Hypertension is a common comorbidity in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 infection. This study aimed to estimate the risks of adverse events associated with in-hospital blood pressure (BP) control ...and the effects of angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) prescription in COVID-19 patients with concomitant hypertension. In this retrospective cohort study, the anonymized medical records of COVID-19 patients were retrieved from an acute field hospital in Wuhan, China. Clinical data, drug prescriptions, and laboratory investigations were collected for individual patients with diagnosed hypertension on admission. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the risks of adverse outcomes associated with BP control during the hospital stay. Of 803 hypertensive patients, 67 (8.3%) were admitted to the ICU, 30 (3.7%) had respiratory failure, 26 (3.2%) had heart failure, and 35 (4.8%) died. After adjustment for confounders, the significant predictors of heart failure were average systolic blood pressure (SBP) (hazard ratio (HR) per 10 mmHg 1.89, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.15, 3.13) and pulse pressure (HR per 10 mmHg 2.71, 95% CI: 1.39, 5.29). The standard deviations of SBP and diastolic BP were independently associated with mortality and ICU admission. The risk estimates of poor BP control were comparable between patients receiving ARBs and those not receiving ARBs, with the only exception of a high risk of heart failure in the non-ARB group. Poor BP control was independently associated with higher risks of adverse outcomes of COVID-19. ARB drugs did not increase the risks of adverse events in hypertensive patients.
The potential application of waste sludge from drinking water plant as low-cost adsorbent and alternative substrate in constructed treatment wetland has been proposed and studied in recent years. But ...in China study of waterworks sludge as adsorbent is lack. More significantly, China is a huge country and the sludges generated from waterworks may be significantly different in characteristics by the nature of raw waters treated. This study was to investigate the phosphorus adsorption capacity of different kinds of sludges from five waterworks in different cities of China. The main issues focused on were: (1) characteristics of the different waterworks sludge from different water sources and coagulants, (2) phosphorus adsorption capacity of different kinds of sludges and (3) life expectancy estimation of waterworks sludge as adsorption substrate. The tests on P-adsorption show that the maximum P adsorption capacities of sludge samples from Shijiazhuang, Chengdu, Liupanshui, Suzhou and Taiyuan are 20,408mg-P/kg, 15,625mg-P/kg, 15,385mg-P/kg, 90,909mg-P/kg and 4167mg-P/kg, respectively. The theoretical calculation of life expectation of sludge phosphorus adsorption based on the proposed conditions was conducted. The results show that all the sludges have good adsorption capacity for phosphorus. It could be concluded that the sludge from waterworks has great potentials in China for P-adsorption.
Obesity has caused wide concerns due to its high prevalence in patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Coexistence of diabetes and obesity could cause an even higher risk of severe ...outcomes due to immunity dysfunction. We conducted a retrospective study in 1,637 adult patients who were admitted into an acute hospital in Wuhan, China. Propensity score-matched logistic regression was used to estimate the risks of severe pneumonia and requiring in-hospital oxygen therapy associated with obesity. After adjustment for age, sex, and comorbidities, obesity was significantly associated with higher odds of severe pneumonia (odds ratio OR 1.47 95% CI 1.15-1.88;
= 0.002) and oxygen therapy (OR 1.40 95% CI 1.10-1.79;
= 0.007). Higher ORs of severe pneumonia due to obesity were observed in men, older adults, and those with diabetes. Among patients with diabetes, overweight increased the odds of requiring in-hospital oxygen therapy by 0.68 times (
= 0.014) and obesity increased the odds by 1.06 times (
= 0.028). A linear dose-response curve between BMI and severe outcomes was observed in all patients, whereas a U-shaped curve was observed in those with diabetes. Our findings provide important evidence to support obesity as an independent risk factor for severe outcomes of COVID-19 infection in the early phase of the ongoing pandemic.
Nonspecific lower back pain (LBP) has been a major public health problem in western countries since the second half of the 20 t h century. The trend has expanded to non-western countries, and LBP is ...currently a significant cause of disability in the working population.
