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Background. Little is known of the acute effects of ezetimibe in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) undergoing PCI. We investigated whether ezetimibe improves inflammation and vascular endothelial function in patients with ACS undergoing PCI. Methods. We randomized 171 patients with ACS undergoing PCI to receive ezetimibe 10 mg/day plus rosuvastatin 20 mg/day (combination group, n = 81) versus rosuvastatin 20 mg/day (rosuvastatin group, n = 90). Lipid profile, type II secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2-IIa), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), and intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) were measured at baseline and after 7 days. Three months after PCI, clinical outcomes were examined. Result. The levels of sPLA2-IIa and IL-1β reduced significantly in both groups, but more when ezetimibe and rosuvastatin were coadministered (sPLA2-IIa: 6.16 ± 2.67 vs. 7.42 ± 3.53 ng/ml, p = 0.01 ; IL-1β: 37.39 ± 26.25 vs. 48.98 ± 32.26 pg/ml, p = 0.01 ). A significant rise of VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 was observed on day 7 after PCI in the both groups, but was less in the combination group (VCAM-1: 918.28 ± 235.31 vs. 988.54 ± 194.41 ng/ml, p = 0.03 ; ICAM-1: 213.01 ± 100.15 vs. 246.88 ± 105.71 ng/ml, p = 0.03 ). Patients in the combination versus rosuvastatin group appeared to suffer from less major adverse events. Periprocedural therapy of ezetimibe improves rosuvastatin effects on proinflammatory responses and endothelial function associated with ACS patients undergoing PCI. This trial is registered with https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/ChiCTR-IPR-17012219 (Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, http://www.chictr.org.cn on 02/08/2017).

Background: Recent findings suggest a possible role of diet, particularly nutrient intakes and dietary patterns, in the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI); few studies, however, have been explicitly devoted to the relationship between dietary habits and MCI. Objectives: We aimed to explore the association between dietary habits, including meal timing, and MCI among older Chinese adults. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved data collected at the baseline of the Tianjin Elderly Nutrition and Cognition Cohort (TENCC) study, in which 3,111 community-dwelling older adults (326 MCI patients and 2,785 non-MCIs) from a rural area of Tianjin, China, were recruited. In March 2018 to June 2019, all participants underwent a detailed neuropsychological evaluation that allowed for psychometric MCI classification. Information on self-reported dietary behaviors was gathered via face-to-face interviews. Crude and multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using logistic regression models. Results: In the multivariable-adjusted models, eating breakfast 4 to 6 times per week (vs. ≤3 times per week, OR: 0.45; 95% CI: 0.26, 0.75), drinking water before breakfast (yes vs. no, OR: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.51, 0.82), consuming water ≥1.5L per day (vs. Conclusion : This study suggests that dietary habits, including breakfast frequency, daily water consumption, cooking oil consumption, and meal timing, may be associated with the risk of MCI. If replicated, these findings would open new possibilities of dietary interventions for MCI.

With an aging population, late-life depression has been a major health problem in rural China. This study aims to explore the gender-specific prevalence of geriatric depression in rural Tianjin, its influencing factors, and to provide a scientific basis for the prevention and intervention of depression in the elderly.A cross-sectional study of 4,933 elderly individuals in rural Tianjin was conducted using the cluster sampling method. The independent samples t-test and chi-squared test were used to assess differences in participants' characteristics by depressive symptoms, while multiple linear regressions and multiple logistic regressions were used to analyze the potential influencing factors of depression.The prevalence of geriatric depression was found to be 12.2% in the study participants (9.5% in men and 14.5% in women). Gender, education, household income, employment, living alone, social activities, physical exercise and chronic diseases were associated with depression (P0.05). In addition to the above factors, sleep duration was also related with scores on self-rating depression scale (P0.05).The study used a cross-sectional approach, so causation cannot be concluded.Late-life depression is a serious mental health issue in rural China, highlighting the importance of appropriate diagnosis and treatment as a priority to improve the quality of mental health.

Background: Handgrip strength (HGS) and serum folate and homocysteine (Hcy) levels were associated with cognitive function. However, little was known whether there were interactions between HGS and serum folate and Hcy levels on cognitive function. Objective: To examine the interactions between HGS and serum folate and Hcy levels on cognitive function. Methods: This study analyzed the baseline data of the Tianjin Elderly Nutrition and Cognition Cohort study. All participants aged ≥60 years were potential eligible. HGS was measured using a grip strength dynamometer. Serum folate and Hcy levels were assayed using standard laboratory protocol. A Mini-Mental State Examination was used to assess cognitive function. Linear regressions were employed to examine the interactions between HGS and serum folate and Hcy levels on cognitive function. Results: 4,484 participants were included in this study. There were interactions between HGS and serum folate and Hcy levels on cognitive function. Furthermore, subjects with strong HGS and sufficient folate level had the best cognitive function (β= 2.018), sequentially followed by those with strong HGS and insufficient folate level (β= 1.698) and with poor HGS and sufficient folate level (β= 0.873). Similarly, cognitive function was ranked in the descending order of subjects with strong HGS and normal Hcy level (β= 1.971), strong HGS and high Hcy level (β= 1.467), and poor HGS and normal Hcy level (β= 0.657). Conclusion: There were interactions between HGS and serum folate and Hcy levels on cognitive function. However, the temporal associations cannot be examined in a cross-sectional study. Further cohort study should be conducted to confirm these associations in the future.

SUMMARY: This study estimates causality of physical activity (PA) on bone mineral density (BMD) by conducting multivariable Mendelian randomization (MR). The findings suggest that habitual vigorous PA increases lumbar spine BMD, and higher overall acceleration average would improve forearm BMD. The results could promote PA intervention targeting individuals with optimized type. INTRODUCTION: Evidence from epidemiologic studies showed type, frequency, and duration of PA influenced BMD. However, these observational studies may be confounded by many factors, resulting in spurious associations. We aimed to conduct multivariable MR to estimate the causal effect of self-reported and device-measured PA on osteoporosis. METHODS: Three self-reported and two device-measured PA-related traits were selected as exposures. Outcomes were BMD at different skeletal sites: femoral neck BMD (FN BMD), lumbar spine BMD (LS BMD), and forearm BMD (FA BMD). Exposure datasets were obtained from UK Biobank with total 377,234 subjects. Outcome datasets were obtained from GEFOS consortium with 53,236 subjects. Standard MR analysis and multivariable MR were conducted to assess the total and direct causal effect of PA on BMD. RESULTS: For self-reported PA, inverse-normalized moderate-to-vigorous had a direct causal effect on FN BMD independently (β = − 1.116 (95% confidence interval, 95%CI: − 2.210, − 0.023), P = 0.045); vigorous PA showed a direct effect (β = 3.592 (95%CI: 0.310, 6.874), P = 0.032) on LS BMD independently. While overall acceleration average and fraction of accelerations both had a direct causal effect on FA BMD independently. CONCLUSIONS: Habitual vigorous PA could increase LS BMD. Individuals with higher overall acceleration average would have a higher FA BMD.

