Directional Polarization of a Ferroelectric Intermediate Layer Inspires a Built-In Field in Si Anodes to Regulate Li+ Transport Behaviors in Particles and Electrolyte.

The silicon (Si) anode is prone to forming a high electric field gradient and concentration gradient on the electrode surface under high-rate conditions, which may destroy the surface structure and decrease cycling stability. In this study, a ferroelectric (BaTiO3) interlayer and field polarization treatment are introduced to set up a built-in field, which optimizes the transport mechanisms of Li+ in solid and liquid phases and thus enhances the rate performance and cycling stability of Si anodes. Also, a fast discharging and slow charging phenomenon is observed in a half-cell with a high reversible capacity of 1500.8 mAh g-1 when controlling the polarization direction of the interlayer, which means a fast charging and slow discharging property in a full battery and thus is valuable for potential applications in commercial batteries. Simulation results demonstrated that the built-in field plays a key role in regulating the Li+ concentration distribution in the electrolyte and the Li+ diffusion behavior inside particles, leading to more uniform Li+ diffusion from local high-concentration sites to surrounding regions. The assembled lithium-ion battery with a BaTiO3 interlayer exhibited superior electrochemical performance and long-term cycling life (915.6 mAh g-1 after 300 cycles at a high current density of 4.2 A g-1). The significance of this research lies in exploring a new approach to improve the performance of lithium-ion batteries and providing new ideas and pathways for addressing the challenges faced by Si-based anodes.

Rapid, in situ synthesis of ultra-small silicon particles for boosted lithium storage capability through ultrafast Joule heating.

High-capacity anodes, especially silicon, suffer from huge volume fluctuations and electrode material pulverization during lithiation/delithiation. An accessible solution to this issue is to construct nano-silicon anodes with optimized particle size and a conductive matrix. In this work, we introduce a novel strategy for the in situ, rapid synthesis of ultra-small silicon nanoparticles uniformly embedded within carbonized nanosheets (us-Si/C) through swift high-temperature thermal radiative heating of sizable silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs). The us-Si/C anode shows ample capability to accommodate volume fluctuations during the lithiation/delithiation processes. The as-prepared anode exhibits a specific capacity of 920 mA h g-1 after 1000 cycles at a current density of 2 A g-1, indicating the advantages of the well-tailored structure. Additionally, the us-Si/C electrode can maintain an areal capacity of approximately 1.55 mA h cm-2 after 200 cycles at a high loading of 3.66 mg cm-2. Moreover, it presents practical applicability when assembled into LFP (lithium iron phosphate)//us-Si/C full cells. This preparation method presents great promise for achieving roll-to-roll manufacturing for practical applications due to its simplicity and efficiency.

A vector projection similarity-based method for miRNA-disease association prediction.

[S U M M A R Y] Many miRNA-disease association prediction models incorporate Gaussian interaction profile kernel similarity (GIPS). However, the GIPS fails to consider the specificity of the miRNA-disease association matrix, where matrix elements with a value of 0 represent miRNA and disease relationships that have not been discovered yet. To address this issue and better account for the impact of known and unknown miRNA-disease associations on similarity, we propose a method called vector projection similarity-based method for miRNA-disease association prediction (VPSMDA). In VPSMDA, we introduce three projection rules and combined with logistic functions for the miRNA-disease association matrix and propose a vector projection similarity measure for miRNAs and diseases. By integrating the vector projection similarity matrix with the original one, we obtain the improved miRNA and disease similarity matrix. Additionally, we construct a weight matrix using different numbers of neighbors to reduce the noise in the similarity matrix. In performance evaluation, both LOOCV and 5-fold CV experiments demonstrate that VPSMDA outperforms seven other state-of-the-art methods in AUC. Furthermore, in a case study, VPSMDA successfully predicted 10, 9, and 10 out of the top 10 associations for three important human diseases, respectively, and these predictions were confirmed by recent biomedical resources.

LUNCRW: Prediction of potential lncRNA-disease associations based on unbalanced neighborhood constraint random walk.

