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This study sought to identify the spatial, temporal, and spatiotemporal clusters of COVID-19 cases in 366 cities in mainland China with the highest risks and to explore the possible influencing factors of imported risks and environmental factors on the spatiotemporal aggregation, which would be useful to the design and implementation of critical preventative measures. The retrospective analysis of temporal, spatial, and spatiotemporal clustering of COVID-19 during the period (January 15 to February 25, 2020) was based on Kulldorff’s time-space scanning statistics using the discrete Poisson probability model, and then the logistic regression model was used to evaluate the impact of imported risk and environmental factors on spatiotemporal aggregation. We found that the spatial distribution of COVID-19 cases was nonrandom; the Moran’s I value ranged from 0.017 to 0.453 (P < 0.001). One most likely cluster and three secondary likely clusters were discovered in spatial cluster analysis. The period from February 2 to February 9, 2020, was identified as the most likely cluster in the temporal cluster analysis. One most likely cluster and seven secondary likely clusters were discovered in spatiotemporal cluster analysis. Imported risk, humidity, and inhalable particulate matter PM2.5 had a significant impact on temporal and spatial accumulation, and temperature and PM10 had a low correlation with the spatiotemporal aggregation of COVID-19. The information is useful for health departments to develop a better prevention strategy and potentially increase the effectiveness of public health interventions.

Introduction This systematic scoping review aims to assess the frequency and severity of clinical manifestations of pregnant women with brucellosis. Methods Three literature databases, PubMed, Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and two search engines (Google and Yahoo) were adopted to identify the relevant articles that published until 31 December 2019. Two investigators independently screened the publications and extracted the data; the case reports and case series which described at least two symptoms or clinical manifestations of pregnant women with brucellosis were included. Results A total of 27 articles describing the information of 521 pregnant women with brucellosis were included. Serum agglutination test was the most common laboratory test in the diagnosis of brucellosis. A total of 36 clinical manifestations were extracted from the included articles, and the most common clinical manifestations were fever (400, 76.8%), joint pain/swelling/arthralgia (389, 74.7%), sweats (382, 73.3%), fatigue/asthenia/weakness (262, 50.3%) and back pain (189, 36.3%). Among the 32 included individual cases that with available obstetric outcome information, 10 (31.3%) suffered preterm delivery, 12 (37.5%) had an abortion and 3 (9.8%) had intrauterine fetal death. Conclusion Brucellosis is popular and threatening for pregnant women. Regarding the localized body system complications, osteoarticular system was mostly involved, the obstetrics outcomes were severe among pregnant women with brucellosis. The detailed clinical and epidemiological characteristics in this scoping review may add a better and more complete understanding of the disease for both physicians and policy-makers, and provide evidence for timely diagnosis, adequate therapy and better prevention.

Purpose To describe the incidence trend, demographic and clinical characteristics, treatment and prognosis, epidemiological history and risk factors of human brucellosis in Huludao, China. Patients and Methods A total of 1887 brucellosis patients were reported in Huludao, China from January, 2014 to December, 2018 and the case questionnaires from 1149 patients were collected from Huludao Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Demographic characteristics of the patients and the information relating to the patients' clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis were collected and analyzed. Results The number of annually reported brucellosis patients has dropped from 711 to 187 during the study period, with the incidence decreased from 27.31/100,000 in 2014 to 7.15/100,000 in 2018. A total of 1149 individual data were collected, with a mean age of 49.59±13.14 years and 75.7% were male. Patients aged more than 60 years were more likely to have arthralgia/myalgia than the other age groups, and patients who had an enlarged spleen in male were more than female (P

Background Matrix Gla (γ-carboxyglutamate) protein (MGP) is considered a strong inhibitor of ectopic calcification, and it has been associated with OA severity, although not conclusively. We utilized male Dunkin-Hartley (DH) guinea pigs to investigate the expression of MGP throughout aging and disease pathogenesis in a spontaneous model. Method Twenty-five male DH guinea pigs were obtained and nurtured to several timepoints, and then randomly and equally divided by age into five subgroups (1-, 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-months, with the 1-month group as the reference group). DH guinea pigs in each group were euthanized at the designated month-age and the left or right medial tibial plateaus cartilages were randomly excised. OA severity was described by modified Mankin Score (MMS) at microscopy (Safranin O/Fast Green stain). Proteomic evaluation using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) was performed to validate the age-related changes in the MGP profiles, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) methods were applied for semi-quantitative determination of MGP expression in articular cartilage. Results The histopathologic findings validated the increasing severity of cartilage degeneration with age in the DH guinea pigs. The MMS showed significant, stepwise (every adjacent comparison P Conclusion Increased expression of MGP in male DH guinea pigs was present throughout aging and disease progression and may be link to increased OA severity. Further studies are needed to investigate and confirm the association between MGP levels and OA severity.

This paper will introduce the machine learning system based on text classification technology in detail. Through professional research and investigation, we can find out three advanced studies of text classification technology in the current era, such as spatial dimension reduction, classification methods and evaluation methods. Through various exploration and discovery, we can improve the learning experience and practice of relevant personnel.

Background Increasing attention has been paid to differences in the prevalence of perinatal depression by HIV status, although inconsistent results have been reported. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess the relationship between perinatal depression and HIV infection. A comprehensive meta-analysis of comparative studies comparing the prevalence of antenatal or postnatal depression between HIV-infected women and HIV-negative controls was conducted. Methods Studies were identified through PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase and PsycINFO, and the reading of complementary references in August 2019. Subgroup analyses were performed for anticipated explanation of heterogeneity using methodological quality and pre-defined study characteristics, including study design, geographical location and depression screening tools for depression. The overall odds ratio (OR) and mean prevalence of each group were calculated. Results Twenty-three studies (from 21 publications), thirteen regarding antenatal depression and ten regarding postnatal depression were included, comprising 3165 subjects with HIV infection and 6518 controls. The mean prevalence of antenatal depressive symptoms in thirteen included studies was 36% (95% CI: 27, 45%) in the HIV-positive group and 26% (95% CI: 20, 32%) in the control group. The mean prevalence of postnatal depressive symptoms in ten included studies was 21% (95% CI: 14, 27%) in the HIV-positive group and 16% (95% CI: 10, 22%) in the control group. Women living with HIV have higher odds of antenatal (OR: 1.42; 95% CI: 1.12, 1.80) and postnatal depressive symptoms (OR: 1.58; 95% CI: 1.08, 2.32) compared with controls. Publication bias and moderate heterogeneity existed in the overall meta-analysis, and heterogeneity was partly explained by the subgroup analyses. Conclusions Women with HIV infection exhibit a significantly higher OR of antenatal and postnatal depressive symptoms compared with controls. For the health of both mother and child, clinicians should be aware of the significance of depression screening before and after delivery in this particular population and take effective measures to address depression among these women.