To investigate the prevalence of nonspecific lower back pain (LBP) and its risk factors among soldiers in the Chinese army.
A total of 2876 Chinese army soldiers were requested to complete a self-administered questionnaire on demographic, anthropometric factors, and their non-specific LBP symptoms. The LBP evaluation and risk factor analysis were based on the self-questionnaire survey.
The prevalence of non-specific LBP with physical state, one-child family, educational status, resident location and ethnicity were not associated (P > 0.05); while smoking, LBP history, LBP family history, nightmare frequency, sleep quality, and self-perceived fitness had significant effects on LBP (P < 0.05, Table 2). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that smoking (OR = 2.153,95% CI = 1.045–4.433), History of LBP (OR = 2.503,95% CI = 1.580–3.966), LBP family history (OR = 1.615,95%CI = 1.015–2.572), nightmare frequency (OR = 3.386, 95% CI = 2.047–5.603), sleep quality (OR = 2.391, 95% CI = 1.085–5.269) and self-perceived fitness (OR = 1.93,95%CI = 1.045–3.765) had significant effects on LBP (P < 0.05)) (Table 3).
Smoking, history of LBP, LBP family history, nightmare frequency, sleep quality, self-perceived fitness were important factors in the occurrence and persistence of LBP.
•Our study has a large sample size.•The research method of this study is more credible.•We found an important risk factor for LBP in the Chinese army.•Our study shows that LBP is a high incidence of disease among young people in China.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has outbroken globally. As an acute infectious disease, COVID-19 has significant impacts on multiple organs and systems throughout the body. Among patients ...with COVID-19, especially severe and critical cases, a variety of potential risk factors for coagulation dysfunction exist. Furthermore, the coagulation dysfunction of COVID-19 patients was mainly characterized by elevated D-dimer levels. The coagulation dysfunction could directly affect the prognosis of COVID-19 patients and is a major cause of death in patients with severe COVID-19. In this article, the literatures on the basic clinical manifestations, clinical risk factor, mechanism of coagulation dysfunction and evaluation of coagulation function in COVID-19 were reviewed.
The objective of the study was to investigate the pharmacokinetics of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) in Chinese adults early after renal transplantation by an enzyme multiplied immunoassay technique and ...to establish a limited sampling strategy to predict the area under the concentration-time curve for plasma levels of mycophenolic acid (MPA-AUC).
Fifty-eight recipients who underwent renal transplantation with an organ donated after cardiac death used a triple immunosuppressant strategy of MMF, tacrolimus, and prednisone. On the seventh day posttransplantation, plasma samples were collected at 0 hours (pre-dose) and at 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 hours postdose (C0h, C0.5h, C1h, C1.5h, C2h, C4h, C6h, C8h, C10h, and C12h, respectively). Enzyme multiplied immunoassay technique was used to measure mycophenolic acid concentration, and model equations were generated by multiple stepwise regression analysis to determine MPA-AUC0-12h.
The 3-point equation obtained by multiple linear regression analysis was MPA-AUC = 7.951 + 4.04C6h + 1.893C2h + 4.542C10h (adjusted r = 0.863); the 4-point equation was MPA-AUC = 4.272 + 4.074C6h + 1.896C2h + 4.680C10h + 0.859C0.5h (adjusted r = 0.918). The % mean prediction error, % mean absolute error, and % root mean squared prediction error for the best-fit formula using C6h, C2h, C10h, and C0.5h were -0.2%, 8.7%, and 14.2%, respectively.
In Chinese adults receiving MMF and tacrolimus early after renal transplantation, the best equation for predicting MPA-AUC0-12h is 4.272 + 4.074C6h + 1.896C2h + 4.680C10h + 0.859C0.5h.
•3D graphene macroscopic gel was prepared under basic conditions at low temperature.•As(III) and As(V) with sub-ppm concentrations were efficiently removed.•The modification of polydopamine ...strengthen the 3D graphene-based macrostructure.•The solid and liquid phases for water purification were separated by filtration.