Accumulating evidence suggests that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are associated with various complex human diseases. They can serve as disease biomarkers and hold considerable promise for the prevention and treatment of various diseases. The traditional random walk algorithms generally exclude the effect of non-neighboring nodes on random walking. In order to overcome the issue, the neighborhood constraint (NC) approach is proposed in this study for regulating the direction of the random walk by computing the effects of both neighboring nodes and non-neighboring nodes. Then the association matrix is updated by matrix multiplication for minimizing the effect of the false negative data. The heterogeneous lncRNA-disease network is finally analyzed using an unbalanced random walk method for predicting the potential lncRNA-disease associations. The LUNCRW model is therefore developed for predicting potential lncRNA-disease associations. The area under the curve (AUC) values of the LUNCRW model in leave-one-out cross-validation and five-fold cross-validation were 0.951 and 0.9486 ± 0.0011, respectively. Data from published case studies on three diseases, including squamous cell carcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, and renal cell carcinoma, confirmed the predictive potential of the LUNCRW model. Altogether, the findings indicated that the performance of the LUNCRW method is superior to that of existing methods in predicting potential lncRNA-disease associations.

Intestinal microbiota analyses of five economic fishery resources in the South China Sea.

The investigation of intestinal microbiota can provide evidence for revealing the growth and development regulation, feeding habits, environmental adaptability and pollutant indication of marine organisms. To data, the intestinal microbiota of marine organisms in the South China Sea is relatively lacking. To supplement these information, we sequenced intestinal microbiota from five fishery resources (including Auxis rochei, A. thazard, Symplectoteuthis oualaniensis, Thunnus albacores, and Coryphaena equiselis) in the South China Sea using high-throughput Illumina sequencing technology. After filtering, a total of 18,706,729 reads were finally produced and then clustered into OTUs. The mean number of OTUs detected in A. rochei, A. thazard, C. equiselis, S. oualaniensis, and T. albacores was 127, 137, 52, 136, and 142, respectively. Although the Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Cyanobacteria, Deferribacteres, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Spirochaetes, Tenericutes, [Thermi], and unclassified_Bacteria were the most abundant in the five species, Photobacterium is the most abundant microbiota. Meanwhile, intestinal microbiota showed species- and sampling sites- specificity, thus only 84 microbiota species were common to all species. Additionally, the potential functions of OTUs in the five species is mainly involved in the synthesis and metabolism of carbohydrate, amino acid, fatty acid and vitamin. This study can provide basic data for clarifying the diversity and species- specificity of intestinal microbiota of five species in the South China Sea, and help to improve the intestinal microbiota database of marine organisms.

Chinese Herbal Medicine for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: An Overview of Systematic Review.

Objective: To summarize the use of Chinese Herbal Medicines (CHMs) for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) and provide high-level evidence for clinical decisions. Methods: We analyzed systematic reviews (SRs). Two English-language and three Chinese-language electronic databases were searched from inception to July 1, 2019. Published SRs and meta-analyses evaluating CHM use in IPF and reporting clinically-relevant outcomes such as lung function, PO2, and quality of life were eligible for inclusion in this overview. The methodological qualities of the included SRs were assessed by AMSTAR and ROBIS tools. Results: All reviews were published from 2008 to 2019. 15SRs were published in Chinese-language while 2 were in English. A total of 15550 participants were included. All intervention arms received CHM with or without conventional treatment and were compared with control arms with conventional treatment alone, or hormone therapy. Twelve SRs were assessed with low risk of bias while five were assessed high risk by ROBIS. The quality of evidence was assessed to be "moderate" or "low" or "very low" using GRADE. Conclusions: CHM has potential benefits for patients with IPF especially in improving lung function (forced vital capacity (FVC), total lung capacity (TLC), and diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide (DLCO)), PO2 level, and the quality of life of patients. Due to the low methodological quality of reviews, our findings should be interpreted with caution.

Association of genetic polymorphisms with mercapturic acids in the urine of young healthy subjects before and after exposure to outdoor air pollution.

