Associations between Different Ozone Indicators and Cardiovascular Hospital Admission:A Time-Stratified Case-Crossover Analysis in Guangzhou, China

Epidemiological studies reported that ozone (O3) is associated with cardiovascular diseases. However, only few of these studies examined the impact of multiple O3 indicators on cardiovascular hospital admissions. This study aimed to explore and compare the impacts of different O3 indicators on cardiovascular hospital admissions in Guangzhou, China. Based upon the data on daily cardiovascular hospital admissions, air pollution, and meteorological factors in Guangzhou from 2014 to 2018, a time-stratified case-crossover design model was used to analyze the associations between different O3 indicators and cardiovascular hospital admissions. Moreover, the sensitivities of different age and gender groups were analyzed for the whole year and different seasons (i.e., warm and cold). During the warm season, for the single-pollutant model, the odds ratio (OR) value of cardiovascular hospital admissions was 1.0067 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.0037, 1.0098) for every IQR increase in MDA8 O3 at a lag of five days. The effect of O3 on people over 60 year was stronger than that on the 15–60 years age group. Females were more sensitive than males to O3 exposure. These results provided valuable references for further scientific research and environmental improvement in Guangzhou. Given that short-term O3 exposure poses a threat to human health, the government should therefore pay attention to prevention and control policies to reduce and eliminate O3 pollution and protect human health.</p

Safety and clinical outcomes of regional anaesthesia in Chinese patients with non-small cell lung cancer undergoing non-intubated lobectomy

Purpose: To determine the safety and clinical outcomes of epidural anaesthesia (EA) relative to internal intercostal nerve block (INB) in Chinese patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who were undergoing non-intubated thoracoscopic lobectomy.Methods: Chinese patients with NSCLC (stage I or II) with no evidence of metastasis were given either EA or INB, with equal number of patients in both groups. The peri-operative outcomes determined were duration of anaesthesia /duration of surgery, SpO2/PaCO2 levels, cases of hypotension, and blood loss. The post-operative outcome indices measured were pain score (determined using visual analogue scale (VAS), post-operative complications, chest drainage, duration of hospital stay, and deaths/mortality.Multiple regression analysis was used to confirm the results obtained in this study by adjusting potential covariates. Peri-operative and post-operative complications were compared between the two groups. The results obtained from 220 patients were subjected to statistical analysis.Results: Peri-operative results showed that patients who underwent INB had shorter duration of anaesthesia (12.3 vs 31.4 min, p &lt; 0.05) and shorter duration of surgery (164.4 vs 197.2 min, p &lt; 0.05) than patients who underwent EA for non-intubated lobectomy. Post-operative results showed that patients who underwent INB had significantly lower number of post-operative complications than those who received EA (29 vs 44 %, p &lt; 0.05). The most common post-operative complications among patients in both treatment groups were nausea, vomiting, emphysema and pulmonary complications. Patients who underwent INB had shorter hospital stay than those who underwent EA (5.1 vs 7.5 days, p &lt; 0.05). These results were confirmed through multiple regression analysis.Conclusion: These findings favour the use of INB for regional anaesthesia in NSCLC patients undergoing non-intubated lobectomy

Comparison of the association between different ozone indicators and daily respiratory hospitalization in Guangzhou, China

Background: Epidemiological studies have widely proven the impact of ozone (O3) on respiratory mortality, while only a few studies compared the association between different O3 indicators and health. Methods: This study explores the relationship between daily respiratory hospitalization and multiple ozone indicators in Guangzhou, China, from 2014 to 2018. It uses a time-stratified case–crossover design. Sensitivities of different age and gender groups were analyzed for the whole year, the warm and the cold periods. We compared the results from the single-day lag model and the moving average lag model. Results: The results showed that the maximum daily 8 h average ozone concentration (MDA8 O3) had a significant effect on the daily respiratory hospitalization. This effect was stronger than for the maximum daily 1 h average ozone concentration (MDA1 O3). The results further showed that O3 was positively associated with daily respiratory hospitalization in the warm season, while there was a significantly negative association in the cold season. Specifically, in the warm season, O3 has the most significant effect at lag 4 day, with the odds ratio (OR) equal to 1.0096 [95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.0032, 1.0161]. Moreover, at the lag 5 day, the effect of O3 on the 15–60 age group was less than that on people older than 60 years, with the OR value of 1.0135 (95% CI: 1.0041, 1.0231) for the 60+ age group; women were more sensitive than men to O3 exposure, with an OR value equal to 1.0094 (95% CI: 0.9992, 1.0196) for the female group. Conclusion: These results show that different O3 indicators measure different impacts on respiratory hospitalization admission. Their comparative analysis provided a more comprehensive insight into exploring associations between O3 exposure and respiratory health.</p

