Seasonal variations in acute diverticular disease hospitalisations in New Zealand.

PURPOSE: Seasonal variation of acute diverticular disease is variably reported in observational studies. This study aimed to describe seasonal variation of acute diverticular disease hospital admissions in New Zealand. METHODS: A time series analysis of national diverticular disease hospitalisations from 2000 to 2015 was conducted among adults aged 30 years or over. Monthly counts of acute hospitalisations' primary diagnosis of diverticular disease were decomposed using Census X-11 times series methods. A combined test for the presence of identifiable seasonality was used to determine if overall seasonality was present; thereafter, annual seasonal amplitude was calculated. The mean seasonal amplitude of demographic groups was compared by analysis of variance. RESULTS: Over the 16-year period, 35,582 hospital admissions with acute diverticular disease were included. Seasonality in monthly acute diverticular disease admissions was identified. The mean monthly seasonal component of acute diverticular disease admissions peaked in early-autumn (March) and troughed in early-spring (September). The mean annual seasonal amplitude was 23%, suggesting on average 23% higher acute diverticular disease hospitalisations during early-autumn (March) than in early-spring (September). The results were similar in sensitivity analyses that employed different definitions of diverticular disease. Seasonal variation was less pronounced in patients aged over 80 (p = 0.002). Seasonal variation was significantly greater among Maori than Europeans (p < 0.001) and in more southern regions (p < 0.001). However, seasonal variations were not significantly different by gender. CONCLUSIONS: Acute diverticular disease admissions in New Zealand exhibit seasonal variation with a peak in Autumn (March) and a trough in Spring (September). Significant seasonal variations are associated with ethnicity, age, and region, but not with gender.

Genetic responses to adding nitrates to improve hydrophilic yellow pigment in Monascus fermentation.

Nitrates can stimulate the biosynthesis of hydrophilic yellow pigments (HYPs) in Monascus ruber CGMCC 10910. To explore the molecular mechanisms whereby nitrates (NaNO3 and NH4NO3) regulate HYP production, an integrated transcriptomic and proteomic analysis was conducted in this study. Nitrate addition led to an approximately 75% higher HYP production compared with the untreated group, especially compounds Y3 and Y4. Comparative transcriptomic analysis found that mpigsA, H, K, L, and P genes involved in yellow pigment biosynthesis were significantly upregulated. In addition, pigment biosynthesis-related (carbon catabolism, amino acid metabolism, polyketide synthesis, and fatty acid metabolism) genes were upregulated to provide precursors and energy for HYP biosynthesis and cell growth. Secretion-related (cytomembrane ergosterol biosynthetic, and transport) pathways were also noticeably regulated to accelerate transmembrane transport of HYPs. Meanwhile, proteomic analysis showed that nitrates improved the protein expression of hybrid polyketide synthase-nonribosomal peptide synthetase, oxidoreductase, glucoamylase, endo-1,4-beta-xylanase, O-acetylhomoserine, and isocitrate lyase to enhance HYP production. These findings demonstrated the regulatory mechanism of nitrates for enhancing HYP production in Monascus. KEY POINTS: • Nitrates stimulated the biosynthesis of Monascus hydrophilic yellow pigments (HYPs) • Nitrates affected transcriptional level of pigment biosynthesis- and transport genes • Increased expression of hybrid PKS-NRPS and transporters promoted production of HYPs.

Cadmium (Cd) and 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) co-exposure induces acute kidney injury through oxidative stress and RIPK3-dependent necroptosis.

