A way to measure the water quality of the LHAASO-WCDA with cosmic muon signals

The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) is to be built at Daocheng, Sichuan Province, China. As one of the major components of the LHAASO project, a Water Cherenkov Detector Array (WCDA), with an area of 78,000~$\rm m^{2}$, contains 350,000~tons of purified water. The water transparency and its stability are critical for successful long-term operation of this project. To gain full knowledge of the water Cherenkov technique and investigate the engineering issues, a 9-cell detector array has been built at the Yangbajing site, Tibet, China. With the help of the distribution of single cosmic muon signals, the monitoring and measurement of water transparency are studied. The results show that a precision of several percent can be obtained for the attenuation length measurement, which satisfies the requirements of the experiment. In the near future, this method could be applied to the LHAASO-WCDA project

Implications of new-onset atrial fibrillation on in-hospital and long-term prognosis of patients with acute myocardial infarction:A report from the CBD bank study

BACKGROUND: An increase in the incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) during the acute phase of myocardial infarction (AMI) has been observed. But it is still unclear whether the implications of new-onset AF on in-hospital and long-term prognosis are of similar magnitude. METHODS: Using data from the CBD Bank study, 3,824 consecutive AMI patients, without prior AF, were analyzed. During the index hospitalization, all patients were monitored by continuous cardiac monitoring, twice daily performed 12- or 18-lead ECGs and timely ECG checks when cardiac symptoms occurred. Follow-up visits were routinely scheduled after discharge. Primary outcomes were all-cause death and cardiovascular death occurring during hospitalization and long-term follow-up. Secondary outcome was MACEs during hospitalization. RESULTS: During the median hospital stay of 9.0 (7.0, 11.0) days, new-onset AF was documented in 133 (3.48%) patients; 95 (71.43%) patients had AF attacks within 3 days following AMI. Independent risk factors associated with new-onset AF were older age, larger left atrial diameter, higher level of NT-proBNP, and primary PCI. New-onset AF was found to be significantly associated with in-hospital all-cause death (OR 4.33, 95%CI: 2.37-7.89, P < 0.001), cardiovascular death (OR 4.10, 95%CI: 2.18-7.73, P < 0.001), and MACEs (OR 2.51, 95%CI: 1.46-4.33, P = 0.001). A total of 112 new-onset AF and 3,338 non-AF patients were followed up for 1,090 (365, 1,694) days after discharge. There was no significant association between new-onset AF and long-term all-cause death (HR 1.21, 95%CI: 0.77-1.92, P = 0.406) or cardiovascular death (HR 1.09, 95%CI: 0.61-1.97, P = 0.764). CONCLUSION: New-onset AF following AMI is strongly associated with an increased risk of adverse in-hospital prognosis, but it does not affect prognosis in those who survive until hospital discharge

Transportation Characteristics of Bisphenol A Affected by Humic Substances Through Ultrafiltration Membrane with Low Molecule Weight Cut-Off

The hydrophobic interaction properties between bisphenol A (BPA) and humic substances (HS) were investigated using an ultrafiltration (UF) membrane with 1000Da Molecule Weight Cut-off (MWCO). Expect for other influences, the Stokes radius of the hydration molecule of the BPA affected by HS was calculated with the hydrodynamic model by simulation of BPA transportation in the membrane. It was found that the rejection efficiencies of BPAs visibly increased in the presence of various HS (humic acid and fulvic acid). Simulation results showed that the effective radius of the hydration molecules was increased accordingly. It is proposed that the HS addition may improve the hydrophobicity and hydration of the BPA hydration molecules, which increased the effective radius of the BPA molecules. This research helps to understand the interaction between hydrophobic molecules and natural organic matters (NOMs) during the removal of emerging hydrophobic contaminants using a membrane with low MWCO

Evidence that breast cancer risk at the 2q35 locus is mediated through IGFBP5 regulation.

GWAS have identified a breast cancer susceptibility locus on 2q35. Here we report the fine mapping of this locus using data from 101,943 subjects from 50 case-control studies. We genotype 276 SNPs using the 'iCOGS' genotyping array and impute genotypes for a further 1,284 using 1000 Genomes Project data. All but two, strongly correlated SNPs (rs4442975 G/T and rs6721996 G/A) are excluded as candidate causal variants at odds against >100:1. The best functional candidate, rs4442975, is associated with oestrogen receptor positive (ER+) disease with an odds ratio (OR) in Europeans of 0.85 (95% confidence interval=0.84-0.87; P=1.7 × 10(-43)) per t-allele. This SNP flanks a transcriptional enhancer that physically interacts with the promoter of IGFBP5 (encoding insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 5) and displays allele-specific gene expression, FOXA1 binding and chromatin looping. Evidence suggests that the g-allele confers increased breast cancer susceptibility through relative downregulation of IGFBP5, a gene with known roles in breast cell biology

Viral etiology of community-acquired pneumonia among adolescents and adults with mild or moderate severity and its relation to age and severity