Background Monitoring and prediction of diabetic retinopathy (DR) is necessary in patients with diabetes for early discovery and timely treatment of disease. We aimed to analyze the association between DR and biochemical and metabolic parameters, and develop a predictive model for DR. Methods A total of 530 Chinese residents including 423 with type 2 diabetes (T2D) aged 18 years or older participated in this study. The association between DR and biochemical and metabolic parameters was analyzed by the univariate and multivariable logistic regression (MLR). According to the MLR results, we developed a back propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN) model by selecting tan-sigmoid as the transfer function of the hidden layers nodes, and pure-line of the output layer nodes, with training goal of 0.5×10-5. Results There were 51 (9.6%) diabetic participants with DR. After univariate and MLR analysis, duration of diabetes, waist to hip ratio, HbA1c and family history of diabetes were independently associated with the presence of DR (all P < 0.05). Based on these parameters, the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for the BP-ANN model was significantly higher than that by MLR (0.84 vs. 0.77, P < 0.001). Conclusion Our evaluation demonstrated the potential role of BP-ANN model to identify DR in screening practice. The presence of DR was well predictable using the proposed BP-ANN model based on four related parameters (duration of diabetes, waist to hip ratio, HbA1c and family history of diabetes).

Background We are now in the third generation of medical education reform. To fully grasp this transformation, we need to identify the field’s knowledge structure. This study conducted a bibliometric analysis to discover the general publication statue during the last three decades (1989–2018) with an eye for identifying prolific institutions, core journals, international collaboration, and the evolution of key themes.Methods We retrieved 15,329 papers from the Web of Science Core Collection database that were published between 1989 and 2018 , and we analysed them to determine prolific institutions, core journals, institutional collaboration statue, and hot spots of research. R studio, SciMAT, and VOSviewer were jointly applied. For a better understanding of thematic evolution in the field, we split the study period into three sub-periods with equal time spans.Results We discovered that, worldwide, scholars are increasingly attracted to research on medical education. Medical Education is the most prolific journal in the field. While the US publishes an overwhelming proportion of the most relevant papers, articles published by the UK are, on average, most frequently cited. We identify five key research centres based on the most prolific academic institutions, and our analysis of relevant collaborations reveals that international collaboration is common. The hottest themes during each sub-period are revealed and how they evolve across different time spans are also detected.Conclusions This bibliometric study identifies the scientific structure of medical education research over the past three decades. Ultimately, it may help scholars identify new topics and future research challenges in this field and, moreover, highlight meaningful evidence for policymakers in the field of medical teaching innovation.

ObjectivesHuman brucellosis is a public health problem endangering health and property in China. Predicting the trend and the seasonality of human brucellosis is of great significance for its prevention. In this study, a comparison between the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model and the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) model was conducted to determine which was more suitable for predicting the occurrence of brucellosis in mainland China.DesignTime-series study.SettingMainland China.MethodsData on human brucellosis in mainland China were provided by the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China. The data were divided into a training set and a test set. The training set was composed of the monthly incidence of human brucellosis in mainland China from January 2008 to June 2018, and the test set was composed of the monthly incidence from July 2018 to June 2019. The mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) were used to evaluate the effects of model fitting and prediction.ResultsThe number of human brucellosis patients in mainland China increased from 30 002 in 2008 to 40 328 in 2018. There was an increasing trend and obvious seasonal distribution in the original time series. For the training set, the MAE, RSME and MAPE of the ARIMA(0,1,1)×(0,1,1)12 model were 338.867, 450.223 and 10.323, respectively, and the MAE, RSME and MAPE of the XGBoost model were 189.332, 262.458 and 4.475, respectively. For the test set, the MAE, RSME and MAPE of the ARIMA(0,1,1)×(0,1,1)12 model were 529.406, 586.059 and 17.676, respectively, and the MAE, RSME and MAPE of the XGBoost model were 249.307, 280.645 and 7.643, respectively.ConclusionsThe performance of the XGBoost model was better than that of the ARIMA model. The XGBoost model is more suitable for prediction cases of human brucellosis in mainland China.

Background Immune cells in the tumor microenvironment are an important prognostic indicator in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). However, information on the heterogeneity and risk stratification of these cells is limited. We sought to develop a novel immune model to evaluate the prognostic intra-tumoral immune landscape of patients with DLBCL. Methods The ESTIMATE and CIBERSORT algorithms were used to estimate the numbers of 22 infiltrating immune cells based on the gene expression profiles of 229 patients with DLBCL who were recruited from a public database. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) penalized regression analyses and nomogram model were used to construct and evaluate the prognostic immunoscore (PIS) model for overall survival prediction. An immune gene prognostic score (IGPS) was generated by Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) and Cox regression analysis was and validated in an independent NCBI GEO dataset (GSE10846). Results A higher proportion of activated natural killer cells was associated with a poor outcome. A total of five immune cells were selected in the Lasso model and DLBCL patients with high PIS showed a poor prognosis (hazard ratio (HR) 2.16; 95% CI [1.33–3.50]; P = 0.002). Differences in immunoscores and their related outcomes were attributed to eight specific immune genes involved in the cytokine–cytokine receptor interaction and chemokine signaling pathways. The IGPS based on a weighted formula of eight genes is an independent prognostic factor (HR: 2.14, 95% CI [1.40–3.28]), with high specificity and sensitivity in the validation dataset. Conclusions Our findings showed that a PIS model based on immune cells is associated with the prognosis of DLBCL. We developed a novel immune-related gene-signature model associated with the PIS model and enhanced the prognostic functionality for the prediction of overall survival in patients with DLBCL.

