Search

The increasing worldwide pollution of nature waters with endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), heavy metals and dyes has highlighted the need for versatile and effective removal approaches. In this study, a citric acid-crosslinked β-cyclodextrin polymer (CA-β-CD) was applied for simultaneous adsorption of bisphenol A (BPA), methylene blue (MB) and Cu2+, typical pollutants of EDCs, dyes and heavy metals, respectively. In a monocomponent system, the adsorption behaviors exhibited a monolayer maximum adsorption capacity (qm) of 0.3636 mmol/g for BPA, and a heterogeneous qm of 0.9229 and 0.9155 mmol/g for MB and Cu2+, respectively. The multicomponent experiment indicated that BPA and MB adsorptions onto CA-β-CD were independent from each other, whereas MB and Cu2+ competed over the same sites. An adsorption mechanism was proposed: each component of CA-β-CD played an essential role, the cyclodextrin cavities contributed to entrapment of non-polar BPA, and the surface carboxyl groups provided binding sites for polar MB and Cu2+. Adsorption performance of the polymer was unaffected by humic acid, a major component of natural organic matter. Overall, due to its green synthetic procedure, versatile and good adsorption performance, excellent recyclability and anti-jamming capacity, CA-β-CD has great potentials for practical applications in water purification.

The Lymphocyte antigen-6 (Ly-6) superfamily has been considered to play an important role in the innate immunity of mammals. The functions of Ly-6 proteins are diverse since their low sequence homology. Currently, the function of Ly-6D, a member of Ly-6 family proteins, is completely unknown in teleost. In the present study, we identified and characterized a Ly-6D homologue (named PoLy-6D) from the teleost fish Paralichthys olivaceus and examined its immune function. PoLy-6D possesses a hydrophobic signal peptide, a LU domain including a conserved "LXCXXC" motif in N-terminus and a "CCXXXXCN" motif in C-terminus. Under normal physiological condition, PoLy-6D expression distributes in all the examined tissues, the highest three tissues are successively spleen, head kidney, and blood. When infected by extracellular and intracellular bacterial pathogens and viral pathogen, PoLy-6D expression was induced and the patterns vary with different types of microbial pathogens infection and different immune tissues. In vitro experiment showed recombinant PoLy-6D (rPoLy-6D) inhibited the lysis of rabbit red blood cells by serum and selectively improved bacterial survival in serum. After serum were treated by antibody of rPoLy-6D, bacteriostatic effect of serum was obviously enhanced. These results indicate the importance of PoLy-6D as a complement regulator. rPoLy-6D possessed the binding activity to multiple bacteria but did not exhibit antimicrobial activities. The interaction between rPoLy-6D and bacteria suggests that PoLy-6D is involved in host clearance of pathogens probably by serving as a receptor for pathogens. Overexpression of PoLy-6D in vivo promoted the host defense against invading E. piscicida. These findings add new insights into the regulation mechanism of the complement system in teleost and emphasize the importance of Ly-6D products for the control of pathogen infection.

Edwardsiella piscicida is a leading pathogen that threats seawater and fresh aquaculture, in which the emergence and prevalence of bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a tricky problem. Currently, the pathogenesis of E. piscicida remains unclear, some new pathogenic factors need to be identified. Serine permease and dehydratase exist ubiquitously in microorganisms and participate in pathogenicity, but their functions in E. piscicida remain unknown. In this study, a serine permease YhaO and serine dehydratase YhaM were characterized in E. piscicida. yhaOEp and yhaMEp are expressed in the form of a bicistronic operon. YhaOEp possesses multiple transmembrane structures and YhaMEp is predicted to be located in the cytoplasm. To explore the biological roles of yhaOEp and yhaMEp, markerless in-frame mutant strains, TX01ΔyhaO and TX01ΔyhaM, were constructed, respectively. TX01, TX01ΔyhaO, and TX01ΔyhaM exhibited similar growth under normal and stress conditions, which indicates yhaOEp and yhaMEp are irrelevant to adversity. However, TX01ΔyhaO and TX01ΔyhaM displayed markedly reduced resistance against antibiotics, compared to TX01. Further studies indicated that the yhaOEp mutation damaged E. piscicida's ability to maintain membrane integrity and biofilm formation, decreased its adhesion and invasion to non-phagocytic FG cells, weakened the survival and proliferation in macrophage cells, and decreased bacterial dissemination in fish tissues. Complementary strain TX01ΔyhaOC restored these phenotypes of TX01ΔyhaO. The inactivation of yhaMEp has no effect on bacterial pathogenicity to FG cells and macrophage cells, but in vivo experiment showed that TX01ΔyhaM exhibited attenuated capability of bacterial dissemination in fish tissues, compared to TX01. Taken together, our findings demonstrate for the first time that YhaO-YhaM is requisite for full pathogenicity of E. piscicida to host cells and host tissues, and provide new insights into the pathogenesis of E. piscicida.

Adherence to oral anticoagulants is crucial for the prevention of ischemic stroke in atrial fibrillation patients; however, evidence of oral-anticoagulant adherence from developing countries is still lacking. This study aimed to evaluate the current situation and predictors of oral-anticoagulant adherence in non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients in China.Records of NVAF patients were obtained from a regional claims database. Both initiation and adherence to oral anticoagulants were calculated from linked records. Factors of oral-anticoagulant initiation were identified using Cox regression.Among 33,463 NVAF patients, only 13.9% initialized warfarin treatment after the indexed hospital visit. Stratified by CHAOral anticoagulation was significantly under-used in NVAF patients in China. Age, sex, concurrent drug usage, and disease history were associated factors. Improving warfarin adherence was promising to reduce ischemic stroke risk of NVAF patients.

Based on a modified cross-correlation technique, we experimentally demonstrate a technique for measuring the spatial–temporal intensity of laser pulses. Pulse widths at different spatial positions of the ultrashort pulse are measured by changing the scan position of the probe beam. Due to the existence of residual chirp in the transverse position, pulse widths at the center of the beam are less than that at the edge. By measuring the temporal evolution in the fastest growth area of spatial intensity during small-scale self-focusing, we find that its pulse width decreases as power increases because of the spatial–temporal coupling effect. The results show that this method not only can be used to accurately measure the pulse width at any one spatial position of the beam, but can also be useful for real-time monitoring of the spatial–temporal evolution.

The performance of calcium peroxide (CaO2) oxidation catalyzed by Fe3+ for the removal of bisphenol A (BPA) from aqueous solution was investigated. The ability of chelating agents (CAs), such as citric acid (CA), oxalic acid (OA), ethylenediaminetetraacetic (EDTA) and tartaric acid (TA), to accelerate the BPA degradation and to reduce the Fe3+ dosage was assessed. Furthermore, ferric sludge was reused as a source of catalyst to reduce solid waste accumulation. Results showed that the dosage of CaO2 and Fe3+ progressively influenced the BPA degradation and the optimal dosage was 2.0 mM CaO2 and 3.0 mM Fe3+. The addition of CAs effectively enhanced the BPA removal in CaO2/Fe3+ system and remarkably reduced Fe3+ utilization from 3.0 mM to 0.25 mM. BPA degradation increased from 21.3% (without CAs) to 98.3%, 98.9%, 95.5%, 95.0% with 1.0 mM CA, OA, EDTA and TA respectively. When 2.4 g/L ferric sludge was used as catalyst source, a 95.1% removal of BPA was achieved in the presence of OA. This study presents a high-impact contribution to Fenton-based wastewater treatment that can increase treatment efficiency and decrease waste sludge yield.