Unlike traditional two-dimensional layered materials, tellurium (Te) shows its one-dimensional van der Waals structure and triggers intensive researches. Through a density functional theory coupled with the nonequilibrium Green’s function calculation, we found that bilayer tellurene has a broad photoelectric response over the range from the visible to the near-infrared region. Besides, bilayer tellurene photodetector presents an ultra-strong anisotropic photo-responsivity and an ultra-high extinction ratio (~2812 at the photon energy of 3.4 eV) because of its non-layer/chain structure, which is superior to the antimonene (~145) and phosphorene/blue phosphorene bilayers (~240). Time-domain first principle study further reveals that the ultra-strong anisotropy comes from the transition of Te 5p bonding orbitals along or perpendicular to the chain directions. With these excellent optoelectronic merits, bilayer tellurene may become a promising candidate for next-generation photoelectronic devices.

Background The nutrition state plays an important role in the progress of aging. Folate may play a role in protecting mitochondrial (mt) DNA by reducing oxidative stress. Objective The primary aim of this study was to examine the association of mitochondrial oxidative damage with risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and to explore the possible role of folate metabolites in this association in a matched case-control study. Methods Serum folate metabolites and mitochondrial function in peripheral blood cells were determined in 82 AD cases and 82 healthy controls, individually matched by age, gender, and education. Results AD patients had lower serum levels of folate and higher homocysteine (Hcy) concentration. AD patients had a reduced mtDNA copy number, higher mtDNA deletions, and increased 8-OHdG content in mtDNA indicative of reduced mitochondrial function. The highest level of mtDNA copy number would decrease the risk of AD (OR = 0.157, 95% CI: 0.058-0.422) compared to the lowest level, independently of serum folate, and Hcy levels. Serum folate levels correlated with low 8-OHdG content in mtDNA both in AD patients and controls, independently of serum Hcy level. Moreover, serum Hcy levels correlated with low copy number in mtDNA both in AD patients and controls, independently of serum folate levels. Conclusion In conclusion, mitochondrial function in peripheral blood cells could be associated with risk of AD independent of multiple covariates. AD patients with a folate deficiency or hyperhomocysteinemia had low mitochondrial function in peripheral blood cells. However, further randomized controlled trials are need to determine a causal effect.

Purpose: Esophageal cancer is a common malignant tumor that develops rapidly and has a poor prognosis clinically. Astaxanthin (AST) is a carotenoid pigment with strong antioxidant, anti-inflammation, and antitumor activities. However, little is known about the effects of astaxanthin in esophageal cancer. The present study aimed to investigate the protective effects and related mechanisms of natural astaxanthin against N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine (NMBA)-induced esophageal cancer in rats. Methods: F344 rats were induced subcutaneously with NMBA dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (0.35 mg/kg body weight three times per week for 5 weeks). Rats were fed normal diets with or without 25 mg/kg/day AST at different stages. At different time points, levels of oxidative stress factors in serum and esophagus tissue were analyzed. Western blotting was performed to observe the expression of NFκB and COX2 in esophagus tissue. Results: AST clearly reduced the incidence of visible tumors in esophageal cancer during the early-stage intervention group. Furthermore, when compared with the simple exposed group, AST significantly increased levels of GPx and SOD activity, decreased the activity level of malondialdehyde (all P

Objective: To explore the relationship between dietary inflammatory index (DII) and heart failure (HF) in participants with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.Methods: NHANES (1998–2018) data were collected and used to assess the association of HF with DII. Twenty-four-hour dietary consumptions were used to calculate the scores of DII. Demographic characteristics and physical and laboratory examinations were collected for the comparison between HF and non-HF groups. Logistic regression analysis and random forest analysis were performed to calculate the odds rate and determine the potential beneficial dietary components in HF.Results: A total of 19,067 cardiac-cerebral vascular disease participants were categorized as HF (n = 1,382; 7.25%) and non-HF (n = 17,685; 92.75%) groups. Heart failure participants had higher levels of DII score compared with those in the non-HF group (0.239 ± 1.702 vs. −0.145 ± 1.704, p < 0.001). Compared with individuals with T1 (DII: −3.884 to −0.570) of DII, those in T3 (DII: 1.019 to 4.598) had a higher level of total cholesterol (4.49 ± 1.16 vs. 4.75 ± 1.28 mmol/L, p < 0.01), globulin (29.92 ± 5.37 vs. 31.29 ± 5.84 g/L, p < 0.001), and pulse rate (69.90 ± 12.22 vs. 72.22 ± 12.77, p < 0.001) and lower levels of albumin (40.76 ± 3.52 vs. 39.86 ± 3.83 g/L, p < 0.001), hemoglobin (13.76 ± 1.65 vs. 13.46 ± 1.77 g/dl, p < 0.05), and hematocrit (40.83 ± 4.69 vs. 40.17 ± 5.01%, p < 0.05). The odds rates of HF for DII from the logistic regression were 1.140, 1.158, and 1.110 in models 1, 2, and 3, respectively. In addition, from the results of random forest analysis, dietary magnesium, fiber, and beta carotene may be essential in HF.Conclusion: Dietary inflammatory index was positively associated with HF in US adults, and dietary intervention might be a promising method in the therapy of HF.

BackgroundThe prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) challenges the Chinese health system reform. Little is known for the differences in catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) between urban and rural households with NCD patients. This study aims to measure the differences above and quantify the contribution of each variable in explaining the urban-rural differences.MethodsUnbalanced panel data were obtained from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) conducted between 2012 and 2018. The techniques of Fairlie nonlinear decomposition and Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition were employed to measure the contribution of each independent variable to the urban-rural differences.ResultsThe CHE incidence and intensity of households with NCD patients were significantly higher in rural areas than in urban areas.The urban-rural differences in CHE incidence increased from 8.07% in 2012 to 8.18% in 2018, while the urban-rural differences in CHE intensity decreased from 2.15% in 2012 to 2.05% in 2018. From 2012 to 2018, the disparity explained by household income and self-assessed health status of household head increased to some extent. During the same period, the contribution of education attainment to the urban-rural differences in CHE incidence decreased, while the contribution of education attainment to the urban-rural differences in CHE intensity increased slightly.ConclusionsCompared with urban households with NCD patients, rural households with NCD patients had higher risk of incurring CHE and heavier economic burden of diseases. There was no substantial change in urban-rural inequality in the incidence and intensity of CHE in 2018 compared to 2012. Policy interventions should give priority to improving the household income, education attainment and health awareness of rural patients with NCDs.

With the increasing prosperity of the global economy, the protection and sustainable development of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) are being confronted with many problems, among which the difficulty of passing on ICH, particularly traditional handicraft, from masters to apprentices should be given attention. The main purpose of the study is, from the perspective of knowledge transfer and incentive mechanisms, to explore how to mobilize the positive factors to promote the successful implementation of passing on ICH. On the basis of identifying the key influencing factors of ICH knowledge transfer and establishing the payoff matrix between masters and apprentices, this study uses replicator dynamic equations to analyze strategy choices in different situations and verifies the impacts of these factors on passing on ICH through data simulation. The study draws the following main conclusions: (1) Increases in variables e, a, v, Ju, Jd, Ku, and Kd will drive up the probabilities of adopting a positive strategy and successful ICH inheritance and increases in variables Cu and Cd will drive probabilities down. (2) Changes in any variable have an impact on both sides through the interaction between masters and apprentices, and the impact’s direction is the same. (3) Among all economic measures, cost control should be the first to be considered. These conclusions provide important theoretical guidance for local government and related organizations to support ICH bequeathal and for masters and apprentices to make choices regarding strategy. The paper fills the literature gaps in the study of the influencing factors of ICH knowledge transfer and the game model between masters and apprentices, and on the incentive mechanism and strategy choice of passing on and developing ICH.