Two epidemiological models were applied to simulate whether animals with latent infections were contagious and calculate the outcomes of people that contracting brucellosis by all possible transmission routes under control measures implemented by the Chinese government. The health and economic burden of brucellosis overall presented an increasing trend from 2004 to 2017. Scenarios from epidemiological models showed that a larger scale of vaccine coverage would contribute to fewer infections in livestock and humans. S2 vaccine, the disinfection of the environment and the protection of the susceptible animals and humans could effectively reverse the trend of increasing brucellosis and reduce the incidence rates of brucellosis in humans to curb the epidemic of brucellosis in China.

Apnea should be monitored continuously in the post anesthesia care unit (PACU) to avoid serious complications. It has been confirmed that tracheal sounds can be used to detect apnea during sedation in healthy subjects, but the performance of this acoustic method has not been evaluated in patients with frequent apnea events in the PACU. Tracheal sounds were acquired from the patients in the PACU using a microphone encased in a plastic bell. Concurrently, a processed nasal pressure signal was used as a reference standard to identify real respiratory events. The logarithm of the tracheal sound variance (log-var) was used to detect apnea, and the results were compared to the reference method. Sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratios (PLR), and negative likelihood ratios (NLR) were calculated. One hundred and twenty-one patients aged 55.5 ± 13.2 years (mean ± SD) with a body mass index of 24.6 ± 3.7 kg/m2 were included in data analysis. The total monitoring time was 52.6 h. Thirty-four patients experienced 236 events of apnea lasting for a total of 122.2 min. The log-var apnea detection algorithm detected apnea with 92% sensitivity, 98% specificity, 46 PLR and 0.08 NLR. The performance of apnea detection in the PACU using the log-var tracheal sounds method proved to be reliable and accurate. Tracheal sounds could be used to minimize the potential risks from apnea in PACU patients.

Background World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, UN System Influenza Coordination (UNSIC) and other international organizations released a series of documents to fight against the influenza pandemic. Those documents have great significance on guiding influenza pandemic preparedness and responses and providing a multilevel, multi-directional influenza pandemic prevention and control network for their member countries. This study focuses on the above-mentioned influenza pandemic preparedness guidelines with the aim of exploring the roles of the society, defining the relationship of different interventions and evaluating the planning on influenza pandemic preparedness. Methods Documents about pandemic influenza preparedness were retrieved from the official websites of the following three international organizations, World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, UN System Influenza Coordination (UNSIC) with the key words ‘pandemic’, ‘influenza’ and the Boolean combinations of these words as the retrieval strategy. Guidelines, research study and meeting reports were included in the study. The categories of the ministries/departments involved and their roles/responsibilities in pandemic influenza preparedness were summarized. Word frequency of selected vocabularies about pandemic influenza preventive measures were collected from the documents and the correlations between the word frequency of these measures were analyzed. Ochiai coefficient was employed to show the correlation between the word vocabularies. Results A total of 38 records on the topic of pandemic influenza preparedness were included. The responsibilities of the whole-of-society mentioned in the international organizations’ documents varied across the 2009 influenza pandemic period. Meanwhile, it had been emphasized that a comprehensive influenza prevention and control plan in every sector should be developed and evaluated. Because various measures were emphasized in the guidelines after 2009 pandemic influenza, the correlations between the word frequencies of the various influenza preventive measures became stronger after the pandemic influenza. Conclusions Responsibilities of ministries of education, ministries of energy, ministries of agriculture and animal health, ministries of communication and the business sector in the pandemic influenza preparedness were described more comprehensively in the international organizations’ documents in 2017. Better understanding the variations of the guidelines delivered by international organizations would be useful for the member countries to strengthen their influenza control network. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12879-018-3286-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background This study aimed to describe the changing distribution of human brucellosis between 2004 and 2017 in mainland China and seek scientific evidence of the relationship between socio-economic, environmental, and ecological factors and human brucellosis incidence. Methods The annual numbers of brucellosis cases and incidence rates from 31 provinces in mainland China between 2004 and 2017 were obtained from the Data-Center for China Public Health Science. The number of monthly brucellosis cases in 2018 was obtained from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The electronic map of the People’s Republic of China was downloaded from the National Earth System Science Data Sharing Platform. Human population density, gross domestic product (GDP), and an inventory of cattle and sheep at the end of each year from 2004 to 2017 were obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics of China. Annual rainfall data from 31 provinces in the People’s Republic of China from 2004 to 2017 were collected from the China Meteorological Data Service Center. The risk distribution and changing trends of human brucellosis were mapped with ArcGIS. A cluster analysis was employed to identify geographical areas and periods with statistically significant incidence rates. Multivariate linear regression was used to determine possible factors that were significantly correlated with the presence of human brucellosis cases. Results Human brucellosis cases have spread throughout the whole country. Human brucellosis cases occurred mostly from March to August and were concentrated from April to July. The inventory of sheep, GDP, and climate were significantly correlated with the presence of brucellosis cases in mainland China. Conclusions The geographical expansion of human brucellosis in mainland China was observed, so did the high-incidence clusters between 2004 and 2017. Most of the cases were reported during the early spring to early summer (February–August). Results from the multivariate linear regression suggested that the inventory of sheep, GDP, and climate were significantly associated with the incidence of human brucellosis in mainland China.