Ammonia still tower for residual ammonia wastewater pretreatment has gained considerable application due to its high efficiencies. However, the low cyanide removal in this process is a serious environmental problem. In this paper, experiments involving full-scale studies were conducted to evaluate the stripping process for ammonia and total cyanide (TCN) removal. The optimal operating conditions of ammonia still tower were studied. Flow of alkalic solution significantly influenced the removal efficiency of cyanide. With the increase of steam flow, ammonia removal could be enhanced, but TCN removal has negligible effect. Increasing the bottom pressure of the tower proved good for improving the stripping efficiency. After combined treatment by the stripping and biological processes, the TCN concentration in the final effluent can be stable at 0.1–0.2 mg/L, which satisfies the standard.

Background: Visual impairment (VI) and blindness remain the major public health problems worldwide and have a profound impact on an individual’s health and quality of life as well as on society. To broaden the mode of ophthalmologic epidemiological survey, and evaluate the prevalence and demographic associations of distance and near vision impairment in urban and rural population in a province of Southern China in which includes both coastal and inland areas. Methods: The Fujian Eye Study was a population-based cross-sectional study during 2018-2019. Residents aged ≥ 50 years in randomly sampled communities were recruited (10090 subjects). The survey covered urban and rural populations, and coastal and inland populations. Participants underwent a questionnaire about socioeconomic and biological factors and a series of standard examinations both physical and ocular. Findings: 8211 (81·4%) were eventually enrolled, including rural (3533 subjects) and urban (4678) population, or coastal (6434) and inland (1777) groups. Mean age was 64·39 (SD 8·87) years. Mean uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) was 0·61 (0·30), best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0·82 (0·28) and uncorrected near visual acuity (UNVA) was 0·28 (0·17). 0·45% of the participants were blind, 3·33% had distance vision impairment (DVI), 68·58% had present near vision impairment (PNVI), presbyopia was noted in 68·33% participants and 2·85% had combined vision impairment (CVI). The rate of PNVI was higher in rural population compared with urban population (70·48% vs 67·13%). DVI rate was higher in inland population compared with coastal population (5·08% vs 2·79%). CVI rate was higher in both rural and inland population (3·43% vs 2·33%, 3·97% vs 2·50%). VI was significantly correlated with socioeconomic or biological factors, including age, urban and rural region, coastal and inland area, educational background, income and refractive error, whereas sex was not significantly associated with VI. Interpretation: There was still high prevalence of blindness and VI in China. The percentage of PNVI was higher in rural population, DVI rate was higher in inland population, and CVI rate was higher in both rural and inland populations, which suggesting a need for increasing accessible services with improvement resources and advocacy for enhancing eye health literacy. Funding Statement: The National Natural Science Foundation of China. Declaration of Interests: XXL’s institute received financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no·81870672) from the National Natural Science Foundation Committee. All authors declare no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: The 2018–2019 FJES protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Xiamen Eye Center affiliated with Xiamen University, and informed consent was obtained from all participants.

ObjectiveTo estimate the risks of daily hospital admissions for cause specific major cardiovascular diseases associated with short term exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 μm; PM2.5) pollution in China.DesignNational time series study.Setting184 major cities in China.Population8 834 533 hospital admissions for cardiovascular causes in 184 Chinese cities recorded by the national database of Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2017.Main outcome measuresDaily counts of city specific hospital admissions for primary diagnoses of ischaemic heart disease, heart failure, heart rhythm disturbances, ischaemic stroke, and haemorrhagic stroke among different demographic groups were used to estimate the associations between PM2.5 and morbidity. An overdispersed generalised additive model was used to estimate city specific associations between PM2.5 and cardiovascular admissions, and random effects meta-analysis used to combine the city specific estimates.ResultsOver the study period, a mean of 47 hospital admissions per day (standard deviation 74) occurred for cardiovascular disease, 26 (53) for ischaemic heart disease, one (five) for heart failure, two (four) for heart rhythm disturbances, 14 (28) for ischaemic stroke, and two (four) for haemorrhagic stroke. At the national average level, an increase of 10 μg/m3 in PM2.5 was associated with a 0.26% (95% confidence interval 0.17% to 0.35%) increase in hospital admissions on the same day for cardiovascular disease, 0.31% (0.22% to 0.40%) for ischaemic heart disease, 0.27% (0.04% to 0.51%) for heart failure, 0.29% (0.12% to 0.46%) for heart rhythm disturbances, and 0.29% (0.18% to 0.40%) for ischaemic stroke, but not with haemorrhagic stroke (−0.02% (−0.23% to 0.19%)). The national average association of PM2.5 with cardiovascular disease was slightly non-linear, with a sharp slope at PM2.5 levels below 50 μg/m3, a moderate slope at 50-250 μg/m3, and a plateau at concentrations higher than 250 μg/m3. Compared with days with PM2.5 up to 15 μg/m3, days with PM2.5 of 15-25, 25-35, 35-75, and 75 μg/m3 or more were significantly associated with increases in cardiovascular admissions of 1.1% (0 to 2.2%), 1.9% (0.6% to 3.2%), 2.6% (1.3% to 3.9%), and 3.8% (2.1% to 5.5%), respectively.According to projections, achieving the Chinese grade 2 (35 μg/m3), Chinese grade 1 (15 μg/m3), and World Health Organization (10 μg/m3) regulatory limits for annual mean PM2.5 concentrations would reduce the annual number of admissions for cardiovascular disease in China. Assuming causality, which should be done with caution, this reduction would translate into an estimated 36 448 (95% confidence interval 24 441 to 48 471), 85 270 (57 129 to 113 494), and 97 516 (65 320 to 129 820), respectively.ConclusionsThese data suggest that in China, short term exposure to PM2.5 is associated with increased hospital admissions for all major cardiovascular diseases except for haemorrhagic stroke, even for exposure levels not exceeding the current regulatory limits.

