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Summary: As the COVID‐19 variant Omicron surge in Beijing, China, a better understanding of risk factors for adverse outcomes may improve clinical management in patients with haematological malignancies (HM) diagnosed with COVID‐19. The study sample includes 412 cases, mainly represented by acute leukaemia, chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), plasma cell disorders and lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. COVID‐19 pneumonia was observed in 10.4% (43/412) of patients, and severe/critical illness was observed in 5.3% (22/412). Among the 86 cases with advanced malignancies, 17.6% (12/86) of patients developed severe/critical COVID‐19, which was significantly higher than reported in patients with stable malignancies (9/326, 2.70%, p < 0.001). Similarly, the advanced malignancy cohort had a higher mortality rate (9/86, 10.5% vs. 0/326, 0%, p < 0.001) and a poor 30‐day overall survival (OS) compared with the stable malignancy cohort (74.2% vs. 100.0%, p < 0.0001). Overall, nine patients (2.2%) died. The primary cause of death was progressive HM in four patients and a combination of both COVID‐19 and HM in five patients. In the multivariable analysis, over 65 years of age, comorbidities and advanced malignancy were correlated with severe/critical COVID‐19 in HM patients. This study sheds light on the poor outcomes among COVID‐19 HM patients with the leading cause of advanced malignancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, continuous monitoring of PM was carried out for 1 year period at one of the largest residential areas in Beijing. Annual mean of PM during sampling period was 100.4 µg/m. The seasonal variation trend of PM was winter > spring > autumn and summer. The total mass concentrations of metals in PM ranged from 0.4 to 13.2 μg/m. There were significant ( p < 0.05) seasonal variations for concentrations of Ca, Al, Mn, As, Rb, Cr, Ni, Cd and Co, seasonal variations in PM-associated metals were not necessarily the same as the seasonal variation in PM, related to differing seasonal trends in source types. The impact of meteorological factors (e.g., wind speed) on metals levels of PM was found to be significant by regression models. The EFs value of Ag, Ca, Cd, Pb, Zn, As, Cu, and Cr were higher than ten, suggesting that those elements were primarily contributed by anthropogenic sources. Seasonal characteristic of EFs were found for As, Cr, Ca and Ag, which indicating the seasonal pollution sources types for those metals. Overall, these findings indicated that the pollution control of ambient PM should not be negligible in residential area in Beijing and the local government should pertinent and accurate prevent and control of air pollution as well as protect human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hospital-acquired bloodstream infection (BSI) is associated with high morbidity and mortality and increases patients' length of stay (LOS) and hospital charges. Our goals were to calculate LOS and charges attributable to BSI and compare results among different models. Methods: A retrospective observational cohort study was conducted in 2017 in a large general hospital, in Beijing. Using patient-level data, we compared the attributable LOS and charges of BSI with three models: 1) conventional non-matching, 2) propensity score matching controlling for the impact of potential confounding variables, and 3) risk set matching controlling for time-varying covariates and matching based on propensity score and infection time. Results: The study included 118,600 patient admissions, 557 (0.47%) with BSI. Six hundred fourteen microorganisms were cultured from patients with BSI. Escherichia coli was the most common bacteria (106, 17.26%). Among multi-drug resistant bacteria, carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) was the most common (42, 38.53%). In the conventional non-matching model, the excess LOS and charges associated with BSI were 25.06 days (P < 0.05) and US$22041.73 (P < 0.05), respectively. After matching, the mean LOS and charges attributable to BSI both decreased. When infection time was incorporated into the risk set matching model, the excess LOS and charges were 16.86 days (P < 0.05) and US$15909.21 (P < 0.05), respectively. Conclusion: This is the first study to consider time-dependent bias in estimating excess LOS and charges attributable to BSI in a Chinese hospital setting. We found matching on infection time can reduce bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To quantify the five year incidence trend of all healthcare-associated infections (HAI) using a real-time HAI electronic surveillance system in a tertiary hospital in Beijing, China. Methods: The real-time surveillance system scans the hospital's electronic databases