Homocysteine (Hcy) and folate, involved in a common metabolic pathway supplying essential methyl groups for DNA and protein synthesis, have been found to be associated with cognitive function. Moreover, diet may influence methionine cycle metabolites (MCM) as well as mild cognitive impairment (MCI), but MCM-related dietary patterns are unclear in an older population.The study aimed to identify MCM-related dietary patterns of older Chinese adults, and examine their association with the prevalence of MCI in a large population-based study.This study included 4457 participants ≥ 60 years of age from the Tianjin Elderly Nutrition and Cognition Cohort study. Dietary data were collected using a valid self-administered food frequency questionnaire, and factor analysis was used to identify major dietary patterns in the population. MCM-based dietary patterns were derived using reduced rank regression (RRR) based on serum folate and Hcy as response variables.Compared with the participants in the lowest quartile of vegetarian pattern and processed foods pattern, the odds ratios (ORs) of MCI in the highest quartile were 0.72 (95% CI 0.53-0.98) and 1.39 (95% CI 1.03-1.88), respectively. In the MCM-based dietary patterns derived using RRR, the ORs for MCI for the highest quartile of MCM patterns I and II were 0.58 (95% CI 0.44-0.78) and 1.38 (95% CI 1.04-1.83), respectively, compared with participants in the lower quartile.Findings from this large population-based study suggested that adopting an MCM-related dietary pattern, especially avoiding processed foods, can decrease the occurrence of MCI.

Background: To investigate the therapeutic and diagnostic value of caspase-12 and study of growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Methods: Overall 78 patients with AMI admitted to Weifang People's Hospital Brain Hospital, Weifang, China from Apr 2016 to Apr 2019 were enrolled as AMI group. Seventy five non-AMI people undergoing physical examination during the same period were enrolled as non-AMI group. The expression levels of caspase-12 and GDF-15 were detected and compared. The correlation between the expressions of GDF-15, caspase-12 and clinical characteristics and efficacy was detected. Single and combined detection of GDF-15 and caspase12 were performed analyze their role in the early diagnosis, the prediction of efficacy, and the guidance of clinical therapy. Results: After treatment, the levels of GDF-15 and caspase-12 in AMI group were significantly lower than those before treatment (P

Background Minimal data are available on the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in older Chinese adults. Moreover, the current information on MCI shows important geographical variations. Objective We aimed to assess the prevalence and risk factors for MCI by age and sex among older adults in a North Chinese population. Methods In this population-based cross-sectional study, we enrolled a random sample of 4,943 adults aged ≥ 60 years between March 2018 and June 2019 in Tianjin, China. Of these, 312 individuals were excluded due to a lack of data (e.g., fasting blood test). As a result, 4,631 subjects were assessed. Individuals with MCI were identified using neuropsychological assessments, including the Mini-Mental State Examination and Activities of Daily Living scale, based on a modified version of the Petersen’s criteria. Results The mean (SD) age of the 4,631 participants was 67.6 (4.89) years, and 2,579 (55.7%) were female. The overall age- and sex-standardized prevalence of MCI in our study population was 10.7%. There were significant associations of MCI with age [65–69 vs. 60–64 years, OR = 0.74; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.58, 0.96], physical activity (≥23.0 vs.

SUMMARY: By adopting the extension approaches of Mendelian randomization, we successfully detected and prioritized the potential causal risk factors for BMD traits, which might provide us novel insights for treatment and intervention into bone-related complex traits and diseases. INTRODUCTION: Osteoporosis (OP) is a common metabolic skeletal disease characterized by reduced bone mineral density (BMD). The identified SNPs for BMD can only explain approximately 10% of the variability, and very few causal factors have been identified so far. METHODS: The Mendelian randomization (MR) approach enables us to assess the potential causal effect of a risk factor on the outcome by using genetic IVs. By using extension methods of MR—multivariable MR (mvMR) and MR based on Bayesian model averaging (MR-BMA)—we intend to estimate the causal relationship between fifteen metabolic risk factors for BMD and try to prioritize the most potential causal risk factors for BMD. RESULTS: Our analysis identified three risk factors T2D, FG, and HCadjBMI for FN BMD; four risk factors FI, T2D, HCadjBMI, and WCadjBMI for FA BMD; and three risk factors FI, T2D, and HDL cholesterol for LS BMD, and all risk factors were causally associated with heel BMD except for triglycerides and WCadjBMI. Consistent with the mvMR results, MR-BMA confirmed those risk factors as top risk factors for each BMD trait individually. CONCLUSIONS: By combining MR approaches, we identified the potential causal risk factors for FN, FA, LS, and heel BMD individually and we also prioritized and ranked the potential causal risk factors for BMD, which might provide us novel insights for treatment and intervention into bone-related complex traits and diseases.

With the emergence of industry 4.0 and Internet of things (IOT), more and more practical requirements need seamless connection from the smallest sensor to enterprise level systems and other systems with simple, convenient, reliable and economic approach. LoRa is a low-power wide area network (LPWAN) solution specifically designed for IoT devices that send and receive small amounts of data over a range of many kilometers with minimal power consumption. At the system architecture level, Lora is considered as a physical layer technology based on OSI model, mainly based on Chirp spread-spectrum(CSS) technology. LoRa is resulted in a robust and reliable technology compared to other standardized wireless solutions such as Zigbee, Bluetooth, WiFi, and 3G/4G cellular. In this paper, we have designed a single-channel LoRa gateway for Industrial IoT cloud applications using inexpensive single-board computer naming Raspberry Pi plus a LoRa add-on board with the necessary integrated circuits for wireless data communication. The system adopting the LoRa LPWAN technology consists of end devices, gateways, and cloud IoT services. The proposal gateway sends and receives LoRa messages to and from end devices and communicates with upstream cloud application servers through HTTP RESTful protocol and IoT-standard MQTT protocol, according to different data types and specific functional requirements. Unlike other ready-to-use LoRa gateways available on the market in which these gateways simply pass all the original LoRa packets back and forth between and network server over the air called "packet forwarding" mode, the proposal gateway contains smart-agent managing connectivity to devices, coordinating polling mechanism, decoding the packets, passing periodically the unified data to the public or private cloud service applications. Aside based on the embedded web server, the configuration of the gateway is carried out through the web page with desktop or mobile application and it can be updated anytime& anywhere when necessary. The proposal gateway is built cloud ready and can easily integrate with existing networks and enables low-cost, long range communication capability for a multitude of industry applications with minimum effort.

