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Background: People with diabetes and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have a significantly greater risk of death and/or intensive care unit (ICU) admission. The Association of British Clinical Diabetologists (ABCD) recently audited outcomes for people hospitalised in the UK with diabetes and COVID-19. Methods: The ABCD COVID-19 and diabetes audit was a retrospective audit of patients admitted to UK hospitals with diabetes and COVID-19 between March and December 2020. Data related to patients admitted in Wales were compared with patients admitted in England and Scotland. Results: In Wales, 40/82 (48.7%) patients with diabetes had COVID-19-related mortality compared with 1,149/2,916 (39.1%) in the UK group (p=0.08). The Welsh cohort were more likely to be Caucasian, have a higher body mass index and HbA1c, be diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy and prescribed a sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitor or insulin than those in England and Scotland. Patients admitted to the ICU in Wales were more likely to be male and have type 2 diabetes. Conclusions: Patients admitted to hospital with diabetes and COVID-19 in Wales had a poorer outcome compared with England and Scotland. This disparity may reflect social inequality, differences in cardiovascular risk factors and/or differences in diabetes medications between hospitalised patients in Wales and the UK.

We describe the rationale, aims and objectives and the methodology of data collection for the ABCD nationwide audit of individuals admitted to hospital with coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19) and diabetes. The audit was inspired and undertaken by the urgent need to understand the clinical course of COVID-19 in patients with diabetes admitted to hospital in the UK during the pandemic. We wished to understand the clinical behaviour of diabetes per se, post hospital admission and the factors with may be associated with admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and death due to COVID-19. This was a clinically-led audit. We used existing infrastructure and expertise to collect data using an electronic tool specifically designed and piloted by the steering group members. The clinical variables were chosen to fulfil the main aim of this audit as stated above, and factors influencing the clinical course of COVID-19 in individuals with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes at the time of admission to hospital and during the whole length of stay, until discharge or death from COVID-19. The data collected so far represent a large, multicentre audit with more than 3,500 admissions during the pandemic. We plan to continue collecting additional data and publish ongoing reports of interest to diabetes clinicians with the aim of enhancing knowledge and understanding and thereby improving clinical care of, and outcomes for, people with diabetes who are admitted to hospital with COVID-19 in the UK.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this work was to describe the clinical characteristics of adults with type 1 diabetes admitted to hospital and the risk factors associated with severe coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) in the UK. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed using data collected through a nationwide audit of people admitted to hospital with diabetes and COVID-19, conducted by the Association of British Clinical Diabetologists from March to October 2020. Prespecified demographic, clinical, medication and laboratory data were collected from the electronic and paper medical record systems of the participating hospitals by local clinicians. The primary outcome of the study, severe COVID-19, was defined as death in hospital and/or admission to the adult intensive care unit (AICU). Logistic regression models were used to generate age-adjusted ORs. RESULTS: Forty UK centres submitted data. The final dataset included 196 adults who were admitted to hospital and had both type 1 diabetes and COVID-19 on admission (male sex 55%, white 70%, with mean [SD] age 62 [19] years, BMI 28.3 [7.3] kg/m2 and last recorded HbA1c 76 [31] mmol/mol [9.1 (5.0)%]). The prevalence of pre-existing microvascular disease and macrovascular disease was 56% and 39%, respectively. The prevalence of diabetic ketoacidosis on admission was 29%. A total of 68 patients (35%) died or were admitted to AICU. The proportions of people that died were 7%, 38% and 38% of those aged <55, 55-74 and ≥75 years, respectively. BMI, serum creatinine levels and having one or more microvascular complications were positively associated with the primary outcome after adjusting for age. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: In people with type 1 diabetes and COVID-19 who were admitted to hospital in the UK, higher BMI, poorer renal function and presence of microvascular complications were associated with greater risk of death and/or admission to AICU. Risk of severe COVID-19 is reassuringly very low in people with t

Background Several randomized trials have compared the patency of coronary artery bypass conduits. All of the published studies, however, have performed pairwise comparisons and a comprehensive evaluation of the patency rates of all conduits has yet to be published. We set out to investigate the angiographic patency rates of all conduits used in coronary bypass surgery by performing a network meta-analysis of the current available randomized evidence. Methods and Results A systematic literature search was conducted for randomized controlled trials comparing the angiographic patency rate of the conventionally harvested saphenous vein, the no-touch saphenous vein, the radial artery (RA), the right internal thoracic artery, or the gastroepiploic artery. The primary outcome was graft occlusion. A total of 4160 studies were retrieved of which 14 were included with 3651 grafts analyzed. The weighted mean angiographic follow-up was 5.1 years. Compared with the conventionally harvested saphenous vein, both the RA (incidence rate ratio [IRR] 0.54; 95% CI, 0.35-0.82) and the no-touch saphenous vein (IRR 0.55; 95% CI, 0.39-0.78) were associated with lower graft occlusion. The RA ranked as the best conduit (rank score for RA 0.87 versus 0.85 for no-touch saphenous vein, 0.23 for right internal thoracic artery, 0.29 for gastroepiploic artery, and 0.25 for the conventionally harvested saphenous vein). Conclusions Compared with the conventionally harvested saphenous vein, only the RA and no-touch saphenous vein grafts are associated with significantly lower graft occlusion rates. The RA ranks as the best conduit. Registration URL: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero; Unique identifier: CRD42020164492.

