Clinical study of exhaled nitric oxide in children with asthma and allergic rhinitis

Objective·To determine the levels of nasally exhaled nitric oxide (FnNO) combined with fractional concentration of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) in children with asthma (AS) complicated with allergic rhinitis (AR), and analyze the levels of FnNO and FeNO in different clinical stages of AS with different severities of AR, so as to provide basis for guiding clinical diagnosis and treatment.Methods·Children diagnosed with AR with AS in the Department of Respiratory and Otolaryngology of Children's Hospital of Soochow University from April 2021 to November 2021 were included, and healthy children who visited the Department of Pediatrics for normal physical examination during the same period were enrolled as the control group. FeNO and FnNO were measured in all children to assess the severity of the children's diseases. The levels of FeNO and FnNO in children with AR and AS at different clinical stages of AS and their correlation with pulmonary function were compared and analyzed.Results·The proportion of persistent moderate-to-severe rhinitis was higher in the acute exacerbation stage of AS, and the proportion of intermittent mild rhinitis was higher in the clinical remission stage of AS. The FeNO level in the acute exacerbation stage were higher than that in the chronic persistent stage and clinical remission stage of AS (adjusted P=0.022, 0.000), and higher in the chronic persistent stage than that in the clinical remission stage of AS (adjusted P=0.002). The FnNO level in the acute exacerbation stage was higher than that in the clinical remission stage of AS (adjusted P=0.044). In the chronic persistent stage of AS, the FnNO levels in the persistent mild group and persistent moderate-to-severe control group were higher than those in the intermittent mild group (adjusted P=0.001, 0.000). In the clinical remission stage of AS, the FnNO levels in the persistent mild group and persistent moderate to severe control group were higher than those in the intermittent mild group (adjusted P=0.001, 0.007). In the intermittent mild group of AR, the FnNO levels in the acute exacerbation stage were higher than those in the chronic persistent stage and clinical remission stage of AS (adjusted P=0.010, 0.019). Part of pulmonary functions in the acute exacerbation stage of AS children were negatively correlated with the FeNO and FnNO levels (all P<0.05), while FEV1/pred in the chronic persistent stage was negatively correlated with FeNO level (P=0.010).Conclusion·FeNO and FnNO levels increased in the acute exacerbation stage of AS, and symptom scores of AR also increased. FeNO and FnNO levels were negatively correlated with pulmonary function in AS with AR children

Automatic Root Cause Analysis via Large Language Models for Cloud Incidents

Ensuring the reliability and availability of cloud services necessitates efficient root cause analysis (RCA) for cloud incidents. Traditional RCA methods, which rely on manual investigations of data sources such as logs and traces, are often laborious, error-prone, and challenging for on-call engineers. In this paper, we introduce RCACopilot, an innovative on-call system empowered by the large language model for automating RCA of cloud incidents. RCACopilot matches incoming incidents to corresponding incident handlers based on their alert types, aggregates the critical runtime diagnostic information, predicts the incident's root cause category, and provides an explanatory narrative. We evaluate RCACopilot using a real-world dataset consisting of a year's worth of incidents from Microsoft. Our evaluation demonstrates that RCACopilot achieves RCA accuracy up to 0.766. Furthermore, the diagnostic information collection component of RCACopilot has been successfully in use at Microsoft for over four years

Effect of regional body composition changes on bone density remodeling after sleeve gastrectomy