Environmental pollution is complex, and co-exposure can accurately reflect the true environmental conditions that are important for assessment of human health. Cadmium (Cd) is a widespread toxicant that can cause acute kidney injury (AKI), while its combined effect with 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) is not fully understood. Thus, we used an in vivo model where C57BL/6J mice were treated with low dietary intake of Cd (5 mg/kg/day) and/or BDE-47 (1 mg/kg/day) for 28 days to examine AKI, and in vitro experiments to investigate the possible mechanism. Results showed that Cd or BDE-47 caused pathological kidney damage, accompanied by elevated urea nitrogen (BUN) and urinary creatinine, as well as increased interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and reduced IL-10 in kidney tissues. In vitro Cd or BDE-47 exposure decreased cell viability and induced cell swelling and blebbing of human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK-293) and renal tubular epithelial cell lines (HKCs), and changes in co-exposure was larger than that in Cd and BDE-47 treatment. Oxidative stress indicators of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were elevated, while the antioxidant superoxide dismutase (SOD) was decreased. Necrosis occurred with increased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release and propidium iodide (PI) staining, which was attenuated by the ROS scavenger N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC). Furthermore, necroptotic genes of receptor-interacting protein kinase-3 (RIPK3), classical mixed lineage kinase domain-like protein-dependent (MLKL), IL-1ß and TNF-α were up-regulated, whereas RIPK1 was down-regulated, which was attenuated by the RIPK3 inhibitor GSK872. These findings demonstrate that Cd or BDE-47 alone produces kidney toxicities, and co-exposure poses an additive effect, resulting in AKI via inducing oxidative stress and regulating RIPK3-dependent necroptosis, which offers a further mechanistic understanding for kidney damage, and the combined effect of environmental pollutants should be noticed.

Deep Q-Learning-Based Buffer-Aided Relay Selection for Reliable and Secure Communications in Two-Hop Wireless Relay Networks.

This paper investigates the problem of buffer-aided relay selection to achieve reliable and secure communications in a two-hop amplify-and-forward (AF) network with an eavesdropper. Due to the fading of wireless signals and the broadcast nature of wireless channels, transmitted signals over the network may be undecodable at the receiver end or have been eavesdropped by eavesdroppers. Most available buffer-aided relay selection schemes consider either reliability or security issues in wireless communications; rarely is work conducted on both reliability and security issues. This paper proposes a buffer-aided relay selection scheme based on deep Q-learning (DQL) that considers both reliability and security. By conducting Monte Carlo simulations, we then verify the reliability and security performances of the proposed scheme in terms of the connection outage probability (COP) and secrecy outage probability (SOP), respectively. The simulation results show that two-hop wireless relay network can achieve reliable and secure communications by using our proposed scheme. We also performed comparison experiments between our proposed scheme and two benchmark schemes. The comparison results indicate that our proposed scheme outperforms the max-ratio scheme in terms of the SOP.

RETRACTED: Yang et al. An Adaptive Hierarchical Network Model for Studying the Structure of Economic Network. Entropy 2022, 24, 702.

This journal retracts the article, 'An Adaptive Hierarchical Network Model for Studying the Structure of Economic Network' [...].

Clinical benefit of systolic blood pressure within the target range among patients with or without diabetes mellitus: a propensity score-matched analysis of two randomized clinical trials.

BACKGROUND: Recent guidelines recommended a systolic blood pressure (SBP) target of < 130 mmHg for patients with or without diabetes but without providing a lower bound. Our study aimed to explore whether additional clinical benefits remain at achieved blood pressure (BP) levels below the recommended target. METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis of the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) among the non-diabetic population and the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes BP (ACCORD-BP) trial among diabetic subjects. We used the propensity score method to match patients from the intensive BP group to those from the standard group in each trial. Individuals with different achieved BP levels from the intensive BP group were used as "reference." For each stratum, the trial-specific primary outcome (i.e., composite outcome of myocardial infarction (MI), acute coronary syndrome not resulting in MI, stroke, acute decompensated heart failure (HF), or cardiovascular death for SPRINT; non-fatal MI, non-fatal stroke, or cardiovascular death for ACCORD-BP) was compared by Cox regression. RESULTS: A non-linear association was observed between the mean achieved BP and incidence of composite cardiovascular events, regardless of treatment allocation. The significant treatment benefit for primary outcome remained at SBP 110-120 mmHg (hazard ratio, 0.59 [95% CI, 0.46, 0.76] for SPRINT; 0.67 [0.52, 0.88] for ACCORD-BP) and SBP 120-130 mmHg for SPRINT (0.47 [0.34, 0.63]) but not for ACCORD-BP (0.93 [0.70, 1.23]). The results were similar for the secondary outcomes including all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, MI, stroke, and HF. Intensive BP treatment benefits existed among patients maintaining a diastolic BP of 60-70 mmHg but were less distinct. CONCLUSIONS: The treatment benefit persists at as low as SBP 110-120 mmHg irrespective of diabetes status. Achieved very low BP levels appeared to increase cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality.