Background The effects of ambient particulate matter (PM) pollution on pneumonia in adults are inconclusive, and few scientific data on a national scale have been generated in low- or middle-income countries, despite their much higher PM concentrations. We aimed to examine the association between PM levels and hospital admissions for pneumonia in Chinese adults. Methods and findings A nationwide time series study was conducted in China between 2014 and 2017. Information on daily hospital admissions for pneumonia for 2014–2017 was collected from the database of Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI), which covers 282.93 million adults. Associations of PM concentrations and hospital admissions for pneumonia were estimated for each city using a quasi-Poisson regression model controlling for time trend, temperature, relative humidity, day of the week, and public holiday and then pooled by random-effects meta-analysis. Meta-regression models were used to investigate potential effect modifiers, including cities’ annual-average air pollutants concentrations, temperature, relative humidity, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, and coverage rates by the UEBMI. More than 4.2 million pneumonia admissions were identified in 184 Chinese cities during the study period. Short-term elevations in PM concentrations were associated with increased pneumonia admissions. At the national level, a 10-μg/m3 increase in 3-day moving average (lag 0–2) concentrations of PM2.5 (PM ≤2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter) and PM10 (PM ≤10 μm in aerodynamic diameter) was associated with 0.31% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.15%–0.46%, P < 0.001) and 0.19% (0.11%–0.30%, P < 0.001) increases in hospital admissions for pneumonia, respectively. The effects of PM10 were stronger in cities with higher temperatures (percentage increase, 0.031%; 95% CI 0.003%–0.058%; P = 0.026) and relative humidity (percentage increase, 0.011%; 95% CI 0%–0.022%; P = 0.045), as well as in the elderly (percentage increase, 0.10% [95% CI 0.02%–0.19%] for people aged 18–64 years versus 0.32% [95% CI 0.22%–0.39%] for people aged ≥75 years; P < 0.001). The main limitation of the present study was the unavailability of data on individual exposure to PM pollution. Conclusions Our findings suggest that there are significant short-term associations between ambient PM levels and increased hospital admissions for pneumonia in Chinese adults. These findings support the rationale that further limiting PM concentrations in China may be an effective strategy to reduce pneumonia-related hospital admissions., In a nationwide time series analysis, Yaohua Tian and colleagues investigate the short-term associations between ambient particulate matter concentrations and hospital admissions for pneumonia in Chinese adults between 2014 and 2017., Author summary Why was this study done? Epidemiological studies have reported associations between short-term exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM) pollution and the risk of pneumonia. Previous studies have been primarily conducted in high-income countries, and the findings remain inconclusive. Few scientific data on a national scale have been generated in low- or middle-income countries, despite their much higher PM concentrations. What did the researchers do and find? We conducted a nationwide time series analysis using data on more than 4.2 million hospital admissions for pneumonia in 184 cities in China between 2014 and 2017 to estimate city-specific, national, and regional average associations between ambient PM pollution and pneumonia hospitalizations. Our results suggested that short-term increases in PM2.5 and PM10 were associated with increased hospital admissions for pneumonia. The effects of PM10 were stronger in cities with higher temperatures and relative humidity, as well as in the elderly. What do these findings mean? To our knowledge, this is the first study in China to investigate the short-term associations of PM levels with hospital admissions for pneumonia on a national scale. Our findings support the rationale for further limiting PM concentrations in low- and middle-income countries.

Background Identifying subjects with a high risk of ischemic stroke is fundamental for prevention of the disease. Both genetic and environmental risk factors contribute to ischemic stroke, but the underlying epigenetic mechanisms which mediate genetic and environmental risk effects are not fully understood. The aim of this study was to explore whether DNA methylation loci located in the ATP-binding cassette G1 (ABCG1) and apolipoprotein E (APOE) genes, both involved in the metabolism of lipids in the body, are related to ischemic stroke, using the Fangshan/Family-based Ischemic Stroke Study in China. We also tested if these CpG sites were associated with early signs of cardiovascular atherosclerosis (carotid intima–media thickness (cIMT), ankle–brachial index (ABI), and brachial–ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV)). Results DNA methylation at the cg02494239 locus in ABCG1 was correlated with ischemic stroke after adjusting for gender, previous history of diabetes and hypertension, smoking, drinking, body mass index, and blood lipid levels (above vs below mean, OR = 2.416, 95% CI 1.024–5.700, P = 0.044; 75–100% percentile vs 0–25% percentile, OR = 4.461, 95% CI 1.226–16.225, P = 0.023). No statistically significant associations were observed for the cg06500161 site in ABCG1 and the cg14123992 site in APOE with ischemic stroke. The study detected that hypermethylation of the ABCG1 gene was significantly associated with cIMT, hypermethylation of the APOE gene was significantly related to ABI, and methylation of the APOE gene was statistically negatively correlated with baPWV. The above relationships demonstrated gender differences. Conclusions These findings suggest that epigenetic modification of ABCG1 and APOE may play a role in the pathway from disturbed blood lipid levels to the development of cardiovascular diseases. Future prospective validation of these findings is warranted.

Gene-gene interaction (G × G) is thought to fill the gap between the estimated heritability of complex diseases and the limited genetic proportion explained by identified single-nucleotide polymorphisms. The current tools for exploring G × G were often developed for case-control designs with less considerations for their applications in families. Family-based studies are robust against bias led from population stratification in genetic studies and helpful in understanding G × G. We proposed a new algorithm epistasis sparse factor analysis (EPISFA) and epistasis sparse factor analysis for linkage disequilibrium (EPISFA-LD) based on unsupervised machine learning to screen G × G. Extensive simulations were performed to compare EPISFA/EPISFA-LD with a classical family-based algorithm FAM-MDR (family-based multifactor dimensionality reduction). The results showed that EPISFA/EPISFA-LD is a tool of both high power and computational efficiency that could be applied in family designs and is applicable within high-dimensionality datasets. Finally, we applied EPISFA/EPISFA-LD to a real dataset drawn from the Fangshan/family-based Ischemic Stroke Study in China. Five pairs of G × G were discovered by EPISFA/EPISFA-LD, including three pairs verified by other algorithms (FAM-MDR and logistic), and an additional two pairs uniquely identified by EPISFA/EPISFA-LD only. The results from EPISFA might offer new insights for understanding the genetic etiology of complex diseases. EPISFA/EPISFA-LD was implemented in R. All relevant source code as well as simulated data could be freely downloaded from https://github.com/doublexism/episfa.

Ultrasonic atomized e-cigarette disperses the molecular bond force of liquid droplets by using ultrasonic high-frequency resonance of atomizer in order to atomize E-liquid. In this paper, we propose a new design of electronic cigarette system based on ultrasonic atomization technology. At first, we improve the design of electronic cigarette circuit system based on ultrasonic atomization technology; then, we analyze the preparation and composition of e-cigarette oil; in the end, we test the atomization effect of the new e-cigarette system and compare it with a traditional kind of electronic cigarette. According to the result, ultrasonic technology is not only technically feasible but also effective in atomizing electronic E-liquid.

The premise of the full use of unstructured electronic medical records is to maintain the fully protection of a patient's information privacy. Presently, in prior of processing the electronic medical record date, identification and removing of relevant information which can be used to identify a patient is a research hotspot nowadays. There are very few methods in de–identification of Chinese electronic medical records and their cross–center performance is poor. Therefore we develop a de-identification method which is a mixture of rule-based methods and machine learning methods. The method was tested on 700 electronic medical records from six hospitals. Five-fold cross test was used to evaluate the results of c5.0, Random Forest, SVM and XGBOOST. Leave-one-out test was used to evaluate CRF. And the F1 Measure of machine learning reached 91.18% in PHI_Names, 98.21% in PHI_MEDICALID, 95.74% in PHI_OTHERNFC, 97.14% in PHI_GEO, 89.19% in PHI_DATES, and 91.49% in PHI_TEL. And the F1 Measure of rule-based methods reached 93.00% in PHI_Names, 97.00% in PHI_MEDICALID, 97.00% in PHI_OTHERNFC, 97.00% in PHI_GEO, 96.00% in PHI_DATES, and 89.00% in PHI_TEL.

