Increasing evidence has linked ambient fine particulate matter (ie, particulate matter no larger than 2.5 μm PM2.5) to chronic kidney disease (CKD), but their association has not been fully ...elucidated, especially in regions with high levels of PM2.5 pollution. This study aimed to investigate the long-term association of high PM2.5 exposure with incident CKD in mainland China.
Prospective cohort study.
72,425 participants (age ≥18 years) without CKD were recruited from 121 counties in Hunan Province, China.
Annual mean PM2.5 concentration at the residence of each participant derived from a long-term, full-coverage, high-resolution (1 × 1 km2), high-quality dataset of ground-level air pollutants in China.
Incident CKD during the interval between the baseline examination of each participant (2005-2017) and the end of follow-up through 2018.
Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the independent association of PM2.5 with incident CKD and the joint association of PM2.5 with temperature or humidity on the development of PM2.5-related CKD. Restricted cubic splines were used to model exposure-response relationships.
Over a median follow-up of 3.79 (IQR, 2.03-5.48) years, a total of 2,188 participants with incident CKD were identified. PM2.5 exposure was associated with incident CKD with an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.71 (95% CI, 1.58-1.85) per 10-μg/m3 greater long-term exposure. Multiplicative interactions between PM2.5 and humidity or temperature on incident CKD were detected (all P < 0.001 for interaction), whereas an additive interaction was detected only for humidity (relative risk due to interaction, 3.59 95% CI, 0.97-6.21).
Lack of information on participants’ activity patterns such as time spent outdoors.
Greater long-term ambient PM2.5 pollution is associated with incident CKD in environments with high PM2.5 exposure. Ambient humidity has a potentially synergetic effect on the association of PM2.5 with the development of CKD.
Exposure to a form of air pollution known as fine particulate matter (ie, particulate matter ≤2.5 μm PM2.5) has been linked to an increased risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD), but little is known about how PM2.5 affects CKD in regions with extremely high levels of PM2.5 pollution. This longitudinal cohort study in China investigates the effect of PM2.5 on the incidence of CKD and whether temperature or humidity interact with PM2.5. Our findings suggest that long-term exposure to high levels of ambient PM2.5 significantly increased the risk of CKD in mainland China, especially in terms of cumulative average PM2.5. The associations of PM2.5 and incident CKD were greater in high-humidity environments. These findings support the recommendation that reducing PM2.5 pollution should be a priority to decrease the burden of associated health risks, including CKD.
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Using a comprehensive dataset of all medium and large enterprises in China between 1998 and 2007, we show that industrial policies allocated to competitive sectors or that foster competition in a ...sector increase productivity growth. We measure competition using the Lerner Index and include as industrial policies subsidies tax holidays, loans, and tariffs. Measures to foster competition include policies that are more dispersed across firms in a sector or measures that encourage younger and more productive enterprises.
Gallium(III) triflate-catalyzed reactions of phenylene-1,2-diamines and 1,2-diketones produce quinoxalines in excellent to quantitative yields. The reactions proceed with 1
mol
% catalyst in ethanol ...at room temperature. The catalyst can be recycled for at least 10 times.
Hepcidin gene is widely expressed in various fish, suggesting that this antimicrobial peptide is a very important component in the innate immune system. Large yellow croaker (
Pseudosciaena crocea) ...is one of the important economic species of marine-cultured fish but knowledge of its innate immune mechanism is lacking. In this study, we characterize a
P. crocea hepcidin gene named as PC-hepc. It consists of an open reading frame of 258 bases encoding 85 amino acids and has a conserved sequence in common with other known hepcidins. The genomic DNA of PC-hepc contains three exons and two introns, the same organization as other reported hepcidins, indicating that PC-hepc is one member of the hepcidin family in fish. The tissue-specific expression of PC-hepc gene in normal fish and the expression pattern in LPS-challenged fish at the time course of stimulation were investigated. The expression of PC-hepc mRNA was significantly increased in the spleen, heart and stomach but not significantly induced in the liver after LPS challenge. An interesting finding is the demonstration of high amounts of PC-hepc transcripts in the kidney in normal fish and their maintenance through 48
h exposure to LPS challenge. The synthetic PC-hepc demonstrated a rather wide spectrum of antimicrobial activity in vitro against bacteria and fungi tested, and particularly showed strong activity against the principal fish pathogens,
Aeromonas hydrophila,
Vibrio parahaemloyticus,
Vibrio alginolyticus and
Vibrio harvryi. The study indicates that PC-hepc may play a role with a tissue-specific mode in the innate immunity of
P. crocea.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a key factor in epigenetic regulation of gene expression, but miRNA responses to fine particulate matter (PM
) air pollution and their potential contribution to cardiovascular ...effects of PM
are unknown.
We explored the potential influence of PM
on the expression of selected cytokines relevant to systemic inflammation, coagulation, and vasoconstriction, and on miRNAs that may regulate their expression.
We designed a double-blind, randomized crossover study in which true and sham air purifiers were used to expose 55 healthy young adult students in Shanghai, China, to reduced or ambient levels of indoor PM
during two-week periods, and we measured the expression (mRNA and protein) of 10 serum cytokines, and miRNAs that target them, after each intervention period. We used linear mixed-effect models to estimate associations of the intervention, and time-weighted personal PM
exposures, with the cytokines, mRNA, and miRNAs; we also explored potential mediation by miRNAs.