We aimed to identify the relationship between variations in metabolic genes and human urinary changes in mercapturic acids (MAs), including CEMA, HMPMA, SPMA, HPMA and HEMA, before and after air pollution exposure. Genotype detection for 47 relevant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) collected by literature research was performed. Five MAs expression levels in the urinary samples of 50 young healthy individuals with short-term exposure to clean, polluted and purified air at five time points were detected by targeted online solid-phase extraction liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (SPE-LC-MS/MS), followed with associations of SNPs with MAs changes. Difference in MAs between polluted and clean/purified air was significantly associated with 21 SNPs mapped into 9 genes. Five SNPs in GSTP1 showed the most prominent association with the changes in SPMA expression, indicating that those SNPs in GSTP1 and SPMA might serve as biomarkers for susceptibility and the prognosis of lung cancer.

Comparative transcriptome sequencing analysis of female and male Decapterus macrosoma.

Sexual growth dimorphism is a common phenomenon in teleost fish and has led to many reproductive strategies. Growth- and sex-related gene research in teleost fish would broaden our understanding of the process. In this study, transcriptome sequencing of shortfin scad Decapterus macrosoma was performed for the first time, and a high-quality reference transcriptome was constructed. After identification and assembly, a total of 58,475 nonredundant unigenes were obtained with an N50 length of 2,266 bp, and 28,174 unigenes were successfully annotated with multiple public databases. BUSCO analysis determined a level of 92.9% completeness for the assembled transcriptome. Gene expression analysis revealed 2,345 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the female and male D. macrosoma, 1,150 of which were female-biased DEGs, and 1,195 unigenes were male-biased DEGs. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses showed that the DEGs were mainly involved in biological processes including protein synthesis, growth, rhythmic processes, immune defense, and vitellogenesis. Then, we identified many growth- and sex-related genes, including Igf, Fabps, EF-hand family genes, Zp3, Zp4 and Vg. In addition, a total of 19,573 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were screened and identified from the transcriptome sequences. The results of this study can provide valuable information on growth- and sex-related genes and facilitate further exploration of the molecular mechanism of sexual growth dimorphism.

Effects of oceanographic environment on the distribution and migration of Pacific saury (Cololabis saira) during main fishing season.

The Pacific saury (Cololabis saira) is one of the most commercially important pelagic fishes in Asia-Pacific countries. The oceanographic environment, especially the Oyashio Current, significantly affects the distribution of Pacific saury, and may lead to variations in their migration route and the formation of fishing grounds in Japanese coastal region and the high seas. In this study, six oceanographic factors, sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface chlorophyll-a concentration (SSC), sea surface salinity (SSS), sea surface height (SSH), mixed layer depth (MLD), and eddy kinetic energy (EKE), were associated with the monthly catch per unit effort 1 (monthly CPUE1, ton/vessel) and the monthly CPUE2 (ton/day) of Pacific saury from Chinese fishing vessels during the optimal fishing periods (September-November) in 2014-2017. The gradient forest analysis showed that the performance of monthly CPUE1 was higher than monthly CPUE2 and SST was the most important oceanographic factor influencing monthly CPUE1, followed by EKE. The generalized additive model indicated that SST, SSH, and EKE negatively affected monthly CPUE1, whereas SSC, SSS, and MLD induced dome-shaped increases in monthly CPUE1. The distributions of fishing locations are likely to form along Offshore Oyashio current and meanders, especially in October and November. Synchronous trends in the relationship between the intrusion area of the Oyashio and relative abundance variation index suggest that an increase in the intrusion area of the Oyashio causes more Pacific saury to migrate to the Japanese coastal region, and vice versa. These findings extend our understanding of the effects of the oceanographic environment on Pacific saury.

Traditional Chinese Medicine for COVID-19: A Network Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review.

