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Influenza-related severe pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are severe threats to human health. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of systematic corticosteroid therapy in patients with pneumonia or ARDS. The PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and SCOPUS databases were searched up to July, 2019. Nineteen studies including 6637 individuals were identified, and fifteen studies (6427 patients) were included in the meta-analysis of mortality. Eighteen were observational studies and one was a randomized controlled trial (RCT). The meta-analysis results showed that corticosteroid therapy was associated with significantly higher mortality (OR 1.53, 95% CI [1.16, 2.01]) and incidence of nosocomial infection (OR 3.15, 95% CI [1.54, 6.45]). Subgroup analysis showed that among patients with unadjusted estimates, the odds of mortality were higher in patients receiving corticosteroid treatment (OR 1.98, 95% CI [1.23, 3.17]), however, among patients with adjusted estimates, the result showed no statistically significant difference between corticosteroid group and control group (OR 1.31, 95% CI [0.95, 1.80]). Current data do not support the routine use of corticosteroids in patients with influenza severe pneumonia or ARDS. RCTs are needed to provide more robust evidence.

To what extent could alcohol consumption affects female fertility is still unclear. The aim of this study was to quantitatively summarize the dose-response relation between total and specific types of alcohol beverage (beer, wine, and spirits) consumption in female and the fecundability. Four electronic databases were searched. Observational studies (cohort and case-control) that provided female alcohol consumption and fecundity were eligible. Nineteen studies, involving 98657 women, were included in this study. Compared to non-drinkers, the combined estimate (with relative risk, RR) of alcohol consumers on fecundability was 0.87 (95% CI 0.78–0.95) for overall 19 studies. Compared to non-drinkers, the pooled estimates were 0.89 (95% CI 0.82–0.97) for light drinkers (≤12.5 g/day of ethanol) and 0.77 (95% CI 0.61–0.94) for moderate-heavy drinkers (>12.5 g/day of ethanol). Moreover, compared to non-drinkers, the corresponding estimates on fecundability were 0.98 (95% CI 0.85–1.11), 1.02 (95% CI 0.99–1.05), and 0.92 (95% CI 0.83–1.01) for studies focused on wine, beer and spirits, respectively. Dose-response meta-analysis suggested a linear association between decreased fecundability and every 12.5 g/d increasing in alcohol consumption with a RR 0.98 (95% CI 0.97–0.99). This first systematic review and meta-analysis suggested that female alcohol consumption was associated with a reduced fecundability.

This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of EUS-guided ethanol injection and 125I seed brachytherapy for malignant left-sided liver tumors which were difficult for trans-abdominal intervention. The study protocol was registered at Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02816944). Twenty-six patients were consecutively and prospectively hospitalized for EUS-guided interventional treatment of refractory malignant left-sided liver tumors between June 2014 and June 2016. Liver masses were detected using EUS in 25 of 26 (96.2%) patients. EUS-guided interventional treatment was completed uneventfully in 23 of 26 (88.5%) patients using anhydrous ethanol injection (n = 10) or iodine-125 seed implantation (n = 13). Six months later, complete response was achieved in 15 of 23 (65.2%) patients and partial response in 8 of 23 (34.8%) patients. Patients with tumor residual have second-look EUS-guided interventional treatment (n = 5), radiotherapy (n = 2) or surgical resection (n = 1). Complete response was achieved after repeated interventional treatment in 3 of 5 patients who underwent second EUS-guided intervention; 2 patients required additional surgical resection but one succeed. No significant complications occurred. Therefore EUS-guided 125I seed brachytherapy is an effective and safe treatment modality for radical operation or promising palliative control of malignant left-sided liver tumors refractory to trans-abdominal intervention.

