellitus on risk of major complications after hip fracture: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The impact of diabetes mellitus (DM) on adverse outcomes in hip fracture patients is unclear. Furthermore, no review has synthesized evidence on this subject. Therefore, the current study was designed to answer the following research question: Does DM increase the risk of mortality and major systemic complications in patients with hip fractures? METHODS: PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar were searched from 1st January 2000 to 1st August 2021 for studies comparing DM and non-DM patients with hip fractures. Outcomes of interest were pooled using risk ratios (RR). The study was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42021268525). RESULTS: Sixteen studies were included. Meta-analysis revealed a statistically significant increased risk of mortality in diabetics as compared to non-diabetics after 1 year (RR: 1.24 95% CI 1.08, 1.43 I2 = 62% p = 0.003). Pooled analysis of eight studies reporting adjusted mortality outcomes also demonstrated similar results (RR: 1.17 95% CI 1.09, 1.25 I2 = 74% p < 0.0001). We noted a statistically significant increase in the risk of cardiac complications (RR: 1.44 95% CI 1.17, 1.78 I2 = 19% p = 0.0005) and risk of renal failure in diabetics as compared to non-diabetics (RR: 1.32 95% CI 1.04, 1.68 I2 = 0% p = 0.02); but no difference in the risk of cerebrovascular (RR: 1.45 95% CI 0.74, 2.85 I2 = 47% p = 0.28), pulmonary (RR: 0.94 95% CI 0.73, 1.23 I2 = 8% p = 0.67) and thromboembolic complications (RR: 0.81 95% CI 0.56, 1.17 I2 = 28% p = 0.26). CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that diabetics have an increased risk of mortality as compared to non-diabetics. Scarce data indicates that the risk of cardiac complications and renal failure are increased in patients with DM but there is no difference in the risk of cerebrovascular, pulmonary, or thromboembolic complications. Further studies are needed to strengthen the current conclusions.