Objective. The genetic variant rs2237895, located in the Potassium Voltage-Gated Channel Subfamily Q Member 1 (KCNQ1) gene, has been replicated to be associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) susceptibility, but the relationship with lipids is conflicting. Furthermore, the common genetic predisposition to T2DM and lipids was not fully detected. Methods. In total, 5839 individuals (2220 were T2DM patients) across 2885 families were included. The effect of rs2237895 on T2DM and lipids was estimated using linear regression and logistic regression models after adjustment for multiple covariates. Mediation analysis was then used to test whether KCNQ1 participated in T2DM pathogenesis via lipid-mediated pathways. Results. Per allele-C of rs2237895 was associated with 17% (11-23%, P<0.001) increased T2DM risk. Moreover, it was correlated with 5% (1-9%, P=0.019), 4% (1-7%, P=0.019), 2% (0-3%, P=0.045), and 2% (0-3%, P=0.009) higher total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), apolipoprotein A, and apolipoprotein B (Apo-B) concentrations, respectively. Nevertheless, the genetic susceptibility for higher T2DM risk was correlated with higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level (2%, 0-3%, P=0.026). Mediation analysis showed only TC, LDL-C, and Apo-B had small significant mediated effects, with 2.9%, 2.3%, and 3.1% of the total effects of rs2237895 on T2DM being mediated by them, respectively. Conclusion. KCNQ1 had pleiotropic effects on lipids and T2DM, and the unexpected genetic effect on association of HDL-C with T2DM was observed, indicating the different pathways to lipids and T2DM. Further research studies are needed to verify potential biological mechanisms.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text, Evidence on the prescription patterns of antihypertensive drug use in children and adolescents in China is scarce. A descriptive analysis of the Beijing Medical Claim Data, which covered over 95% of the urban residents, was conducted to investigate antihypertensive prescribing patterns and trends in children and adolescents aged under 18 from 2009 to 2014 in Beijing, China. An additional meta-analysis of trends in hypertension prevalence was conducted to compare trends with antihypertensive medications. A total of 11,882 patients received at least 1 prescription for antihypertensive drugs from 2009 to 2014. The number of annual antihypertensive users increased from 2009 to 2012, then declined steadily until 2014, which was consistent with the trend of the hypertension prevalence estimated from the meta-analysis. β-receptor blockers, thiazide diuretics, and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors were the 3 most commonly prescribed antihypertensive drugs. More boys took the antihypertensive drugs than girls. For users aged under 3 years, thiazide diuretics, α-receptor blockers, and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors were the most prescribed drugs, while β-receptor blockers, thiazide diuretics were the most used drugs for users above 3 years. In conclusion, antihypertensive drug prescribing for children and adolescents increased from 2009 to 2014, with different characteristics in different subgroups.

SummaryMicrotubule-associated serine/threonine kinase (MASTL) functions to regulate chromosome condensation and mitotic progression. Therefore, aberrant MASTL expression is commonly implicated in various human cancers. This study analyzed MASTL expression in gastric cancer vs. adjacent normal tissue for elucidating the association with clinicopathological data from patients. This work was then extended to investigate the effects of MASTL knockdown on tumor cells in vitro. The level of MASTL expression in gastric cancer tissue was assessed from the UALCAN, GEPIA, and Oncomine online databases. Lentivirus carrying MASTL or negative control shRNA was infected into gastric cancer cells. RT-qPCR, Western blotting, cell viability, cell counting, flow cytometric apoptosis and cell cycle, and colony formation assays were performed. MASTL was upregulated in gastric cancer tissue compared to the adjacent normal tissue, and the MASTL expression was associated with advanced tumor stage, Helicobacter pylori infection and histological subtypes. On the other hand, knockdown of MASTL expression significantly reduced tumor cell viability and proliferation, and arrested cell cycle at G2/M stage but promoted tumor cells to undergo apoptosis. At protein level, knockdown of MASTL expression enhanced levels of cleaved PARP1, cleaved caspase-3, Bax and p-ERK1/2 expression, but downregulated expression levels of BCL-2 and p-NF-κB-p65 protein in AGS and MGC-803 cells. MASTL overexpression in gastric cancer tissue may be associated with gastric cancer development and progression, whereas knockdown of MASTL expression reduces tumor cell proliferation and induces apoptosis. Further study will evaluate MASTL as a potential target of gastric cancer therapeutic strategy.

Objectives Depressive symptoms are commonly seen among patients with multiple chronic somatic conditions, or somatic multimorbidity (SMM); however, little is known about the relationships between depressive symptoms and different SMM combinations. Our study aimed to delineate the patterns of SMM and their longitudinal associations with depressive symptoms among a nationally representative sample of middle-aged and older Chinese adults. Design We employed a longitudinal design. Setting and Participants Older adults (N = 10,084) aged ≥45 years from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2011-2015 participated (mean age = 57.7 years at baseline; 53.3% men). Methods Sixteen chronic somatic conditions were ascertained at baseline via questionnaires. Depression was assessed with the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale at baseline and during follow-up. Patterns of SMM were identified via exploratory factor analyses. Generalized estimating equations were used to evaluate the longitudinal associations between patterns of SMM and the presence of depressive symptoms at follow-up. Results Compared with participants with no somatic condition, those with 1, 2, and 3 or more somatic conditions had a 21%, 66%, and 111% greater risk, respectively, for the presence of depressive symptoms. Increased factor scores for 4 patterns identified, cardio-metabolic pattern [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06, 1.20], respiratory pattern (AOR 1.25, 95% CI 1.17, 1.33), arthritic-digestive-visual pattern (AOR 1.29, 95% CI 1.22, 1.37), and hepatic-renal-skeletal pattern (AOR 1.09, 95% CI 1.02, 1.16), were all associated with a higher risk of having depressive symptoms. Conclusions and Implications All SMM patterns were independently associated with depression among middle-aged and older Chinese adults, with greater odds for people with comorbid arthritic-digestive-visual conditions and respiratory conditions. Clinical practitioners should treat the middle-aged and older population under a multiple-condition framework combining SMM and mental disorders.

Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) is an important economic fish species farmed in China and other countries. It is susceptible to infection by Edwardsiella tarda, a severe fish pathogen with a broad host range. In this study, we employed high-throughput deep sequencing technology to identify, in a global scale, flounder kidney microRNAs (miRNAs) induced by E. tarda at different stages of infection. Differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs) and mRNAs (DEmRNAs) exhibiting significantly altered expression levels before and after E. tarda infection were examined. A total of 96 DEmiRNAs were identified, for which 2779 target genes were predicted. Eighty-seven miRNA-mRNA pairs, involving 29 DEmiRNAs and 86 DEmRNAs, showed negative correlations in their expression patterns. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis revealed that the putative target genes of the DEmiRNAs were associated with diverse biological processes, cellular components, and molecular functions. One of the DEmiRNAs, pol-miR-182-5p, was demonstrated to regulate sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 1 (PoS1PR1) negatively in a manner that depended on the specific interaction between the seed sequence of pol-miR-182-5p and the 3'-UTR of PoS1PR1. Overexpression of pol-miR-182-5p in flounder cells promoted apoptosis and inhibited cellular viability. Knockdown of PoS1PR1 in flounder enhanced E. tarda invasion and dissemination in fish tissues. These results provide new insights into miRNA-mediated anti-bacterial immunity in flounder.