To compare the efficacy of different traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) therapies for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and provide a higher level of evidence in the form of network meta-analysis (NMA) and systematic review. We searched the studies from the following databases: CNKI, VIP, WanFang, SinoMed, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science from the establishment of the respective database until December 2021. Relevant studies were screened according to the pre-established inclusion criteria. The quality of the included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and controlled clinical trials (CCTs) were assessed using the risk of bias (ROB) tool and the Methodological Index for Non-Randomized Studies (MINORS), respectively. R software 4.1.1 and Stata 13.1 were used for data analysis and mapping. A total of 34 studies were included in this network meta-analysis that tested 24 TCM interventions and included 3443 patients. Using cluster analysis of time to negative SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), the length of hospital stay and composite events, we found that Jinyinhua oral liquid (JYH, 120 mL) + conventional Western medicine (CWM) has the highest SUCRA value at 88.64%, 85.61% and 84.24%. The traditional meta-analysis results revealed that Qingfei Paidu decoction + CWM were significantly different compared with CWM alone for the score of clinical symptoms (MD =-0.75, 95% CI [-1.04, -0.47]). Nine studies reported 57 adverse reactions (ADRs) and 3 adverse events (ADEs) in TCM + CWM groups, and eight studies reported 33 ADRs and 8 ADEs in CWM groups. In conclusion, the combination of TCM and CWM approaches may enhance the efficacy of CWM in COVID-19 patients. Based on the NMA result, JYH (120 mL) + CWM may be a more effective treatment and deserves further investigation. However, the differences in many comparisons between TCM interventions did not reach statistical significance; therefore, further high-quality studies are required to validate these findings.

Potential urinary biomarkers in young adults with short-term exposure to particulate matter and bioaerosols identified using an unbiased metabolomic approach.

Numerous epidemiological studies have shown a close relationship between outdoor air pollution and increased risks for cancer, infection, and cardiopulmonary diseases. However, very few studies have investigated the potential health effects of coexposure to airborne particulate matter (PM) and bioaerosols through the transmission of infectious agents, particularly under the current circumstances of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. In this study, we aimed to identify urinary metabolite biomarkers that might serve as clinically predictive or diagnostic standards for relevant diseases in a real-time manner. We performed an unbiased gas/liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC/LC-MS) approach to detect urinary metabolites in 92 samples from young healthy individuals collected at three different time points after exposure to clean air, polluted ambient, or purified air, as well as two additional time points after air repollution or repurification. Subsequently, we compared the metabolomic profiles between the two time points using an integrated analysis, along with Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes-enriched pathway and time-series analysis. We identified 33 and 155 differential metabolites (DMs) associated with PM and bioaerosol exposure using GC/LC-MS and follow-up analyses, respectively. Our findings suggest that 16-dehydroprogesterone and 4-hydroxyphenylethanol in urine samples may serve as potential biomarkers to predict or diagnose PM- or bioaerosol-related diseases, respectively. The results indicated apparent differences between PM- and bioaerosol-associated DMs at five different time points and revealed dynamic alterations in the urinary metabolic profiles of young healthy humans with cyclic exposure to clean and polluted air environments. Our findings will help in investigating the detrimental health effects of short-term coexposure to airborne PM and bioaerosols in a real-time manner and improve clinically predictive or diagnostic strategies for preventing air pollution-related diseases.

Chinese Medical Injections for Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Network Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization has indicated that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may become the third leading cause of death by 2030. Acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) is an important process in clinical treatment. Recent studies have shown that Chinese medical injections (CMI) are effective against AECOPD, but the effective difference among different CMIs remains unclear. The aim of this network meta-analysis (NMA) is to compare the therapeutic effect of various CMIs. METHODS: We conducted an overall, systematic literature search in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, VIP, SinoMed, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases to retrieve randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of CMIs for AECOPD published up to January 2021. The Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to assess the risk of bias. Stata 13.1 and WinBUGS 14.3 were used for data analyses. RESULTS: In total, 103 RCTs involving 8767 participants and 23 CMIs were included. The results indicated that among all treatments conventional Western medical therapy (WM) plus Dengzhanxixin injection (DZXX) led to the best improvement in the clinical efficacy and the ratio of forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) to forced vital capacity (FVC) (FEV1/FVC), with surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA)=80.47% and 98.55%, respectively. Moreover, Shenmai injection (SM) plus WM and Reduning injection (RDN) plus WM led to the best improvement in the FEV1 (SUCRA=80.18%) and the ratio of forced expiratory volume in one second to the predicted value (FEV1%, SUCRA=87.28%). Shengmai injection (SGM) plus WM led to the most considerable shortening in the length of hospital stay (SUCRA=94.70%). Cluster analysis revealed that WM+DZXX had the most favorable response for clinical efficacy and FEV1, as well as clinical efficacy and FEV1/FVC, WM+RDN had the most favorable response for clinical efficacy and FEV1%, WM+SGM had the most favorable response for clinical efficacy and length of hospital stay. CONCLUSION: WM+DZXX, WM+RDN, and WM+SGM were noted to be the optimum treatment regimens for improving in clinical efficacy, FEV1, FEV1/FVC, FEV1% and reducing the hospital stay length of AECOPD patients. Considering the limitations this NMA may have, the current results warrant further verification via additional high-quality studies.