Temperature-responsive regulation of the fermentation of hypocrellin A by Shiraia bambusicola (GDMCC 60438).

BACKGROUND: Hypocrellin A (HA) is a perylene quinone pigment with high medicinal value that is produced by Shiraia bambusicola Henn. (S. bambusicola) and Hypocrella bambusae (Berk. & Broome) Sacc. (Ascomycetes) with great potential in clinical photodynamic therapy. Submerged cultivation of S. bambusicola is a popular technique for HA production. However, there is not much research on how temperature changes lead to differential yields of HA production. RESULTS: The temperature regulation of submerged fermentation is an efficient approach to promote HA productivity. After a 32 °C fermentation, the HA content in the mycelia S. bambusicola (GDMCC 60438) was increased by more than three- and fivefold when compared to that at 28 °C and 26 °C, respectively. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis showed that the regulation of the expression of transcription factors and genes essential for HA biosynthesis could be induced by high temperature. Among the 496 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) explicitly expressed at 32 °C, the hub genes MH01c06g0046321 and MH01c11g0073001 in the coexpression network may affect HA biosynthesis and cytoarchitecture, respectively. Moreover, five genes, i.e., MH01c01g0006641, MH01c03g0017691, MH01c04g0029531, MH01c04g0030701 and MH01c22g0111101, potentially related to HA synthesis also exhibited significantly higher expression levels. Morphological observation showed that the autolysis inside the mycelial pellets tightly composted intertwined mycelia without apparent holes. CONCLUSIONS: The obtained results provide an effective strategy in the submerged fermentation of S. bambusicola for improved HA production and reveal an alternative regulatory network responsive to the biosynthesis metabolism of HA in response to environmental signals.

An Adaptive Hierarchical Network Model for Studying the Structure of Economic Network.

The interdependence of financial institutions is primarily responsible for creating a systemic hierarchy in the industry. In this paper, an Adaptive Hierarchical Network Model is proposed to study the problem of hierarchical relationships arising from different individuals in the economic domain. In the presented dynamically evolving network model, new directed edges are generated depending on the existing nodes and the hierarchical structures among the network, and these edges decay over time. When the preference of nodes in the network for higher ranks exceeds a certain threshold value, the equality state in the network becomes unstable and rank states emerge. Meanwhile, we select four real data sets for model evaluation and observe the resilience in the network hierarchy evolution and the differences formed by different patterns of hierarchy preference mechanisms, which help us better understand data science and network dynamics evolution.

Enhanced Signed Graph Neural Network with Node Polarity.

Signed graph neural networks learn low-dimensional representations for nodes in signed networks with positive and negative links, which helps with many downstream tasks like link prediction. However, most existing signed graph neural networks ignore individual characteristics of nodes and thus limit the ability to learn the underlying structure of real signed graphs. To address this limitation, a deep graph neural network framework SiNP to learn Signed network embedding with Node Polarity is proposed. To be more explicit, a node-signed property metric mechanism is developed to encode the individual characteristics of the nodes. In addition, a graph convolution layer is added so that both positive and negative information from neighboring nodes can be combined. The final embedding of nodes is produced by concatenating the outcomes of these two portions. Finally, extensive experiments have been conducted on four significant real-world signed network datasets to demonstrate the efficiency and superiority of the proposed method in comparison to the state-of-the-art.

GDP vs. LDP: A Survey from the Perspective of Information-Theoretic Channel.

