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Background. We aimed to investigate the symptoms of the dry eye disease (DED) of hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods. This cross-sectional, observational study analysis included 91 hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. The Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) and the five-item Dry Eye Questionnaire (DEQ-5) were used to assess the severity of DED symptoms in the patients, and the analysis of variance was used to determine the factors associated with DED. Results. A total of 42 patients consented to complete the investigation (response rate 46.15%). There were 26 (61.90%) patients who were diagnosed with DED symptoms by OSDI, and there were 28 (66.67%) patients with DED symptoms who were diagnosed by DEQ-5 score. For the biochemical tests, the patients with DED symptoms had lower aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels compared to those with no DED symptoms (20.86 vs. 42.14, p = 0.04). Further analysis showed that a previous history of cardiac or stroke disease (p = 0.02) and typical symptoms of muscle soreness (p = 0.03) were significantly different among the four DED symptoms groups on the basis of OSDI scores. The contributing factors of OSDI were mainly focused on visual function and environmental triggers. Conclusion. The incidence of DED symptoms is higher in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. The serum AST levels, history of cardiac or stroke disease, and the typical symptoms of muscle soreness may be the main impact factors on DED symptoms. We also need to pay more attention to the visual function and environmental triggers of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the effect of posterior tibial slope (PTS) on the mid-term clinical outcome following a medial-pivot (MP) prosthesis. Method: Two hundred thirty-three patients from The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, who had undergone a total knee arthroplasty (TKA) with MP prosthesis between January 2015 and December 2015, were retrospectively included in this study. They were divided into 3 groups according to postoperative PTS: A ≤ 5°; B 5-7°; and C ≥ 7°. Multiple assessments were made on the patient postoperatively and recorded in the three groups, the measurements of this study included: the range of motion (ROM), knee scoring system (KSS), Western Ontario and McMaster universities osteoarthritis index (WOMAC), posterior condylar offset (PCO), joint line height, and postoperative complications. Results: The average post-operative ROM for groups B and C were 108° and 110° respectively; this was significantly higher than that of group A (98°, P < 0.001). The WOMAC scores of patients in group C were significantly lower than those in groups A and B (P < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences in KSS, PCO, and joint line height among the 3 groups (P > 0.05). Only 2 cases of postoperative complications occurred in group C, these were ameliorated after operation. Conclusion: With an increase to PTS, the postoperative ROM can be significantly increased for the patient. However, the knee joint function will not be significantly improved, and the stability of knee joint will not be affected when within the limits of appropriate PTS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Overweight or obesity among pregnant women may compromise maternal and neonatal iron status by upregulating hepcidin.Objectives: This study determined the association of 1) maternal and neonatal iron status with maternal and neonatal hepcidin concentrations, and 2) maternal prepregnancy weight status with maternal and neonatal hepcidin concentrations.Methods: We examined hematologic data from 405 pregnant women and their infants from the placebo treatment group of a pregnancy iron supplementation trial in rural China. We measured hepcidin, serum ferritin (SF), soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in maternal blood samples at mid-pregnancy and in cord blood at delivery. We used regression analysis to examine the association of maternal prepregnancy overweight or obese status with maternal hepcidin concentration in mid-pregnancy and cord hepcidin concentrations. We also used path analysis to examine mediation of the association of maternal prepregnancy overweight or obese status with maternal iron status by maternal hepcidin, as well as with