Background A high proportion of men who have sex with men (MSM) use geosocial networking apps (Apps) to seek partners. However, the relationship of app use with HIV risk is unknown. Further, the risks of some sexually transmitted infection (STIs), including Mycoplasma genitalium, have seldom been studied among MSM. Methods MSM were enrolled at a community-based HIV testing site in Shenyang, China. After completing a questionnaire survey, we collected rectal swabs and venous blood specimens. We then simultaneously tested for ten STIs (Chlamydia trachomatis [CT], Neisseria gonorrhea [NG], Ureaplasma urealyticum [Uu], Ureaplasma parvum species [Up1, Up3, Up6, Up14), Mycoplasma hominis [Mh], Mycoplasma genitalium [Mg], and Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 (HSV-2) using multiple PCR. We also performed blood tests for HIV, Syphilis, Hepatitis C antibody (HCV-Ab), Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg), and Hepatitis A-IgM (HAV-IgM), etc. Results One hundred and eighty-three MSM participated in this study, of which 51.4% reported seeking partners through apps in the past year. The prevalence of HIV was 19.7%, Syphilis 12.0%, HAV 1.1%, rectal Mg 15.3% and Mh 7.1%. Multivariable logistic regression showed that HIV infection was independently correlated with app-using behavior (adjusted odds ratio[aOR] = 2.6), Mg infection (aOR = 3.2), Mh infection (aOR = 4.1) and Syphilis infection (aOR = 3.1) (each P

Background Brucellosis is regarded as a major zoonotic infection worldwide. Awareness and knowledge of brucellosis among occupational workers is considered an important aspect of brucellosis control in both humans and animals. The aim of this study was to explore the distributions of the pooled awareness level and the knowledge level of the disease worldwide. Methods A meta-analysis was carried out to obtain pooled brucellosis awareness levels and knowledge levels of respondents regarding the zoonotic nature of brucellosis, mode of brucellosis transmission, and brucellosis symptoms in animals and humans. The analysis was conducted and reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analyses guidelines. Results A total of seventy-nine original articles reporting the brucellosis awareness levels of in populations from 22 countries were assessed. The total pooled awareness level of brucellosis was 55.5%, and the pooled awareness levels regarding the zoonotic nature of brucellosis, mode of brucellosis transmission, signs of human brucellosis and signs of animal brucellosis were 37.6%, 35.9%, 41.6%, and 28.4% respectively. The pooled awareness level was higher than the brucellosis-related knowledge level. Subgroup analyses showed that no obvious differences in brucellosis awareness levels between high-risk populations in Asia and Africa. Health workers (including human health workers and veterinarians) had the greatest overall awareness and knowledge of human brucellosis. The overall awareness levels and knowledge levels of livestock owners (farmers) and herders were higher than those of dairy farmers and abattoir workers. In addition, awareness and knowledge levels were higher among people who were involved in bovine, caprine and ovine animal production or in caprine and ovine animal production than among people who were involved in only bovine animal production. Conclusions Insufficient awareness and knowledge of brucellosis were observed in the original studies conducted mainly in Asia and Africa. Interventions to improve public knowledge about brucellosis are urgently needed., Author summary Brucellosis is considered a neglected zoonotic disease that creates a very large obstacle to the development of animal production and is a great threat to human health. High brucellosis awareness and knowledge is critical for the implementation of correct practices and habits and consequently the control and prevention of brucellosis. The aim of this study was to estimate the awareness and knowledge of brucellosis, specifically regarding its zoonotic nature, mode of transmission, and signs in humans and in animals as well as awareness information sources. To this end, a meta-analysis of data from 79 studies was performed. The included studies on the awareness and knowledge of brucellosis were mainly from Africa and Asia. There were no significant differences in the awareness levels of brucellosis among high-risk groups in Asia and Africa. Overall, people’s awareness and knowledge of brucellosis were low and insufficient. Health workers had the highest pooled levels of awareness and knowledge regarding brucellosis. In addition, livestock stock owners (farmers) had notably higher awareness and knowledge levels than dairy farmers and abattoir workers. Neighbors and friends were the most common sources of brucellosis information for farmers. The low and insufficient awareness and knowledge about brucellosis is an obstacle for public health. Raising awareness and increasing detailed knowledge of brucellosis are of great significance for the control of brucellosis and the protection of human health. The potential of the media and health workers in the dissemination of knowledge about the disease needs to be fostered.

The aim of this study was to compare the palatal total support tissues (TSTs) and bone support tissues (BSTs) at 5-mm paramedian section to the midsagittal suture between mouth breathers with high-narrow palates and nose breathers with normal palates and confirm the practicability and limitation on superimposition of lateral cephalograms and plaster models for orthodontic mini-implant (OMI) implantation in these patients. The sample consisted of 27 mouth breathers with high-narrow palates (study group (SG)) and 27 nose breathers with normal palates (control group (CG)). Upper digital dental models were superimposed with corresponding cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images; then, TSTs and BSTs vertical to the curvature of the palatal mucosa were measured on the 5-mm paramedian section to the midsagittal suture. The measuring sites were the third ruga (R) and the sites anterior and posterior to R at 2-mm interval (A2, A4, A6, and A8; P2, P4, P6, and P8) along the palatal mucosa outline. TSTs and BSTs were also measured on the superimposition of lateral cephalograms and plaster models, and the site with the largest TST value in each patient was recorded. Descriptive statistics, independent-samples t test, and hierarchical clustering heat map were used for statistical analysis. The greatest average values of TSTs and BSTs in SG were 12.24 ± 2.63 mm and 9.59 ± 2.36 mm at P2 site, and those in CG were 12.96 ± 2.39 mm and 10.56 ± 2.38 mm at R site, respectively. The average values of both TSTs and BSTs in SG were less than those in CG at all insertion sites. Significant differences (P