3D graphene macroscopic gel synthesized via self-assembly of GO nanosheets under basic conditions at low temperature is modified with polydopamine and Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The modification of polydopamine can not only strengthen the 3D graphene-based macroscopic architecture but also enhance the loadage and binding ability of Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The synthesized 3D Fe3O4-graphene macroscopic composites are characterized by SEM, XRD, XPS, BET, Raman and magnetic property and used as a versatile adsorbent for sub-ppm concentration of As(III) and As(V) removal from aqueous solutions. The experimental results suggest that the synthesized 3D Fe3O4-graphene macroscopic composites are promising for treating low concentration of arsenic contaminated water.
Tungsten disulfide (WS2) nanosheets were discovered to possess intrinsic peroxidase-like activity and catalyze the peroxidase substrate 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to produce a color ...reaction in the presence of H2O2. Based on this finding, a colorimetric method and a portable test kit for the visual detection of blood glucose have been developed by using glucose oxidase (GOx) and WS2 nanosheets-catalyzed reactions. The linear range for glucose was ranged from 5 to 300μM (R2=0.999) with the detection limit of 2.9μM. The portable test kit was successfully evaluated glucose levels in serum samples from normal persons and diabetes persons by the observable color change from pale yellow to yellow–green, blue–green.
•WS2 nanosheets was discovered to possess intrinsic peroxidase-like activity.•Colorimetric methods for H2O2 and glucose were developed.•A portable test kit for the visual detection of blood glucose was developed.•The visual detection of glucose in serum samples could be realized.
g-C3N4 was found to possess intrinsic peroxidase-like activity, and could catalytically oxidize 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) by H2O2 to produce a color reaction. Using g-C3N4 peroxidase-like ...catalytic activity and glucose oxidase (GOx), a colorimetric method for glucose detection in serum samples has been developed. The linear range for glucose was from 5 to 100μM (R2=0.9987) and the limit of detection was as low as 1.0μM. The proposed method was applied to detect glucose in serum samples by the naked eyes.
•g-C3N4 was demonstrated to catalyze the oxidation of TMB by H2O2 to produce a blue color product.•A colorimetric method for H2O2 was achieved with a limit of detection 0.9μM.•Using g-C3N4 and GOx, a colorimetric method for glucose was developed with a detection limit of 1.0μM.•The visual detection of glucose in serum samples could be realized.
Saxitoxin (STX) has high toxicity, and is water soluble, acid stable and thermostable. Therefore, STX in seawater can be accumulated by marine organism to form bioaccumulation. To ensure the safety ...of seafood for consumption, it is crucial to accurately determine trace STX in seawater and seafood. We herein developed a novel magnetic electrochemical immunosensor for ultra-sensitive detection of STX in seawater and seafood by using non-competitive strategy. The immunosensor employs STX-specific antibody-functionalized magnetic beads (MBs) for STX recognition, palladium-doped graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4-PdNPs) peroxidase mimetic for catalyzing H2O2-mediated oxidation of 3,3’,5,5’-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to generate signal. The immunosensor combines the merits of g-C3N4-PdNPs peroxidase mimetic, non-competitive strategy, MBs-based antibody recognition and magnetic gold electrode, and thus has excellent stability, lower cost, no risk of false positive result, high sensitivity and strong ability resist to matrix interference. The proposed immunosensor has been successfully used to detect trace STX in seawater and shellfish samples with a detection limit of 1.2 pg/mL (4.0 × 10–12 M), a recovery of 93–107% and a relative standard deviation (RSD, n = 5) < 5%. The success of this study provided a promising approach for the rapid and on-site detection of trace STX in seawater and seafood.
•A signal-on immunosensor was reported for sensitive detection of trace saxitoxin in seawater and seafood.•The biosensor use palladium-doped graphitic carbon nitride peroxidase mimetic-based non-competitive strategy.•It has obvious advantage such as signal-on, high sensitivity, better stability and robust resistibility to complex matrix.•It can be used to detect as low as 1.2 pg/mL of saxitoxin in seawater.
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