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Hyperhomocysteinaemia (HHcy) is associated with all-cause mortality in some disease states. However, the correlation between HHcy and the risk of mortality in the general population has rarely been researched. We aimed to evaluate the association between HHcy and all-cause and cause-specific mortality among adults in the USA. This study analysed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey database (1999–2002 survey cycle). A multivariable Cox regression model was built to evaluate the correlation between HHcy and all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Smooth curve fitting was used to analyse their dose-dependent relationship. A total of 8442 adults aged 18–70 years were included in this study. After a median follow-up period of 14·7 years, 1007 (11·9 %) deaths occurred including 197 CVD-related deaths, 255 cancer-related deaths and fifty-eight respiratory disease deaths. The participants with HHcy had a 93 % increased risk of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio (HR) 1·93; 95 % CI (1·48, 2·51)), 160 % increased risk of CVD mortality (HR 2·60; 95 % CI (1·52, 4·45)) and 82 % increased risk of cancer mortality (HR 1·82; 95 % CI (1·03, 3·21)) compared with those without HHcy. For unmeasured confounding, E-value analysis proved to be robust. In conclusion, HHcy was associated with high risk of all-cause and cause-specific (CVD, cancer) mortality among adults aged below 70 years.
Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) virus has caused a large number of human infections since discovered in 2009. This study elucidated epidemiological features and fatal risk factors of SFTS cases accumulated up to ten years in Taizhou, a coastal prefecture of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. A total of 188 hospitalised SFTS cases (including 40 deaths) reported to Taizhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during 2011–2020 were enrolled in the study. In the past decade, the annual incidence of SFTS increased over the years (P < 0.001) along with an expanding epidemic area, and the case fatality of hospitalised cases has remained high (21.3%). Although most cases occurred in hilly areas, a coastal island had the highest incidence and case fatality. The majority of cases were over the age of 60 years (72.3%), and both incidence and case fatality of SFTS increased with age. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age (OR 7.47, 95% CI 1.32–42.33; P = 0.023), and haemorrhagic manifestations including petechiae (OR 7.76, 95% CI 1.17–51.50; P = 0.034), gingival haemorrhage (OR 5.38, 95% CI 1.25–23.15; P = 0.024) and melena (OR 5.75, 95% CI 1.18–28.07; P = 0.031) were significantly associated with the death of SFTS cases. Five family clusters identified were farmers, among four of which the index patients were female with a history of hypertension. Based on the study, age is a critical risk factor for incidence and case fatality of SFTS. With an increased annual incidence over the last ten years, SFTS remains a public health threat that should not be ignored. Further study is needed to look at the natural foci in the coastal islands.
Cap-shaped skeletal fossils are the earliest undisputed body fossils of mollusks appearing in the basal Cambrian. A study on the morphometry of cap-shaped fossils from the Nanjiang area (North Sichuan, China) is undertaken to understand the origin and evolution of the early mollusks. The distribution of these fossil cap-shaped mollusks indicates a stepwise increase in their diversity during the early Cambrian. Maikhanella Zhegallo in Voronin et al., 1982 co-occuring with the spinose sclerites of siphogonuchitids, is regarded as the earliest scleritized mollusk. It is followed by other maikhanellids, e.g., Purella Missarzhevsky, 1974 and Yunnanopleura Yu, 1987, which co-occur with the earliest univalved helcionellids, e.g., Igorella Missarzhevsky in Rozanov et al., 1969. Cluster analysis of their morphometric characteristics shows that the Maikhanella group is similar to the Purella and Yunnanopleura groups, but is less comparable with univalved helcionellids. The maikhanellids are interpreted as representatives of the stem group Aculifera, although it remains uncertain if one or two larger cap-shaped shell plates were present on the elongate slug-like body, comparable to those of Halkieria Poulsen, 1967 or Orthrozanclus Conway Morris and Caron, 2007. Maikhanellids are characterized by the prominent protrusions or scales on the cap-shaped shell plates arranged in a concentric pattern around the shell apex. Evolutionarily, the protrusions or scales are reduced in younger strata, whereas subsequently a typically concentric ornament developed, the cap-shaped shell plates developed higher profiles, and the apical region became increasingly bare of scales. Meanwhile, the cap-shaped shell plates gradually evolved into a helcionellid-like appearance with an anteroposteriorly inclined apex. The morphological evolution of the earliest sclerotized mollusks reflects biotic evolution and environmental adaption among the stem-group mollusks during the early Cambrian.
