Burnout among doctors in China through 2020: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: To analyze surveys measuring the prevalence of burnout among Chinese doctors and reveal the overall prevalence, characteristics, timeline, and factors related to burnout. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted on China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WANFANG, PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO and Cochrane Library databases from their inception to 28 February 2021. Random-effects meta-analyses, meta-regression and planned subgroup analyses were performed, and the standardized mean difference was adopted for comparisons between subgroups. Egger's and Begg's tests were performed to evaluate publication bias. Heterogeneity across the studies was tested using the I2 statistic. The study protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42018104249). Results: In total, 3,210 records were reviewed; 64 studies including 48,638 Chinese doctors were eligible for meta-analysis. The prevalence of burnout increased continuously from 2008 to 2017 and decreased significantly from 2018 to 2020, a little increase from 2020 to 2021. The overall prevalence of burnout was 75.48% (95% CI, 69.20 to 81.26; I2 = 99.23%, P < 0.001), and high burnout was 9.37% (95% CI, 4.91 to 15.05, I2 = 98.88%, P < 0.001). The prevalence of emotional exhaustion was 48.64% (95% CI, 38.73 to 58.59; I2 = 99.53%, P < 0.001), depersonalization was 54.67% (95% CI, 46.95 to 62.27; I2 = 99.20%, P < 0.001), and reduced personal accomplishment was 66.53% (95% CI, 58.13 to 74.44; I2 = 99.37%, P < 0.001). Gender, marriage, professional title and specialty all influenced burnout. Conclusions: The results showed that the total prevalence of doctor burnout in China is very high. The prevalence of burnout varies by location. Gender, marital status and professional title all affect burnout scores.

Epidemiologic Features, Radiological Findings andClinical Outcomes of 19 Patients with COVID-19in a Single Center in Beijing, China.

ObjectiveTo describe the epidemiologic, clinical, laboratory, and radiological characteristics and prognoses of COVID-19 confirmed patients in a single center in Beijing, China. Methods The study retrospectively included 19 patients with nucleic acid-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection at our hospital from January 20 to March 5, 2020. The final follow-up date was March 14, 2020. The epidemiologic and clinical information was obtained through direct communication with the patients or their family members. Laboratory results retrieved from medical records and radiological images were analyzed both qualitatively by two senior chest radiologists as well as quantitatively via an artificial intelligence software. Results We identified 5 family clusters (13/19, 68.4%) from the study cohort. All cases had good clinical prognoses and were either mild (3/19) or moderate (16/19) clinical types. Fever (15/19, 78.9%) and dry cough (11/19, 57.9%) were common symptoms. Two patients received negative results for more than three consecutive viral nucleic acid tests. The longest interval between an initial CT abnormal finding and a confirmed diagnosis was 30 days. One patient's nucleic acid test turned positive on the follow-up examination after discharge. The presence of radiological abnormalities was non-specific for the diagnosis of COVID-19. Conclusions COVID-19 patients with mild or no clinical symptoms are common in Beijing, China. Radiological abnormalities are mostly non-specific and massive CT examinations for COVID-19 screening should be avoided. Analyses of the contact histories of diagnosed cases in combination with clinical, radiological and laboratory findings are crucial for the early detection of COVID-19. Close monitoring after discharge is also recommended.

Ultra-high-pressure processing improves proteolysis and release of bioactive peptides with activation activities on alcohol metabolic enzymes in vitro from mushroom foot protein.

This study was to find an effective process to extract bioactive peptides from mushroom foot and determine their effects on activation of alcohol metabolic enzymes in vitro. The optimum extraction assisted by ultra-high-pressure processing of mushroom foot peptides was obtained with a pressure of 400MPa and a processing time of 10min. After ultrafiltration, peptides with molecular weight of 0-3kDa had the highest activity to activate alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) by 70.79% and 71.35%, respectively. Following dextran gel chromatography, two peaks (p-I and p-II) appeared and the activation activities on ADH and ALDH of p-I were 72.00% and 73.43%, both higher than p-II. Nine peptides were found in p-I as determined by LC-MS/MS, and two of them (IPLH and IPIVLL) were synthesized. IPLH activated ADH and ALDH by 42.7% and 29.2% respectively, which were higher than IPIVLL.

Neuroprotection of hydroxysafflor yellow A in the transient focal ischemia: inhibition of protein oxidation/nitration, 12/15-lipoxygenase and blood-brain barrier disruption.

Hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA) is the main component of the safflower yellow pigments, the aqueous extract of safflower florets. We report here an experimental study for evaluating HSYA for their neuroprotective qualities on rats subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (60 min) and reperfusion (24h), an experimental model in which excessive production of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species has been found. In our data, biochemical analysis of tissue proteins showed that cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury resulted in significant elevation of carbonyl groups and nitrotyrosine in the brain of I/R in comparison to sham controls, indicating the occurrence of oxidative/nitrative modification to brain proteins. HSYA-treatment (1, 5 and 10mg/kg) inhibited I/R-induced protein oxidation and nitration. 12/15-Lipoxygenase (12/15-LOX), the enzyme implicated in oxidative stress of cerebral I/R, displayed overexpression in I/R rats. Elevated 12/15-LOX activity, estimated by the level of its metabolite 15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (15-HETE), was also induced by the challenge of cerebral I/R. Administration of HSYA 1, 5 and 10mg/kg reduced the upregulation of 12/15-LOX expression and activity in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, the increase in blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability evaluated by IgG leakage, Evans blue extravasation, and brain water content, respectively, was markedly alleviated by HSYA, indicating its protection against BBB disruption and brain edema following I/R insult. Taken together, these results demonstrate the neuroprotective properties of HSYA, which may be at least in part due to its potential to reduce protein oxidation and nitration, inhibit the upregulation of 12/15-LOX, and attenuate BBB breakdown.

Application of flow cytometry to detect cell apoptosis / 中国组织工程研究

Flow cytometry (FCM) is a technology for fast qualitation, quantitative analysis and separation of single cells or other biological particles. The method is rapid, sensitive and accurate, and its objective and direct result can be analyzed with multi-parameters simultaneously. The morphological, biochemical and molecular changes during apoptosis include cellular shrinkage, permeability transition of plasma membrane, caspases activation, dissipation of mitochondrial trans-membrane potential, phosphatidylserine redistribution, calcium flux and DNA fragmentation and content. The review outlined the methods to characterize, identify and quantify apoptoUc cells by flow cytometry to further determine cell apoptosis.