The existing work has conducted in-depth research and analysis on global differential privacy (GDP) and local differential privacy (LDP) based on information theory. However, the data privacy preserving community does not systematically review and analyze GDP and LDP based on the information-theoretic channel model. To this end, we systematically reviewed GDP and LDP from the perspective of the information-theoretic channel in this survey. First, we presented the privacy threat model under information-theoretic channel. Second, we described and compared the information-theoretic channel models of GDP and LDP. Third, we summarized and analyzed definitions, privacy-utility metrics, properties, and mechanisms of GDP and LDP under their channel models. Finally, we discussed the open problems of GDP and LDP based on different types of information-theoretic channel models according to the above systematic review. Our main contribution provides a systematic survey of channel models, definitions, privacy-utility metrics, properties, and mechanisms for GDP and LDP from the perspective of information-theoretic channel and surveys the differential privacy synthetic data generation application using generative adversarial network and federated learning, respectively. Our work is helpful for systematically understanding the privacy threat model, definitions, privacy-utility metrics, properties, and mechanisms of GDP and LDP from the perspective of information-theoretic channel and promotes in-depth research and analysis of GDP and LDP based on different types of information-theoretic channel models.

A Lightweight Method for Defense Graph Neural Networks Adversarial Attacks.

Graph neural network has been widely used in various fields in recent years. However, the appearance of an adversarial attack makes the reliability of the existing neural networks challenging in application. Premeditated attackers, can make very small perturbations to the data to fool the neural network to produce wrong results. These incorrect results can lead to disastrous consequences. So, how to defend against adversarial attacks has become an urgent research topic. Many researchers have tried to improve the model robustness directly or by using adversarial training to reduce the negative impact of an adversarial attack. However, the majority of the defense strategies currently in use are inextricably linked to the model-training process, which incurs significant running and memory space costs. We offer a lightweight and easy-to-implement approach that is based on graph transformation. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our approach has a similar defense effect (with accuracy rate returns of nearly 80%) as existing methods and only uses 10% of their run time when defending against adversarial attacks on GCN (graph convolutional neural networks).

Applicability and cost-effectiveness of the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) in the Chinese population: A cost-effectiveness modeling study.

BACKGROUND: The Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) showed significant reductions in death and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk with a systolic blood pressure (SBP) goal of <120 mm Hg compared with a SBP goal of <140 mm Hg. Our study aimed to assess the applicability of SPRINT to Chinese adults. Additionally, we sought to predict the medical and economic implications of this intensive SBP treatment among those meeting SPRINT eligibility. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We used nationally representative baseline data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) (2011-2012) to estimate the prevalence and number of Chinese adults aged 45 years and older who meet SPRINT criteria. A validated microsimulation model was employed to project costs, clinical outcomes, and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) among SPRINT-eligible adults, under 2 alternative treatment strategies (SBP goal of <120 mm Hg [intensive treatment] and SBP goal of <140 mm Hg [standard treatment]). Overall, 22.2% met the SPRINT criteria, representing 116.2 (95% CI 107.5 to 124.8) million people in China. Of these, 66.4%, representing 77.2 (95% CI 69.3 to 85.0) million, were not being treated for hypertension, and 22.9%, representing 26.6 (95% CI 22.4 to 30.7) million, had a SBP between 130 and 139 mm Hg, yet were not taking antihypertensive medication. We estimated that over 5 years, compared to standard treatment, intensive treatment would reduce heart failure incidence by 0.84 (95% CI 0.42 to 1.25) million cases, reduce CVD deaths by 2.03 (95% CI 1.44 to 2.63) million cases, and save 3.84 (95% CI 1.53 to 6.34) million life-years. Estimated reductions of 0.069 (95% CI -0.28, 0.42) million myocardial infarction cases and 0.36 (95% CI -0.10, 0.82) million stroke cases were not statistically significant. Furthermore, over a lifetime, moving from standard to intensive treatment increased the mean QALYs from 9.51 to 9.87 (an increment of 0.38 [95% CI 0.13 to 0.71]), at a cost of Int$10,997 per QALY gained. Of all 1-way sensitivity analyses, high antihypertensive drug cost and lower treatment efficacy for CVD death resulted in the 2 most unfavorable results (Int$25,291 and Int$18,995 per QALY were gained, respectively). Simulation results indicated that intensive treatment could be cost-effective (82.8% probability of being below the willingness-to-pay threshold of Int$16,782 [1× GDP per capita in China in 2017]), with a lower probability in people with SBP 130-139 mm Hg (72.9%) but a higher probability among females (91.2%). Main limitations include lack of specific SPRINT eligibility information in the CHARLS survey, uncertainty about the implications of different blood pressure measurement techniques, the use of several sources of data with large reliance on findings from SPPRINT, limited information about the serious adverse event rate, and lack of information and evidence for medication effectiveness on renal disease. CONCLUSIONS: Although adoption of the SPRINT treatment strategy would increase the number of Chinese adults requiring SBP treatment intensification, this approach has the potential to prevent CVD events, to produce gains in life-years, and to be cost-effective under common thresholds.