New perspective on the genetic structure and habitat adaptation of Pampus minor off the coast of China based on RAD-seq.

Understanding the genetic diversity and habitat adaptation patterns of different geographic populations of marine organisms is essential for the rational maintenance, development, and utilization of their resources. Pampus minor Liu and Li 1998 is an economically valuable marine fish species. To determine the population genetic structure and elucidate the genetic mechanism underlying the habitat adaptation of this species, restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) was used to scan the whole genomes of three P. minor putative populations along the coast of China for single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) and outlier SNPs. Our population genetic structure analysis based on 2388 SNPs and 731 outlier SNPs throughout the genome revealed no significant genetic differentiation among the three populations. Results suggested that the life-cycle characteristics of P. minor, its relatively large population sizes, and ocean current transport might have shaped its current genetic pattern. The annotation information of both assembled sequences (which included outlier SNPs) and candidate loci associated with adaptations indicated that genes involved in many processes, including ion exchange, osmotic pressure regulation, metabolism, and the immune response, have been very important in the adaptations of P. minor to its heterogeneous habitats. Against the background of increased human activities, increased fishing intensity, and destruction of marine habitats, the results of this study provide basic genetic information for the accurate division of protection units of P. minor.

Reidentification of Decapterus macarellus and D. macrosoma (Carangidae) reveals inconsistencies with current morphological taxonomy in China.

Decapterus macarellus and D. macrosoma are economically important pelagic fish species that are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical seas. The two species are often mistakenly identified due to their morphological similarities as described in the Chinese literature on fish identification. In this study, D. macarellus and D. macrosoma samples were collected in the Eastern Indian Ocean and the South China Sea and reidentified using morphological and DNA barcoding techniques. The characteristics that distinguish the two species primarily include the scute coverage of the straight portion of the lateral line (the most indicative characteristic for classification), the shape of the predorsal scaled area and its location relative to the middle axis of the eye, and the shapes of the posterior margin of the maxilla and the posterior margin of the operculum. The results revealed a large number of misidentified sequences among the homologous cytochrome oxidase (COI) sequences of the two species in the NCBI database and that the genus Decapterus may include cryptic species. In terms of genetic structure, the Sundaland has not blocked genetic exchange between D. macarellus populations in the South China Sea and the Eastern Indian Ocean, giving rise to a high level of genetic diversity. In this study, we made corrections to the Chinese classification standards for D. macarellus and D. macrosoma and the erroneous reference sequences in the NCBI database, thereby providing accurate reference points for the future exploration of cryptic species in the genus Decapterus.

Linking endotypes to omics profiles in difficult-to-control asthma using the diagnostic Chinese medicine syndrome differentiation algorithm.