related to HAI (e.g. microbiological reports and antibiotics administration) to identify HAI cases. We conducted retrospective secondary analyses of the data exported from the surveillance system for inpatients with all types of HAIs from January 1st 2013 to December 31st 2017. Incidence of HAI is defined as the number of HAIs per 1000 patient-days. We modeled the incidence data using negative binomial regression. Results: In total, 23361 HAI cases were identified from 633990 patients, spanning 6242375 patient-days during the 5-year period. Overall, the adjusted five-year HAI incidence rate had a marginal reduction from 2013 (4.10 per 1000 patient days) to 2017 (3.62 per 1000 patient days). The incidence of respiratory tract infection decreased significantly. However, the incidence rate of bloodstream infections and surgical site infection increased significantly. Respiratory tract infection (43.80%) accounted for the most substantial proportion of HAIs, followed by bloodstream infections (15.74%), and urinary tract infection (12.69%). A summer peak in HAIs was detected among adult and elderly patients. Conclusions: This study shows how continuous electronic incidence surveillance based on existing hospital electronic databases can provide a practical means of measuring hospital-wide HAI incidence. The estimated incidence trends demonstrate the necessity for improved infection control measures related to bloodstream infections, ventilator-associated pneumonia, non-intensive care patients, and non-device-associated HAIs, especially during summer months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gas- and particle-phase concentrations of 18 atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were respectively measured during daytime and nighttime at an urban site of Beijing around the New Year's Day of 2015. The average concentration of total atmospheric PAHs (Σ 18 PAHs) during three haze episodes (PM 2.5 > 75 μg/m 3 ) was 1473.1 ng/m 3 , which was 2.6 times higher than that (405.1 ng/m 3 ) during normal periods (PM 2.5 < 75 μg/m 3 ). Significant diurnal variations in the Σ 18 PAH concentrations, homologue pattern and gas–particle partitioning were observed during haze episodes. There was a significantly negative correlation between Σ 18 PAH concentrations and planetary boundary layer heights. During haze episodes, PAHs in daytime atmosphere should mostly originate from the vehicle emission, while the main sources shift to coal combustion in the nighttime. The gas–particle distribution behavior of PAHs was decisively affected by air temperature and relative humidity, and generally simulated by Junge–Pankow model. During haze episodes, the average benzo[ a ]pyrene equivalent concentration of atmospheric PAHs in the nighttime were 0.7-fold higher than that in the daytime, indicating that people staying out more during haze episode nighttime would pose a considerably higher cancer risk for inhalation exposure to PAHs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic input of nutrient has profoundly influenced water quality and aquatic organisms, however, large and unbalanced nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) inputs (decoupling) can lead to a range of ecological health problems such as eutrophication. Whether and how the decoupling varies along the aquatic food chain remains poorly addressed. Here we chose an urban river ecosystem in the cosmopolis region of Beijing, with reclaimed water as the entire replenishment water source over 20 years, to demonstrate the decoupling pattern of N vs P across trophic levels. Results showed that organism C, N and P concentration increased, but N:P ratio decreased upward along the food chains, suggesting that this decoupling of N and P increased as trophic level ascends. Compared with natural freshwater ecosystem, the decoupling of N and P was aggravated in the reclaimed water river. Moreover, the homeostasis of N and P were higher at higher relative to lower trophic levels, and higher in macro-food chain relative to planktonic food chain. This study, for the first time, revealed the increasing decoupling of N vs P upward along the major food chains in an urban aquatic ecosystem, and could improve the understanding of nutrient cycling at the food chain level under human disturbance, and provide useful information for ecological restoration and eutrophication control of urban wetlands replenished with reclaimed water. [Display omitted] • The decoupling of N and P increased upward along the aquatic food chains. • N–P decoupling was aggravated in reclaimed water with unbalanced nutrient input. • Both N and P had higher homeostasis at higher relative to lower trophic levels. • Macro-food chain showed higher nutrient homeostasis than planktonic food chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]