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is a highly polymorphic region of the vertebrate genome that plays a critical role in initiating immune responses towards invading pathogens. It is well known that MHC I molecules play a central role in the immune response to viruses. However, rare literatures were reported the role of MHC I in the resistance to intracellular bacteria. Sequences of MHC Iα were identified in multiple teleost species, including Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus), however, the immunological function of MHC Iα remain largely unknown. In this study, we examined the expression profile and biological activity of an MHC Iα homologue, PoMHC Iα, from P. olivaceus. Structural analysis showed that PoMHC Iα possesses conserved structural characteristics of MHC Iα proteins, including MHC_I domain, IGc1 domain, transmembrane region. Expression of PoMHC Iα was upregulated in a time-dependent manner by extracellular and intracellular bacterial pathogens and viral pathogen infection. Different expression patterns were exhibited in response to the infection of different types of microbial pathogens in different immune tissues. Recombinant PoMHC Iα increased the capability of host cells to defense against intracellular pathogen Edwardsiella tarda infection and enhanced the expression of immune related genes. The knockdown of PoMHC Iα attenuated the ability of cells to eliminate E. tarda, which was sustained by the in vivo results that overexpression of PoMHC Iα promoted the host defense against invading E. tarda. Antigen uptake assay indicated PoMHC Iα participated in cells antigen presentation. Collectively, this study is the first report that MHC Iα plays an important role in immune defense against intracellular bacterial pathogen in teleost. Taken together, these findings add new insights into the biological function of teleost MHC Iα and emphasize the importance of MHC I gene products for the control of E. tarda infection.

Limited evidence was seen as the association between fine particulate matter (PM

Background: Influenza vaccinations play an important role in preventing influenza related hospitalizations. The objective of this study was to estimate the effectiveness of vaccination in protecting Beijing residents aged >= 60 years from influenza related hospitalizations during the 2016/17 and 2017/18 influenza seasons.Methods: Patients who met the definition of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) and were hospitalized in the nine sentinel hospitals in Beijing during the 2016/17 and 2017/18 influenza seasons were identified as the study population. The vaccination status of patients was obtained from a vaccination registry. Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) experiments were conducted to test pharyngeal or lower respiratory tract samples collected from SARI patients for influenza A and B viruses. Vaccine effectiveness (VE) was examined using a test-negative design that compare the odds of vaccination among influenza positives and negatives, adjusting for calendar week of illness onset, age, and underlying medical conditions.Results: We identified 50,364 patients in the study, in which there were 145 influenza cases and 528 influenza-negative controls aged >= 60 years in 2016/17 season and 149 cases and 358 controls aged >= 60 years in 2017/18 season. The most commonly identified subtype among participants was influenza A(H3N2) in 2016/17 and 2017/18 season (78.5% and 70.6%). Among the adults aged >= 60 years, the adjusted VE of vaccination against any influenza virus for serious acute respiratory infection (SARI) patients was 32.8% (95% confidence interval ICI]: -22.0 to 63.0%) in 2016/17 season. While the adjusted VE in 2017/18 season were 4.6% (95% CI: -72.4 to 47.2%) against any types of influenza, 29.2% (95% CI: -92.9 to 74%) against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, -37.7% (95% Cl: -293.8; 51.9%) against influenza A (H3N2) viruses, and 3.6% (95% CI: -113.8 to 56.5%) against influenza B.Conclusion: The influenza vaccine provided moderate protection in 2016/17 season and mild protection in 2017/18 season for influenza related inpatients of adults aged >= 60 years in Beijing. (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Background and Purpose- Evidence on the effects of coarse particulate matter (PM

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text, The purpose of this study was to describe the prescription pattern of initial treatment for type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in Beijing from 2011 to 2015. We selected 790,339 newly diagnosed outpatients with T2DM from the Beijing Medical Claim Data for Employees database between January 2011 and December 2015. The percentages of different treatments and agents were calculated from the patients’ 1st prescriptions. Subgroup analyses were conducted for primary, secondary, and tertiary hospital settings. The initial treatments given to 57.7%, 30.7%, and 11.7% of patients were oral hypoglycemic agent (OHA) monotherapy, OHA polytherapy, and insulin, respectively. Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors (AGIs) (43.0%) were the most commonly used agents for monotherapy, followed by metformin (35.5%) and sulfonylureas (14.9%). AGIs were most commonly used in primary hospitals (52.0%), while metformin was prescribed most often in secondary (37.6%) and tertiary (41.8%) hospitals. From 2011 to 2015, there were increases in the use of AGIs (40.1–41.1%, P

We aimed to provide reliable regression estimates of expenditures associated with various complications in type 2 diabetics in China. In total, 1,859,039 type 2 diabetes patients with complications were obtained from the Beijing Medical Claim Data for Employees database from 2008 to 2016. We estimated costs for complications using a generalized estimating equation model adjusted for age, sex, and the incidence of various complications. The average total cost for diabetic patients with complications was 17.12 thousand RMB. Prescribed drugs accounted for 63.4% of costs. We observed a significant increase in costs in the first year after the onset of complications. Compared with costs before the incidence of complications, the additional costs per person in the first year and &gt, 1 year after the event would be 10,631.16 RMB and 1150.71 RMB for cardiovascular disease, 1017.62 RMB and 653.82 RMB for cerebrovascular disease, and 301.14 RMB and 624.00 RMB for kidney disease, respectively. The estimated coefficients for outpatient visits were relatively lower than those of inpatient visits. Complications in diabetics exert a significant impact on total healthcare costs in the first year of their onset and in subsequent years. Our estimates may assist policymakers in quantifying the economic burden of diabetes complications.

Macrophage colony-stimulating factor (MCSF) is an essential growth factor to control the proliferation, differentiation and survival of the macrophage lineage in vertebrates. Sequences of MCSF have been identified in multiple teleost species, however, the functional investigations of MCSF were documented in only a few species. In this study, we examined the biological activity and the immunomodulatory property of a MCSF homologue, PoMCSF, from Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus). Structural analysis showed that PoMCSF possesses conserved structural characteristics of MCSF proteins, including a signal peptide, a CSF-1 domain, and a transmembrane region closed to the C-terminal. Under normal physiological condition, PoMCSF expression distributes in all the examined tissues, the highest three tissues are blood, muscle, and head kidney. When infected by extracellular and intracellular bacterial pathogens and viral pathogen, the PoMCSF expression patterns vary with different types of microbial pathogens infection and different immune tissues. In vitro experiment showed recombinant PoMCSF promoted the activity of macrophage. In vivo experiment indicated that PoMCSF overexpression boosted the defensive ability of flounder against Edwardsiella piscicida, a severe fish pathogen that infects multiple species of economically important fish, and regulated the expression of multiple immune-related genes. To explore the relationship between PoMCSF and its receptor PoMCSFR, anti-PoMCSFR antibody was prepared and PoMCSFR knockdown was conducted. The neutralization assay showed that when PoMCSFR was neutralized by its antibody, the role of PoMCSF on host defense against E. piscicida was weakened. Knockdown of PoMCSFR impaired the phagocytic capacity of macrophages. Collectively, these findings suggest that PoMCSF plays a crucial role in the immune defense system of Japanese flounder and the effect of PoMCSF is dependent on PoMCSFR. This study provides new insights into the biological activity of MCSF and the relationship between MCSF and MCSFR in teleost.

