FIB-4 index is associated with mortality in critically ill patients with alcohol use disorder: Analysis from the MIMIC-IV database.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index and all-cause mortality in critically ill patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) is unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the predictive ability of FIB-4 for all-cause mortality in critically ill AUD patients and the association between them. METHODS: A total of 2528 AUD patients were included using the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV) database. FIB-4 was calculated for each patient using the existing formula. The patients were equally divided into four groups based on the quartiles of FIB-4. Multivariate logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard model were used to evaluate the association of FIB-4 with in-hospital mortality, 28-day mortality and 1-year mortality. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to analyse the incidence of 28-day mortality among four groups. RESULTS: FIB-4 was positively associated with 28-day mortality of AUD patients with hazard ratio (HR) of 1.354 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.192-1.538]. There were similar trends in the in-hospital mortality [odds ratio (OR): 1.440, 95% CI (1.239-1.674)] and 1-year mortality [HR: 1.325, 95% CI (1.178-1.490)]. CONCLUSION: Increased FIB-4 is associated with greater in-hospital mortality, 28-day mortality and 1-year mortality in critically ill AUD patients.

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Libanotis buchtormensis (Apiaceae).

Libanotis buchtormensis (Fisch.) DC. is one of the traditional Chinese herbal medicines in the Qinling District, while the genetic information is limited. In the study, we reported the complete chloroplast genome of L. buchtormensis using BGISEQ-500 sequencing data. The complete chloroplast genome was 147,036 bp in length with a GC content of 37.6%, consisting of four parts, namely LSC (91,969 bp), SSC (17,469 bp), and two IRs (18,799 bp in each). The cp genome contained 127 genes, including 83 CDS genes, 36 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. The phylogenetic analysis showed that L. buchtormensis was sister to Ledebouriella seseloides.

[Determination of soil exchangeable base cations by using atomic absorption spectrophotometer and extraction with ammonium acetate].

A method to determine soil exchangeable calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K), and sodium (Na) by using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) and extraction with ammonium acetate was developed. Results showed that the accuracy of exchangeable base cation data with AAS method fits well with the national standard referential soil data. The relative errors for parallel samples of exchangeable Ca and Mg with 66 pair samples ranged from 0.02%-3.14% and 0.06%-4.06%, and averaged to be 1.22% and 1.25%, respectively. The relative errors for exchangeable K and Na with AAS and flame photometer (FP) ranged from 0.06%-8.39% and 0.06-1.54, and averaged to be 3.72% and 0.56%, respectively. A case study showed that the determination method for exchangeable base cations by using AAS was proven to be reliable and trustable, which could reflect the real situation of soil cation exchange properties in farmlands.

[Biodegradation of o-chlorophenol by photosynthetic bacteria under co-metabolism].

Photosynthetic bacterial strain PSB-1D cannot utilize o-chlorophenol (2-CP) as the sole carbon source for energy. In this paper, different carbon sources (malic acid, sodium propionate, sodium acetate, sodium citrate, phenol, glucose, and soluble starch) were taken as the co-metabolism substrates to study their effects on PSB-1D growth and 2-CP degradation under the condition of aerobic culture in darkness. Among the substrates, glucose was most efficient, which promoted the reproduction of PSB-1D, enhanced the 2-CP degradation efficiency, and shortened the degradation period. The optimization experiment of added concentration of glucose showed that when the added glucose concentration was 3 g x L(-1), the PSB-1D cell concentration deltaD560 after 168 h culture was 1.749, the half-time of 2-CP was shortened to 3.9 d, and the degradation rate constant was increased to 0.00864 h(-1). The SDS-PAGE analysis on the total microbial cellular protein showed that taking glucose as the co-metabolism substrate, PSB-1D could induce a specific 2-CP-degrading enzyme.