Background Influenza epidemics pose significant social and economic challenges in China. Internet search query data have been identified as a valuable source for the detection of emerging influenza epidemics. However, the selection of the search queries and the adoption of prediction methods are crucial challenges when it comes to improving predictions. The purpose of this study was to explore the application of the Support Vector Machine (SVM) regression model in merging search engine query data and traditional influenza data. Methods The official monthly reported number of influenza cases in Liaoning province in China was acquired from the China National Scientific Data Center for Public Health from January 2011 to December 2015. Based on Baidu Index, a publicly available search engine database, search queries potentially related to influenza over the corresponding period were identified. An SVM regression model was built to be used for predictions, and the choice of three parameters (C, γ, ε) in the SVM regression model was determined by leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) during the model construction process. The model’s performance was evaluated by the evaluation metrics including Root Mean Square Error, Root Mean Square Percentage Error and Mean Absolute Percentage Error. Results In total, 17 search queries related to influenza were generated through the initial query selection approach and were adopted to construct the SVM regression model, including nine queries in the same month, three queries at a lag of one month, one query at a lag of two months and four queries at a lag of three months. The SVM model performed well when with the parameters (C = 2, γ = 0.005, ɛ = 0.0001), based on the ensemble data integrating the influenza surveillance data and Baidu search query data. Conclusions The results demonstrated the feasibility of using internet search engine query data as the complementary data source for influenza surveillance and the efficiency of SVM regression model in tracking the influenza epidemics in Liaoning.

A prospective study was carried out from August 2010 to August 2014 in the community of Fengyutan (China). Six hundred and twenty two T2D subjects were collected. The incidence density of diabetic retinopathy (DR) was 1.81% person-year (95% confidence interval, CI: 1.21–2.43% person-year). After a Cox regression model analysis and adjusted confounding factors, independent predictors related to the incidence of DR including male gender (adjusted hazard ratios, aHR: 1.47, 95% CI: 1.21–1.62), with hypertension (aHR: 1.49, 95%: 1.12–1.73), duration of diabetes &gt, 10 years (aHR: 2.28, 95%: 2.05–2.42), uncontrolled diabetes (aHR: 1.76, 95%: 1.41–2.01), total cholesterol ≥ 200 mg/dL (aHR: 1.54, 95%: 1.34–1.72) and HbA1c ≥ 7% (mmol/mol) (aHR: 2.12, 95%: 1.87–2.32). Duration of T2D revealed the significantly dose-response relationship to the onset of DR. The incidence density of DR in the Chinese community was relatively low in comparison with other studies. More attention should be paid to the T2D patients, especially of male gender, with hypertension, longer duration of diabetes, uncontrolled diabetes, total cholesterol ≥ 200mg/dL and HbA1c ≥ 7% (mmol/mol).

Background: The p53-binding protein 1 (TP53BP1) gene may be involved in the development of cancer through disrupting DNA repair. However, investigation of associations between TP53BP1 rs2602141 A/C polymorphism and cancer have yielded contradictory and inconclusive outcomes. We therefore performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the association between the TP53BP1 rs2602141 A/C polymorphism and cancer susceptibility. Materials and Methods: Published literature from PubMed, Medline, the Cochrane Library, EMbase, Web of Science, Google (scholar), CBMDisc, Chongqing VIP database, and CNKI database were retrieved. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using fixed or random-effects models. Publication bias was estimated using funnel plots, Begg’s and Egger’s test. Results: A total of seven studies (3,018 cases and 5,548 controls) were included in the meta-analysis. Our results showed that the genotype distribution of TP53BP1 rs2602141 A/C was not associated with cancer risk overall. However, on subgroup analysis, we found that TP53BP1 rs2602141 A/C was associated with cancer risk within an allele model (A vs C, OR=1.14, 95%CI: 1.01-1.29) and a codominant model (AA vs CC, OR=1.36, 95%CI: 1.06-1.74) in Asians rather than in Caucasians. Subgroup analysis by cancer type, genotype, and with or without adjustment for controls showed no significant association. Conclusions: The findings suggested an association between rs2602141 A/C polymorphism in TP53BP1 gene and increased risk of cancer in Asians.

Background Changes in climate and environmental conditions could be the driving factors for the transmission of hantavirus. Thus, a thorough collection and analysis of data related to the epidemic status of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and the association between HFRS incidence and meteorological factors, such as air temperature, is necessary for the disease control and prevention. Methods Journal articles and theses in both English and Chinese from Jan 2014 to Feb 2019 were identified from PubMed, Web of Science, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data and VIP Info. All identified studies were subject to the six criteria established to ensure the consistency with research objectives, (i) they provided the data of the incidence of HFRS in mainland China; (ii) they provided the type of air temperature indexes; (iii) they indicated the underlying geographical scale information, temporal data aggregation unit, and the data sources; (iv) they provided the statistical analysis method that had been used; (v) from peer-reviewed journals or dissertation; (vi) the time range for the inclusion of data exceeded two consecutive calendar years. Results A total of 27 publications were included in the systematic review, among them, the correlation between HFRS activity and air temperature was explored in 12 provinces and autonomous regions and also at national level. The study period ranged from 3 years to 54 years with a median of 10 years, 70.4% of the studies were based on the monthly HFRS incidence data, 21 studies considered the lagged effect of air temperature factors on the HFRS activity and the longest lag period considered in the included studies was 34 weeks. The correlation between HFRS activity and air temperature varied widely, and the effect of temperature on the HFRS epidemic was seasonal. Conclusions The present systematic review described the heterogeneity of geographical scale, data aggregation unit and study period chosen in the ecological studies that seeking the correlation between air temperature indexes and the incidence of HFRS in mainland China during the period from January 2014 to February 2019. The appropriate adoption of geographical scale, data aggregation unit, the length of lag period and the length of incidence collection period should be considered when exploring the relationship between HFRS incidence and meteorological factors such as air temperature. Further investigation is warranted to detect the thresholds of meteorological factors for the HFRS early warning purposes, to measure the duration of lagged effects and determine the timing of maximum effects for reducing the effects of meteorological factors on HFRS via continuous interventions and to identify the vulnerable populations for target protection., Author summary China has the largest number of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) cases in the world. With the acceleration of China’s urbanization process, especially in the process of rapid transition of China’s agriculture-related landscapes to urban landscapes, the dual role of climate change and environmental change has led to a leap in the epidemic area range of HFRS. Exploring or clarifying the relationship between HFRS epidemic and those environmental factors may help to grasp the spread and epidemic pattern of HFRS and then the pattern could serve as the partial basis of accurate HFRS incidence prediction and the corresponding allocation of public health resources. The present systematic review first described the heterogeneity of geographical scale, data aggregation unit and study period chosen in the ecological studies that seeking the correlation between air temperature indexes and incidence of HFRS in mainland China during the period from January 2014 to February 2019. Raising the awareness of the appropriate adoption of geographical scale, data aggregation unit, the length of lag period and the length of incidence collection period is of great importance when exploring the relationship between HFRS incidence and meteorological factors such as air temperature.