The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is sweeping the world, threatening millions of lives and drastically altering our ways of living. According to current studies, failure to either activate or eliminate inflammatory responses timely and properly at certain stages could result in the progression of the disease. In other words, robust immune responses to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are critical. However, they do not theoretically present in some special groups of people, including the young, the aged, patients with autoimmunity or cancer. Differences also do occur between men and women. Our immune system evolves to ensure delicate coordination at different stages of life. The innate immune cells mainly consisted of myeloid lineage cells, including neutrophils, basophils, eosinophils, dendritic cells and mast cells; they possess phagocytic capacity to different degrees at different stages of life. They are firstly recruited upon infection and may activate the adaptive immunity when needed. The adaptive immune cells, on the other way, are comprised mainly of lymphoid lineages. As one grows up, the adaptive immunity matures and expands its memory repertoire, accompanied by an adjustment in quantity and quality. In this review, we would summarise and analyse the immunological characteristics of these groups from the perspective of the immune system ‘evolution’ as well as ‘revolution’ that has been studied and speculated so far, which would aid the comprehensive understanding of COVID-19 and personalised-treatment strategy.
In China, most cities have gradually controlled the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and brought coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) under control locally. This means that crucial work has shifted from internal management of the pandemic to external prevention and control, especially management of international travelers and imported goods. There is much uncertainty about variants of concern for SARS-CoV-2, which pose challenges to the steady resumption of social and economic life once the mutant strains begin to spread. The sporadic outbreaks of COVID-19 in different provinces of China caused by these mutant strains emphasizes the need for both prevention and control measures. Therefore, we introduce China’s experience with preventing and controlling COVID-19 in the postpandemic period, which may serve as a reference in various settings.
We aimed to investigate the relationship between the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and nutritional parameters in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. In this cross-sectional study, 187 non-dialysis CKD patients were enrolled. Daily dietary energy intake (DEI) and daily dietary protein intake (DPI) were assessed by 3-d dietary records. Protein-energy wasting (PEW) was defined as Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) class B and C. Spearman correlation analysis, logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were performed. The median NLR was 2·51 (1·83, 3·83). Patients with CKD stage 5 had the highest NLR level. A total of 19·3 % (n 36) of patients suffered from PEW. The NLR was positively correlated with SGA and serum P, and the NLR was negatively correlated with BMI, waist and hip circumference, triceps skinfold thickness, mid-arm muscle circumference, DPI and Hb. Multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for DPI, DEI, serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, uric acid and Hb showed that a high NLR was an independent risk factor for PEW (OR = 1·393, 95 % CI 1·078, 1·800, P = 0·011). ROC analysis showed that an NLR ≥ 2·62 had the ability to identify PEW among CKD patients, with a sensitivity of 77·8 %, a specificity of 62·3 % and an AUC of 0·71 (95 % CI 0·63, 0·81, P < 0·001). The NLR was closely associated with nutritional status. NLR may be an indicator of PEW in CKD patients.
The present study evaluated whether fat mass assessment using the triceps skinfold (TSF) thickness provides additional prognostic value to the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) framework in patients with lung cancer (LC). We performed an observational cohort study including 2672 LC patients in China. Comprehensive demographic, disease and nutritional characteristics were collected. Malnutrition was retrospectively defined using the GLIM criteria, and optimal stratification was used to determine the best thresholds for the TSF. The associations of malnutrition and TSF categories with survival were estimated independently and jointly by calculating multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HR). Malnutrition was identified in 808 (30·2 %) patients, and the best TSF thresholds were 9·5 mm in men and 12 mm in women. Accordingly, 496 (18·6 %) patients were identified as having a low TSF. Patients with concurrent malnutrition and a low TSF had a 54 % (HR = 1·54, 95 % CI = 1·25, 1·88) greater death hazard compared with well-nourished individuals, which was also greater compared with malnourished patients with a normal TSF (HR = 1·23, 95 % CI = 1·06, 1·43) or malnourished patients without TSF assessment (HR = 1·31, 95 % CI = 1·14, 1·50). These associations were concentrated among those patients with adequate muscle mass (as indicated by the calf circumference). Additional fat mass assessment using the TSF enhances the prognostic value of the GLIM criteria. Using the population-derived thresholds for the TSF may provide significant prognostic value when used in combination with the GLIM criteria to guide strategies to optimise the long-term outcomes in patients with LC.