Edwardsiella piscicida (formerly included in E. tarda) is the leading pathogen threatening worldwide fresh and seawater aquaculture industries and has been considered as a model organism for studying intracellular and systemic infections. Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are omnipresent in bacteria and participate widely in stress responses, biofilm formation and pathogenicity. However, the roles of TA systems are completely unknown in aquatic pathogenic bacteria. In this study, we identified and characterized a type II TA system HigBA in E. piscicida, where HigB is the toxin and HigA is the antitoxin. higB and higA are expressed in a bicistronic operon. To examine the biological role of HigBA, two markerless higB and higBA in-frame mutant strains, TX01ΔhigB and TX01ΔhigBA, were constructed. Compared to the wild strain TX01, TX01ΔhigB exhibited markedly reduced resistance against oxidative stress, but TX01ΔhigBA remained unchanged; the biofilm growth of TX01ΔhigB was decreased, but that of TX01ΔhigBA was increased. The deletion of higB enhanced bacterial motility but impaired bacterial resistance against host serum killing. In vitro infection experiment showed that the inactivation of higB dramatically abated bacterial capability of adhesion, invasion, and propagation in host cells. Consistently, in vivo experiment suggested that the higB mutation had an obvious negative effect on bacteria dissemination of fish tissues and general virulence. Introduction of a trans-expressed higB restored the lost virulence of TX01ΔhigB. However, the virulence of TX01ΔhigBA was compared to that of TX01. These findings indicate that HigB is essential for responding adverse circumstance and pathogenicity of E. piscicida. Based on the attenuated virulence of TX01ΔhigB, we further investigated its potential as a live vaccine. Vaccination experiment showed that TX01ΔhigB induced effective protection against lethal E. piscicida infection. In addition, we found that antitoxin HigA negatively autoregulated the expression of higBA by binding directly with own promoter, and toxin HigB promoted the regulatory function of HigA. This study provides new insights into the biological activity of type II TA system HigBA in aquatic pathogenic bacteria and contributes to understand the pathogenesis of E. piscicida.

In this study, an oxygen slow-releasing material (OSRM) consisting of calcium peroxide (CaO2), stearic acid (SA) and quartz sand was used to improve oxygen supply during bioremediation. The oxygen-releasing rates of CaO2 powder and OSRM with different SA contents were investigated. The efficacy of OSRM as an oxygen supplier was assessed by water remediation experiments using activated sludge. Results showed that CaO2 powder was effectively embedded by SA under anhydrous conditions. The oxygen-releasing rate decreased with increasing SA contents. Moreover, the OSRM exhibited higher oxygen-releasing capacity, and more effective pH control ability than CaO2 powder. The water remediation experiments showed better removal of COD and with OSRM as the oxygen supplier. These results provided detailed information when CaO2 was applied as the oxygen supplier in water remediation, which can serve as references for field application of bioremediation.

Measurement of the retention of cigarette smoke components in the human mouth is important for evaluating smoking-related diseases. Here, a newly developed on-line vacuum ultraviolet photoionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (VUV-PI-TOFMS) method was applied for the mouth retention study of gaseous mainstream cigarette smoke components. The cigarette smoke in the smoking machine or in the mouths of subjects was directly introduced into the vacuum chamber, photoionized and analyzed with a TOF mass spectrometer without any tedious collection and pretreatment procedures. Thus, the retained amount of cigarette smoke components in the mouth could be observed in real time. The results show that at a 2-second holding time, aldehydes, ketones and amine compounds have high mouth retention; methanethiol, phenol and nitrogen heterocyclic compounds have medium mouth retention, while the retention of NO, benzene and unsaturated hydrocarbons was relatively low. Moreover, the effects of the holding time on the mouth retention of the gaseous components within 26 seconds were also obtained, and two main variation trends were observed for different smoke constituents. This method can offer new analysis techniques for further studying the whole respiratory tract retention of cigarette smoke, and deeply evaluating the relationship between smoking and health.

Propagation properties of Gaussian beam through a asymmetric negative index slab system are investigated by transfer matrix. Firstly, transfer matrix related to negative index slab is derived; then the electric field distribution of each region in the system is obtained by ABCD law and the beam focusing both inside and outside the negative index slab is researched. On the paraxial approximation, the propagation properties of Gauss beam through a asymmetric negative index slab system are clearly revealed. When the positive index materials on both sides of the slab are the same, our conclusion can be evolved into the conclusion of a special case, the evolution of conclusion is the same as that of a symmetric negative index slab system.

Background The aim of the present study was to investigate hospitalization costs, diabetes complications, and their relationships using a large dataset in Beijing, China. Methods Data for 2006–10 from the 38 top-ranked (Grade 3 A) hospitals in Beijing, obtained from electronic Hospitalization Summary Reports (HSRs), were analyzed for hospitalization costs and diabetic complications. Patient demographics, types of costs, and length of hospital stay (LOS) were also evaluated. Results During the period evaluated, 62 523 patients with diabetes were hospitalized, of which 41 875 (67.0 %) had diabetes-associated complications. The median cost of hospitalization for diabetic patients was 7996.11 RMB. Prescribed drugs and laboratory tests were two major contributors to hospitalization costs, accounting for 36.2 % and 22.4 %, respectively. Hospitalization costs were significantly associated with LOS, number of complications, age, year of admission, admission status, sex, and medical insurance (P

OBJECTIVES To investigate the effects of KCNQ1 polymorphisms on the efficacy of gliclazide in type 2 diabetic patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 443 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients were included in this study. After enrollment, patients went on an 8-week gliclazide monotherapy. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) was measured before and after the treatment. Life-style information was collected by weekly follow-up. Genotyping of the two single-nucleotide polymorphisms was performed using the single base primer extension method. T-test, one-way analysis of variance, and Pearson χ-test were used to evaluate the effects of rs2237892 and rs2237897 on the FPG reduction and treatment success rate. RESULTS After 8 weeks of gliclazide therapy, the FPG decreased significantly from 10.9±2.8 to 7.4±2.2 mmol/l (P

Aim at improving the poor stability of natural anthocyanins applied in intelligent color indicator packing materials, anthocyanins from blueberry was acylated with maleic anhydride through means of solid-phase grafting method. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis demonstrated that maleic acid was successfully grafted onto blueberry anthocyanins. All the four acylated anthocyanins (with different acylated degree) were better in stability, but were slightly less efficient at scavenging the DPPH radical, compared with their native non-acylated form. An-MA2 (acylated degree was 7.68%) got the lowest color loss (27.62% at 19th day), 23.19% lower than that of An-MA0 (native anthocyanins). After reacting with maleic anhydride, anthocyanins kept its pH-color response characteristics and showed distinct color differences at different pH value. In addition, the NH3 response characteristics of acylated anthocyanins were similar to those of non-acylated anthocyanins, but lagged slightly in response speed.

In this work, p-coumaric acid and caffeic acid were grafted on blueberry anthocyanins through enzyme catalysis method to improve their colour stability and antioxidant activity. The acylation degrees of p-coumaric acylated anthocyanins (Co-An) and caffeic acid anthocyanins (Ca-An) reached 5.38% and 5.68%, respectively. The results from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ultraviolet visible spectroscopy and hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance implied that p-coumaric acid and caffeic acid grafted on the 6-OH of glucoside and galactoside and the 5-OH of arabinose through esterification reaction. As revealed in the in vitro experiment on antioxidation activity and the experiment on colour stability, Co-An and Ca-An showed stronger antioxidant activity in DPPH assay and β-carotene bleaching assay and higher colour stability during storage at 25 °C, 40 °C and 60 °C than native blueberry anthocyanins.