neonatal hepcidin by neonatal iron status.Results: Maternal iron status was positively correlated with maternal hepcidin at mid-pregnancy (SF: r = 0.63, P < 0.001; sTfR: r = -0.37, P < 0.001). Neonatal iron status was also positively correlated with cord hepcidin (SF: r = 0.61, P < 0.001; sTfR: r = -0.39, P < 0.001). In multiple linear regression models, maternal prepregnancy overweight or obese status was not associated with maternal hepcidin at mid-pregnancy but was associated with lower cord hepcidin (coefficient = -0.21, P = 0.004). Using path analysis, we observed a significant indirect effect of maternal prepregnancy overweight or obese status on cord hepcidin, mediated by neonatal iron status.Conclusions: In both pregnant women and neonates, hepcidin was responsive to iron status. Maternal prepregnancy overweight status, with or without including obese women, was associated with lower cord blood hepcidin, likely driven by lower iron status among the neonates of these mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To provide more reasonable references for remedying underground water, fuel leak was simulated by establishing an experimental model of a porous-aquifer sand tank with the same size as that of the actual tank and by monitoring the underground water. In the tank, traditional gasoline and ethyl alcohol gasoline were poured. This study was conducted to achieve better understanding of the migration and distribution of benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylene (BTEX), which are major pollutants in the underground water. Experimental results showed that, compared with conventional gasoline, the content peak of BTEX in the mixture of ethyl alcohol gasoline appeared later; BTEX migrated along the water flow direction horizontally and presented different pollution halos; BTEX also exhibited the highest content level at 45 cm depth; however, its content declined at the 30 and 15 cm depths vertically because of the vertical dispersion effect; the rise of underground water level increased the BTEX content, and the attenuation of BTEX content in underground water was related to the biodegradation in the sand tank, which mainly included biodegradation with oxygen, nitrate, and sulfate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous trials of iron supplementation in infancy did not consider maternal iron supplementation.Objective: This study assessed effects of iron supplementation in infancy and/or pregnancy on infant iron status, illnesses, and growth at 9 mo.Methods: Enrollment occurred from December 2009 to June 2012 in Hebei, China. Infants born to women in a pregnancy iron supplementation trial were randomly assigned 1:1 to iron [∼1 mg Fe/(kg · d) as oral iron proteinsuccynilate] or placebo from 6 wk to 9 mo, excluding infants with cord ferritin <35 μg/L. Study groups were pregnancy placebo/infancy placebo (placebo/placebo), pregnancy placebo/infancy iron (placebo/iron), pregnancy iron/infancy placebo (iron/placebo), and pregnancy iron/infancy iron (iron/iron). The primary outcome was 9-mo iron status: iron deficiency (ID) by cutoff (≥2 abnormal iron measures) or body iron <0 mg/kg and ID + anemia (hemoglobin <110 g/L). Secondary outcomes were doctor visits or hospitalizations and weight or length gain from birth to 9 mo. Statistical analysis by intention to treat and dose-response (between number of iron bottles received and outcome) used logistic regression with concomitant RRs and general linear models, with covariate control as applicable.Results: Of 1482 infants randomly allocated, 1276 had 9-mo data (n = 312-327/group). Iron supplementation in infancy, but not pregnancy, reduced ID risk: RRs (95% CIs) were 0.89 (0.79, 0.998) for placebo/iron compared to placebo/placebo, 0.79 (0.63, 0.98) for placebo/iron compared to iron/placebo, 0.87 (0.77, 0.98) for iron/iron compared to placebo/placebo, and 0.86 (0.77, 0.97) for iron/iron compared to iron/placebo. However, >60% of infants still had ID at 9 mo. Receiving more bottles of iron in infancy was associated with better infant iron status at 9 mo but only among iron-supplemented infants whose mothers were also iron supplemented (i.e., the iron/iron group). There were no group differences in hospitalizations or illnesses and no adverse effects on growth overall or among infants who were iron sufficient at birth.Conclusions: Iron supplementation in Chinese infants reduced ID at 9 mo without adverse effects on growth or illness. Effects of iron supplementation in pregnancy were observed only when higher amounts of iron were distributed in infancy. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00613717. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Much attention has been paid to the quality of life (QOL) in dialysis patients worldwide. However, differences in QOL between peritoneal dialysis (PD) and hemodialysis (HD) patients have not been clearly identified. The objectives of this study were to compare the differences of QOL between PD and HD patients, and to investigate factors contributing to QOL in the Chinese population. Methods: All patients who received PD or HD more than 3 months were enrolled in the study. The demographic and clinical data were also obtained. SF-36 was used to assess QOL. Results: A total of 190 (91.8%) of 207 dialysis patients were enrolled in the study. PD patients had markedly lower scores on role-physical (RP) and bodily pain (BP) domains than HD patients, but had remarkably higher scores on role-emotional (RE) domain ( p < 0.05). While the scores of physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) showed no differences between the two groups ( p > 0.05). The results of the multiple linear regression analysis indicated that age and cerebrovascular disease had negative correlations with PCS ( p < 0.01), whereas the serum prealbumin level had positive correlation with PCS ( p < 0.05). The married status was negatively associated with MCS ( p < 0.01). But the higher education level was positively associated with MCS ( p < 0.01). Conclusions: There were no significant differences on QOL between the two dialysis modalities. The possible factors related to QOL were age, cerebrovascular disease, marital status, education, and serum prealbumin levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study assessed the water quality of 50 samples collected from 10 locations of Huangyang reservoir, Shiyanghe river basin in Wuwei of Gansu province. The objectives of the study were to assess the levels of parameters associated with the aesthetics of the water and to compare them with Environmental Quality Standards for Surface Water. Water quality parameters included pH, temperature, biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), permanganate index, total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and NH3-N were analyzed. COD was found to be 6.6-8.0mg/L, pH 7.8–9.0, temperature 4–11°C, permanganate index 2.4-3.0mg/L, NH3-N 0.01-0.03mg/L, TP 0.020–0.034mg/L, BOD 2.4-3.0mg/L, and TN 0.03–0.05mg/L. Most of the water quality parameters met the Class II level of Environmental Quality Standards for Surface Water. Iwq was result to be 1.2-1.4, and TSI (TP) 47-55.As can be seen from the indexes, the water quality of the reservoir can well satisfy the functions of the water body. It is recommended that priority in future projects should be given to the non-linear relationships among parameters that are characteristic of ecosystems. Spatial and temporal distribution of the parameters should be investigated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Chinese government has made great efforts to combat air pollution through the reductions in SO2, NOx and VOCs emissions, as part of its socioeconomic Five-Year Plans (FYPs). China aims to further reduce the emissions of VOCs and NOx by 10% in its upcoming 14th FYP (2021–2025). Here, we used a regional chemical transport model (e.g., WRF/CMAQ) to examine the responses of PM2.5 and O3 to emission control policies of the 14th FYP in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region. The simulation results under the 4 emission control scenarios in the 2 winter months in 2025 indicate that the average concentrations of city mean PM2.5 in 41 cities in the YRD were predicted to only decrease by 10% under both S1 and S1_E scenarios, whereas the enhanced emission control scenarios (i.e., S2_E and S3_E) could reduce PM2.5 in each city by more than 20%. The model simulation results for O3 in the 3 summer months in 2025 show that the O3 responses to the emission controls under the S1 and S1_E scenarios show different control effects on O3 concentrations in the YRD with the increase and decrease effects, respectively. The study found that both enhanced emission control scenarios (S2_E and S3_E) could decrease O3 in each city by more than 20% with more reductions in O3 under