BACKGROUND Patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSS) often suffer from sleep disturbance. Studies suggest it may be related to symptoms, including xerostomia and dry eyes. Clinical studies have confirmed that hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has a definite effect on pSS, but there is no clear report about its effect on sleep disorders in pSS patients. METHODS A total of 383 pSS patients were enrolled and followed up. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to evaluate the sleep quality of the patients, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF) scale was used to evaluate the quality of life (QoL) of patients. The European League assessed the patient's condition against Rheumatism Sjogren's syndrome patients reported index (ESSPRI). According to PSQI, patients were divided into two groups: good sleep group (GSG) and poor sleep group (PSG). The risk factors of sleep disorder are analyzed by univariate and multivariate analysis. The patients were further divided into HCQ-administered group and non-administered group, and the differences of baseline characteristics and outcome in follow-up between the two groups were compared. RESULTS There were 208 patients with PSG (54.3%) and 175 patients with GSG (45.7%). Further, there is no statistical difference between the two groups in baseline data. Also, there were 112 cases (53.8%) and 118 cases (67.4%) taking HCQ in the two groups, respectively, P=0.007. Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that long-term use of HCQ, menopause, and income were related to sleep quality. The patients were divided into the HCQ-administered group (n=230) and non-administered group (n=153) according to whether they took HCQ. One hundred eighteen patients (51.3%) in the HCQ-administered group had a good sleep, and 58 patients in the non- administered group had a good sleep (37.9%), P

Background Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive brain disorder characterized by cognitive skills deterioration that affects many elderly individuals. The identified genetic loci for AD failed to explain the large variability in AD and very few causal factors have been identified so far. Results mvMR showed that increasing years of schooling (OR=0.674, 95%CI: 0.571-0.796, P=3.337E-06) and genetically elevated HDL cholesterol (OR ranging from 0.697 to 0.830, P=6.940E-10) were inversely associated with AD risk, genetically predicted total cholesterol (OR=1.300, 1.196 to 1.412; P=6.223E-10) and LDL cholesterol (OR=1.193, 1.097 to 1.296, P=3.564E-05) were associated with increasing AD risk. Genetically predicted FG was suggestively associated with increased AD risk. Furthermore, MR-BMA analysis also confirmed FG and years of schooling as two of the top five causal risk factors for AD. Conclusions Our findings might provide us novel insights for treatment and intervention into the causal risk factors for AD or AD-related complex diseases. Methods By using extension methods of Mendelian randomization (MR)--multivariable MR (mvMR) and MR based on Bayesian model averaging (MR-BMA), we intend to estimate the potential causal relationship between nine risk factors and AD outcome and try to prioritize the most causal risk factors for AD.

Background: Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is associated with the aging process and age-related degenerative diseases. The relation of peripheral blood LTL to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and the role of folate and homocysteine (Hcy) in this relation remain unclear. Objectives: We aimed to investigate the association between LTL and the risks of MCI/AD, and to explore whether folate and Hcy may play a role in this association. Methods: This case-control study included 129 MCI subjects, 131 AD patients and 134 healthy controls. LTL was assessed using real-time polymerase chain reaction assay. Serum folate levels were tested by chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay, and serum Hcy levels were measured using the enzymatic cycling method. Data were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression and multivariable linear regression with adjustment for potential confounders. Results: The mean LTL was 1.56 ± 0.25 in controls, 1.44 ± 0.23 in MCI, and 1.28 ± 0.28 in AD patients (p< 0.01). In multivariate logistic regression, subjects in the longest LTL tertile had lower OR for MCI (OR 0.246; 95% CI 0.101–0.597) and AD (OR 0.123; 95% CI 0.044–0.345) in comparison to subjects in the shortest tertile. Shorter LTL was dose-dependently related to the ORs of MCI and AD. Further, serum folate concentration was positively associated with LTL (p < 0.01), while serum Hcy level was negatively associated with LTL (p < 0.05). In stratified analyses, LTL-MCI/AD association varied by serum folate and Hcy level. Conclusions: Shorter LTL is associated with the risks of MCI/AD. Folate and Hcy might play an important role in this association.

Development of noninvasive, reliable biomarkers for lung cancer diagnosis has many clinical benefits knowing that most of lung cancer patients are diagnosed at the late stage. For this purpose, we conducted proteomic analyses of 231 human urine samples in healthy individuals (n = 33), benign pulmonary diseases (n = 40), lung cancer (n = 33), bladder cancer (n = 17), cervical cancer (n = 25), colorectal cancer (n = 22), esophageal cancer (n = 14), and gastric cancer (n = 47) patients collected from multiple medical centers. By random forest modeling, we nominated a list of urine proteins that could separate lung cancers from other cases. With a feature selection algorithm, we selected a panel of five urinary biomarkers (FTL: Ferritin light chain; MAPK1IP1L: Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 Interacting Protein 1 Like; FGB: Fibrinogen Beta Chain; RAB33B: RAB33B, Member RAS Oncogene Family; RAB15: RAB15, Member RAS Oncogene Family) and established a combinatorial model that can correctly classify the majority of lung cancer cases both in the training set (n = 46) and the test sets (n = 14–47 per set) with an AUC ranging from 0.8747 to 0.9853. A combination of five urinary biomarkers not only discriminates lung cancer patients from control groups but also differentiates lung cancer from other common tumors. The biomarker panel and the predictive model, when validated by more samples in a multi-center setting, may be used as an auxiliary diagnostic tool along with imaging technology for lung cancer detection., Highlights • A case-control study of biomarker discovery for lung cancer diagnosis was conducted. • Human urine profiles in control cases and cancers were characterized. • A list of candidate biomarkers was nominated and evaluated. • A panel of urinary biomarkers was established and tumor-specificity was evaluated. Cancer diagnosis with a noninvasive method at the early stage of the disease is highly desirable. Here, we analyzed hundreds of human urine samples from healthy individuals, patients with benign pulmonary diseases, and 6 types of cancers by proteomics and developed a panel of five urinary proteins that can separate the lung cancer from benign pulmonary diseases as well as the other 5 cancers (bladder, cervical, colorectal, esophageal and gastric) with a good sensitivity and disease specificity. Further validation experiments with expanded sample numbers are required to investigate whether this method can be applied in a clinical setting for the diagnosis of lung cancer.

Background Aging and the chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) challenge the Chinese government in the process of providing hospitalization services fairly and reasonably. The Chinese government has developed the basic medical insurance system to solve the problem of “expensive medical cost and difficult medical services” for vulnerable groups and alleviate the unfair phenomenon. However, few studies have confirmed its effect through longitudinal comparison. This study aimed to explore the trend in the inequity of inpatient use among middle-aged and elderly individuals with NCDs in China. Methods This longitudinal comparative study was based on CHARLS data in 2011, 2013 and 2015. Concentration index (CI) was used to measure the variation trend of inequity of inpatient services utilization, while the decomposition method of the CI was applied to measure the factors contributing to inequity in inpatient services utilization. The effect of each factor on the change of inequity in inpatient services utilization was divided into the change of the elasticity and the change of inequality using the Oaxaca-type decomposition method. Results The affluent middle-aged and elderly patients with NCDs used more inpatient services than poor groups. The per capita household consumption expenditure (PCE) and Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI) contributed to the decline in pro-rich inequality of inpatient use, while the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) contributed to the decline in pro-poor inequality of inpatient use. Conclusions There was a certain degree of pro-rich unfairness in the probability and frequency of inpatient services utilization for middle-aged and elderly individuals with NCDs in China. The decrease of pro-wealth contribution of PCE and UEBMI offset the decrease of pro-poor contribution of NRCMS, and improved the equity of inpatient services utilization, favoring poor people.