Previous studies have reported conflicting results on the relationship between ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and pneumonia in adults. This study was designed to conduct a time-series study to investigate the short-term association between ambient PM2.5 concentrations and hospitalization for pneumonia in Beijing adults. Hospitalization data were obtained from the Beijing Medical Claim Data for Employees database. A generalized additive model with a Poisson link was applied to assess the relationship between PM2.5 and pneumonia. In total, 37,552 adult hospital admissions for pneumonia were identified between January 1, 2010, and June 30, 2012. High levels of PM2.5 were significantly associated with increased hospitalizations for pneumonia. A 10-μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 concentrations on lag days 0–2 was associated with a 0.79% (95% confidence interval: 0.69%–0.90%) increase in hospitalizations for pneumonia. Patients aged ≥65 years were more sensitive to the adverse effects (0.89%, 95% confidence interval: 0.80%–0.98% in patients ≥65 years old; 0.52%, 95% confidence interval: 0.34%–0.70% in patients 18–64 years old; P = 0.033). But the difference of estimates was not significant between sex (0.92%, 95% confidence interval: 0.85%–0.99% in female; 0.76%, 95% confidence interval: 0.62%–0.89% in male; P = 0.781) and season (0.98%, 95% confidence interval: 0.85%–1.10% in cool season; 0.44%, 95% confidence interval: 0.22%–0.67% in warm season; P = 0.529). Short-term exposure to PM2.5 was associated with increased risk of hospitalization for pneumonia in adults. Our findings add new evidence on the effect of air pollution on pneumonia and may promote prevention and intervention strategies.

We examined the main effects of ambient particulate matters, as well as whether single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), located within ABO gene would modify the relationship. Data were collected from a family-based study conducted in Northern China. A generalized additive model with a Gaussian link and with each family as a stratum was applied to estimate the percentage change in blood lipid levels following a 10 μ g / m 3 increase in ambient particulate matter concentrations. Interaction analyses were conducted by including a cross-product term of PM2.5 or PM10 by SNP. Results showed that a 10 μ g / m 3 increase in Particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter μ m (PM2.5) concentrations corresponded to the highest 0.010% (95% CI: 0.002%–0.018%), 0.018% (95% CI: 0.006%–0.029%), 0.019% (95% CI: 0.010%–0.029%) increase in total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), respectively and 0.005% (95% CI: 0.002%–0.008%) decrease in high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)-to-LDL-C ratio. As for the PM10, similar results were observed. Furthermore, our finding showed an interaction effect of PM10 and rs505922/rs579459 C allele on TG. Specifically, individuals carrying the rs505922 and rs579459 T allele have higher TG concentrations following PM10 exposure, with a 10 μ g / m 3 increase in PM10 concentrations corresponding to the highest 0.028% and 0.034% increase in TG, respectively. In conclusion, short-term exposures to ambient particulate matters are associated with a higher blood lipid level, which can be modified by ABO polymorphism. The findings may be useful in identifying vulnerable population according to genetic background.

Additional file 1: Table S1. The differences of methylation level (%) for each CpG site when comparing Q4, Q3 and Q2 to Q1. Table S2. Adjusted association between methylation level for each CpG site and blood lipid levels. Table S3. Sex specific associations of DNA methylation at ABCG1 and APOE and risk of ischemic stroke. Table S4. Details of pyrosequencing assays used to determine DNA methylation. Genomic location identified using genome reference consortium human build 37 patch release 13. CpG sites are indicated in the sequence to analyze. For, forward primer; Rev, reverse primer, Seq, sequencing primer. Figure S1. Sex specific associations of DNA methylation at ABCG1 and APOE genes and risk of atherosclerosis (cIMT, ABI and baPWV). Figure S1 Legend: For a detailed analysis, methylation variable was presented as three types of variables for each CpG site, which were binary variable (above vs below median), categorical variable and continuous variable (10% increasing of methylation level). Categorical variable for each CpG sites was defined using the 25% quartile, the median, and the 75% quartile of the methylation value, where Q1 group was 0–25% of the values, Q2 was 25–50%, Q3 was 50–75%, and Q4 was 75–100%. β: Regression coefficient; 95% CI: 95% confidence interval; ABCG1: ATP-binding cassette G1 gene; APOE: apolipoprotein E gene; cIMT: carotid intima−media thickness; ABI: ankle−brachial index; baPWV: brachial−ankle pulse wave velocity.

Granulocyte colony stimulating factor (GCSF) is a key regulator of neutrophil production, and plays a vital role in immune response of mammals and teleost against pathogen. Sequences of GCSF were identified in several teleost species, however, the function and activity of GCSF in teleost remain largely unknown. In this study, we examined the biological activity and the immunomodulatory property of a GCSF homologue, PoGCSF, from Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus). Structural analysis showed that PoGCSF possesses conserved structural characteristics of GCSF proteins, including a signal peptide and a typical IL-6 domain. The expression of PoGCSF was upregulated in a time-dependent manner by extracellular and intracellular bacterial pathogens and viral pathogen. Different expression patterns were exhibited in response to the infection of different types of microbial pathogens in different immune tissues. Recombinant PoGCSF increased the capability of host cells to defense against pathogen infection and enhanced the expression of immune related genes. The knockdown of PoGCSF attenuated the ability of host cells to eliminate pathogenic bacteria. In vivo results showed that overexpression of PoGCSF promoted the host defense against invading pathogenic microorganism. Collectively, this study is the first report about the immunoregulatory property and anti-infectious immunity of GCSF in teleost. These findings suggested that PoGCSF serves as an immune-related cytokine and plays an important role in the immune defense system of Japanese flounder.

Recently, bacterial small RNA (sRNA) has been shown to be involved as a key regulator in stress responses. sRNAs of Edwardsiella piscicida, an important aquatic pathogen, are not well characterized to date. In this study, using RNA-seq technology, we globally found and identified sRNA candidates expressed from E. piscicida grown in normal LB medium, acid pressure, iron deficiency stress, and oxidation pressure. A total of 148 sRNAs were found, including 19 previously annotated sRNAs and 129 novel sRNA candidates by searching against the Rfam database. Compared in normal condition, the expression of 103 sRNAs (DEsRNA, differentially expressed sRNA) and 1615 mRNAs (DEmRNAs, differentially expressed mRNA) showed significant differences in three stress sample. Based on the prediction by IntaRNA and relational analysis between DEsRNAs and DEmRNAs, 103 DEsRNAs were predicted to regulate 769 target mRNAs. Pleiotropic function of target DEmRNAs indicated that sRNAs extensively participated in a variety of physiological processes, including response to adversity and pathogenicity, the latter was further confirmed by infection experiment. A large number transcription factors appeared in target genes of sRNAs, which suggested that sRNAs likely deeply interlaced within complex gene regulatory networks of E. piscicida. Moreover, 49 Hfq-associated sRNAs were also identified in this study. In summary, we globally discovered sRNAs for the first time in pathogenic bacteria of fish, and our findings indicated that sRNAs in E. piscicida have important roles in adaptation to environmental stress and pathogenicity. These results also provide clues for deciphering regulation mechanism of gene expression related to physiological response and pathogenicity. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13567-018-0613-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Few studies have examined the association between fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) in urban cities. The principal aim of the present study was to evaluate the short-term impact of PM2.5 on the incidence of URTI in Beijing, China. Data on hospital visits due to URTI from 1 October 2010 to 30 September 2012 were obtained from the Beijing Medical Claim Data for Employees, a health insurance database. Daily PM2.5 concentration was acquired from the embassy of the United States of America (US) located in Beijing. A generalized additive Poisson model was used to analyze the effect of PM2.5 on hospital visits for URTI. We found that a 10 &mu, g/m3 increase in PM2.5 concentration was associated with 0.84% (95% CI, 0.05&ndash, 1.64%) increase in hospital admissions for URTI at lag 0&ndash, 3 days, but there were no significant associations with emergency room or outpatient visits. Compared to females, males were more likely to be hospitalized for URTI when the PM2.5 level increased, but other findings did not differ by age group or gender. The study suggests that short-term variations in PM2.5 concentrations have small but detectable impacts on hospital utilization due to URTI in adults.

