Health shock, medical insurance and financial asset allocation: evidence from CHFS in China

Background: As health care cost is taking an increasingly substantial proportion of national wealth, health shocks and the subsequent medical expenditures have become increasingly vital contributions to financial risks. However, the individual or combined effects of social and financial medical insurance on household financial behaviors are poorly understood. This research aims to examine the effect of health shocks on financial asset mobility and portfolio allocation of the household. Also, whether medical insurance positively affects the financial market will be analyzed. Methods: Linear-regression models are used to determine the relationship between health shock, medical insurance, and household financial behaviors, including liquidity measures and financial portfolio (risk and risk-free assets). Two types of variables (transition probability and upward mobility) are constructed to measure the aggregate-level financial asset mobility. The portfolio of financial assets is categorized according to the risk it bears. Results: Households which experience health shocks are found to exhibit lower transition probability and upward mobility of financial assets than households that do not, and health shocks pose a more serious threat to low-income households. From the inter-temporal perspective, households that have medical insurance exhibit a higher probability of raising their position within the national financial asset distribution, and are more inclined to invest in the risky financial assets. Commercial insurance displays a larger marginal effect on financial asset allocation than social insurance. Our study results highlight an essential link between health shocks, medical insurance, and household financial behavior. Conclusion: This work identified and described the relationship between health-related factors (health shock and two types of medical insurance) and household financial behaviors (risky investment involvement and class mobility in financial asset). A strong link exists between the health and financial market, with heterogenous effects between urban and rural groups, households with distinct income levels, etc. A multilayered insurance system would be helpful to facilitate household income, financial consumption, and economic growth

Quantification of atherosclerotic plaque volume in coronary arteries by computed tomographic angiography in subjects with and without diabetes.

BackgroundDiabetes mellitus (DM) is considered a cardiovascular risk factor. The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence and volume of coronary artery plaque in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) vs. those without DM.MethodsThis study recruited consecutive patients who underwent coronary computed tomography (CT) angiography (CCTA) between October 2016 and November 2017. Personal information including conventional cardiovascular risk factors was collected. Plaque phenotypes were automatically calculated for volume of different component. The volume of different plaque was compared between DM patients and those without DM.ResultsAmong 6381 patients, 931 (14.59%) were diagnosed with DM. The prevalence of plaque in DM subjects was higher compared with nondiabetic group significantly (48.34% vs. 33.01%, χ = 81.84, P < 0.001). DM was a significant risk factor for the prevalence of plaque in a multivariate model (odds ratio [OR] = 1.465, 95% CI: 1.258-1.706, P < 0.001). The volume of total plaque and any plaque subtypes in the DM subjects was greater than those in nondiabetic patients significantly (P < 0.001).ConclusionThe coronary artery atherosclerotic plaques were significantly higher in diabetic patients than those in non-diabetic patients

Au impact on GaAs epitaxial growth on GaAs (111)B substrates in molecular beam epitaxy

GaAs growth behaviour under the presence of Au nanoparticles on GaAs {111}(B) substrate is investigated using electron microscopy. It has been found that, during annealing, enhanced Ga surface diffusion towards Au nanoparticles leads to the GaAs epitaxial growth into {113}(B) faceted triangular pyramids under Au nanoparticles, governed by the thermodynamic growth, while during conventional GaAs growth, growth kinetics dominates, resulting in the flatted triangular pyramids at high temperature and the epitaxial nanowires growth at relatively low temperature. This study provides an insight of Au nanoparticle impact on GaAs growth, which is critical for understanding the formation mechanisms of semiconductor nanowires. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4792053

Analysis and prediction of improved SEIR transmission dynamics model: taking the second outbreak of COVID-19 in Italy as an example

This study aimed to predict the transmission trajectory of the 2019 Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) and analyze the impact of preventive measures on the spread of the epidemic. Considering that tracking a long-term epidemic trajectory requires explanatory modeling with more complexities than short-term predictions, an improved Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Removed (SEIR) transmission dynamic model is established. The model depends on defining various parameters that describe both the virus and the population under study. However, it is likely that several of these parameters will exhibit significant variations among different states. Therefore, regression algorithms and heuristic algorithms were developed to effectively adapt the population–dependent parameters and ensure accurate fitting of the SEIR model to data for any specific state. In this study, we consider the second outbreak of COVID-19 in Italy as a case study, which occurred in August 2020. We divide the epidemic data from February to September of the same year into two distinct stages for analysis. The numerical results demonstrate that the improved SEIR model effectively simulates and predicts the transmission trajectories of the Italian epidemic during both periods before and after the second outbreak. By analyzing the impact of anti-epidemic measures on the spread of the disease, our findings emphasize the significance of implementing anti-epidemic preventive measures in COVID-19 modeling

CD147 overexpression on synoviocytes in rheumatoid arthritis enhances matrix metalloproteinase production and invasiveness of synoviocytes

