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Basic medical laboratory courses (BMLCs) play an important role in medical educational courses helping the student acquire three important skills of surgical operating, collaborative learning, and problem solving. The outcome-based student assessment (OBSA) is a learning evaluation method that establishes specific evaluation points based on performance of students in three aspects: surgical operating, collaborative learning, and problem solving in the BMLC curriculum practices. The purpose of the present randomized controlled trial study is to explore the efficiency of OBSA program in BMLCs. The 233 students attending BMLCs were randomly divided into 2 groups, 118 in the OBSA group and 115 in the control group. We conducted multiple-choice examination questions (MCQs) test and two questionnaires with the method of two-sample t test for statistics. The results of MCQs in total eight BMLC blocks showed that the academic performance of the OBSA group was significantly better than that of the control group (P < 0.05). In addition, the average scores of direct observation of procedural skills (DOPS) and mini-experimental evaluation exercise in OBSA group were significantly higher than those in control group (P < 0.05). The majority of the medical students preferred the OBSA and considered OBSA could effectively improve their surgical operating skills (83.9%), collaborative learning skills (92.1%), and problem-solving skills (91.1%). From the above, OBSA is an effective evaluation method for the implementation of the BMLC curriculum

Reconstructing complex networks and predicting the dynamics are particularly challenging in real-world applications because the available information and data are incomplete. We develop a unified collaborative deep-learning framework consisting of three modules: network inference, state estimation, and dynamical learning. The complete network structure is first inferred and the states of the unobserved nodes are estimated, based on which the dynamical learning module is activated to determine the dynamical evolution rules. An alternating parameter updating strategy is deployed to improve the inference and prediction accuracy. Our framework outperforms baseline methods for synthetic and empirical networks hosting a variety of dynamical processes. A reciprocity emerges between network inference and dynamical prediction: better inference of network structure improves the accuracy of dynamical prediction, and vice versa. We demonstrate the superior performance of our framework on an influenza dataset consisting of 37 US States and a PM 2.5 dataset covering 184 cities in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Korotkoff approach is the only blood pressure (BP) measurement technique that allows contemporary data to be compared with decades of research. We randomly recruited 4483 people (53.3% women; mean age 52.1 years) from Gaoyou County, Jiangsu Province, China. Nine observers recorded the participants™ BP three times consecutively following Chinese Society of Hypertension guidelines. We assessed the BP phenotype based on five criteria: completeness of readings, percentage of identical BP readings, odd BP readings, end-digit preference and trends in BP from the first to the third reading. The proportion of participants with identical readings were 2.0% and 3.1% for systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), respectively. Among 26,898 BP values, 0.3% ended in an odd number. Among observers, the prevalence of identical readings varied from 0% to 5.3% for SBP and from 0% to 6.8% for DBP. Compared with the expected frequency of 20%, those ending in 0 had a lower frequency (17.2%;p < 0.001), whereas those ending in 8 had a higher frequency (22.4%;p < 0.001). From the first to the third measurement, SBP and DBP decreased (p < 0.001) by 0.87 and 0.55 mmHg, respectively. In conclusion, the procedures set up in the Gaoyou study produced a high-quality BP phenotype. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To investigate the effects of different irrigation and nitrogen application modes on nitrogen gaseous loss in winter wheat farmland, we conducted a field experiment at Changqing Irrigation Experiment Station in Shandong Province, with two irrigation levels (80%-90% θ f (I 1 ) and 70%-80% θ f (I 2 )) and three nitrogen application levels (conventional nitrogen application of 240 kg·hm -2 (N 1 ), nitrogen reduction of 12.5% (N 2 ), and nitrogen reduction of 25% (N 3 )). The results showed that ammonia volatilization and nitrous oxide emission rate peak appeared within 2-4 days after fertilization or irrigation. The ammonia volatilization rate during the chasing fertilizer period was significantly higher than that during the basal fertilizer period. Compared with other treatments, the ave-rage ammonia volatilization rate of I 2 N 2 treatment during the chasing fertilizer period was reduced by 10.1%-51.6%, and the average nitrous oxide emission rate over the whole growth period was reduced by 15.4%-52.2%. The ammonia volatilization rate was significantly positively associated with surface soil pH value and ammonium nitrogen content, while the nitrous oxide emission rate was significantly positively associated with nitrate content in topsoil. The accumulation amount of soil ammonia volatilization and nitrous oxide emission ranged from 0.83-1.42 and 0.11-0.33 kg·hm -2 , respectively. Moderate reduction of irrigation water and nitrogen input could effectively reduce cumulative amounts of ammonia volatilization and nitrous oxide emission from winter wheat farmland. The cumulative amounts of ammonia volatilization and nitrous oxide emission under I 1 N 3 and I 2 N 2 treatments were signi-ficantly lower than those under other treatments. The highest winter wheat yield (5615.6 kg·hm -2 ) appeared in I 2 N 2 treatment. The irrigation water utilization efficiency of I 2 was significantly higher than that of I 1 , with the maximum increase rate of 45.2%. Compared with N 1 and N 3 treatments, the maximum increase rate of nitrogen fertilizer productivity and agricultural utilization efficiency in N 2 reached 15.2% and 31.8%, respectively. In conclusion, the treatment with 70%-80% θ f irrigation level and 210 kg·hm -2 nitrogen input could effectively improve the utilization efficiency of irrigation water and nitrogen fertilization and reduce gaseous loss from winter wheat farmland.