Acute appendicitis is one of the most common acute abdomens, but the confident preoperative diagnosis is still a challenge. In order to profile noninvasive urinary biomarkers that could discriminate acute appendicitis from other acute abdomens, we carried out mass spectrometric experiments on urine samples from patients with different acute abdomens and evaluated diagnostic potential of urinary proteins with various machine-learning models. Firstly, outlier protein pools of acute appendicitis and controls were constructed using the discovery dataset (32 acute appendicitis and 41 control acute abdomens) against a reference set of 495 normal urine samples. Ten outlier proteins were then selected by feature selection algorithm and were applied in construction of machine-learning models using naïve Bayes, support vector machine, and random forest algorithms. The models were assessed in the discovery dataset by leave-one-out cross validation and were verified in the validation dataset (16 acute appendicitis and 45 control acute abdomens). Among the three models, random forest model achieved the best performance: the accuracy was 84.9% in the leave-one-out cross validation of discovery dataset and 83.6% (sensitivity: 81.2%, specificity: 84.4%) in the validation dataset. In conclusion, we developed a 10-protein diagnostic panel by the random forest model that was able to distinguish acute appendicitis from confusable acute abdomens with high specificity, which indicated the clinical application potential of noninvasive urinary markers in disease diagnosis.

This study aimed to illustrate the impact of injury-related deaths on life expectancy in China in 2016 and to identify the high-risk population. Standard life tables were used to calculate life expectancy and cause-eliminated life expectancy by utilizing mortality data from the national mortality surveillance system. In 2016, the life expectancy of Chinese residents was 78.91 years. After eliminating injury-related mortality, the life expectancy of the residents increased by 1.13 years, which was higher in male and rural residents compared with female and urban residents. The life expectancy on the Eastern and Central regions increased slowly compared with the Western region. The greatest influencing factor on life expectancy was road traffic injuries, followed by falls. Falls had a greater impact on life expectancy for children under 5 years old and those aged over 65 years. This study indicates that deaths caused by injury had a noteworthy impact on life expectancy in China. More attention should be paid to road traffic injuries, and effective preventive measures should be taken to reduce deaths related to injury to increase the life expectancy of residents, especially in children under 5 years and adults over 65 years. By reducing the deaths caused by injury, the life expectancy level is likely to further improve. Resumo: O estudo teve como objetivos analisar o impacto dos óbitos por causas externas na expectativa de vida na China em 2016 e identificar a população de risco. Foram utilizadas tábuas de mortalidade padronizadas para calcular a expectativa de vida e a expectativa de vida depois de eliminar as causas externas, com base nos dados de mortalidade do Sistema Nacional de Vigilância da Mortalidade. Em 2016, a expectativa de vida dos chineses era 78,91 anos. Depois de eliminar a mortalidade por causas externas, a expectativa de vida dos chineses aumentou em 1,13 anos, e o aumento foi maior nos homens e nos moradores da área rural, comparados às mulheres e aos moradores da área urbana. A expectativa de vida das regiões Leste e Central aumentou mais lentamente do que na região Oeste do país. Os acidentes de trânsito foram o fator de maior impacto sobre a expectativa de vida, seguidos de quedas. As quedas tiveram um impacto maior sobre a expectativa de vida nas crianças abaixo de 5 anos e nos idosos acima de 65 anos de idade. O estudo indica que os óbitos por causas externas tiveram um impacto relevante na expectativa de vida na China. As lesões por acidentes de trânsito merecem mais atenção, e medidas efetivas devem ser tomadas para reduzir os óbitos por causas externas para aumentar a expectativa de vida na população chinesa, principalmente nas crianças abaixo de 5 anos e nos idosos acima de 65 anos. A redução dos óbitos por causas externas deverá melhorar mais ainda o nível de expectativa de vida. Resumen: El objetivo de este estudio fue ilustrar el impacto de los fallecimientos relacionados con lesiones y la esperanza de vida en China en 2016, así como identificar a la población de alto riesgo. Las tablas de estándar de vida se utilizaron para calcular la esperanza de vida y la causa de la supresión de esperanza de vida se calculó utilizando datos de mortalidad del sistema de vigilancia de la mortalidad. En 2016, la esperanza de vida de los chinos residentes era 78,91 años. Tras eliminar la mortalidad relacionada con lesiones, la esperanza de vida de los residentes se incrementó en 1,13 años, que fue mayor en hombres, residentes en áreas rurales, comparada con las mujeres, residentes en áreas urbanas. La esperanza de vida en las regiones orientales y centrales se incrementó lentamente, comparada con la región occidental. El factor de mayor influencia en la esperanza de vida fue las lesiones en accidentes de tráfico, seguidas de las caídas. Las caídas tuvieron un impacto mayor en la esperanza de vida para los niños menores de 5 años, así como los ancianos con una edad por encima de los 65 años. Este estudio indica que las muertes causadas por lesiones tuvieron un impacto notorio en la esperanza de vida en China. Se debe prestar más atención a las lesiones por accidente de tráfico, y se deberían tomar medidas preventivas efectivas para reducir las muertes relacionadas con las lesiones para incrementar la esperanza de vida de los residentes, especialmente en niños menores de 5 años y personas mayores con más de 65 años. Si se reducen las muertes causadas por lesiones, cabe esperar que mejore el nivel de esperanza de vida.

Background Various hypertension predictive models have been developed worldwide; however, there is no existing predictive model for hypertension among Chinese rural populations. Methods This is a 6-year population-based prospective cohort in rural areas of China. Data was collected in 2007-2008 (baseline survey) and 2013-2014 (follow-up survey) from 8319 participants ranging in age from 35 to 74 years old. Specified gender hypertension predictive models were established based on multivariate Cox regression, Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Naive Bayes Classifier (NBC), and Classification and Regression Tree (CART) in the training set. External validation was conducted in the testing set. The estimated models were assessed by discrimination and calibration, respectively. Results During the follow-up period, 432 men and 604 women developed hypertension in the training set. Assessment for established models in men suggested men office-based model (M1) was better than others. C-index of M1 model in the testing set was 0.771 (95% confidence Interval (CI) = 0.750, 0.791), and calibration χ2 = 6.3057 (P = 0.7090). In women, women office-based model (W1) and ANN were better than the other models assessed. The C-indexes for the W1 model and the ANN model in the testing set were 0.765 (95% CI = 0.746, 0.783) and 0.756 (95% CI = 0.737, 0.775) and the calibrations χ2 were 6.7832 (P = 0.1478) and 4.7447 (P = 0.3145), respectively. Conclusions Not all machine-learning models performed better than the traditional Cox regression models. The W1 and ANN models for women and M1 model for men have better predictive performance which could potentially be recommended for predicting hypertension risk among rural populations.