the S3_E emission control scenario because of its higher control strengths for both NOx and VOCs emissions. It was found that emission reduction policies for controlling high emission sectors of NOx and VOCs such as S2_E and S3_E were more effective for decreasing both PM2.5 and O3 in the YRD. This study shows that O3 controls will benefit from well-designed air pollution control strategies for reasonable control ratios of NOx and VOCs emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Updated meta -analysis of bevacizumab for pterygium from 2018 to present. • Subconjunctival injection of 2.5 mg bevacizumab has the best effect of recurrence. • The influence of each variable on recurrence was analyzed. • Bevacizumab is more effective in the treatment of recurrent pterygium. Recurrence is the most common problem following pterygium surgery. Whether bevacizumab can prevent pterygium recurrence is controversial. To address this point, we carried out a meta -analysis of randomized controlled trials evaluating the efficacy and safety of bevacizumab in the treatment of pterygium. We searched the PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Chinese Biomedical Literature, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wan fang databases up to September 20, 2020 for relevant articles. We used the Cochrane assessment tool to evaluate the methodologic quality of the included studies, and calculated the relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of the reported recurrence and complication rates. A total of 17 studies including 1124 patients with 1144 eyes were included in the meta -analysis. The combined results showed that bevacizumab significantly reduced the recurrence rate of pterygium after surgery (RR = 0.652, 95% CI: 0.504–0.845, Z = 3.24, P = 0.001) and was not significantly associated with the occurrence of postoperative complications compared to control treatments (RR = 0.832, 95% CI: 0.604–1.145, Z = 1.13, P = 0.259). A subgroup analysis showed that the rate of pterygium recurrence was significantly lower with bevacizumab than in the control group at a dose of 2.5 mg (RR = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.24–0.91) administered by subconjunctival injection (RR = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.39–0.75) after a follow-up time of ≤ 6 months (RR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.45–0.88). Thus, bevacizumab can reduce the risk of pterygium recurrence after surgery, and does not differ from placebo or other drug treatments in terms of the risk of complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance of recently developed tumor marker clinical kits in China, with the aim of encouraging local medical technology innovation and thus narrowing the research and development gap with foreign kits., Methods: The newly established reagent kits were analyzed on the TESMI F3999-Luminex200 flow lattice instrument to verify precision, sensitivity (blank limit), linearity, anti-interference ability, carry-over contamination rate, hook effect, and reference interval verification. Additionally, the newly established reagent kits were compared to other commercially available detection kits (reference reagent kits) to analyze the correlation between the two types of kits., Results: The intra-assay and inter-assay precision had coefficients of variations (CVs) less than 3.50% and 6.91%, respectively. The tumor marker blank limits were lower than the manufacturer's statement. The newly established reagent kits demonstrated excellent linearity (r > 0.99). Rheumatoid factor, triglycerides, bilirubin, and hemoglobin did not have significant interference with the determination of tumor markers. The carry-over contamination rates were all much lower than 3%. At extremely high concentrations of AFP (277,335 ng/mL and 1,031,424 ng/mL), the measured tumor marker values were higher than the upper limit of the linear range and no hook effect occurred. The reference interval was suitable for use in clinical laboratory settings. Correlation analysis indicated a satisfactory relevance and consistency between the newly developed reagent kits and reference reagent kits, with correlation coefficients of r > 0.967 among 654 patients and healthy individuals., Conclusions: The newly developed reagent kits for tumor markers performed well in all evaluated parameters, having the potential for clinical promotion and application.