Identification and Signature Sequences of Bacterial Δ4,5Hexuronate-2-O-Sulfatases

Glycosaminoglycan (GAG) sulfatases, which catalyze the hydrolysis of sulfate esters from GAGs, belong to a large and conserved sulfatase family. Bacterial GAG sulfatases are essential in the process of sulfur cycling and are useful for the structural analysis of GAGs. Only a few GAG-specific sulfatases have been studied in detail and reported to date. Herein, the GAG-degrading Photobacterium sp. FC615 was isolated from marine sediment, and a novel Δ4,5hexuronate-2-O-sulfatase (PB2SF) was identified from this bacterium. PB2SF specifically removed 2-O-sulfate from the unsaturated hexuronate residue located at the non-reducing end of GAG oligosaccharides produced by GAG lyases. A structural model of PB2SF was constructed through a homology-modeling method. Six conserved amino acids around the active site were chosen for further analysis using site-directed mutagenesis. N113A, K141A, K141H, H143A, H143K, H205A, and H205K mutants exhibited only feeble activity, while the H310A, H310K, and D52A mutants were totally inactive, indicating that these conserved residues, particularly Asp52 and His310, were essential in the catalytic mechanism. Furthermore, bioinformatic analysis revealed that GAG sulfatases with specific degradative properties clustered together in the neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree. Based on this finding, 60 Δ4,5hexuronate-2-O-sulfatases were predicted in the NCBI protein database, and one with relatively low identity to PB2SF was characterized to confirm our prediction. Moreover, the signature sequences of bacterial Δ4,5hexuronate-2-O-sulfatases were identified. With the reported signature motifs, the sulfatase sequence of the Δ4,5hexuronate-2-O-sulfatase family could be simply identified before cloning. Taken together, the results of this study should aid in the identification and further application of novel GAG sulfatases

The Effect of Tong-Xie-Yao-Fang on Intestinal Mucosal Mast Cells in Postinfectious Irritable Bowel Syndrome Rats

Objective. To investigate the effects of Tong-Xie-Yao-Fang (TXYF) on intestinal mucosal mast cells in rats with postinfectious irritable bowel syndrome (PI-IBS). Design. PI-IBS rat models were established using a multistimulation paradigm. Then, rats were treated with TXYF intragastrically at doses of 2.5, 5.0, and 10.0 g·kg−1·d−1 for 14 days, respectively. Intestinal sensitivity was assessed based on abdominal withdrawal reflex (AWR) scores and fecal water content (FWC). Mast cell counts and the immunofluorescence of tryptase and c-Fos in intestinal mucosa were measured; and serum IL-1β, TNF-α, and histamine levels were determined. Results. AWR reactivity and FWC which were significantly increased could be observed in PI-IBS rats. Remarkably increased mast cell activation ratio in intestinal mucosa, together with increased serum TNF-α and histamine levels, could also be seen in PI-IBS rats; furthermore, PI-IBS-induced changes in mast cell activation and level of serum TNF-α and histamine could be reversed by TXYF treatment. Meanwhile, tryptase and c-Fos expression were also downregulated. Conclusion. TXYF improves PI-IBS symptoms by alleviating behavioral hyperalgesia and antidiarrhea, the underlying mechanism of which involves the inhibitory effects of TXYF on activating mucosal mast cells, downregulating tryptase and c-Fos expression, and reducing serum TNF-α and histamine levels

Iodine Speciation, Transportation, and Transformation in Soils: A Critical Review