We derive an analytical approximation for the price of a credit default swap (CDS) contract under a regime-switching Black–Scholes model. To achieve this, we first derive a general formula for the CDS price, and establish the relationship between the unknown no-default probability and the price of a down-and-out binary option written on the same reference asset. Then we present a two-step procedure: the first step assumes that all the future information of the Markov chain is known at the current time and presents an approximation for the conditional price under a time-dependent Black–Scholes model, based on which the second step derives the target option pricing formula written in a Fourier cosine series. The efficiency and accuracy of the newly derived formula are demonstrated through numerical experiments.
Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato has complex defence mechanisms that protect it from the anti-parasitic immune response for long periods. Echinococcus granulosus cyst fluid (EgCF) is involved in the immune escape. Nevertheless, whether and how EgCF modulates the inflammatory response in macrophages remains poorly understood. Here, real-time polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay revealed that EgCF could markedly attenuate the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced production of pro-inflammatory factors including tumour necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-12 and IL-6 but increase the expression of IL-10 at mRNA and protein levels in mouse peritoneal macrophages and RAW 264.7 cells. Mechanically, western blotting and immunofluorescence assay showed that EgCF abolished the activation of nuclear factor (NF)-κB p65, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and ERK1/2 signalling pathways by LPS stimulation in mouse macrophages. EgCF's anti-inflammatory role was at least partly contributed by promoting proteasomal degradation of the critical adaptor TRAF6. Moreover, the EgCF-promoted anti-inflammatory response and TRAF6 proteasomal degradation were conserved in human THP-1 macrophages. These findings collectively reveal a novel mechanism by which EgCF suppresses inflammatory responses by inhibiting TRAF6 and the downstream activation of NF-κB and MAPK signalling in both human and mouse macrophages, providing new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the E. granulosus-induced immune evasion.
To investigate the clinical impact of ventilator-associated events (VAEs) on adverse prognoses and risk factors for mortality among intensive care unit (ICU) patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) based on an ICU healthcare-associated infection (ICU-HAI) registry.
Design:
A cohort study was conducted based on an ICU-HAI registry including 30,830 patients between 2015 and 2018.
Setting:
The study was conducted using data from 5 adult ICUs of a referral hospital.
Patients:
Adult patients in the ICU-HAI registry who received ≥4 consecutive IMV days.
Methods:
Clinical outcomes and mortality risk factors for VAEs were analyzed using propensity score matching (PSM), multivariate regression models, and sensitivity analyses.
Results:
Of 6,426 included patients, 1,803 developed 1,899 VAEs. After PSM, patients with VAEs did have prolonged length of stay in the ICU and in the hospital, increased hospitalization costs, longer days on mechanical ventilation, higher proportion of ≥9 days on mechanical ventilation, higher rate of failure in extubating mechanical ventilation, and excess all-cause mortality in the ICU. Older age (adjusted OR [aOR], 1.02), higher APACHE II score on ICU admission (aOR, 1.06), pneumonia (aOR, 1.49), blood transfusion (aOR 1.43), immunosuppressive drugs (aOR, 1.69), central-line catheter (aOR, 2.06), and ≥2 VAEs in the ICU (aOR, 1.99) were associated with higher risks for all-cause mortality in an ICU.
Conclusions:
Patients with VAEs indeed had poorer clinical outcomes. Older age, higher APACHE II score on ICU admission, pneumonia, blood transfusion, immunosuppressive drugs, central-line catheter, and ≥2 VAEs in the ICU were risk factors for all-cause mortality of VAE patients in the ICU.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a major threat to the public. However, the comprehensive profile of suicidal ideation among the general population has not been systematically investigated in a large sample in the age of COVID-19.
Methods
A national online cross-sectional survey was conducted between February 28, 2020 and March 11, 2020 in a representative sample of Chinese adults aged 18 years and older. Suicidal ideation was assessed using item 9 of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. The prevalence of suicidal ideation and its risk factors was evaluated.
Results
A total of 56,679 participants (27,149 males and 29,530 females) were included. The overall prevalence of suicidal ideation was 16.4%, including 10.9% seldom, 4.1% often, and 1.4% always suicidal ideation. The prevalence of suicidal ideation was higher in males (19.1%) and individuals aged 18–24 years (24.7%) than in females (14.0%) and those aged 45 years and older (11.9%). Suicidal ideation was more prevalent in individuals with suspected or confirmed infection (63.0%), frontline workers (19.2%), and people with pre-existing mental disorders (41.6%). Experience of quarantine, unemployed, and increased psychological stress during the pandemic were associated with an increased risk of suicidal ideation and its severity. However, paying more attention to and gaining a better understanding of COVID-19-related knowledge, especially information about psychological interventions, could reduce the risk.