Objective: The aim of this study was to establish a preoperative model to predict the outcome of primary debulking surgery (PDS) for advanced ovarian cancer (AOC) patients by combing Suidan predictive model with HE4, CA125, CA153 and ROMA index., Methods: 76 AOC Patients in revised 2014 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage III-IV who underwent PDS between 2017 and 2019 from Yunnan Cancer Hospital were included. Clinical data including the levels of preoperative serum HE4, CA125, CA153 and mid-lower abdominal CT-enhanced scan results were collected. The logistics regression analysis was performed to find factors associated with sub-optimal debulking surgery (SDS). The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to evaluate the predictive performances of selected variables in the outcome of primary debulking surgery. The predictive index value (PIV) model was constructed to predict the outcome of SDS., Results: Optimal surgical cytoreduction was achieved in 61.84% (47/76) patients. The value for CA125, HE4, CA153, ROMA index and Suidan score was lower in optimal debulking surgery (ODS) group than SDS group. Based on the Youden index, which is widely used for evaluating the performance of predictive models, the best cutoff point for the preoperative serum HE4, CA125, CA153, ROMA index and Suidan score to distinguish SDS were 431.55 pmol/l, 2277 KU/L, 57.19 KU/L, 97.525% and 2.5, respectively. Patients with PIV≥5 may not be able to achieve optimal surgical cytoreduction. The diagnostic accuracy, NPV, PPV and specificity for diagnosing SDS were 73.7%, 82.9%, 62.9% and 72.3%, respectively. In the constructed model, the AUC of the SDS prediction was 0.770 (95% confidence interval: 0.654-0.887), P<0.001., Conclusion: Preoperative serum CA153 level is an important non-invasive predictor of primary SDS in advanced AOC, which has not been reported before. The constructed PIV model based on Suidan's predictive model plus HE4, CA125, CA153 and ROMA index can noninvasively predict SDS in AOC patients, the accuracy of this prediction model still needs to be validated in future studies., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

To guarantee the blue skies for the 2022 Winter Olympics held in Beijing and Zhangjiakou from February 4 to 20, Beijing and its surrounding areas adopted a series of emission control measures. This provides an opportunity to determine the impacts of large-scale temporary control measures on the air quality in Beijing during this special period. Here, we applied the WRF-CMAQ model to quantify the contributions of emission reduction measures and meteorological conditions. Results show that meteorological conditions in 2022 decreased PM 2.5 in Beijing by 6.9 and 11.8 µg/m 3 relative to 2021 under the scenarios with and without emission reductions, respectively. Strict emission reduction measures implemented in Beijing and seven neighboring provinces resulted in an average decrease of 13.0 µg/m 3 (-41.2%) in PM 2.5 in Beijing. Over the entire period, local emission reductions contributed more to good air quality in Beijing than nonlocal emission reductions. Under the emission reduction scenario, local, controlled regions, other regions, and boundary conditions contributed 47.7%, 42.0%, 5.3%, and 5.0% to the PM 2.5 concentrations in Beijing, respectively. The results indicate that during the cleaning period with the air masses from the northwest, the abatements of PM 2.5 were mainly caused by local emission reductions. However, during the potential pollution period with the air masses from the east-northeast and west-southwest, the abatements of PM 2.5 were caused by both local and nonlocal emission reductions almost equally. This implies that regional coordinated prevention and control strategies need to be arranged scientifically and rationally when heavy pollution events are forecasted., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Objective: To characterize neonatal iron stores depending on gestational age (GA) at term., Study Design: Participants were 751 mother-newborn pairs from the placebo arm of a randomized clinical trial of prenatal iron-folate supplementation in China. We compared mean cord serum ferritin (SF) by weeks GA and, following the general linear model, assessed whether maternal iron deficiency (ID) influenced relations between GA and cord SF., Results: Controlling for covariates, cord SF increased between 37 and 41 weeks (ps < 0.05-0.01). Cord SF was lower in infants of ID vs. non-ID mothers (geometric mean 96.3 [95% CI: 91.3-101.6] µg/L vs. 115.9 [95% CI: 105.0-127.8] µg/L, effect size = 0.33 SD, p = 0.0012). There was no significant increase with GA among infants of ID mothers. For non-ID mothers, cord-blood SF increased sharply with GA until 38 5/7 weeks, after which it plateaued., Conclusions: The findings emphasize that neonates at 37-38 weeks, although considered term, are not fully mature.