Macrophage-like synoviocytes and fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) are known as the most active cells of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and are close to the articular cartilage in a position enabling them to invade the cartilage. Macrophage-like synoviocytes and FLS expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their interaction has aroused great interest. The present article studied the expression of CD147, also called extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer, on monocytes/macrophages and FLS from RA patients and its potential role in enhancing MMPs and the invasiveness of synoviocytes. Expression of CD147 on FLS derived from RA patients and from osteoarthritis patients, and expression of CD147 on monocytes/macrophages from rheumatic synovial fluid and healthy peripheral blood were analyzed by flow cytometry. The levels of CD147, MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA in FLS were detected by RT-PCR. The role of CD147 in MMP production and the cells' invasiveness in vitro were studied by the co-culture of FLS with the human THP-1 cell line or monocytes/macrophages, by gel zymography and by invasion assay. The results showed that the expression of CD147 was higher on RA FLS than on osteoarthritis FLS and was higher on monocytes/macrophages from rheumatic synovial fluid than on monocytes/macrophages from healthy peripheral blood. RT-PCR showed that the expressions of CD147, MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA was higher in RA FLS than in osteoarthritis FLS. A significantly elevated secretion and activation of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were observed in RA FLS co-cultured with differentiated THP-1 cells or RA synovial monocytes/macrophages, compared with those co-cultured with undifferentiated THP-1 cells or healthy control peripheral blood monocytes. Invasion assays showed an increased number of invading cells in the co-cultured RA FLS with differentiated THP-1 cells or RA synovial monocytes/macrophages. CD147 antagonistic peptide inhibited the MMP production and the invasive potential. Our studies demonstrated that the CD147 overexpression on monocytes/macrophages and FLS in RA patients may be responsible for the enhanced MMP secretion and activation and for the invasiveness of synoviocytes. These findings suggest that CD147 may be one of the important factors in progressive joint destruction of RA and that CD147 may be a potential therapeutic target in RA treatment

Clinical and Prognostic Value of PET/CT Imaging with Combination of 68

Background. To evaluate the clinical and prognostic value of PET/CT with combination of 68Ga-DOTATATE and 18F-FDG in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (GEP-NENs). Method. 83 patients of GEP-NENs who underwent 68Ga-DOTATATE and 18F-FDG PET/CT were enrolled between June 2013 and December 2016. Well-differentiated (WD) NETs are divided into group A (Ki-67 < 10%) and group B (Ki-67 ≥ 10%), and poorly differentiated (PD) NECs are defined as group C. The relationship between PET/CT results and clinicopathological characteristics was retrospectively investigated. Result. For groups A/B/C, the sensitivities of 68Ga-DOTATATE and 18F-FDG were 78.8%/83.3%/37.5% and 52.0%/72.2%/100.0%. A negative correlation between Ki-67 and SUVmax of 68Ga-DOTATATE (R = −0.415; P ≤ 0.001) was observed, while a positive correlation was noted between Ki-67 and SUVmax of 18F-FDG (R = 0.683; P ≤ 0.001). 62.5% (5/8) of patients showed significantly more lesions in the bone if 68Ga-DOTATATE was used, and 22.7% (5/22) of patients showed more lymph node metastases if 18F-FDG was used. Conclusions. The sensitivity of dual tracers was correlated with cell differentiation, and a correlation between Ki-67 and both SUVmax of PET-CTs could be observed. 68Ga-DOTATATE is suggested for WD-NET and 18F-FDG is probably suitable for patients with Ki-67 ≥ 10%

Quality of epitaxial InAs nanowires controlled by catalyst size in molecular beam epitaxy

In this study, the structural quality of Au-catalyzed InAs nanowires grown by molecular beam epitaxy is investigated. Through detailed electron microscopy characterizations and analysis of binary Au-In phase diagram, it is found that defect-free InAs nanowires can be induced by smaller catalysts with a high In concentration, while comparatively larger catalysts containing less In induce defected InAs nanowires. This study indicates that the structural quality of InAs nanowires can be controlled by the size of Au catalysts when other growth conditions remain as constants. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC

Involvement of CD147 in overexpression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 and enhancement of invasive potential of PMA-differentiated THP-1

BACKGROUND: During infection and inflammation, circulating blood monocytes migrate from the intravascular compartments to the extravascular compartments, where they mature into tissue macrophages. The maturation process prepares the cells to actively participate in the inflammatory and immune responses, and many factors have been reported to be involved in the process. We found in our study that CD147 played a very important role in this process. RESULTS: By using PMA-differentiated human monocyte cells line THP-1, we found that CD147 mediated matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) expression of the leukemic THP-1 cells and thus enhanced the invasiveness of THP-1 cells. After 24 hours of PMA-induced monocyte differentiation, the mean fluorescence intensity of CD147 in differentiated THP-1 cells (289.61 ± 31.63) was higher than that of the undifferentiated THP-1 cells (205.1 ± 19.25). There was a significant increase of the levels of proMMP-2, proMMP-9 and their activated forms in the differentiated THP-1 cells. Invasion assays using reconstituted basement membrane showed a good correlation between the invasiveness of THP-1 cells and the production of MMP-2 and MMP-9. The difference in the MMPs expression and the invasive ability was significantly blocked by HAb18G/CD147 antagonistic peptide AP-9. The inhibitory rate of the secretion of proMMP-9 in the undifferentiated THP-1 cells was 45.07%. The inhibitory rate of the secretion of proMMP-9, the activated MMP-9 and proMMP-2 in the differentiated THP-1 cells was 52.90%, 53.79% and 47.80%, respectively. The inhibitory rate of invasive potential in the undifferentiated cells and the differentiated THP-1 cells was 41.82 % and 25.15%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the expression of CD147 is upregulated during the differentiation of monocyte THP-1 cells to macrophage cells, and CD147 induces the secretion and activation of MMP-2 and MMP-9 and enhances the invasive ability of THP-1 cells. The matured monocytes / macrophages, via their high expression of CD147, may play an important role in promoting the tissue repair or tissue damage during their inflammatory response