Conclusions
The estimated prevalence of suicidal ideation among the general population in China during COVID-19 was significant. The findings will be important for improving suicide prevention strategies during COVID-19.
In this article, we discuss the backgrounds and technical details about several smart manufacturing projects in a tier-one electronics manufacturing facility. We devise a process to manage logistic forecast and inventory preparation for electronic parts using historical data and a recurrent neural network to achieve significant improvement over current methods. We present a system for automatically qualifying laptop software for mass production through computer vision and automation technology. The result is a reliable system that can save hundreds of man-years in the qualification process. Finally, we create a deep learning-based algorithm for visual inspection of product appearances, which requires significantly less defect training data compared to traditional approaches. For production needs, we design an automatic optical inspection machine suitable for our algorithm and process. We also discuss the issues for data collection and enabling smart manufacturing projects in a factory setting, where the projects operate on a delicate balance between process innovations and cost-saving measures.
The objective of this study was to delineate the characteristics and incidence of congenital heart disease (CHD) in patients with isolated microtia and to determine whether the prevalence of CHD among patients with isolated microtia increases with the severity of microtia.
Methods:
A total of 804 consecutive patients had a pre-operative colour Doppler echocardiographic examination. A retrospective study was performed with the clinical and imaging data from November, 2017 to January, 2019. The χ2 test was performed to analyse the interaction between isolated microtia and CHD.
Results:
With the colour Doppler echocardiographic examination’s data from 804 consecutive isolated microtia patients, we found CHD, including atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect, tetralogy of Fallot, patent ductus arteriosus, and others, occurred in 52 of 804 patients (6.5%). Atrial septal defect prevalence in patients with isolated microtia was significantly higher than ventricular septal defect (24/804 versus 11/804, p < 0.05) and patent ductus arteriosus (24/804 versus 2/804, p < 0.001). Ventricular septal defect prevalence in patients with isolated microtia was significantly higher than patent ductus arteriosus (11/804 versus 2/804, p < 0.05). All four types of microtia (concha-type microtia, small concha-type microtia, lobule-type microtia, and anotia) had similar incidences of CHD with no difference in the incidences among these types (p > 0.05 respectively). Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the incidence of the atrial septal defect among the four subtypes (p > 0.05 respectively). Similarly, ventricular septal defect and patent ductus arteriosus also showed no differences (p > 0.05 respectively).
Conclusions:
The overall incidences of CHD and three most common CHD subtypes (atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect, and patent ductus arteriosus) in patients with isolated microtia are higher than general population. The prevalence of CHD among patients with isolated microtia does not increase with the severity of microtia. According to our experience in this study, we suggest colour Doppler echocardiographic imaging should be performed for isolated microtia patients soon after birth if possible. Furthermore, for the plastic surgeon and anaesthesiologist, it is important to take pre-operative colour Doppler echocardiographic images which can help evaluate heart function to ensure the safety of the peri-operative period. Future studies when investigating CHDs associated with isolated microtia could focus on genetic and molecular mechanisms.
To evaluate the effects of dietary Ca intake and Ca supplementation during pregnancy on low birth weight (LBW) and small for gestational age (SGA) infants.
Design:
A birth cohort study was conducted in 2010–2012 at the Gansu Provincial Maternity and Child Care Hospital in Lanzhou, China.
Setting:
A birth cohort study.
Participants:
Totally, 9595 pregnant women who came to the hospital for delivery at 20 weeks of gestation or more, and who were 18 years of age or older.
Results:
Compared with non-users, Ca supplement users had a reduced risk of LBW infants (OR = 0·77, 95 % CI: 0·63, 0·95) and a reduced risk of nulliparous women giving birth to LBW infants (OR = 0·75, 95 % CI: 0·58, 0·98) (P < 0·05). More specifically, both the use of Ca supplement before conception and during pregnancy (OR = 0·44, 95 % CI: 0·19, 0·99) and during pregnancy only (OR = 0·80, 95 % CI: 0·65, 0·99) had the main effect of reducing risk of nulliparous women giving birth to LBW infants (P < 0·05). There was no association between Ca supplementation and SGA (OR = 0·87, 95 % CI: 0·75, 1·01) (P > 0·05). However, higher dietary Ca intake during pregnancy decreases the risk of both LBW (quartile 2: OR = 0·72, 95 % CI: 0·55, 0·94; quartile 3: OR = 0·68, 95 % CI: 0·50, 0·62) and SGA infants (quartile 2: OR = 0·77, 95 % CI: 0·63, 0·95; quartile 3: OR = 0·71, 95 % CI: 0·57, 0·88, quartile 4: OR = 0·71, 95 % CI: 0·57, 0·88) (P < 0·05).