To identify relationships between busulfan (Bu) exposure and outcomes of a cohort pediatric patients receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), along with a targeted busulfan-based conditioning regimen. We retrospectively evaluated targeted busulfan concentrations in 53 pediatric patients (age 0.4-16 years) who received busulfan 4 times daily according to recommended weight-based doses in a single-center analysis between 2018 and 2020. In this trial, individual busulfan pharmacokinetics were performed following dose 5 of the conditioning regimen. Twenty four of 53 patients (45.3%) studies did not require dose adjustments. Equal number of patients (24/53) required one dose adjustments while two-dose adjustment applied for 5 of 53 (9.4%). Twenty-one percent of the patients exhibited ll-lV aGVHD. The incidence of veno-occlusive disease (VOD) was in 3.8% of the 53 patients, while incidence of hemorrhagic cystitis (II-III) reached to 9.7%. Engraftment was successful in 98% of the 53 patients with relapse in 2% of cases. The probability of overall survival and disease-free survival at day 100 was 96% and 94%, respectively. In conclusion, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) and individualization of Bu dosage are essential to improve the efficacy and safety of busulfan-based regimen in Chinese pediatric HSCT recipients., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

We investigated the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in a large opportunistic screening study in China. Our study participants had to be ≥18 years of age and had ideally not taken blood pressure (BP) for ≥1 year. BP was measured three times consecutively in the sitting position with a 1-minute interval, using a validated electronic BP monitor or mercury sphygmomanometer. Trained volunteer investigators administered a questionnaire to collect information on medical history, lifestyle, and use of medications. The 364 000 participants (52.6% women, and mean age 53.4 years) had a mean systolic/diastolic BP of 124.2/76.4 mm Hg. The proportion of hypertension was 24.7%. In all hypertensive subjects (n = 89 925), the awareness, treatment, and control rates of hypertension were 60.1%, 42.5%, and 25.4%, respectively. In multiple stepwise logistic regression analyses, the odds for unawareness vs awareness of hypertension was higher in men and lower with age advancing, current smoking, and the presence of diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, and stroke or transient ischemic attack (P < .0001). The odds for uncontrolled vs controlled hypertension was higher with age advancing and current smoking, and lower with the presence of diabetes mellitus and coronary heart disease (P ≤ .03) in 38 207 treated hypertensive patients, and it was also higher with the use of antihypertensive monotherapy (odds ratio 1.13, P = .0003) in 19 523 treated hypertensive patients with specific antihypertensive drugs. Our study identified several factors as barriers to BP control in China, such as male gender, younger age, current smoking, and the under-use of combination therapy., (© 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Purpose: To explore the correlation between dietary nutrient intake and PG-SGA score in patients with oral cancers before radiotherapy., Methods: Sixty-five patients with oral cancers treated in Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital were selected. The 72-hour dietary survey method was used to understand the food intake of the patients. PG-SGA was used to make quantitative scoring of the nutritional status of the patients. SPSS 23.0 software package was used for data analysis., Results: The number of severe malnutrition cases in male patients was significantly higher than that in female patients (P＜0.05). Energy, fat and fat energy ratio, carbohydrate and carbohydrate energy ratio from diet in good nutrition/mild malnutrition group, moderate malnutrition, severe malnutrition patients were over reference intake of dietary nutrients for Chinese residents; protein intake and protein energy ratio were greater than reference intake of nutrients for Chinese people. There was no significant difference among the three groups. The selenium intake of the well-nourished/mildly malnourished, moderately malnourished and severely malnourished groups was 67.15, 81.04 and 81.59 μg; vitamin E was 27.81, 30.88, 26.40 mg α-TE; vitamin C was 150.19, 159.81, 183.71 mg; retinol was 904.65, 1401.51, and 1373.81 μg RAE, respectively. Niacin was 12.97, 18.76 and 14.27 mg NE, respectively, reaching or exceeding the reference intake. There was no significant difference among the three groups. In male patients, dietary energy and niacin intake were negatively correlated with PG-SGA score (P<0.05)., Conclusions: Patients with oral cancers have a high incidence of malnutrition before radiotherapy, and the average intake of dietary energy, protein, fat, carbohydrates and micronutrients such as selenium, vitamin E, vitamin C, retinol and niacin reached or exceeded the reference intake. Energy and niacin intake were negatively correlated with PG-SGA score in male patients.