Objective To investigate the relationship between metabolic syndrome (MS) and the prevalence of retinopathy. Design A cross-sectional study was carried out from August 2013 to September 2014 in Fengyutan Sub-District. Primary and secondary outcome measures A total of 1163 eligible participants attended. All the participants were subjected to stereo fundus photography to detect retinopathy. The discrepancy of prevalence of retinopathy in different participants was described. Results The prevalence of retinopathy was 9.64% in patients with MS and 3.91% in patients without MS. A higher prevalence of retinopathy with proliferative diabetic retinopathy was found in patients with MS. In multiple logistic regression analysis, independent risk factors for any retinopathy in patients with MS were longer diabetes duration (OR 1.07; 95% CI 1.04 to 1.10, per year increase), higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) (OR 1.16; 95% CI 1.09 to 1.29, per 10 mm Hg increase), higher diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (OR 1.24; 95% CI 1.12 to 1.35, per 10 mm Hg increase), higher fasting plasma glucose (OR 1.07; 95% CI 1.02 to 1.11, per 10 mg/dL increase), higher 2 h postprandial plasma glucose (OR 1.17; 95% CI 1.12 to 1.21, per 10 mg/dL increase), and higher haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) (OR 1.23; 95% CI 1.13 to 1.34, per % increase). Similar independent risk factors, except for DBP, were found for any retinopathy in patients without MS. Conclusions The presence of MS components, hyperglycaemia (fasting glucose and HbA1c) and hypertension (SBP and DBP), are significantly associated with the prevalence of retinopathy.

A new process of producing pure H2 in consumption of H2O and carbon is presented. It contains three reactions: (1) Steam reacts with FeO at 800°C generating pure H2 and Fe3O4/Fe2O3; (2) Fe3O4/Fe2O3 are reduced to FeO by CO at same temperature while CO changes to CO2; (3) The produced CO2 reacts with carbon generating CO at 900°C. The net product of the process is H2 and CO. Theoretical energy gain of the new process is much higher than 1.0 and is energetically more than autarky. Some CO satisfies the process energy requirement and the surplus CO outputs as by-product. Experiments proved the feasibility of the process with indication of the importance to control the extent of reduction. The prominent advantages embedded allow the process applied in large-scale to trade coal for hydrogen. As such, instead of burning coal, hydrogen is burnt wherever energy is consumed. © 2008 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2008

The aim of this research was to identify the prevalence and distribution of vitreoretinal interface abnormalities (VIAs) among urban community population in Shenyang, China. According to the WHO criteria, a cross-sectional study was carried out among 304 Type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients and 304 people without diabetes as control over 45 years old. The presence of VIAs was determined by standardized grading of macular optical coherence tomography (Optovue OCT; Optovue, Inc., Fremont, CA) scans and two-field fundus photographs in at least one eye. For both men and women, high prevalence of VIAs (70.79%) was observed among over 65-years-old T2D patients. Prevalence of VIAs was observed to be high among T2D patients in all age groups compared to normal subjects. Prevalence of VIAs increased with age in all subjects. Prevalence of components of VIAs was epiretinal membrane (ERM) 11.43%, posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) 17.76%, vitreomacular traction syndrome (VMT) 5.67%, macular cysts/macular edema (MC/ME) 4.61%, full-thickness macular hole (FTMH) 0.82%, and partial thickness macular hole (PTMH) 0.74% in any eye, respectively. ERM and MC/ME were more prevalent in T2D in both males and females. The results highlight the need for early detection using OCT and approaches for the prevention of VIAs of diabetes in urban community.