Identifying tyre pressure or temperature deviations is vital to ensuring the safety and longevity of a fleet’s tyres. The benefits of installing the tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) are available both at the new product development process of vehicle factory as well as the product upgrading for aftermarket solution. In this paper, we have proposed a system that offers our users real-time information about the state of their fleet vehicle tyres, including pressure, temperature, overall wear and these records for subsequent analysis. Unlike other TPMS solutions that only locally report real-time tire data such as pressure and temperature information to the driver of the vehicle, whenever any problems in the tyres such as pressure & temperature outside pre-configured limits, our proposed system sends data back to a cloud server for processing and analysis. With an unlimited number of users and 24/7 access, this HTTP web-based software gives back office management unmatched visibility through some RESTful APIs by using desktop or mobile application. The target of proposed system is allowing fleet managers to further improve fleet management requirements, optimal fuel consumption and reduced breakdowns. This system is suitable for all kinds of vehicle fleet including trailers, bus, trucks and any other Heavy-duty vehicles.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) concentrates on the interconnection and utilization of big and powerful data in manufacturing environments. Data from different devices and different protocols needs to be converted for making these devices IIoT-ready. Today a large number of serial Modbus-based devices still exist in industrial applications. MODBUS RTU is the most widely used industrial protocol for connecting industrial devices and almost all major industrial instrumentation and automation equipment vendors continue to support it in new products. Modbus protocol follows a master– slave model. MQTT is a messaging protocol suitable for the Internet of things (IoT). The MQTT protocol is based on the principles of publishing messages and subscribing to topics commonly known as the publish / subscribe model. In this paper, we have designed a Modbus to MQTT gateway for Industrial IoT cloud applications using inexpensive Raspberry Pi single-board computer and a RS485 add-on board with the necessary integrated circuits for data communication. It supports two-way communication between field devices and cloud applications, and supplies a Modbus RTU interface on RS485 to communicate with on-site field devices. It contains smart-agent at the gateway side to process and convert data sent from the field level of different data formats into the IoT-standard MQTT protocol and pass periodically the unified data to the public or private cloud service applications (Amazon AWS, Alibaba Cloud, or MQTT Broker etc.) for future analyses. Based on embedded web server, the configuration of the gateway is performed through web pages, and updates can be performed over the air when necessary. The proposal gateways provide an easy and secure way to build the IIoT applications now and in the future. Moreover, it can be added to a system and take advantage of the IIoT world while the existing operational technology stays in place.

Background With the changes in environmental, medical technique, population structure and national health projects, human mortality rates have undergone great changes all over the world. According to “World Health Statistics 2016: Monitoring Health for the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)”, we can draw a globally vision about life expectancy and cause of death; also, significant inequality still persists within and among countries. This study was designed to research into the trend of mortality pattern in China, evaluate the disparities of age-specific and disease-specific mortality rates between male and female, and provides a scientific basis for further prevention strategies and policies design. Methods Data from the Chinese Disease Surveillance Points system were used to calculate crude and age-adjusted death rates, annual percent changes (APC) for men and women during 2004 to 2016. Age-standardized mortality rates (ASMR) were performed through the direct method with the World Health Organization’s World Standard Population. APC, according to log linear model, was adopted to describe the mortality rate trend. The χ2 test was used to compare differences between age-specific and cause-specific mortality rates of men and women. Data analysis and figures were completed by R software. Results The mortality rates of men and women have decreased significantly (P

With the further improvement of my country’s current information technology level, the development of China’s surveying and mapping has inevitably shifted from digital mapping to computerized information mapping. This article expounds the important role of surveying and mapping science and technology in the construction of the country and society, and from this leads to a better construction of national security and convenient governance system. then information-based surveying and mapping will be the future development prospect of surveying and mapping. From the perspective of informatization surveying and mapping, this article expounds its characteristics, development trends and application status, and explains the basic role of informatization surveying and mapping in my country’s surveying and mapping industry.

Unlike most social programs that involve regular delivery of benefits (such as subsidized food or monthly cash transfers), public health insurance programs are used based on need. When households face health shocks, they are often unaware of how to avail health insurance benefits. This is especially true for households in remote rural regions of developing countries where the likelihood of low awareness about public health insurance programs is higher due to low levels of literacy, distance from healthcare facilities and limited opportunities to learn from others’ experiences. Conventional information, education and communication (IEC) methods such as information pamphlets and outreach through health camps are not always effective in disseminating information to these hard-to-reach populations. In this paper, we present results from a quasi-experiment that uses village-level awareness meetings to disseminate information about a public health insurance program in 61 villages of a district in southern India. We find that awareness meetings, though relatively more expensive than conventional IEC methods, not only increase utilization of the program but also provide government agencies a unique opportunity to monitor the implementation of the program in remote locations.

Objective: The study aimed to assess the characteristics of pancreatic cancer deaths and the relationship between socio-demographic status and mortality risk of pancreatic cancer in Inner Mongolia. Method: We obtained our data for 2008-2014 from the Death Registry System of Inner Mongolia. We calculated the mortality rate, potential years of life lost (PYLL) and average years of life lost (AYLL) for men and women. We collected socio-demographic characteristics including education level, ethnicity, region, and occupation. Logistic regression models were employed to analyze risk factors of pancreatic cancer. Results: The average mortality rate of pancreatic cancer was 4.42/100,000 in Inner Mongolia during 2008 to 2014. Mortality rate in men was higher in all age groups compared with those in women. The highest mortality rate was 1.3 times than the lowest mortality rate for men and 1.6 times for women during seven years. Average AYLL in women were more than 3.4 years compared with that in men. PYLLR in women was fluctuated from 0.41 to 0.63 per thousand during 2008 to 2014. In eastern region, no occupation and high education level had a higher risk of pancreatic cancer. Conclusion: In Inner Mongolia, the mortality rate associated with pancreatic cancer was higher in men compared with in women. More than 65 years old groups had high death risk for pancreatic cancer. Average years of life lost for women were significantly higher than that for men. We should pay more attention to the older men.

Thousand-kernel weight is an important agronomic parameter of rapeseed. In order to quickly realize the grain count, shorten the measurement cycle of the thousand-grain weight, in this paper, we propose a grain counting method based on image detection, by testing 300 rapeseed images, and the results showed that the detection rate reached 89.33%.

Lycopene, a natural carotenoid, has potential chemopreventive effects in many cancers. This study aimed to examine the effects of lycopene on regulating the inflammation and apoptosis of N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine(NMBzA) induced esophageal cancer in F344 rats. After the rats were fed normal diets containing different concentrations of lycopene for 25 weeks (10, 25, 50 mg/kg·d of lycopene, respectively), the incidence of tumors in the rats treated with lycopene was significantly lower than that in the simple exposed group (P

Lung cancer is amongst the most common types of cancer throughout the world. The overall 5-year survival rate is ~17%. A number of studies have demonstrated that the microbiome existing within the host may affect the level of inflammation, and consequently contribute to the carcinogenesis of certain types of cancer. To investigate the role of inflammation and the microbiome in the carcinogenesis of lung cancer, an intervention study involving mice, including a control group (C; n=5), a urethane-induced pulmonary adenocarcinoma group (U; n=5) and a prebiotics intervention group (P; n=5) was carried out. This pulmonary adenocarcinoma model was reviewed, and incidences of the disease were identified using histopathology. The levels of the inflammatory cytokines nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-6 in the sera samples were measured using an ELISA technique. In addition, high-throughput sequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene segment was used to analyze the species present in the microbiome of the lower airways and intestinal tracts of mice. The results demonstrated that groups P and U exhibited altered histopathology and the development of lung adenocarcinoma tumors, but no differences were observed between the groups. The level of inflammation, determined by measuring the levels of NF-κB, TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 inflammatory cytokines, was significantly lower in group P compared with group U (P

Purpose Traditional epidemiological studies suggest that there is an association between age at menarche (years) (AAM) and bone mineral density (BMD) at the sites of the femoral neck and lumbar spine (FNK and LS BMD), indicating a potentially important relationship between AAM and the development of osteoporosis (OP). However, these findings may be influenced by unmeasured confounding factors that can obscure the true relationship between the phenotypic traits. Therefore, we performed Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses to determine whether there is a causal relationship between AAM and BMD (FNK and LS BMD), where late AAM may increase the risk of developing OP. Methods Adopting a two-sample MR approach we incorporated genome-wide association (GWAS) summary statistics from the Reproductive Genetics (ReproGen) Consortium (n = 182,416) (females only) and the GEnetic Factors for OSteoporosis (GEFOS) Consortium (n = 53,236) (both males and females). Results Using this MR approach we discovered that each additional year in AAM is associated with a modest reduction in FNK BMD (β = −0.072 se = 0.022, 95% CI (−0.115, −0.030), p = 0.001) and LS BMD ((β = −0.072, se = 0.025, 95% CI (−0.121, −0.023), p = 0.004), and therefore influences OP susceptibility. Conclusions This study demonstrates that AAM in females may play a causal role in OP etiology and provides novel insights into the pathophysiology of bone related diseases like osteoporosis, osteopenia and fracture. Summary Our study demonstrates that AAM in females may play a causal role in OP etiology and provides novel insights into the pathophysiology of bone related diseases like osteoporosis, osteopenia and fracture. By adopting Mendelian Randomization approaches, our study was not susceptible to bias from unmeasured confounders or reverse causation.