A rod-shaped, endospore-forming, facultative anaerobic bacterium, designated FJAT-45385 T , was isolated from soil collected from Devil City in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region in China. Growth was observed at 20-40 °C (optimum, 30 °C), pH 7.0-11.0 (pH 9.0) and in 0-10.0 % NaCl (4 %), respectively. The cell-wall peptidoglycan contained meso-diaminopimelic acid and the isoprenoid quinone was MK-7. The main fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0 (37.4 %), iso-C15 : 0 (15.1 %) and C16 : 0 (12.6 %). The main polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylethanolamine. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences affiliated strain FJAT-45385 T to the genus Bacillus, and showed the highest sequence similarity to Bacillus wakoensis DSM 2521 T (96.0 %). The average nucleotide identity and in silico DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain FJAT-45385 T and its closest related species were 67.8 and 35.5 %, respectively, which were much lower than the thresholds commonly used to define species (96 and 70 %, respectively) indicating that it belong to a different taxon. The DNA G+C content was 38.1 mol%. The phenotypic characters and taxono-genomics study revealed that strain FJAT-45385 T represents a novel Bacillus species, for which the name Bacillus urbisdiaboli sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is FJAT-45385 T (=DSM 104651 T =CCTCC AB 2016263 T ).

A rod-shaped, endospore-forming, aerobic bacterium, designated FJAT-46582 T , was isolated from a sediment sample of the coastal region in Xiapu County, Fujian Province in China. Growth was observed at 10-30 °C (optimum, 25 °C), in 0-7.0 % NaCl (0 %) and at pH 6.0-11.0 (pH 8.0), respectively. The cell-wall peptidoglycan contained meso-diaminopimelic acid and the isoprenoid quinone was MK-7. The main fatty acids were anteiso-C17 : 0 (26.5 %), anteiso-C15 : 0 (19.6 %), iso-C15 : 0 (14.4 %) and C16 : 0 (10.5 %). The main polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidyl ethanolamine. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences affiliated strain FJAT-46582 T with the genus Bacillus, and showed the highest sequence similarity to Bacillus thermotolerans SGZ-8 T (97.6 %) and Bacillus ectoinformans (97.1 %). The average nucleotide identity and in silico DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain FJAT-46582 T and the most closely related species were 72.3 and 22.9 %, respectively, which were much lower than the thresholds commonly used to define species (96 and 70 %, respectively) indicating that it belonged to a different taxon. The DNA G+C content was 44.2 mol%. The phenotypic characters and taxono-genomics study revealed that strain FJAT-46582 T represents a novel Bacillus species, for which the name Bacillus xiapuensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is FJAT-46582 T (=JCM 33155=CCTCC AB 2017047 T ).