The relationship between seasonality, latitude and tuberculosis notifications in Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: Pakistan ranks amongst the top 20 highest burden tuberculosis (TB) countries in the world. Approximately 369,548 cases of TB (all forms) were notified in 2018, with an estimated incidence of 265 per 100,000 people per year. In other settings, TB has been shown to demonstrate seasonal variation, with higher incidence in the spring/summer months and lower incidence in the autumn/winter; the amplitude of seasonal variation has also been reported to be higher with increasing distance from the equator. METHODS: Notifications of newly-diagnosed pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB cases were obtained for 139 districts in Pakistan from 2011 to 2017. Data were provided by the Pakistan National TB Control Programme, Islamabad, Pakistan. Statistical analyses were performed to determine whether there was seasonal variation in TB notifications in Pakistan; whether the amplitude of seasonal variation in TB notifications varied according to latitude; whether the amplitude of seasonal variation of TB in Pakistan differed between extrapulmonary TB vs. pulmonary TB. To assess the quarterly seasonality of TB, we used the X-13-ARIMA-SEATS seasonal adjustment programme from the United States Census Bureau. The mean difference and corresponding 95% confidence intervals of seasonal amplitudes between different latitudes and clinical phenotype of TB were estimated using linear regression. RESULTS: TB notifications were highest in quarter 2, and lowest in quarter 4. The mean amplitude of seasonal variation was 25.5% (95% CI 25.0 to 25.9%). The mean seasonal amplitude of TB notifications from latitude 24.5°N- < 26.5°N was 29.5% (95% CI 29.3 to 29.7%) whilst the mean seasonal amplitude of TB notifications from latitude 34.5°N - < 36.5°N was 21.7% (95% CI 19.6 to 23.9%). The mean seasonal amplitude of TB notifications across Pakistan between latitudes 24.5°N to 36.5°N reached statistically significant difference (p < 0.001). The amplitude of seasonal variation was greater for extrapulmonary TB (mean seasonal amplitude: 32.6, 95% CI 21.4 to 21.8%) vs. smear positive pulmonary TB mean seasonal amplitude: 21.6, 95% CI 32.1 to 33.1%), p < 0.001. CONCLUSION: TB notifications in Pakistan exhibit seasonal variation with a peak in quarter 2 (April-June) and trough in quarter 4 (October-December). The amplitude of seasonality decreases with increasing latitude, and is more pronounced for extrapulmonary than for pulmonary TB.

Sodium starch octenyl succinate facilitated the production of water-soluble yellow pigments in Monascus ruber fermentation.