Objective: Patients with difficult-to-control asthma have difficulty breathing almost all of the time, even leading to life-threatening asthma attacks. However, only few diagnostic markers for this disease have been identified. We aimed to take advantage of unique Chinese medicine theories for phenotypic classification and to explore molecular signatures in difficult-to-control asthma. Methods: The Chinese medicine syndrome differentiation algorithm (CMSDA) is a syndrome-scoring classification method based on the Chinese medicine overall observation theory. Patients with difficult-to-control asthma were classified into Cold- and Hot-pattern groups according to the CMSDA. DNA methylation and metabolomic profiles were obtained using Infinium Human Methylation 450 BeadChip and gas chromatography-mass spectrometer. Subsequently, an integrated bioinformatics analysis was performed to compare those two patterns and identify Cold/Hot-associated candidates, followed by functional validation studies. Results: A total of 20 patients with difficult-to-control asthma were enrolled in the study. Ten were grouped as Cold and 10 as Hot according to the CMSDA. We identified distinct whole-genome DNA methylation and metabolomic profiles between Cold- and Hot-pattern groups. ALDH3A1 gene exhibited variations in the DNA methylation probe cg10791966, while two metabolic pathways were associated with those two patterns. Conclusions: Our study introduced a novel diagnostic classification approach, the CMSDA, for difficult-to-control asthma. This is an alternative way to categorize diverse syndromes and link endotypes with omics profiles of this disease. ALDH3A1 might be a potential biomarker for precision diagnosis of difficult-to-control asthma.

Adaptive Morphological Reconstruction for Seeded Image Segmentation.

Morphological reconstruction (MR) is often employed by seeded image segmentation algorithms such as watershed transform and power watershed, as it is able to filter out seeds (regional minima) to reduce over-segmentation. However, the MR might mistakenly filter meaningful seeds that are required for generating accurate segmentation and it is also sensitive to the scale because a single-scale structuring element is employed. In this paper, a novel adaptive morphological reconstruction (AMR) operation is proposed that has three advantages. First, AMR can adaptively filter out useless seeds while preserving meaningful ones. Second, AMR is insensitive to the scale of structuring elements because multiscale structuring elements are employed. Finally, the AMR has two attractive properties: monotonic increasingness and convergence that help seeded segmentation algorithms to achieve a hierarchical segmentation. Experiments clearly demonstrate that the AMR is useful for improving performance of algorithms of seeded image segmentation and seed-based spectral segmentation. Compared to several state-of-the-art algorithms, the proposed algorithms provide better segmentation results requiring less computing time.

Yinzhihuang oral liquid combined with phototherapy for neonatal jaundice: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.

BACKGROUND: Neonatal jaundice affects at least 481,000 newborns every year. Phototherapy is recommended but it's effects are limited and adverse reactions can occur. In China, phototherapy combined with Yinzhihuang oral liquid is also used for this condition. This systematic review evaluated the effectiveness and safety of combination therapy with Yinzhihuang oral liquid and phototherapy compared to phototherapy alone for treating neonatal jaundice. METHOD: A comprehensive literature search was performed in four Chinese databases, two English language databases and two trial registries from inception to June 2017. Two authors independently screened the citations and retrieved full publications for randomized trials on Yinzhihuang oral liquid combined with phototherapy for neonatal jaundice. The methodological quality of the trials was assessed according to the Cochrane Collaboration's tool for assessing risk of bias. Data were analyzed using RevMan 5.3. RESULT: Totally 17 trials (involving 2561 neonates) were included in this review. Fourteen of them had a high risk of bias. Significant differences were detected between combination therapy and phototherapy alone for serum bilirubin level (MD - 50.25 µmol/L, 95% CI -64.01 to - 36.50, I2 = 98%; 7 trials, post-hoc decision choosing random effects model), failure of jaundice resolution (RR 0.21, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.32, I2 = 0%; 11 trials, fixed effects model), and time to jaundice resolution (MD - 2.17 days, 95%CI -2.96 to - 1.38, I2 = 98%; 6 trials, random effects model). Adverse events were reported in eight trials but none were serious. Trial sequential analysis for serum bilirubin level suggested that the cumulative Z-curve (which represents 1478 participants) reached the required information size (DARIS = 1301 participants). CONCLUSION: Based on trials with low methodological quality, Yinzhihuang oral liquid combined with phototherapy seemed to be safe and superior to phototherapy alone for reducing serum bilirubin in neonatal jaundice. These potential benefits need to be confirmed in future trials using rigorous methodology. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Systematic review registration: [PROSPERO registration: CRD42016037691 ].

The Association between Short-term Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter and Outpatient Visit in Beijing, China.