An improved, reliable and comprehensive method for assessing the quality of the ethyl acetate extract from persimmon leaves (EAPL) and its commercial preparation, Naoxinqing (Brain and Heart Clear capsules), has been developed and validated. Based on HPLC-DAD-ESI-Q-TOF-MS analysis, myricetin-3-O-β-D-galactoside (1), myricetin-3-O-glucoside (2), quercetin-3-O-β-D-galactoside (3), quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucoside (4), quercetin-3-O-(2″-O-galloyl-β-D-galactoside) (5), quercetin-3-O-(2″-O-galloyl-β-D-glucoside) (6), kaempferol-3-O-β-D-galactoside (7), kaempferol-3-O-β-D-glucoside (8), kaempferol-3-O-(2″-O-galloyl-β-D-galactoside) (9), kaempferol-3-O-(2″-O-galloyl-β-D-glucoside) (10), quercetin (11) and kaempferol (12) were identified from 15 batch samples. A HPLC fingerprint analytical method was established. All compounds, with the exception of compound 2, were simultaneously quantified by the single standard to determine multi-components (SSDMC) method, using kaempferol-3-O-β-D-glucoside as the internal standard. The rate of analysis was found to be faster with the SSDMC method than with current acid hydrolysis method (Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China 2015 edition) and the results were more intuitive and reliable. Three-dimensional principal component analysis revealed that there were similar characteristics in persimmon leaf from same district. Analysis of the myocardial cell protection activity of 11 monomeric compounds showed that compounds 12, 11 and 10 were the main active ingredients that produce pharmacologic functions in EAPL. Among these compounds, the bioactive constituent of myricetin-3-O-β-D-galactoside was determined for the first time in Diospyros khaki. Thus, we have established an effective assessment method that can be applied to the comprehensive quality evaluation of EAPL extract and Naoxinqing capsule.

Background: Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) can be easily measured in an observer-independent way, but lacks robust population-based validation in terms of fatal combined with nonfatal outcomes., Method: To address this issue, we studied 4251 Chinese randomly recruited Gaoyou County (54.1% women; mean age, 52.1)., Results: In the whole study population, mean values were 102.4 mmHg for mean arterial pressure (MAP), 51.1 mmHg for pulse pressure, and 14.8 m/s for baPWV. Over 4.4 years (median), 74 participants experienced a fatal or nonfatal cardiovascular event and 44 a stroke. In multivariable-adjusted Cox regression, standardized hazard ratios expressing the risk of a composite cardiovascular endpoint were 1.77 (95% confidence interval, 1.43-2.20), 1.37 (1.14-1.64) and 1.50 (1.26-1.78) for MAP, PP and baPWV, respectively; the corresponding hazard ratios for stroke were 1.82 (1.39-2.38), 1.39 (1.12-1.74) and 1.53 (1.25-1.89). baPWV did not add to the prediction of cardiovascular events or stroke by MAP (hazard ratios for baPWV, 1.25 and 1.27, respectively; P ≥ 0.053) but refined models including PP (hazard ratios, 1.42 and 1.45; P ≤ 0.0033). The optimized baPWV threshold, obtained by maximizing Youden's index (16.7 m/s), increased the integrated discrimination improvement over and beyond MAP (+1.27%; P = 0.021) and PP (+1.37%; P = 0.038) for the cardiovascular outcome, but not stroke, and increased the net reclassification improvement for both endpoints (≥42.2%; P ≤ 0.004)., Conclusion: With fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular and cerebrovascular endpoints as outcome, baPWV marginally increases risk stratification over and beyond MAP, but is a better predictor than PP. A threshold of 16.7 m/s might be used in Chinese populations.

A rod-shaped, endospore-forming, aerobic bacterium, designated FJAT-45347 T , was isolated from rhizosphere soil collected from the Taklamakan desert in Xinjiang (PR China). Growth was observed at 15-35 °C (optimum 25 °C), in 0 % and 20.0 % NaCl (optimum 8.0 %) and at pH 7.5-12.0 (optimum 8.0), respectively. The cell-wall peptidoglycan contained meso-diaminopimelic acid and the isoprenoid quinone was MK-7. The main fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0 and anteiso-C17 : 0. The main polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylethanolamine. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences affiliated FJAT-45347 T to the genus Bacillus, and it showed the highest sequence similarities to Bacillus clarkii DSM 8720 T (96.1 %). The average nucleotide identity and in silico DNA-DNA hybridization values between FJAT-45347 T and the most closely related species were 68.5 and 26.2 %, respectively, which were lower than the thresholds commonly used to define species (96 and 70 %, respectively), indicating that it represented a member of a different taxon. The DNA G+C content was 40.6 mol%. The phenotypic characters and taxono-genomics study revealed that FJAT-45347 T represents a novel species of the genus Bacillus, for which the name Bacilluspopuli sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is FJAT-45347 T (=DSM 104632 T =CCTCC AB 2016257 T ).