Natural water-soluble Monascus pigments (WSMPs) have been in increasing demand but have not been able to achieve industrial production due to the low production rate. This study aimed to improve the biosynthesis and secretion of extracellular yellow pigments (EYPs) through submerged fermentation with Monascus ruber CGMCC 10,910 supplemented with sodium starch octenyl succinate (OSA-SNa). The results demonstrated that the yield was 69.68% and 48.89% higher than that without OSA-SNa in conventional fermentation (CF) and extractive fermentation (EF), respectively. The mainly increased EYP components were Y3 and Y4 in CF, but they were mainly Y1 and Y2 as well as secreted intracellular pigments, including Y5, Y6, O1, and O2, in EF. Scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed that the mycelium presented an uneven surface profile with obvious wrinkles and small fragments with OSA-SNa. It was found that a higher unsaturated/saturated fatty acids ratio in the cell membrane resulted in increased permeability and facilitated the export of intracellular yellow pigments into the broth with OSA-SNa treatment. In addition, a higher NAD+/NADH ratio and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity provided a reducing condition for yellow pigment biosynthesis. Gene expression analysis showed that the expression levels of the key genes for yellow pigment biosynthesis were significantly upregulated by OSA-SNa. This study provides an effective strategy to promote the production of WSMPs by microparticle-enhanced cultivation using OSA-SNa. KEY POINTS: • OSA-SNa addition facilitated the production of Monascus yellow pigments. • Mycelial morphology and membrane permeability were affected by OSA-SNa. • The key gene expression of yellow pigments was upregulated.

Inducing red pigment and inhibiting citrinin production by adding lanthanum(III) ion in Monascus purpureus fermentation.

Monascus pigments (MPs) are widely used natural colorants in Asian countries. The problems of low extracellular red pigment (ERP) and high citrinin remain to be solved in Monascus pigment production. The effect of lanthanum(III) ion (LaCl3) on Monascus purpureus fermentation was investigated in this study. The yields of ERP and biomass respectively reached maxima of 124.10 U/mL and 33.10 g/L by adding 0.4 g/L La3+ on the second day in the total 8-day fermentation; simultaneously, citrinin was decreased by 59.93% and 38.14% in the extracellular and intracellular fractions, respectively. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were obviously improved by La3+ treatment, while the activities of catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were increased compared with the control. The ratio of unsaturated/saturated fatty acids in mycelia was increased from 2.94 to 3.49, indicating that the permeability and fluidity of the cell membrane were enhanced under La3+ treatment. Gene expression analysis showed that the relative expression levels of Monascus pigment synthesis genes (pksPT, mppB, mppD, MpFasB2, and MpPKS5) were significantly upregulated by La3+ treatment, and in contrast, the relative expression levels of citrinin synthesis genes (ctnA, pksCT and mppC) were markedly downregulated. This work confirmed that LaCl3 possesses the potential to induce red pigment biosynthesis and inhibit citrinin production in M. purpureus fermentation. KEY POINTS: • La3+ induced red pigment and inhibited citrinin production in Monascus fermentation. • La3+ regulated genes expression up for Monascus pigment and down for citrinin. • La3+ increased the UFAs in cell membrane to enhance the permeability and fluidity.

Lonely in a crowd: loneliness in New Zealand retirement village residents.

OBJECTIVES: The number of older people choosing to relocate to retirement villages (RVs) is increasing rapidly. This choice is often a way to decrease social isolation while still living independently. Loneliness is a significant health issue and contributes to overall frailty, yet RV resident loneliness is poorly understood. Our aim is to describe the prevalence of loneliness and associated factors in a New Zealand RV population. DESIGN: A resident survey was used to collect demographics, social engagement, loneliness, and function, as well as a comprehensive geriatric assessment (international Resident Assessment Instrument [interRAI]) as part of the "Older People in Retirement Villages Study." SETTING: RVs, Auckland, New Zealand. PARTICIPANTS: Participants included RV residents living in 33 RVs (n = 578). MEASUREMENTS: Two types of recruitment: randomly sampled cohort (n = 217) and volunteer sample (n = 361). Independently associated factors for loneliness were determined through multiple logistic regression with odds ratios (ORs). RESULTS: Of the participants, 420 (72.7%) were female, 353 (61.1%) lived alone, with the mean age of 81.3 years. InterRAI assessment loneliness (yes/no question) was 25.8% (n = 149), and the resident survey found that 37.4% (n = 216) feel lonely sometimes/often/always. Factors independently associated with interRAI loneliness included being widowed (adjusted OR 8.27; 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.15-16.48), being divorced/separated/never married (OR 4.76; 95% CI 2.15-10.54), poor/fair quality of life (OR 3.37; 95% CI 1.43-7.94), moving to an RV to gain more social connections (OR 1.55; 95% CI 0.99-2.43), and depression risk (medium risk: OR 2.58, 95% CI 1.53-4.35; high risk: OR 4.20, 95% CI 1.47-11.95). CONCLUSION: A considerable proportion of older people living in RVs reported feelings of loneliness, particularly those who were without partners, at risk of depression and decreased quality of life and those who had moved into RVs to increase social connections. Early identification of factors for loneliness in RV residents could support interventions to improve quality of life and positively impact RV resident health and well-being.

