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Background Postmenopausal women with hypertension are susceptible to coronary heart disease (CHD), and their prevalence and mortality of CHD are significantly higher than those before menopause. Based on the team's previous research, this study further combined with glucose and lipid metabolism, vascular elasticity and other related indicators to diagnose CHD in postmenopausal women with hypertension, in order to provide new ideas for clinical identification of CHD risk in postmenopausal women with hypertension. Objective To explore the correlation and predictive value of triglyceride glucose (TyG) index, ankle-brachial index (ABI), brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), pulse pressure index (PPI) and arteriosclerosis index (AI) in postmenopausal women with hypertension. Methods From January 2019 to December 2022, this study selected postmenopausal women with hypertension who underwent coronary angiography for the first time in the Department of Integrative Cardiology of China-Japan Friendship Hospital, and divided them into CHD group and non-CHD group according to the results of coronary angiography. The clinical data such as TyG index, ABI, baPWV, PPI, AI were collected at the time of admission. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to construct a CHD risk prediction model for postmenopausal women with hypertension, and a nomogram was drawn. Calibration curve, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency. Results In this study, 300 postmenopausal women with hypertension who underwent coronary angiography for the first time were included, including 141 cases in non-CHD group and 159 cases in CHD group. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that ABI, baPWV, TyG index, PPI and AI were the influencing factors of CHD in postmenopausal women with hypertension (P

The longissimus dorsi muscle of sheep was treated with cold plasma (CP) induced by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) at different time points (6, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 120 h) after slaughter. By analyzing changes in the color, myoglobin content, fat oxidation, total sulfhydryl content and surface hydrophobicity of samples during postmortem cold storage, the effects of DBD-CP treatment at different time points after slaughter on the color and oxidation stability of mutton at different time points after slaughter were determined. The results showed that DBD-CP treatment at different time points after slaughter had no significant effects on L* or a* values of mutton (P > 0.05), but significantly increased the b* value compared to the untreated control group (P 0.05). The thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) value of the DBD-CP treatment group was higher than that of the control group (P < 0.05), and the treatment significantly reduced the total sulfhydryl content in mutton and increased the surface hydrophobicity (P < 0.05). In summary, DBD-CP treatment at 6 to 12 h after slaughter had the most significant effect on stabilizing and maintaining meat color. In addition, it could accelerate the oxidation of myofibrillar protein (MP). Therefore, DBD-CP treatment has potential application value in improving the quality of mutton.

The Longissimus dorsi muscle of sheep was treated at different times postmortem with dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) low temperature plasma and evaluated for pH, total number of bacteria, myofibrillar fragmentation index (MFI) and myofibril ultrastructure during postmortem storage. Our aim was to determine the effects of DBD low temperature plasma treatment at different times after slaughter on mutton tenderness. The results showed that after 12 h of postmortem storage, the pH of mutton treated with DBD low-temperature plasma at 6 and 12 h postmortem was significantly lower than that of the other treated groups (P < 0.05); the total number of bacteria in mutton treated at 12–72 h after slaughter decreased significantly compared with the untreated group. As the storage time increased, MFI gradually increased, showed a significant upward trend during 6–72 h (P < 0.05), and then tended to be stable after 72 h for all treated groups. DBD low temperature plasma treatment at 6–24 h postmortem significantly increased the growth rate of MFI than the other treatments (P < 0.05). After 24 h storage, the sarcomere length of mutton treated at the early postmortem stage (6–24 h) was significantly reduced and shorter than that of the other treated groups (P < 0.05), and the sarcomere length of mutton in the 24 h postmortem treatment group was the shortest. In conclusion, DBD low-temperature plasma treatment at 12 to 24 h postmortem had the least effect on the tenderness of mutton while reducing the number of bacteria.

Moral vitalism refers to a tendency to view good and evil as actual forces that can influence people and events. The Moral Vitalism Scale had been designed to assess moral vitalism in a brief survey form. Previous studies established the reliability and validity of the scale in US-American and Australian samples. In this study, the cross-cultural comparability of the scale was tested across 28 different cultural groups worldwide through measurement invariance tests. A series of exact invariance tests marginally supported partial metric invariance, however, an approximate invariance approach provided evidence of partial scalar invariance for a 5-item measure. The established level of measurement invariance allows for comparisons of latent means across cultures. We conclude that the brief measure of moral vitalism is invariant across 28 cultures and can be used to estimate levels of moral vitalism with the same precision across very different cultural settings.