BackgroundSleeve gastrectomy (SG) results in bone mineral density (BMD) loss and varying body composition parameters. However, the effects of body compositions on bone health are controversial. In order to accurately demonstrate their relationship and provide new insights into the causes of BMD loss after sleeve gastrectomy, this study is aimed to investigate the role of changes in body composition in BMD loss 12 months after SG.Methods41 Chinese individuals with obesity (25 women and 16 men) who underwent SG were prospectively examined for at least 12 months. Measurements of anthropometrics, body composition, BMD and blood samples were collected.ResultsFor 12 months, the femoral neck (FN) BMD and total hip (TH) BMD decreased significantly compared with baseline in both sexes but not lumbar spine (LS) BMD. Greater TH BMD loss was observed in men than in women. For the first 6 months post-SG, the FN BMD loss was positively associated with the estimated fat free mass index (eFFMI) reduction in women (adjusted β = 0.77, P = 0.004) and positively associated with reduction of subcutaneous fat area (SFA) in men (r = 0.931, P = 0.007). For 12 months post-SG, the FN BMD loss was negatively associated with visceral fat area (VFA) reduction in women (adjusted β = -0.58, P = 0.027) and men (adjusted β = -0.68, P = 0.032). TH BMD loss was positively associated with waist circumference reduction in women (r = 0.448, P = 0.028).ConclusionFN and TH BMD decrease after SG in both women and men. The changes in body compositions are associated with BMD loss at different time points and bone sites. Our data emphasize the limitation of simply taking the total weight loss (% TWL) as an influencing factor of bone mineral density and the necessity of delineating body composition in relevant studies

Circulating Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Levels Are Closely Associated with Hepatic Fat Content: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Fibroblasts growth factor 21 (FGF21), a liver-secreted endocrine factor involved in regulating glucose and lipid metabolism, has been shown to be elevated in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This study aimed to evaluate the quantitative correlation between serum FGF21 level and hepatic fat content. METHODS: A total of 138 subjects (72 male and 66 female) aged from 18 to 65 years with abnormal glucose metabolism and B-ultrasonography diagnosed fatty liver were enrolled in the study. Serum FGF21 levels were determined by an in-house chemiluminescence immunoassay and hepatic fat contents were measured by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. RESULTS: Serum FGF21 increased progressively with the increase of hepatic fat content, but when hepatic fat content increased to the fourth quartile, FGF21 tended to decline. Serum FGF21 concentrations were positively correlated with hepatic fat content especially in subjects with mild/moderate hepatic steatosis (r = 0.276, p = 0.009). Within the range of hepatic steatosis from the first to third quartile, FGF21 was superior to any other traditional clinical markers including ALT to reflect hepatic fat content. When the patients with severe hepatic steatosis (the fourth quartile) were included, the quantitative correlation between FGF21 and hepatic fat content was weakened. CONCLUSIONS: Serum FGF21 was a potential biomarker to reflect the hepatic fat content in patients with mild or moderate NAFLD. In severe NAFLD patients, FGF21 concentration might decrease due to liver inflammation or injury

Matrix Recruitment and Calcium Sequestration for Spatial Specific Otoconia Development

Otoconia are bio-crystals anchored to the macular sensory epithelium of the utricle and saccule in the inner ear for motion sensing and bodily balance. Otoconia dislocation, degeneration and ectopic calcification can have detrimental effects on balance and vertigo/dizziness, yet the mechanism underlying otoconia formation is not fully understood. In this study, we show that selected matrix components are recruited to form the crystal matrix and sequester Ca2+ for spatial specific formation of otoconia. Specifically, otoconin-90 (Oc90) binds otolin through both domains (TH and C1q) of otolin, but full-length otolin shows the strongest interaction. These proteins have much higher expression levels in the utricle and saccule than other inner ear epithelial tissues in mice. In vivo, the presence of Oc90 in wildtype (wt) mice leads to an enrichment of Ca2+ in the luminal matrices of the utricle and saccule, whereas absence of Oc90 in the null mice leads to drastically reduced matrix-Ca2+. In vitro, either Oc90 or otolin can increase the propensity of extracellular matrix to calcify in cell culture, and co-expression has a synergistic effect on calcification. Molecular modeling and sequence analysis predict structural features that may underlie the interaction and Ca2+-sequestering ability of these proteins. Together, the data provide a mechanism for the otoconial matrix assembly and the role of this matrix in accumulating micro-environmental Ca2+ for efficient CaCO3 crystallization, thus uncover a critical process governing spatial specific otoconia formation