Conclusions:
Ca supplementation and adequate dietary intake of Ca during pregnancy are associated with a decreased risk of LBW infants born to nulliparous women.
The accurate prediction of turbulent mixing induced by Rayleigh–Taylor (R–T), Richtmyer–Meshkov (R–M) and Kelvin–Helmholtz (K–H) instabilities is very important in understanding natural phenomena and improving engineering applications. In applications, the prediction of mixing with the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equation remains the most widely used method. The RANS method involves two aspects, i.e. physical modelling and model coefficients. Generally, the latter is determined empirically; thus, there is a lack of universality. In this paper, inspired by the well-known Reynolds decomposition, we propose a methodology to determine the model coefficients with the following three steps: (i) preset a set of analytical RANS solutions by fully using the knowledge of mixing evolutions; (ii) simplify the differential RANS equations to algebraic equations by imposing the preset solutions to RANS equations; (iii) solve the algebraic equations approximately to give the values of the entire model coefficients. The specific application of this methodology in the widely used K–L mixing model shows that, using the same set of model coefficients determined from the current methodology, the K–L model successfully predicts the mixing evolutions in terms of different physical quantities (e.g. temporal scalings and spatial profiles), density ratios and problems (e.g. R–T, R–M, K–H and reshocked R–M mixings). It is possible to extend this methodology to other turbulence models characterised with self-similar evolutions, such as K-$\epsilon$ mixing models.
Teenagers are important carriers of Neisseria meningitidis, which is a leading cause of invasive meningococcal disease. In China, the carriage rate and risk factors among teenagers are unclear. The present study presents a retrospective analysis of epidemiological data for N. meningitidis carriage from 2013 to 2017 in Suizhou city, China. The carriage rates were 3.26%, 2.22%, 3.33%, 3.53% and 9.88% for 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively. From 2014 to 2017, the carriage rate in the 15- to 19-year-old age group (teenagers) was the highest and significantly higher than that in remain age groups. Subsequently, a larger scale survey (December 2017) for carriage rate and relative risk factors (population density, time spent in the classroom, gender and antibiotics use) were investigated on the teenagers (15- to 19-year-old age) at the same school. The carriage rate was still high at 33.48% (223/663) and varied greatly from 6.56% to 52.94% in a different class. Population density of the classroom was found to be a significant risk factor for carriage, and 1.4 persons/m2 is recommended as the maximum classroom density. Further, higher male gender ratio and more time spent in the classroom were also significantly associated with higher carriage. Finally, antibiotic use was associated with a significantly lower carriage rate. All the results imply that attention should be paid to the teenagers and various measures can be taken to reduce the N. meningitidis carriage, to prevent and control the outbreak of IMD.
Eating disorders (ED) have increasingly become a global topic of concern for public health. A better understanding of ED incidence is a basic requirement for improving its management. However, the temporal trend of ED incidence in China is still unknown.
Methods
The incidence rates of ED from 1990 to 2017 were collected from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 database according to the following: subtype, i.e. anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN); sex; and age group. The average annual percent changes and relative risks were calculated using joinpoint regression and the age–period–cohort model, respectively.
Results
From 1990 to 2017, age-standardized incidence rates of ED continued to increase in males and females, and this variation trend was observed in AN and BN. Joinpoint regression analysis showed that the incidence rates increased in all age groups. Adolescents had the highest risk of developing ED, followed by young adults. Age effects were the most influential risk factor for ED incidence. Period effects showed that the risk of developing ED continuously increased with increasing time periods in BN, but not in ED and AN. Concerning the cohort effects, people born after the 1990s presented a higher risk of ED, though they presented a lower risk of BN as compared to the whole cohort.
Conclusions
ED incidence rates continue to increase in China, particularly among adolescents and young adults. Further etiological studies are needed to explain these increases and to facilitate the early identification of high-risk individuals.