During installing the seat on fighter, the electronic programmable controller of the seat can receive the atmosphere data, but the indicator light indicates abnormally. The phenomenon is considered, the atmosphere data signal from the electronic programmable controller is analyzed and the cause is gotten by going deep into the mechanism of the problem. KeywordsAtmosphere data; RS429 signal; RS422 signal I. SOURCE OF PROBLEMS During joint debugging of seat, it has been found seats program-receives exception signal programmable led display for atmospheric data (irregular flashing) and program-receive LED indicate abnormal failure when air data signals, LED indicate status, fault status indicator is not clear, is not easy to identify the problem. These issues directly affect the aircraft's flight safety, such as unable to locate and solve the problem in a timely manner will result in the aircraft fully grounded, impact research training and the work of a successful test flight. II. WORKING PRINCIPLES OF ELECTRONIC PROGRAMMABLE CONTROLLER ON SEATS When the aircraft is during normal flight, program automatically receives air data system parameters from the aircraft, and can feel the speed from the airplane's airspeed, height parameters and to determine whether the ejection seat pull off the true signal and the start signal. After ejection seat emergency start, programmable thermal battery receives a start signal and a seat pull off the start signal, will feel instantly catapult spacewalk from the airplane's pitot speed, altitude parameters and ejection posterity which seat systems height argument and ejection from the environment from the atmosphere before the machine system on the aircraft system parameters are compared, the arithmetic processing, in accordance with a predetermined speed control box height delay state, the delay time depends on the launch of the aircraft speed and altitude given shot umbrella separation time. Date of Receival: May 27, 2014 Introduction to the Author: Deng Guopeng (1977), male, undergraduate, engineer, mainly engaged in flight organization and management Program-RS429 signal processing modules running and monitoring module consists of two parts. Monitor running module main reception on board, pitot signals and seat signals and handling, speed, highly effective value, delayed control, and other functions. KS429 receives air, bus RS429 signal receiving and processing modules (including barometric altitude, barometric altitude, Mach number, the correct airspeed, true airspeed, stable temperature, total pressure and static pressure), converted to a RS422 data for RS422 after data processing, sent to monitor running module. Send atmospheric air data parameters, electronic programmable device receives atmospheric systems RS429 data, determine, packaging them into a RS422 signal data formats, and then sends the data to run program-monitoring module, electronic controlled atmospheric data receiving and processing signal process as shown in Fig. 1. Monitoring run the module initialization after the self test to enter the system monitoring program, are in a wait state (seat no ejection seat), press the cycle signal on the query in the order received, State inspection and testing have no start/start signal, collecting the airspeed pitot/static pressure. Monitor idle time to determine inorganic signal if International Conference on Logistics Engineering, Management and Computer Science (LEMCS 2015) © 2015. The authors Published by Atlantis Press 1616 signal on organic, receive RS422 signal indicates the data if that data is processed; otherwise an error signal/alarm indication. If there is no signal on, the monitor order status checking, testing has no start/start signal, collection storage total static pressure from the pitot tube system signals. Figure 1. Diagram of Processing Atmosphere Data and Signals When the ejection seat starts, monitor running module detects starting / start signal into the delay control module, the received signal is parsed machine, select the ejection start signal the last valid calibration and true airspeed static atmospheric parameters as RMS signal on board, pitot speed before starting the acquisition of catapult, height signal value is determined according to a predetermined decision logic speed, altitude RMS, to delay control. System is in a power-on self test, or while waiting for a State, control module self test results in a different state of the system display output status led, indicates work State separately. When there are organic signals, each receives a set of atmospheric monitoring module RS422 data, if it is normal, 7K light flashes once. III. PRELINIMARY ANALYSIS The seat was taken by the electronic program-receives work principle analysis of atmospheric data signal, programmable status indicator to indicate that the exception from two aspects; (1) When seat electronic control device is not connected to atmosphere signal, the status of electronic control electronic control device status LED indicates normal judging program-control system works properly (from the status indicator light flashes only). (2) Seat electronic program-air signals, electronic programmable device status is: electronic programmable device status LED indicate does not comply with the technical documentation requirements, determine the program-control system is not working properly. Preliminary analysis of this fault is the atmospheric systems and seat electronic control device caused by cross-linking, cross-linking relationships analyzed on two systems 1 Both atmosphere data system and seat electronic programmable controller are powered on, and judge whether they are normal through self test; 2 If both of the two systems are working properly, make further test into the technical indexes of atmosphere data computer and seat electronic programmable controller according to technical protocol to find out where the problem lies. After processing the problem, air data computer electronic programmable device and seat of cross-linking checks, protection systems in accordance with the technical agreement is cross-linked properly curing technology. IV. POSITIONING OF FAULTS Through preliminary analysis, both seat electronic programmable controller and atmosphere data system are powered on with their respective systems running normally. The electronic program-control system and air data computers removed from the plane, and check the specification of each system separately. To detect the air data computer sends a signal, signal is properly formatted, the signal cycle of instability, sent under cycle requirements are not met, leading to run program-monitoring procedures for receiving and processing data drop-frame air data signals, status LED indicates the fault exception. Program-receive send order data order and air data computer is inconsistent. Program-format according to RS422 signal receiving and processing of air data computer

To investigate the prevalence of impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and total diabetes mellitus (DM) including known diabetes and newly diagnosed diabetes in working age men of North China. A cross-section study was conducted at health medical center of Ansteel Group Hospital in Anshan city of China. 37,345 males between 20–60 years of age were recruited in this study. Age-standardized prevalence of IFG and total DM in these working age men were 25.3% and 8.4%, respectively. The prevalence of IFG and total DM increased, as the age progressed. After multinomial logit analysis, age, systolic blood pressure, drinking, smoking, overweight and obesity, total cholesterol, triglycerides, serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen were independent risk factors for both IFG and DM. The prevalence rate of IFG in Anshan male workers was higher compared with mainland China overall. Diabetes-related education and popularization of DM prevention programs should be actively carried out with age increasing.

Objective Pterygium is considered to be a proliferative overgrowth of bulbar conjunctiva that can induce significant astigmatism and cause visual impairment; this is the first meta-analysis to investigate the pooled prevalence and risk factors for pterygium in the global world. Design A systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based studies. Setting International. Participants A total of 20 studies with 900 545 samples were included. Primary outcome measure The pooled prevalence and risk factors for pterygium. Results 20 studies were included. The pooled prevalence of pterygium was 10.2% (95% CI 6.3% to 16.1%). The pooled prevalence among men was higher than that among women (14.5% vs 13.6%). The proportion of participants with unilateral cases of pterygium was higher than that of participants with bilateral cases of pterygium. We found a trend that the higher pooled prevalence of pterygium was associated with increasing geographical latitude and age in the world. The pooled OR was 2.32 (95% CI 1.66 to 3.23) for the male gender and 1.76 (95% CI 1.55 to 2.00) for outdoor activity, respectively. Conclusions The pooled prevalence of pterygium was relatively high, especially for low latitude regions and the elderly. There were many modifiable risk factors associated with pterygium to which healthcare providers should pay more attention.