Background: Previous trials of prenatal iron supplementation had limited measures of maternal or neonatal iron status., Objective: The purpose was to assess effects of prenatal iron-folate supplementation on maternal and neonatal iron status., Methods: Enrollment occurred June 2009 through December 2011 in Hebei, China. Women with uncomplicated singleton pregnancies at ≤20 wk gestation, aged ≥18 y, and with hemoglobin ≥100 g/L were randomly assigned 1:1 to receive daily iron (300 mg ferrous sulfate) or placebo + 0.40 mg folate from enrollment to birth. Iron status was assessed in maternal venous blood (at enrollment and at or near term) and cord blood. Primary outcomes were as follows: 1) maternal iron deficiency (ID) defined in 2 ways as serum ferritin (SF) <15 μg/L and body iron (BI) <0 mg/kg; 2) maternal ID anemia [ID + anemia (IDA); hemoglobin <110 g/L]; and 3) neonatal ID (cord blood ferritin <75 μg/L or zinc protoporphyrin/heme >118 μmol/mol)., Results: A total of 2371 women were randomly assigned, with outcomes for 1632 women or neonates (809 placebo/folate, 823 iron/folate; 1579 mother-newborn pairs, 37 mothers, 16 neonates). Most infants (97%) were born at term. At or near term, maternal hemoglobin was significantly higher (+5.56 g/L) for iron vs. placebo groups. Anemia risk was reduced (RR: 0.53; 95% CI: 0.43, 0.66), as were risks of ID (RR: 0.74; 95% CI: 0.69, 0.79 by SF; RR: 0.65; 95% CI: 0.59, 0.71 by BI) and IDA (RR: 0.49; 95% CI: 0.38, 0.62 by SF; RR: 0.51; 95% CI: 0.40, 0.65 by BI). Most women still had ID (66.8% by SF, 54.7% by BI). Adverse effects, all minor, were similar by group. There were no differences in cord blood iron measures; >45% of neonates in each group had ID. However, dose-response analyses showed higher cord SF with more maternal iron capsules reported being consumed (β per 10 capsules = 2.60, P < 0.05)., Conclusions: Prenatal iron supplementation reduced anemia, ID, and IDA in pregnant women in rural China, but most women and >45% of neonates had ID, regardless of supplementation. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02221752., (© 2015 American Society for Nutrition.)

Maternal iron status is thought to be related to postpartum depressive symptoms. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between pre- and postnatal maternal iron status and depressive symptoms in pilot (n = 137) and confirmatory (n = 567) samples of Chinese women. Iron status was evaluated at mid- and late pregnancy and 3 days postpartum. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used to assess maternal postpartum depression 24-48 hours after delivery and 6 weeks later. In the pilot sample, correlations between early- and late-pregnancy maternal Hb and EPDS scores at 6 weeks were r = 0.07 and -0.01, respectively (nonsignificant). In the confirmatory sample, the correlations between maternal iron measures (Hb, MCV, ZPP, ferritin, sTfR, and sTfR Index) in mid- or late pregnancy or 3 days postpartum and EPDS scores shortly after delivery or at 6 weeks were also low (r values < 0.10). EPDS scores in anemic and nonanemic mothers did not differ, regardless of sample or timing of maternal iron status assessment. In addition, women with or without possible PPD were similar in iron status in both samples. Thus, there was no relationship between maternal iron status and postpartum depression in these samples.

Dioctyldiethylenetriamine acetate (Chinese common name: Xinjunan) is an effective bactericide and virucide widely used on many crops including vegetables and fruits in China. In this study, the dissipation of dioctyldiethylenetriamine acetate 1.8% (w/w) aqueous solution (AS) in rice, soil and water was studied. The result in the supervised field trials showed that the half-lives of dioctyldiethylenetriamine acetate in soil and rice plant were in the range 3.9-6.6 and 6.2-12 days, respectively. It also indicated that the decline followed first-order kinetics. The dissipation of Xinjunan in water, was stimulated in a laboratory container, showed that it could rapidly deposit on solid particles and might form bound residues in surface levels of soil. According to the toxicological data and the dietary intake of rice, a MRL (Maximum Residue Limits) of 0.1 mg/kg for dioctyldiethylenetriamine acetate in the rice was recommended for national accessment. The results indicated that the supervised trials median residues (STMR) is 0.02 mg/kg and only 0.2% of the acceptable daily intake (ADI) is occupied by dietary daily intake in the average Chinese population. It would be unlikely to pose any public health issues if dioctyldiethylenetriamine acetate was applied according to the use pattern suggested by the manufactures on the label.