Predictive factors for entry to long-term residential care in octogenarian Maori and non-Maori in New Zealand, LiLACS NZ cohort.

BACKGROUND: Long-term residential care (LTC) supports the most vulnerable and is increasingly relevant with demographic ageing. This study aims to describe entry to LTC and identify predictive factors for older Maori (indigenous people of New Zealand) and non-Maori. METHODS: LiLACS-NZ cohort project recruited Maori and non-Maori octogenarians resident in a defined geographical area in 2010. This study used multivariable log-binomial regressions to assess factors associated with subsequent entry to LTC including: self-identified ethnicity, demographic characteristics, self-rated health, depressive symptoms and activities of daily living [ADL] as recorded at baseline. LTC entry was identified from: place of residence at LiLACS-NZ interviews, LTC subsidy, needs assessment conducted in LTC, hospital discharge to LTC, and place of death. RESULTS: Of 937 surveyed at baseline (421 Maori, 516 non-Maori), 77 already in LTC were excluded, leaving 860 participants (mean age 82.6 +/- 2.71 years Maori, 84.6 +/- 0.52 years non-Maori). Over a mean follow-up of 4.9 years, 278 (41% of non-Maori, 22% of Maori) entered LTC; of the 582 who did not, 323 (55%) were still living and may yet enter LTC. In a model including both Maori and non-Maori, independent risks factors for LTC entry were: living alone (RR = 1.52, 95%CI:1.15-2.02), self-rated health poor/fair compared to very good/excellent (RR = 1.40, 95%CI:1.12-1.77), depressive symptoms (RR = 1.28, 95%CI:1.05-1.56) and more dependent ADLs (RR = 1.09, 95%CI:1.05-1.13). For non-Maori compared to Maori the RR was 1.77 (95%CI:1.39-2.23). In a Maori-only model, predictive factors were older age and living alone. For non-Maori, factors were dependence in more ADLs and poor/fair self-rated health. CONCLUSIONS: Non-Maori participants (predominantly European) entered LTC at almost twice the rate of Maori. Factors differed between Maori and non-Maori. Potentially, the needs, preferences, expectations and/or values may differ correspondingly. Research with different cultural/ethnic groups is required to determine how these differences should inform service development.

Accelerating the oxidation of pork fat by illumination and fat oil for the production of Baijiu beverage.

BACKGROUND: Aged pork fat, deeply oxidized pork fat soaked in basic liquor for more than half a year, is an important material in producing Chi-aroma Baijiu (CAB). With the expansion of production scale of CAB, innovative strategies for efficient production of aged pork fat are in great demand. The purpose of this study is to accelerate the lipid oxidation of pork fat and improve the productivity of aged pork fat. RESULTS: Results showed that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) were the main reactant; generation reactions of lipid peroxides and free fatty acids (FFAs) were two limiting steps during the preparation of aged pork fat. Processing under illumination could alleviate the first limiting step by increasing the peroxide value and p-anisidine value of pork fat to 16.22- and 28.48-fold higher than control samples and simultaneously the PUFAs were increased to 190.60 ± 0.19 g kg-1 . Soaking in basic liquor with deeply oxidized fat oil could alleviate the second limiting step by transferring FFAs from fat oil into pork fat. With more oxidized PUFAs, the acid value of the pork fat was 7.91-fold higher than that of the control. CONCLUSION: Illumination and deeply oxidized fat oil could alleviate the two rate-limiting steps of lipid oxidation and improve the productivity of aged pork fat significantly. The results are highly applicable in the CAB industry. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Investigation of the mycelial morphology of Monascus and the expression of pigment biosynthetic genes in high-salt-stress fermentation.