Genetic variants of ABCB1 gene contributed to cancer susceptibility and interindividual differences in chemotherapy response. Therefore, we investigated the relevance between genetic variations in ABCB1 gene and both risk and clinical outcomes of breast carcinoma. A case–control study was performed on the SNPs C3435T, C1236T and G2677T/A in 1,173 Chinese breast carcinoma patients and 1,244 age- and sex-matched controls. These SNPs were typed by PCR–restriction fragment length polymorphism assays. We found the following: (1) ABCB1 C3435T, G2677T/A variants and haplotype 3435T–1236T–2677T significantly increased the risk of breast carcinoma [adjusted OR (95 % CI): 1.281 (1.021–1.285), 1.326 (1.182–1.487) and 1.707 (1.498–1.945), respectively]. (2) A significantly enhanced therapeutic response was observed in both C3435T variants and haplotype 3435T–1236T–2677T after neoadjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy (n = 148) [adjusted OR (95 % CI): 2.695 (1.172–6.211) and 8.064 (1.085–58.823), respectively]. (3) Cox proportional hazards regression models showed that the hazards ratio (HR) for progression-free survival (PFS) associated with C3435T CC genotype was 1.664 (95 % CI: 1.022–2.708, P = 0.041). Kaplan–Meier curve showed that C3435T CC carriers had a poor prognosis than those with CT/TT carriers after anthracycline-based chemotherapy (P = 0.043, n = 762). Furthermore, ABCB1 C3435T variants showed a significantly prolonged both PFS and overall survival (OS) in patients with triple-negative (ER−/PR−/HER2−) status (P = 0.001 and P = 0.016, respectively; n = 135). In addition, there was a significantly longer OS in patients with HER2-negative status who had G2677T/A variants (P = 0.036, n = 487). However, we did not find statistically significant association between C1236T genotypes and the risk or prognosis of breast carcinoma. These results suggest that ABCB1 gene C3435T, G2677T/A variations and haplotype 3435T–1236T–2677T relate to the risk and clinical outcomes of breast carcinoma and may function as candidate molecular markers of anthracycline chemosensitivity in breast carcinoma.

Background HFRS is a serious public health problem in China and the study on HFRS is important in China for its large population. The present study aimed to explore the impact of climatic variables and reservoir on the incidence of HFRS in Huludao City, an epidemic focus of the disease in northeastern China. Methods Structure Equation Model (SEM), a statistical technique for testing and estimating causal relationships, was conducted based on climatic variables, virus-carrying index among rodents, and incidence of HFRS in the city during the period 1990 to 2006. The linear structural relationships (LISREL) software (Scientific Software International, Lincolnwood, IL) was used to fit SEMs. Results Temperature, precipitation, relative humidity and virus-carrying index among rodents have shown positive correlations with the monthly incidence of HFRS, while air pressure had a negative correlation with the incidence. The best-fit SEM model fitted well with the data-based correlation matrix, P value was more than 0.56, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) equaled to 0, goodness-of-fit index (GFI) was more than 0.99. Conclusion Climate and reservoirs have affected the incidence of HFRS in Huludao City, located in northeastern China. Climate affects HFRS incidence mainly through the effect on reservoir in the study area. HFRS prevention and control should give more consideration to rodent control and climate variations.

Background Valid interview data is critical to the final results of the study. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability of epidemiological data obtained in non-smoking female lung cancer case-control study in China. Methods Fifty-six pairs of cases and controls, 10% percent of all the collected subjects were re-interviewed by three interviewers who underwent identical standardized training. A limited number of questions included in the original survey were asked again, the responses from the re-interview were compared with the original interview. Kappa was calculated by negative rates of agreement, positive rates of agreement and total rates of agreement to the accordance degree between the two interviews. Results The Kappa values were all more than 0.5 in all the studied indexes. The Kappa values descended from 0.92 in family history of cancer to 0.56 in oral contraception use. Errors in collecting and classifying data did occur, and were especially common for complicated clinical events, such as a drug exposure occurring many years before. Conclusion We identified four sources of this variability, three in collecting the data, and one in coding. As a result of these findings, strategies are proposed for improving the quality of interview data obtained in epidemiological research. Before finding a good solution, the strategy of data collecting and coding should be simple and easy to inspect.

Background More studies based on gene expression data have been reported in great detail, however, one major challenge for the methodologists is the choice of classification methods. The main purpose of this research was to compare the performance of linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and its modification methods for the classification of cancer based on gene expression data. Methods The classification performance of linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and its modification methods was evaluated by applying these methods to six public cancer gene expression datasets. These methods included linear discriminant analysis (LDA), prediction analysis for microarrays (PAM), shrinkage centroid regularized discriminant analysis (SCRDA), shrinkage linear discriminant analysis (SLDA) and shrinkage diagonal discriminant analysis (SDDA). The procedures were performed by software R 2.80. Results PAM picked out fewer feature genes than other methods from most datasets except from Brain dataset. For the two methods of shrinkage discriminant analysis, SLDA selected more genes than SDDA from most datasets except from 2-class lung cancer dataset. When comparing SLDA with SCRDA, SLDA selected more genes than SCRDA from 2-class lung cancer, SRBCT and Brain dataset, the result was opposite for the rest datasets. The average test error of LDA modification methods was lower than LDA method. Conclusions The classification performance of LDA modification methods was superior to that of traditional LDA with respect to the average error and there was no significant difference between theses modification methods.

Background A reliable and precise classification is essential for successful diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Gene expression microarrays have provided the high-throughput platform to discover genomic biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Rational use of the available bioinformation can not only effectively remove or suppress noise in gene chips, but also avoid one-sided results of separate experiment. However, only some studies have been aware of the importance of prior information in cancer classification. Methods Together with the application of support vector machine as the discriminant approach, we proposed one modified method that incorporated prior knowledge into cancer classification based on gene expression data to improve accuracy. A public well-known dataset, Malignant pleural mesothelioma and lung adenocarcinoma gene expression database, was used in this study. Prior knowledge is viewed here as a means of directing the classifier using known lung adenocarcinoma related genes. The procedures were performed by software R 2.80. Results The modified method performed better after incorporating prior knowledge. Accuracy of the modified method improved from 98.86% to 100% in training set and from 98.51% to 99.06% in test set. The standard deviations of the modified method decreased from 0.26% to 0 in training set and from 3.04% to 2.10% in test set. Conclusion The method that incorporates prior knowledge into discriminant analysis could effectively improve the capacity and reduce the impact of noise. This idea may have good future not only in practice but also in methodology.