Hepatitis B was still a worldwide health problem. This study aimed to conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess a more precise estimation of factors that influence the response to hepatitis B vaccine in adults. Our included studies examined seroprotection rates close to the end of vaccination schedules in healthy adult populations. This meta-analysis including 21053 adults in 37 articles showed that a significantly decreased response to hepatitis B vaccine appeared in adults (age ≥ 40) (RR:1.86, 95% CI:1.55–2.23), male adults (RR:1.40, 95% CI:1.22–1.61), BMI ≥ 25 adults (RR:1.56, 95% CI:1.12–2.17), smoker (RR:1.53, 95% CI:1.21–1.93), and adults with concomitant disease (RR:1.39, 95% CI:1.04–1.86). Meanwhile, we further found a decreased response to hepatitis B vaccine appeared in adults (age ≥ 30) (RR:1.77, 95% CI:1.48–2.10), and adults (age ≥ 60) (RR:1.30, 95% CI:1.01–1.68). However, there were no difference in response to hepatitis B vaccine both in alcoholic (RR:0.90, 95% CI:0.64–1.26) and 0-1-12 vs. 0-1-6 vaccination schedule (RR:1.39, 95% CI:0.41–4.67). Pooling of these studies recommended the sooner the better for adult hepatitis B vaccine strategy. More vaccine doses, supplemental/additional strengthening immunity should be emphasized on the susceptible population of increasing aged, male, BMI ≥ 25, smoking and concomitant disease. The conventional 0-1-6 vaccination schedule could be still worth to be recommended.

The hepatitis B prevalence rate in adults is still at a high to intermediate level in China. Our purpose was to explore the incidence rate and protective immune barrier against hepatitis B in adults in China. A sample of 317961 participants was multi-screened for hepatitis B surface antigens (HBsAg) in a large-scale cohort of the National Hepatitis B Demonstration Project. A total of 5401 persons were newly-infected, representing an incidence rate of 0.81 (95% CI: 0.77–0.85) per 100 person-years after adjusted by gender and age. History of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, birth prior to 1992, coastal residence, family history of HBV and migrant worker status were significantly associated with higher incidence, while HBV vaccination and greater exercise with lower incidence. The hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb) positive rate was negatively correlated with the incidence rate of hepatitis B (r = −0.826). Linear fitting yielded an incidence rate of 1.23 plus 0.02 multiplied by HBsAb positive rate. The study firstly identified the HBsAg incidence rate, which was reduced to 0.1 per 100 person-years after vaccination coverage of about 64%. The protective immune barrier against hepatitis B needs to be established in individuals born prior to the advent of infant HBV vaccination.

Ultrahigh density well-registered oxide nanocapacitors are very essential for large scale integrated microelectronic devices. We report the fabrication of well-ordered multiferroic BiFeO3 nanocapacitor arrays by a combination of pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method and anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template method. The capacitor cells consist of BiFeO3/SrRuO3 (BFO/SRO) heterostructural nanodots on conductive Nb-doped SrTiO3 (Nb-STO) substrates with a lateral size of ~60 nm. These capacitors also show reversible polarization domain structures and well-established piezoresponse hysteresis loops. Moreover, apparent current-rectification and resistive switching behaviors were identified in these nanocapacitor cells using conductive-AFM technique, which are attributed to the polarization modulated p-n junctions. These make it possible to utilize these nanocapacitors in high-density (>100 Gbit/inch2) nonvolatile memories and other oxide nanoelectronic devices.

Graphene is an emerging class of two-dimensional (2D) material with unique electrical properties and a wide range of potential practical applications. In addition, graphene hybrid structures combined with other 2D materials, metal microstructures, silicon photonic crystal cavities, and waveguides have more extensive applications in van der Waals heterostructures, hybrid graphene plasmonics, hybrid optoelectronic devices, and optical modulators. Based on well-developed transfer methods, graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is currently used in most of the graphene hybrid applications. Although mechanical exfoliation of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite provides the highest-quality graphene, the transfer of the desired microcleaving graphene (MG) to the structure at a specific position is a critical challenge, that limits the combination of MG with other structures. Herein, we report a new technique for the selective transfer of MG patterns and devices onto chosen targets using a bilayer-polymer structure and femtosecond laser microfabrication. This selective transfer technique, which exactly transfers the patterned graphene onto a chosen target, leaving the other flakes on the original substrate, provides an efficient route for the fabrication of MG-based microdevices. This method will facilitate the preparation of van der Waals heterostructures and enable the optimization of the performance of graphene hybrid devices., 22 pages, 5 figures,Letter