BACKGROUND: We tried to investigate the effect of PM2.5 on daily counts of outpatient visits in the Guang'anmen Hospital to determine if short-term PM2.5 exposure with extremely high concentration affects cardiopulmonary function of Beijing residents. METHODS: Outpatient visits and PM2.5 data from 01/11/2011 to 03/31/2013 were extracted from the Guang'anmen Hospital and the American Embassy in Beijing, respectively. Followed by using a semi-parametric generalized additive model (GAM) with time dependent covariates, we analyzed the association between PM2.5 concentrations and daily count of outpatient visits on Day 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of PM2.5 exposure. RESULTS: Overall, 284354 subjects were collected. There were significant associations of short-term PM2.5 exposures with outpatient visits for cardiopulmonary diseases (P<0.05). Specifically, a 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 was positively associated with a 0.74% of increase in angina visit on the first day and 0.50% increased visit on the second day (P<0.05). With an increase in PM2.5, the cough and respiratory visits significantly decreased by 0.17% and 0.30% on the first day, respectively (P<0.05). However, there were significant positive associations of PM2.5 with increased cough and respiratory visits (increased by 0.17% and 0.10%, respectively) on the fifth day (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Our association studies showed an instant effect of PM2.5 level on cardiovascular outpatient visit in the Guang'anmen Hospital in Beijing while a lag effect on respiratory outpatient visits.

The prevalence of anxiety and depression in Chinese asthma patients.

It is well documented that the psychiatric disorders are common in Asthma patients in China while the studies on the relationship between asthma control and psychological disorder are comparatively rare. We therefore performed a cross-sectional study on asthmatic outpatients in one Chinese tertiary center to investigate the correlation among asthma, anxiety and depression. Demographic data, anxiety and depression scores, the level of asthma control were collected in 261 patients. All patients were evaluated with Asthma Control Test (ACT), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Self-rating depression scale (SDS) questionnaires. A multivariate analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between asthma control and psychological disorder. The result showed that 31 asthma patients had anxiety symptom while thirty-five asthma patients had depression. One hundred and ninety-two asthma patients were well controlled and 69 patients were not. The study found a negative correlation between ACT and SAS(r = -0.231, p<0.001) as well as ACT and SDS(r = -0.23, p<0.001) and depression (OR: 12.295, 95%CI: [5.374-28.128], p<0.001) were both independently associated with poor asthma control. We concluded that Asthma control is greatly affected by psychological disorder in Chinese patients.

Effect of living conditions on biochemical and hematological parameters of the cynomolgus monkey.

The cynomolgus monkey (Macaca fascicularis) has been increasingly used in biomedical research. Although living conditions affect behavioral and physiological characteristics in macaques, little data is available on how living conditions influence blood-based parameters in the cynomolgus monkey. We hypothesize that there are significant differences in serum biochemical and hematological parameters in single-caged versus socially housed cynomolgus monkeys, and that age and sex influence the effect of living conditions on these parameters. Sixty single-caged and 60 socially housed cynomolgus monkeys were segregated by age group (juvenile, adult) and sex. The effects of living condition, age, sex, and the interactions between these factors on commonly reported serum biochemical and hematological parameters were analyzed by a three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Then, the differences between single-caged and socially housed subjects were tested in each parameter by Student's t-test. Creatinine, glucose, triglyceride, alanine aminotransferase, red blood cell volume distribution width (SD, CV), median fluorescence reticulocyte percentage, white blood cell and basophil counts, and monocyte (count, %) were lower in single-caged subjects. Blood urea nitrogen and globulin were lower in single-caged juveniles and adults, respectively. Red blood cell count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and neutrophil (count, %) were higher, and reticulocyte and lymphocyte (counts, %) were lower, in single-caged juveniles. Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration was higher in single-caged subjects (but more pronounced in adults). Total protein was higher in single-caged juvenile males and lower in single-caged adult females. Alkaline phosphatase was lower in single-caged juvenile females. Mean corpuscular hemoglobin was higher, and high fluorescence reticulocyte percentage was lower, in single-caged adult males. In conclusion, living conditions significantly affect several serum biochemical and hematological parameters in the cynomolgus monkey, and these effects vary by age and sex. As this macaque is commonly housed under different living conditions, these findings should aid researchers in avoiding inaccurate conclusions concerning this species.