A Gram-stain-positive, rod-shaped, endospore-forming, aerobic bacterium, designated FJAT-27215T, was isolated from grass soil collected from Wudalianchi in the Heilongjiang Province of China. Growth was observed at 10-60 °C (optimum 30 °C), in 0 and 3.0 % NaCl (optimum 0 %) and at pH 5.0-10.0 (optimum 7.0), respectively. The cell-wall peptidoglycan contained meso-diaminopimelic acid and the isoprenoid quinone was MK7. The main fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C17 : 0, and iso-C16 : 0. The main polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidyl ethanolamine. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences affiliated strain FJAT-27215T to the genus Bacillus. Strain FJAT-27215T showed high sequence similarities to Bacillus encimensis SGD-V-25T (98.6 %), Bacillus badius NBRC 15713T (98.6 %), Domibacillus indicus SD111T (96.9 %) and Bacillus thermotolerans SgZ-8T (96.5 %). The average nucleotide identity values between strain FJAT-27215T and the type strains of closely related species were much lower than the 96 % threshold value for delineation of genomic prokaryotic species. The in silico DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain FJAT-27215T and the most closely related strain B. encimensis SGD-V-25T showed a similarity of 22.4 % and lower than 70 %, indicating that they belong to different taxa. The phenotypic characters and taxono-genomics study revealed that strain FJAT-27215T represents a novel Bacillus species, for which the name Bacillus wudalianchiensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is FJAT-27215T (=CCTCC AB 2015266T=DSM 100757T).

Objective: To investigate the relationship between c-reactive protein (CRP) and blood pressure in a general population., Methods: We randomly selected 3889 subjects aged 18 - 74 years stratified by gender and age in Baqiao, a rural area of Jiangsu Province. A standardized questionnaire was used to collect information on medical history, smoking, alcohol intake and use of medications. Blood pressure was measured by mercury sphygmomanometer. Serum CRP (hCRP) concentration was measured using a high sensitivity BNprosec immunonephelometric assay. Subjects were divided into 4 groups according to their interquartile range of CRP levers: group Q1 (men hCRP < 2.04 mg/L; women hCRP < 1.80 mg/L); group Q2 (men 2.04 mg/L ≤ hCRP < 3.01 mg/L; women 1.80 mg/L ≤ hCRP < 2.76 mg/L); group Q3 (men 3.01 mg/L ≤ hCRP < 4.14 mg/L; women 2.76 mg/L ≤ hCRP < 3.84 mg/L); and group Q4 (men 4.14 mg/L ≤ hCRP; women 3.84 mg/L ≤ hCRP)., Results: Systolic blood pressure (SBP, adjusted P = 0.016) and pulse pressure (PP, adjusted P = 0.003) of men and PP (adjusted P = 0.002) of women were increased in proportion to increased CRP levels. Diastolic blood pressure was not associated with CRP levels. Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that logCRP was independently associated with SBP and PP in men and PP in women. hCRP was independently associated with hypertension in men. Compared with group Q1, male people in group Q4 faced a 40.4% (95% confidence interval: 4.9% - 87.9%) higher risk of hypertension., Conclusions: hCRP was independently associated with PP in men and women, and SBP in men. hCRP was independently associated with hypertension in men but not in women in this study population.

The CD14 gene C-260T polymorphism has been reported to be associated with ischemic heart disease, but results were conflicting. To evaluate the role of the CD14 C-260T polymorphism in ischemic heart disease, we performed meta-analyses of all available data. Comprehensive searches for studies on the association between the genotypes (CC, CT, TT) distributions and ischemic heart disease risk were performed. Patients with acute coronary syndrome, prior myocardial infarction, stable angina pectoris, or angiographic coronary artery stenosis were included. Potential sources of heterogeneity were explored by meta-regression. Analyses were performed under European, East Asian, and Indian studies, respectively. Data were available for 19 studies involving 11,813 cases and 6,196 controls. The summary odds ratio under the recessive model was 1.53 (95% confidence interval: 1.20-1.96) for East Asian studies published in English language journals on overall ischemic heart disease. Pooled odds ratios under the codominant model were about 1.81 (95% confidence interval: 1.36-2.40) and 1.70 (95% confidence interval: 1.26-2.29) for Chinese studies on overall ischemic heart disease and other ischemic heart disease (angina pectoris and angiographic coronary artery stenosis), respectively. No significant association was found in a European population, an Indian population, or the vulnerable plaque ischemic heart disease (acute coronary syndrome and prior myocardial infarction) subgroup of an East Asian population. It is probable that T allele and TT genotype are associated with ischemic heart disease in the East Asian population but not in the European or Indian populations. Further studies are warranted to assess these associations in greater details, especially in East Asian and Indian populations.