Pathogens represent a significant threat to human health leading to the emergence of strategies designed to help manage their negative impact. We examined how spiritual beliefs developed to explain and predict the devastating effects of pathogens and spread of infectious disease. Analysis of existing data in studies 1 and 2 suggests that moral vitalism (beliefs about spiritual forces of evil) is higher in geographical regions characterized by historical higher levels of pathogens. Furthermore, drawing on a sample of 3140 participants from 28 countries in study 3, we found that historical higher levels of pathogens were associated with stronger endorsement of moral vitalistic beliefs. Furthermore, endorsement of moral vitalistic beliefs statistically mediated the previously reported relationship between pathogen prevalence and conservative ideologies, suggesting these beliefs reinforce behavioural strategies which function to prevent infection. We conclude that moral vitalism may be adaptive: by emphasizing concerns over contagion, it provided an explanatory model that enabled human groups to reduce rates of contagious disease.

Voltinism and life‐history traits of the invasive fall armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda were investigated under semi‐natural conditions for a period of 2 years. The FAW invaded the corn field in the suburbs of Nanchang (28°46′ N, 115°50′ E) in early summer and produced six complete generations. FAW had the characteristics of short developmental time, high survival rates and strong fecundity. The development time of female pupae was significantly faster than that of male pupae, resulting in the emergence of female pupae earlier than male pupae. Except for the sixth generation in 2021, there was no significant difference between female and male sex ratio, which was close to 1:1. FAW showed male‐bias sexual size dimorphism with male pupae being significantly larger than female pupae. Unlike pupal weight, in most generations, male adult weighed significantly less than females, because the weight loss of male pupae during metamorphosis was significantly greater than that of female pupae. The temporal variation of pupal weight did not conform to the temperature–size rule. Compared with 22.8°C, the 29.2°C high temperature not only significantly reduced the development time of larvae but also significantly increased pupal weight. The adult fecundity feeding on fresh corn leaves was higher than that feeding on live corn plants in most generations. In most generations, pupal weight was positively correlated with larval development time and adult weight was positively correlated with fecundity. In conclusion, climate differences between generations and years have significant effects on developmental time, body weight, sexual size dimorphism and fecundity of the FAW. These results add to the understanding of the evolution of life‐history traits in the FAW and may have important implications for predicting population dynamics of the FAW and optimising control strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new open-chain cytochalasins, xylarchalasins A and B (1 and 2), together with six known analogues (3-8), were isolated from the endophytic fungus Xylaria sp. GDGJ-77B from the Chinese medicinal plant Sophora tonkinensis. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of comprehensive spectroscopic analysis. Compound 2 displayed moderate antibacterial activities against Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli with MIC values of 25 and 12.5 μg/mL, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Colorectal, and gastric cancers have the second, and fourth mortality rates worldwide, respectively. Endoscopic screening is a crucial diagnostic tool for colorectal, and gastric cancers. Effective interventions can improve adherence to endoscopic screening in high-risk populations, which is important for cancer prevention and mortality reduction. This study aimed to identify interventions that could improve adherence to endoscopic screening for cancer in high-risk populations. Methods: Combination keywords including colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, screening adherence, and interventions were used to search for articles in PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and MEDLINE Complete. The review methodology was guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-SCR). Results: A total of 12 articles were included in this review: 9 randomized controlled trials(RCT) and 3 quasi-experimental studies(QEDs). Among the extracted studies, 11 were about colorectal cancer, and 1 was about gastric cancer. Most studies used lecture-based or Information Technology-based health education interventions. Narrative interventions have proven to be novel and effective approaches for promoting adherence to endoscopic screening. Health education interventions included cancer epidemiology, cancer risk factors, warning symptoms, and screening methods. Conclusion: All interventions involved were effective in increasing individual knowledge of cancer-related endoscopic screening, willingness to undergo screening, and screening behaviors. These findings provide a reference for designing endoscopy-related cancer screening interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One new cyclopentapeptide, cycloaspeptide H (1), featuring a serine residue, along with seven known compounds (2–8), was isolated from the endophytic fungus Penicillium virgatum GDGJ-227. The planar structure of 1 was elucidated by a comprehensive analysis of NMR and MS spectroscopic spectra, and the absolute configuration was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (Cu Kα) analysis. Compounds 7 and 8 displayed antibacterial activities against Bacillus subtilis and Enterobacter aerogenes with MIC values ranging from 12.5 to 50 μg/mL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]