A feed antenna for dielectric spheres lens in the Ka band

In this paper, a feed antenna for dielectric spheres lens in the Ka band, which is a circularly polarized short dielectric rod antenna, is presented. The structure combines with circular polarizer and short dielectric rod antenna skillfully. The circular polarizer with dielectric septum realizes the circular polarization. The short dielectric rod antenna achieves the high gain. Compared with the long dielectric rod antenna, the short dielectric rod antenna in the design has realized miniaturization. The antenna is characterized by simple structure, manufacture and test easily. In addition, the performance of the antenna as a feed for the dielectric sphere lens antenna is also studied, whose simulated gain with a quarter wavelength choke is 20.369 dB and beam width is 16°, which show that the antenna is an excellent feed antenna

Wearable Directional Button Antenna for On-Body Wireless Power Transfer

For the future application of wireless power transfer on the human body, a wearable directional button antenna, composed of 2×3 artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) cells, is proposed, where the kinetic energy antenna is put on the elbow, which then charges the receiving communication antenna on the upper arm. The radiator of the button antenna is a monopole antenna, which is top-loaded by two cylindrical substrates with different radii to achieve a low profile, and it is fed by the microstrip line made by textiles, including 100% cotton substrate and conductive textile. The AMC cells are put close to the feeding microstrip line in order to realize directional radiation to the other side. Meanwhile, a real human arm model of a Chinese women is built to accurately analyze the corresponding wave propagations. Consequently, two identical antenna prototypes are fabricated, and the corresponding measurements are implemented, where an on-arm approximate measurement method for the radiation pattern is proposed. The measurements agree well with the simulations. Additionally, the influence of the communication antenna on the kinetic energy antenna and the interactions between the antenna and the arm are analyzed. Finally, the transmission efficiency and the SAR values are investigated

A Comprehensive and Rapid Quality Evaluation Method of Traditional Chinese Medicine Decoction by Integrating UPLC-QTOF-MS and UFLC-QQQ-MS and Its Application

Decoction is one of the oldest forms of traditional Chinese medicine and it is widely used in clinical practice. However, the quality evaluation and control of traditional decoction is a challenge due to the characteristics of complicated constituents, water as solvent, and temporary preparation. ShenFu Prescription Decoction (SFPD) is a classical prescription for preventing and treating many types of cardiovascular disease. In this article, a comprehensive and rapid method for quality evaluation and control of SFPD was developed, via qualitative and quantitative analysis of the major components by integrating ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry and ultra-fast-performance liquid chromatography equipped with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. Consequently, a total of 39 constituents were tentatively identified in qualitative analysis, of which 21 compounds were unambiguously confirmed by comparing with reference substances. We determined 13 important constituents within 7 min by multiple reaction monitoring. The validated method was applied for determining five different proportion SFPDs. It was found that different proportions generated great influence on the dissolution of constituents. This may be one of the mechanisms for which different proportions play different synergistic effects. Therefore, the developed method is a fast and useful approach for quality evaluation of SFPD

Moderate soil drying improves physiological performances and kernel yield of maize

Abstract Water shortage is a serious problem in crop production, and maize (Zea mays L.) is the largest grain crop worldwide. It would have great significance in increasing kernel yield and water use efficiency to establish a high‐yielding and water‐saving irrigation technology in maize. In this study, two high‐yielding maize varieties were used and two irrigation regimes composed of well‐watered (WW) and moderate soil drying (MD) were conducted. Physiological performances, kernel yield, and water use efficiency were investigated. Compared with WW, the MD increased kernel yield by 4.69–6.40%, reduced irrigation water by 26.5–33.3%, and improved irrigation water use efficiency by 43.1–59.3%. In terms of physiological performances, the MD enhanced the leaf superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) content, increased the leaf photosynthetic rate and the contents of indole‐3‐acetic acid (IAA), zeatin (Z) + zeatin riboside (ZR), gibberellin‐3 (GA3), and abscisic acid (ABA) in inferior kernels, promoted the remobilization of non‐structural carbohydrates (NSC) from stalks and sheaths to kernels, and improved the filling rate and weight of inferior kernels. Correlation analysis showed that IAA, Z + ZR, and ABA contents in kernels were significantly and positively correlated with the kernel filling rate. These results suggest that the moderate soil drying imposed during the whole growth period of maize can achieve the dual goal of increasing food production and saving water by improving physiological performance, especially regulating hormonal levels in the kernel