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have been performed extensively in diverse populations to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with complex diseases or traits. However, to date, the SNPs identified fail to explain a large proportion of the variance of the traits/diseases. GWASs on type 2 diabetes (T2D) and coronary artery disease (CARD) are generally performed as single-trait studies, rather than analyzing the related traits simultaneously. Despite the extensive evidence suggesting that these two phenotypes share both genetic and environmental risk factors, the shared overlapping genetic biological mechanisms between these traits remain largely unexplored. Here, we adopted a recently developed genetic pleiotropic conditional false discovery rate (cFDR) approach to discover novel loci associated with T2D and CARD by incorporating the summary statistics from existing GWASs of these two traits. Applying the cFDR level of 0.05, 33 loci were identified for T2D and 34 loci for CARD, 9 of which for both. By incorporating pleiotropic effects into a conditional analysis framework, we observed that there is significant pleiotropic enrichment between T2D and CARD. These findings may provide novel insights into the etiology of T2D and CARD, as well as the processes that may influence disease development both individually and jointly.

Lung cancer is amongst the most common types of cancer throughout the world. The overall 5-year survival rate is ~17%. A number of studies have demonstrated that the microbiome existing within the host may affect the level of inflammation, and consequently contribute to the carcinogenesis of certain types of cancer. To investigate the role of inflammation and the microbiome in the carcinogenesis of lung cancer, an intervention study involving mice, including a control group (C; n=5), a urethane-induced pulmonary adenocarcinoma group (U; n=5) and a prebiotics intervention group (P; n=5) was carried out. This pulmonary adenocarcinoma model was reviewed, and incidences of the disease were identified using histopathology. The levels of the inflammatory cytokines nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-6 in the sera samples were measured using an ELISA technique. In addition, high-throughput sequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene segment was used to analyze the species present in the microbiome of the lower airways and intestinal tracts of mice. The results demonstrated that groups P and U exhibited altered histopathology and the development of lung adenocarcinoma tumors, but no differences were observed between the groups. The level of inflammation, determined by measuring the levels of NF-κB, TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 inflammatory cytokines, was significantly lower in group P compared with group U (P0.05), and was significantly higher in group P compared with group C (P0.05). Overall, the microbiomes of the lower respiratory and intestinal tracts did not change markedly among the 3 groups, in terms of the size of colonies and Shannon diversity indices. However, at a family and operational taxonomic unit (OTU) level, certain microbiota were altered. For example, the abundance of the Clostridiales and Lachnospiraceae families was lower in the lung and intestinal tracts subsequent to urethane-induced treatment compared with in the control group (P0.05), and the level of abundance of the Clostridiales family increased to similar levels within the control group (P0.05), when prebiotics were administered. The levels of abundance of the S24-7, Bacteroidales and Firmicutes families were higher in the intestinal tract compared with the control group (P0.05), and following treatment with prebiotics, the levels of abundance of these families decreased to similar levels observed in the control group (P0.05). In conclusion, inflammation and the microbiome serve important roles in the carcinogenesis of lung cancer. Additionally, prebiotics may increase the efficacy of lung cancer treatment by modulating levels of inflammation and the composition of the microbiome. The associations between inflammation, the microbiome and lung cancer require attention.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the clinical significance of abnormal sugar-chain glycoprotein tumor abnormal protein (TAP) in the screening of common digestive tract pre-cancer colon adenocarcinoma lesions. A total of 50 colitis patients, 50 colon polyp patients and 50 colon adenocarcinoma patients admitted to our hospital from March, 2012 to May, 2014 were included. Fresh blood from patient's fingertips was collected and condensation staining was used to detect TAP expression. Positive expressions of TAP in patients in the colitis, colon polyp and colon adenocarcinoma groups prior to treatment were 6,76 and 92%, respectively. The TAP-positive expression rate comparisons between the three groups were statistically significant (P0.05). Patient follow-up revealed that the tumor incidence rate in TAP-positive patients was significantly higher than that in TAP-negative in the colitis and colon polyp groups (P

To make full use of the solar energy, it remains a great challenge for semiconductor photocatalysts to harvest the full solar light spectrum from ultraviolet (UV) to visible even the near infrared (NIR) wavelength. Here we show firstly the CuS/RGO (reduced graphene oxide) hybrid photocatalyst synthesized via a microwave assisted method with full solar light (UV–Vis-NIR) active for efficient Cr(VI) reduction. The CuS/RGO displays high absorption and catalytic activity in the UV, visible and even the NIR light regions. As co-catalyst, RGO can separate and inhibit the recombination of charge carriers, consequently improving the catalytic activity. Only 1 wt% RGO emersions can reduce 90% of Cr(VI) under the radiation of light over the full spectrum. Findings may provide a new strategy and substance to expand the utilization range of solar light from UV to visible even the NIR energy.

Some debates exist regarding the association of coffee consumption with hypertension risk. We performed a meta-analysis including dose–response analysis aimed to derive a more quantitatively precise estimation of this association. PubMed and Embase were searched for cohort studies published up to 18 July 2017. Fixed-effects generalized least-squares regression models were used to assess the quantitative association between coffee consumption and hypertension risk across studies. Restricted cubic spline was used to model the dose–response association. We identified eight articles (10 studies) investigating the risk of hypertension with the level of coffee consumption, including 243,869 individuals and 58,094 incident cases of hypertension. We found no evidence of a nonlinear dose–response association of coffee consumption and hypertension (P nonlinearity = 0.243). The risk of hypertension was reduced by 2% (relative risk (RR) = 0.98, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.98–0.99) with each one cup/day increment of coffee consumption. With the linear cubic spline model, the RRs of hypertension risk were 0.97 (95% CI 0.95–0.99), 0.95 (95% CI 0.91–0.99), 0.92 (95% CI 0.87–0.98), and 0.90 (95% CI 0.83–0.97) for 2, 4, 6, and 8 cups/day, respectively, compared with individuals with no coffee intakes. This meta-analysis provides quantitative evidence that consumption of coffee was inversely associated with the risk of hypertension in a dose–response manner.