Extreme environments, for example high-salt-stress condition, that can induce secondary metabolite biosynthesis in fungi are a promising and effective strategy for producing natural Monascus pigments used as food colourants and nutraceutical supplements. In this study, the relationship between the mycelial morphology and expression of pigment biosynthetic genes in high-salt-stress fermentation (HSF) with Monascus ruber CGMCC 10910 was investigated. The Monascus fungus grew well under HSF conditions with 35 g/l NaCl, and the intracellular yellow pigment yield in HSF was 40% higher than that in conventional batch fermentation (CBF). Moreover, the mycelial morphology was maintained in a better state, with a hyphal diameter of 5-6 µm in HSF, indicating good biocatalytic activity for pigment synthesis. The rate of the relative content of intracellular orange pigments to yellow pigments (O/Y) significantly (p < 0.05) changed, and the extracellular yellow pigments were transformed into each other, indicating that the pigment biosynthesis pathway was changed to promote yellow pigment accumulation in HSF. The pigment biosynthesis genes MpPKS5, MpFasB2, mppE, mppD and mppB were significantly (p < 0.05) up-regulated by approximately 58.4-106.1%, whereas the regulatory genes mppR1 and mppR2 were significantly (p < 0.05) down-regulated by approximately 23.2% and 59.0% in HSF. Notably, the mppE gene was highly correlated with (r > 0.95, p < 0.05) hyphal diameter. These findings indicated that the cultivation of the Monascus fungus under high-salt-stress conditions was beneficial for pigment biosynthesis by controlling the mycelial morphology to regulate gene expression. This study first described the relationship between the mycelial morphology and expression of pigment biosynthetic genes in Monascus during fermentation. KEY POINTS: • High-salt-stress fermentation (HSF) was first performed to improve Monascus pigment yield. • Pigment biosynthesis was enhanced by maintaining the mycelial morphology in an improved state in HSF. • Gene expression was up-/downregulated to promote yellow pigment accumulation in HSF. • The mycelial morphology was highly related to the expression of pigment biosynthetic genes in HSF.

Improving mycelial morphology and adherent growth as well as metabolism of Monascus yellow pigments using nitrate resources.

Mycelial adhesion affects cell growth and the production of water-soluble extracellular yellow pigment (EYP) in submerged fermentation with Monascus ruber CGMCC 10910. Two nitrates, NaNO3 and KNO3, were used as nitrogen sources for mitigating mycelial adhesion and improving the production of EYP in this study. The results showed that the adhesion of mycelia in the fermentation broth significantly decreased by adding 5 g/L NaNO3, which prevented mycelia from attaching to the inner wall of the Erlenmeyer flask. It was suggested that NaNO3 reduced the total amount of extracellular polysaccharides, increased extracellular proteins, and decreased the viscosity of the fermentation broth. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis revealed that the mycelial morphology was shorter and more dispersed and vigorous under NaNO3 conditions than under the control conditions. The biomass increased by 49.2% and 45.4% with 5 g/L NaNO3 and 6 g/L KNO3 treatment, respectively, compared with that of the control, and the maximum production of EYP was 267.1 and 241.8 AU350, which increased by 70.0% and 53.9% compared with that of the control, respectively. Simultaneously, the ratios of intracellular yellow pigment to orange pigment increased significantly with 5 g/L of NaNO3 addition (p < 0.05). Genetic analysis found that the expression levels of the key genes for Monascus pigment biosynthesis were significantly upregulated by NaNO3 addition (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). This study provides an effective strategy for the production of water-soluble Monascus yellow pigments.Key Points• Nitrate addition decreased mycelial adhesion and improved cell growth in Monascus pigment fermentation.• The biosynthesis genes of water-soluble extracellular yellow pigment (EYP) were upregulated by nitrate addition.• The mycelial morphology was significantly influenced to enhance EYP biosynthesis with nitrate addition.