There is little evidence that acute exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) impacts the rate of hospitalization for congestive heart failure (CHF) in developing countries. The primary purpose of the present retrospective study was to evaluate the short-term association between ambient PM2.5 and hospitalization for CHF in Beijing, China. A total of 15,256 hospital admissions for CHF from January 2010 to June 2012 were identified from Beijing Medical Claim Data for Employees and a time-series design with generalized additive Poisson model was used to assess the obtained data. We found a clear significant exposure response association between PM2.5 and the number of hospitalizations for CHF. Increasing PM2.5 daily concentrations by 10 &mu, g/m3 caused a 0.35% (95% CI, 0.06&ndash, 0.64%) increase in the number of CHF admissions on the same day. We also found that female and older patients were more susceptible to PM2.5. These associations remained significant in sensitivity analyses involving changing the degrees of freedom of calendar time, temperature, and relative humidity. PM2.5 was associated with significantly increased risk of hospitalization for CHF in this citywide study. These findings may contribute to the limited scientific evidence about the acute impacts of PM2.5 on CHF in China.

Background Evidence of the short-term effects of ambient air pollution on the risk of ischemic stroke in low- and middle-income countries is limited and inconsistent. We aimed to examine the associations between air pollution and daily hospital admissions for ischemic stroke in China. Methods and findings We identified hospital admissions for ischemic stroke in 2014–2016 from the national database covering up to 0.28 billion people who received Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI) in China. We examined the associations between air pollution and daily ischemic stroke admission using a two-stage method. Poisson time-series regression models were firstly fitted to estimate the effects of air pollution in each city. Random-effects meta-analyses were then conducted to combine the estimates. Meta-regression models were applied to explore potential effect modifiers. More than 2 million hospital admissions for ischemic stroke were identified in 172 cities in China. In single-pollutant models, increases of 10 μg/m3 in particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter, Yonghua Hu and colleagues, in a large-scale analysis of 172 cities in China, reveal associations between short-term air pollution exposure and increased incidences of stroke., Author summary Why was this study done? Epidemiological studies have reported associations between short-term exposure to ambient air pollution and mortality and morbidity from ischemic stroke. Previous studies have been primarily conducted in high-income countries, and few research data at the country level have been generated in low- and middle-income countries, despite their much higher air pollution levels. What did the researchers do and find? We conducted a national time-series study using data on more than 2 million hospital admissions for ischemic stroke in 172 cities in China from 2014 to 2016. City-specific associations between ambient air pollution and hospital admissions for ischemic stroke were estimated with Poisson time-series regression models. Random-effects meta-analyses were used to obtain national and regional average associations. Our results indicated that short-term exposures to PM2.5, SO2, NO2, and CO were associated with increased hospital admissions for ischemic stroke. The associations were stronger in the elderly. What do these findings mean? To our knowledge, this is the first national study in China to systematically examine the associations between short-term exposure to ambient air pollution and ischemic stroke. Our findings strengthened the rationale for further limiting air pollution levels in low- and middle-income countries.

High-mobility group box 2 (HMGB2) is a non-histone chromosomal protein that involved diverse functions such as transcriptional regulation and innate immune responses in mammalian. In teleost, very limited studies on HMGB2 proteins have been documented. Black rockfish (Sebastes schlegelii) is an economic fish species and cultured worldwide. However, the study of black rockfish about immunology is very scarce. In the present study, a HMGB2 homologue gene (SsHMGB2) was identified and characterized in black rockfish. The open reading frame of SsHMGB2 is 648 bp, and the deduced amino acid sequence of SsHMGB2 shares 74.4%–91.2% overall sequence identities with the HMGB2 proteins of several fish species. In silico analysis identified several conserved features, including two basic HMG boxes and an acidic C-terminal tail composed of 24 Asp/Glu residues. Expression of SsHMGB2 occurred in multiple tissues and was upregulated during pathogens infection. Recombinant SsHMGB2 (rSsHMGB2) exhibited apparent binding activities against DNA. In vivo studies showed that the expressions of multiple immune-related genes in head kidney were significantly enhanced when black rockfish were treated with rSsHMGB2. Furthermore, rSsHMGB2 reduced pathogen dissemination and replication in fish kidney and spleen. Taken together, these results suggest that SsHMGB2 possesses apparent immunoregulatory properties and played a role in fighting bacterial infection.

Background We aimed to study the short-term association between air pollutants and hospitalization for epilepsy in 47 hospitals from 10 cities in eastern China. Method We identified hospital epilepsy admissions in 2014 and 2015. A conditional Poisson regression model was used to examine the association between air pollutants and hospital admission, with temperature and relative humidity adjusted using the natural spline (ns) function. Pollutants included sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and particulate matter (PM). The association was stratified by sex, age, and geographic region in single-pollutant and two-pollutant models. Results An interquartile (IQR) increase of NO2 and CO on the concurrent day is correlated with an increased admission of 2.0% (0.5%, 3.6%) and 1.1% (0.1%, 2.1%), respectively. The association is stronger in children (≤18 years) and in northern China, but did not vary with sex. A positive association was also observed on the previous day for CO [1.5%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.3%, 2.6%], NO2 (2.5%, 95% CI: 0.6%, 4.3%), and PM2.5 (1.32%, 95% CI: 0.16%, 2.48%). Moving average concentration of 7 days for all pollutants was associated with decreased admission (CO: -1.29%, NO2: -0.4.69%, SO2:-2.12%, PM2.5:-0.98%, PM10:-1.70%). Conclusion Exposures to NO2 and CO on concurrent days, and PM2.5 on the previous day, are associated with increased epilepsy hospitalization, whereas cumulative exposure appeared protective.

BACKGROUND Metabolic syndrome (MetS) share a genetic basis with type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, whether MetS and its components mediate genetic susceptibility to T2D is not completely understood. METHODS We assessed the effects of MetS and its components on associations T2D and 18 genome-wide association studies-identified variants using a two-stage strategy based on parametric models involving 7110 Chinese participants (2436 were T2D patients) across 2885 families. Multilevel logistic regression was used to account for the intrafamilial correlation. RESULTS Metabolic syndrome significantly mediated the effect of a melatonin receptor 1B (MTNR1B) polymorphism on T2D risk (OR of average causal mediation effect [ORACME ] 1.004; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.001-1.008; P = 0.018). In addition, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels mediated the genetic effects of MTNR1B (ORACME 1.012; 95% CI 1.007-1.015; P