BACKGROUND： Identifying the occurrence form of iodine in soil and the law of iodine migration and transformation in soil is of great significance for evaluating the biogeochemical behavior of iodine and preventing human iodine deficiency diseases. OBJECTIVES： To review the source, content, speciation, transportation, and transformation of iodine in soils; and briefly summarize the transportation of iodine between soil and plants. METHODS: The source, content, speciation, transportation, and transformation characteristics of iodine in soils were reviewed. The influences of soil types, environmental factors, organic matter, microbial activity, pH, and Eh on iodine dynamics were summarized. Great emphasis was laid on the main factors affecting the sorption of iodine in soil, which is the key process regulating soil iodine mobility and bioavailability. RESULTS: The dry and wet deposition of the atmosphere, the weathering of the soil parent rock, and the absorption and release of plants are the main sources of iodine in soil. Iodine contents in soil typically range from 1 to 5mg/kg. Organic iodine is the dominant form of iodine in soil due to the close association of iodine with organic matter, which is the critical factor affecting soil iodine dynamics. Sorption is the key process regulating soil iodine mobility and bioavailability. Under acidic conditions, hydroxyl groups on soil mineral surface are protonated, and thus facilitating iodine sorption via electrostatic interaction. CONCLUSIONS: Due to the complex composition of soil, establishing a complete soil iodine database is the basis for exploring soil iodine related aspects. It is necessary to further seek better soil iodine analysis methods. Studying the adsorption mechanism of soil iodine and the effect of organic matter and microorganisms on iodine in soil are also an important direction for future research

Spatiotemporal evolution of global population ageing from 1960 to 2017

Abstract Background Population ageing is an increasingly severe global issue. And this has been posing challenges for public health policies and medical resource allocation There are various features of population ageing in different regions worldwide. Methods All data were obtained from the health data of World Bank Open Data. Quantile linear regression was used to subtly measure the common variation tendency and strength of the global ageing rate and ageing population. The Bayesian space-time hierarchy model (BSTHM) was employed to assess the detailed spatial temporal evolution of ageing rate and ageing population in global 195 countries and regions. Results Annual growth of the ageing (65 and above) rate occurred on six continents: Europe (0.1532%), Oceania (0.0873%), Asia (0.0834%), South America (0.0723%), North America (0.0673%) and Africa (0.0069%). The coefficient of variation of the global ageing rate increased from 0.54 in 1960 to 0.69 in 2017. The global ageing rate and ageing population increased over this period, correlating positively with their quantiles. Most countries (37/39) in Europe belong to the top level with regard to the ageing rate, including the countries with the greatest degree of ageing—Sweden, Germany, Austria, Belgium and the UK—whose spatial relative risks of ageing are 3.180 (3.113–3.214), 3.071 (3.018–3.122), 2.951 (2.903–3.001), 2.932 (2.880–2.984) and 2.917 (2.869–2.967), respectively. Worldwide, 44 low ageing areas which were distributed mainly in Africa (26 areas) and Asia (15 areas) experienced a decreasing trend of ageing rates. The local trends of ageing population in the 195 areas increased. Conclusions The differentiation of global population ageing is becoming increasingly serious. Globally, all 195 areas showed an increasing local ageing trend in absolute terms, although there were 44 low-ageing areas that experienced a decreasing local trend of ageing rate. The statistical results may provide some baseline reference for developing public health policies in various countries or regions, especially in less-developed areas

High Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio and Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratio Are Associated with Poor Survival in Patients with Hemodialysis

Background. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are markers for systemic inflammation condition. Although NLR has emerged as a risk factor for poor survival in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients, the relationship between PLR and mortality is still unknown. We aimed to explore the interaction of NLR and PLR in predicting mortality in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Method. We enrolled 360 HD patients for a 71-month follow-up. The endpoint was all-cause and cardiovascular (CV) mortality. Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationship between factors and NLR or PLR. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional analysis were used to assess the prognostic value of NLR and PLR. Results. NLR was positively correlated with neutrophil and negatively correlated with lymphocyte, hemoglobin, and serum albumin. PLR was positively correlated with neutrophil and platelet and negatively correlated with lymphocyte and hemoglobin. In multivariate Cox regression, a higher NLR level was independently associated with all-cause mortality (OR 2.011, 95% CI 1.082-3.74, p=0.027), while a higher PLR level might predict CV mortality (OR 2.768, 95% CI 1.147-6.677, p=0.023) in HD patients. Conclusion. NLR and PLR are cheap and reliable biomarkers for all-cause and CV mortality to predict survival in HD patients