The findings were generally consistent for associations with the intervention and for associations with an interquartile range increase in time-weighted PM
. Specifically, higher PM
exposure was positively associated with the expression (mRNA, protein, or both) of interleukin-1 (encoded by
), IL6, tumor necrosis factor (encoded by
), toll-like receptor 2 (encoded by
), coagulation factor 3 (encoded by
), and endothelin 1 (encoded by
), and was negatively associated with miRNAs (miR-21-5p, miR-187-3p, miR-146a-5p, miR-1-3p, and miR-199a-5p) predicted to target mRNAs of
,
,
, and
.
Our findings require confirmation but suggest that effects of PM
on cardiovascular diseases may be related to acute effects on cytokine expression, which may be partly mediated through effects of PM
on miRNAs that regulate cytokine expression. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP1447.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
CEKLJ, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
Recently, the following global-best strategy and discussion mechanism have been prevailing to solve the slow convergence and the low optimization accuracy in the brain storm optimization (BSO) ...algorithm. However, the traditional BSO algorithm also suffers from the problem that it is easy to fall into local optimum. Therefore, this work innovatively designed the chaotic difference step strategy. This strategy introduced four commonly used chaotic maps and difference step to expand the population search space to improve the situation. Moreover, opposition-based learning thought was innovatively adopted into the BSO algorithm. The thought aims to generate the opposition-based population, increase the search density, and make the algorithm out of the local optimum as soon as possible. In summary, this work proposed a global-best brain storm optimization algorithm based on the chaotic difference step and opposition-based learning (COGBSO). According to the CEC2013 benchmark test suit, 15 typical benchmark functions were selected, and multiple sets of simulation experiments were conducted on MATLAB. The COGBSO algorithm was also compared to recent competitive algorithms based on the complete CEC2018 benchmark test suit. The results demonstrate that the COGBSO outperforms BSO and other improved algorithms in solving complex optimization problems.
The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to compare overall survival and disease-free survival after fertility sparing surgery (FSS) vs radical surgery in stage 1 epithelial ovarian ...cancer (EOC).
A systematic literature search of PubMed, BioMed Central, Scopus, CENTRAL (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) and Google scholar was carried out. Databases were searched for English language studies from inception to 1st November 2019. Adjusted hazard ratios (HR) were extracted and pooled for a meta-analysis. Meta-regression was performed for baseline patient characteristics.
Eight observational studies compared 2223 patients undergoing FSS with 5809 patients undergoing radical surgery. Overall survival was reported from all eight studies. The pooled HR was non-significant (HR, 1.03; 95%CI, 0.80-1.31; p = 0.84) denoting no difference in overall survival between FSS and radical surgery. Data on disease-free survival was available from five studies. Our analysis indicated no difference in disease-free survival between EOC patients undergoing FSS or radical surgery (HR, 1.07; 95%CI, 0.73-1.58; p = 0.72). On meta-regression, there was no a statistically significant effect of cancer stage, grade and histology on the pooled HR.
On the basis of currently available observational studies there seems to be no difference in overall survival and disease-free survival with either surgical techniques for stage 1 EOC patients. Disease stage, tumor grade and histology does not appear to influence outcomes. Further homogenous studies shall improve the quality of evidence on this debatable subject.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
By directly incorporating a sub-wavelength amplifier chip into the spoof plasmonic resonator, the quality (Q) factor of the original passive resonator has been significantly increased by several ...orders of magnitude. The spoof plasmonic resonator is composed of a corrugated ring with a slit whose optimized offset angle φ is 45°, aiming to achieve a better Q-factor. By tuning the bias voltage applied to the amplifier chip that is placed across the slit, the Q factor has been increased from 9.8 to 21000 for the quadrupole mode when a plastic pipe filled with polar liquids is placed upon the resonator. Experiments at the microwave frequencies verify that the amplifier chip could greatly compensate the loss introduced by the polar liquids under investigation, resulting in an ultra-high-Q sensor for the detection of polar liquids.
The virus SARS-CoV2, which causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has become a pandemic and has spread to every inhabited continent. Given the increasing caseload, there is an urgent need to augment ...clinical skills in order to identify from among the many mild cases the few that will progress to critical illness. We present a first step towards building an artificial intelligence (AI) framework, with predictive analytics (PA) capabilities applied to real patient data, to provide rapid clinical decision-making support. COVID-19 has presented a pressing need as a) clinicians are still developing clinical acumen to this novel disease and b) resource limitations in a surging pandemic require difficult resource allocation decisions. The objectives of this research are: (1) to algorithmically identify the combinations of clinical characteristics of COVID-19 that predict outcomes, and (2) to develop a tool with AI capabilities that will predict patients at risk for more severe illness on initial presentation. The predictive models learn from historical data to help predict who will develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a severe outcome in COVID-19. Our results, based on data from two hospitals in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China, identified features on initial presentation with COVID-19 that were most predictive of later development of ARDS. A mildly elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (a liver enzyme), the presence of myalgias (body aches), and an elevated hemoglobin (red blood cells), in this order, are the clinical features, on presentation, that are the most predictive. The predictive models that learned from historical data of patients from these two hospitals achieved 70% to 80% accuracy in predicting severe cases.
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