This research aims to assess application of different cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality risk prediction models in Chinese rural population. Data was collected from a 6-year follow-up survey in rural area of Henan Province, China. 10338 participants aged 40 to 65 years were included. Baseline study was conducted between 2007 and 2008, and followed up from 2013 to 2014. Seven models: general Framingham risk score (general-FRS), simplified-FRS, Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation for high (SCORE-high), SCORE-low, Chinese ischemic CVD (CN-ICVD), Pooled Cohort Risk Equation for white (PCE-white) and for African-American (PCE-AA) were assessed and recalibrated. The model performance was evaluated by C-statistics and modified Nam-D’Agostino test. 168 CVD deaths occurred during follow-up. All seven models showed moderate C-statics ranging from 0.727 to 0.744. Following recalibration, general-FRS, simplified-FRS, CN-ICVD, PCE-white and PCE-AA had improved C-statistics of 0.776, 0.795, 0.793, 0.779, and 0.776 for men and 0.756, 0.753, 0.755, 0.758 and 0.760 for women, respectively. Calibrations χ2 of general-FRS, simplified-FRS, SCORE-high, CN-ICVD and PCE-AA model for men, and general-FRS, CN-ICVD and PCE-white model for women were statistically acceptable, indicating these models predicts CVD mortality risk more accurately than others and could be recommended in Chinese rural population.

The present study aimed to investigate the role of nitric oxide (NO) against perinatal hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD) in rats by electroacupuncture (EA) and to examine its potential neuroprotective mechanism. NO content, the number of positive cells, neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) in rat cortex cells were determined. The results demonstrated that treatment with EA significantly downregulated the NO content in the cortex cells (*P

The delta carbonate (ΔC) method is a common used surface geochemical exploration technique for oil and gas geochemical surveys in China. However, its application effectiveness is unsatisfactory because of the unidentified origins of CO2 that form ΔC. In this study, a gold tube pyrolysis technique, coupled with gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography–isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC–IRMS) detection, was employed to simultaneously measure the concentration and carbon isotopic composition of ΔC in surface soils. Experimental conditions for the ΔC analysis were determined by condition experiments, and the reproducibility and repeatability of the method were tested and found to be satisfactory. Subsequently, this new and improved ΔC method was applied to the Duoshiqiao area of the Jiyang depression in Bohai Bay Basin, China. Halo anomalies are found based on the concentrations and carbon isotopic compositions of ΔC. These are consistent with the actual distribution of known oil and gas accumulations ...

To make full use of the solar energy, exploring broad spectrum active photocatalysts has become one of the core issues for photocatalysis. Here we report a novel hexagonal 2H-MoSe2 photocatalyst with ultraviolet (UV)-visible-near infrared (NIR) light response for the first time. The results indicate that the MoSe2 displays excellent photo-absorption and photocatalytic activity in the reduction of Cr(VI) under UV and visible even NIR light irradiation. MoSe2 synthesized at pH value of 2 achieves the highest Cr(VI) reduction rates of 99%, 91% and 100% under UV, visible and NIR light irradiation, respectively, which should be attributed to its comparatively higher light absorption, efficient charge separation and transfer as well as relatively large number of surface active sites. The excellent broad spectrum active photocatalytic activity makes the MoSe2 to be a promising photocatalyst for the effective utilization of solar energy.

Flavonoids have been suggested to play a chemopreventive role in carcinogenesis. However, the epidemiologic studies assessing dietary intake of flavonoids and esophageal cancer risk have yielded inconsistent results. This study was designed to examine the association between flavonoids, each flavonoid subclass, and the risk of esophageal cancer with a meta-analysis approach. We searched for all relevant studies with a prospective cohort or case-control study design published from January 1990 to April 2016, using PUBMED, EMBASE, and Web of Science. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) were calculated using fixed or random-effect models. In total, seven articles including 2629 cases and 481,193 non-cases were selected for the meta-analysis. Comparing the highest-intake patients with the lowest-intake patients for total flavonoids and for each flavonoid subclass, we found that anthocyanidins (OR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.49-0.74), flavanones (OR = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.49-0.86), and flavones (OR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.64-0.95) were inversely associated with the risk of esophageal cancer. However, total flavonoids showed marginal association with esophageal cancer risk (OR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.59-1.04). In conclusion, our study suggested that dietary intake of total flavonoids, anthocyanidins, flavanones, and flavones might reduce the risk of esophageal cancer.

Sera from patients with cancer contain antibodies which react with a unique group of autologous cellular antigens called tumor-associated antigens (TAAs). This study aimed to determine whether a mini-array of multiple TAAs would enhance antibody detection and be a useful approach in breast cancer detection and diagnosis. The mini-array of multiple TAAs was composed of ten TAAs, including Imp1, p62, Koc, p53, c-myc, survivin, p16, cyclin B1, cyclin D1 and CDK2 full-length recombinant proteins. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect antibodies against these ten TAAs in 41 sera from patients with breast cancer, as well as 82 sera from normal individuals. The antibody frequency of the individual TAAs in breast cancer was variable and ranged between 7.3 and 22.0%. With the successive addition of TAAs to a final total of ten antigens, there was a stepwise increase in positive antibody reactions, reaching a sensitivity of 61.0% and a specificity of 86.6% in breast cancer. The positive and negative likelihood ratios were 5.545 and 0.438, respectively, which showed that the clinical diagnostic value of a parallel assay of eight TAAs was high. The positive and negative predictive values were 73.5 and 82.0%, respectively, indicating that the parallel assay of eight TAAs raised the diagnostic precision significantly. The agreement rate and κ-value were 79.7% and 0.52, respectively, while the Youden’s Index (YI) was 0.5, indicating that the observed value of this assay had a middle range coincidence with the actual value. The data from the present study further support our previous hypothesis that the detection of autoantibodies for the diagnosis of certain types of cancer may be enhanced using a mini-array of several TAAs as target antigens. A customized antigen mini-array using a panel of appropriately selected TAAs is able to enhance autoantibody detection in the immunodiagnosis of breast cancer.

Sensitized-type solar cells based on ZnO photoanode and CdS quantum dots (QDs) as sensitizers have been fabricated. Both ZnO films and CdS QDs are prepared using ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP) deposition technique. This method allows a facile and rapid deposition and integration between CdS QDs and ZnO films without the need for post thermal treatment. The photovoltaic performances of the cells are investigated. The results show that the performance of the cell based on all USP deposited CdS sensitized ZnO photoanode achieves maximally a short circuit current density of 6.99 mA cm−2 and a power conversion efficiency of 1.54%.

Photoluminescence, photoabsorption, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic study revealed that an optical transition of porous silicon from red-shift to blue-shift, and Si -2p binding energy transition from low to high at a critical anodization temperature, 343 K. Possible origin for the reverse variations happening at temperature below and above the critical temperature is discussed.

An all-dielectric composite route is proposed for the construction of a left-handed material at THz frequency. It is shown that the interaction between the crystal lattice vibration of the polaritonic dielectric and the electromagnetic wave could

Diabetes may result in some complications and increase the risk of many serious health problems. The purpose of clinical treatment is to carefully manage the blood glucose concentration. If the blood glucose concentration is predicted, treatments can be taken in advance to reduce the harm to patients. For this purpose, an improved grey GM (1, 1) model is applied to predict blood glucose with a small amount of data, and especially in terms of improved smoothness it can get higher prediction accuracy. The original data of blood glucose of type 2 diabetes is acquired by CGMS. Then the prediction model is established. Finally, 50 cases of blood glucose from the Henan Province People’s Hospital are predicted in 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 minutes, respectively, in advance to verify the prediction model. The prediction result of blood glucose is evaluated by the EGA, MSE, and MAE. Particularly, the prediction results of postprandial blood glucose are presented and analyzed. The result shows that the improved grey GM (1, 1) model has excellent performance in postprandial blood glucose prediction.