An aerobic denitrification strain, Pseudomonas balearica RAD-17, was identified and showed efficient inorganic nitrogen removal ability. The average NO3–-N, NO2–-N, and total ammonium nitrogen (TAN) removal rate (>95% removal efficiency) in a batch test was 6.22 mg/(L·∙h), 6.30 mg/(L·∙h), and 1.56 mg/(L·∙h), respectively. Meanwhile, optimal incubate conditions were obtained through single factor experiments. For nitrogen removal pathways, the transcriptional results proved that respiratory nitrate reductases encoded by napA, which was primarily performed in aerobic denitrification and cell assimilation, were conducted by gluS and gluD genes for ammonium metabolism. In addition, adding the strain RAD-17 into actual wastewater showed obvious higher denitrification performance than in the no inoculum group (84.22% vs. 22.54%), and the maximum cell abundance achieved 28.5 ± 4.5% in a ratio of total cell numbers. Overall, the efficient nitrogen removal performance plus strong environmental fitness makes the strain RAD-17 a potential alternative for RAS (recirculating aquaculture system) effluent treatment. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

The authors regret that on page 68, Table 3, the number of observed cases, the PAR, and the attributable cases of breast cancer in the rows for both men and women were mistakenly presented. These values should be the same as those for women. In Table 3, the column heading ‘EAC’ should be changed to ‘AC’. In the title of Table 3, ‘***No confidence intervals.’ Should be deleted. Tables 1, 3, 4, and 5 are all missing a footnote to indicate ‘postmenopausal breast cancer’. In the last paragraph on page 70, the text should read ‘and 180 to 900 colon cancer cases’. The original text erroneously states ‘colorectal’. In the author list on page 65, the superscript for ‘the ComPARe Study Team’ should be ‘1’ instead of ‘c, 1’. A corrected Table 3 is attached with this corrigendum. The authors would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused. [Table presented]

Fire causes dramatic energy and matter exchanges between biosphere and atmosphere on a regional to global scale. Predicting fires, however, is hindered by the complex interplay of fire, climate, and vegetation. Paleo‐fire records provide critical information beyond instrumental records that cover only the past few decades and may be used to assess the role of fire in large‐scale and long‐term environmental changes. Here we present a 22,000‐year multiproxy record of fire regime from a sediment core retrieved offshore South Java, Indonesia. We use microcharcoal in combination with two molecular markers of burning, levoglucosan and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, to reconstruct fire occurrence as well as fire intensity in the past. We show that fire occurrence and intensity were high during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; around 21,000 years ago) and low during the Heinrich Stadial 1 and the early Holocene. Both fire regime and vegetation in tropical regions with high annual rainfall were primarily controlled by rainfall seasonality. However, fire additionally stabilized the savannah (rainforest)‐dominated ecosystem during the LGM (early Holocene) but caused transitions between the two vegetation types during the deglaciation and the late Holocene.

This research thesis clarifies the negotiation process of Chinese young homosexual males between the heteronormative urban public space and their homosexual identity by focusing on their daily practice in space. Based on an empirical study in the city of Guangzhou, this research adopts methods of in-depth interview and photography. Post90s urban gay men have higher acceptance towards homosexual identity and lower acceptance towards conducting homosexual behaviour or visiting homosexual place in urban public space. They have different levels of awareness towards the heteronormativity of the urban public space. They also notice the suppression brought by such heteronormativity to their identity cognition pathway. As a compromise, they instead satisfy homosexual needs in an understated way to avoid identity exposure. Meanwhile, they transform part of homosexual social life to the relatively free and less heteronormative digital space that is more private and accessible for their group. Also, they value the geographical space such as restaurants, cafes, malls and squares, as it provides public places to develop online connections. Besides, concepts like “gay cruising” “gay neighbourhood” and “space for performance” in western research are discussed in the condition associated with the reality of China.

Whether hemodiafiltration (HDF) is better than conventional hemodialysis (HD) in improving left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), defined as reduction of the left ventricular mass index (LVMi) and increasing the ejection fraction (EF), is unclear. A systematic literature search was performed. Primary outcome was the mean difference between pre- and post-procedural LVMi. Secondary outcome was the mean difference in EF. Seven studies with a total of 845 patients were included. The pooled mean difference between pre-and post-procedural LVMi was −8.0 g/m2 (95% confidence interval [CI] −13.1, −2.8). On subgroup analysis, the mean differences between pre- and post-procedural LVMi for HD and HDF were −6.7 g/m2 (95% CI −14.5, 1.1) and −9.3 g/m2 (95% CI −16.3, −2.3), respectively (P for subgroups =.62). Pooled mean difference between pre- and post-procedural EF was 2.4% (95% CI −1.8, 6.5). On subgroup analysis, the mean differences between pre- and post-procedural EF for HD and HDF were 3.6% (95% CI −2.7, 9.8) and 2.0% (95% CI 2.9, 6.8), respectively (P for subgroups =.68). On meta-regression, age (Beta −0.35 ± 0.05, P <.001) and longer dialysis duration (Beta −0.12 ± 0.02, P <.001) were associated with lower mean difference between pre-and post-procedural EF. No significant effects on changes in LVMi and EF were observed with HDF compared with conventional HD.