BACKGROUND: Better knowledge of distribution of respiratory viruses (RVs) in adolescents and adults with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is needed. METHODS: To investigate the RVs etiology among adolescents and adults with CAP, according to age and pneumonia severity index (PSI), a multi-center, prospective study was conducted from November 2010 to April 2012. Fifteen RVs were tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Bacteria were detected by urinary antigen, conventional culture and PCR. RESULTS: Mean (SD) age and median (IQR) PSI score of 954 patients enrolled was 45.2 (19.5) years (range 14–94) and 42 (36). RVs were found in 262 patients (27.5%): influenza virus A (IFV A, 9.9%) comprised of pandemic H1N1 (6.7%) and seasonal H3N2 (3.5%), human rhinovirus (4.3%), adenovirus (4.2%), human metapneumovirus (1.8%), parainfluenza virus 1, 3 and 2 (1.7%, 1.5% and 1.2%). Influenza virus B, enterovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, human coronavirus and parainfluenza virus 4 were rarely detected (<1%). Frequency of IFV A was highest among patients aged between 45–64 years (p < 0.001), while adenovirus among patients aged 14–17 years (p < 0.001), no differences was found in other RVs. The proportion of pandemic H1N1 increased with severity of pneumonia evaluated by PSI (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of RVs in CAP is higher than previously reported. IFV A pneumonia are usually found in patients older than 45 years, while, adenovirus pneumonia are common in adolescents and young adults. Pandemic H1N1 virus is still recognized by PSI as a high-severity pathogen. The findings contribute baseline data on viral CAP study in China

Does tea consumption during early pregnancy have an adverse effect on birth outcomes?

Background Tea, a common beverage, has been suggested to exhibit a number of health benefits. However, one of its active ingredients, caffeine, has been associated with preterm birth and low birthweight. We investigated whether tea consumption during early pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of preterm birth and abnormal foetal growth. Methods A total of 8775 pregnant women were included from the Born in Guangzhou Cohort Study. Tea consumption (type, frequency and strength) during their first trimester and social and demographic factors were obtained via questionnaires administered during pregnancy. Information on birth outcomes and complications during pregnancy was obtained from hospital medical records. Results Overall habitual tea drinking (≥1 serving/week) prevalence among pregnant women was low, at 16%. After adjustment for potential confounding factors (e.g. maternal age, educational level, monthly income) tea drinking during early pregnancy was not associated with an increased risk of preterm birth, small or large for gestational age (p>0.05). Conclusions We did not identify a consistent association between frequency of tea consumption or tea strength and adverse birth outcomes among Chinese pregnant women with low tea consumption. Our findings suggest that occasional tea drinking during pregnancy is not associated with increased risk of preterm birth or abnormal foetal growth. Given the high overall number of annual births in China, our findings have important public healt

Detection of SARS-associated Coronavirus in Throat Wash and Saliva in Early Diagnosis

Early detection of SARS-CoV in throat wash and saliva suggests that these specimens are ideal for SARS diagnosis

Nimotuzumab combined with radiotherapy for esophageal cancer: preliminary study of a Phase II clinical trial

OBJECTIVE: To determine the safety and therapeutic effects of nimotuzumab (h-R3) combined with radiotherapy in esophageal cancer. METHODS: This Phase II clinical trial involved 42 patients with stage II (inoperable or refused surgery) to stage IV (supraclavicular lymph node metastasis only) esophageal cancers treated between November 2008 and July 2010. All patients had squamous cell carcinomas, and all received three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy and 200 mg nimotuzumab per week during radiotherapy. RESULTS: There were 9, 25, and 8 patients with stage II, III and IV disease, respectively. All except two patients received 50–70 Gy radiation; 37 patients (88.1%) received more than five nimotuzumab doses. Grade III toxicities (21.4% of all adverse events) included esophagitis and gastrointestinal, dermatological and hematological toxicities. Complete response, partial response, stable disease, and progressive disease were observed in 0, 22 (52.4%), 17 (40.5%) and 3 (7.1%) patients at 1 month after the treatment. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) overexpression rate was 95.2%. After a median follow-up of 37 months, the median survival time (MST) was 14 months. The 2 year and 3 year overall survival (OS) rates were 33.3% and 26.2%, respectively. The median progression-free survival (PFS) time was 10 months. The 2 year and 3 year PFS rates were 24.5% and 22.1%, respectively. The MST in the 13 patients with (+++) EGFR expression (group A) and 7 patients with (++) EGFR expression (group B) was 15 and 11 months, respectively. The 2 year and 3 year OS rates were 46.2% and 38.5% in group A and 28.6% and 28.6% in group B, respectively (P = 0.405). CONCLUSION: Although concurrent chemoradiotherapy was the standard care for locally advanced esophageal cancer, radiotherapy was the choice for those who were refused or could not tolerate chemoradiotherapy. Our study shows that nimotuzumab combined with radiotherapy was well tolerated in patients with esophageal cancer. EGFR overexpression was more common than previously reported. OS was higher after combined therapy than after historical control radiotherapy alone. Further studies are required to confirm the therapeutic efficacy of nimotuzumab in esophageal cancer

The technique of S2-alar-iliac screw fixation: a literature review

The distal fixation in thoracolumbar deformity surgery can be challenging for spine surgeons. When isolated S1-pedicle screws are utilized as the sole distal fixation in long thoracolumbar posterior constructs, there is a high rate of failure, due to loosening, breakage, and pseudarthrosis. Unfortunately, with iliac screw fixation the entry point at the posterior superior iliac spine requires considerable soft tissue dissection and may potentially increase the likelihood of wound complications. S2-alar-iliac (S2AI) screw fixation technique was developed recently to provide increased fixation with a lower profile screw and rod construct. These screws can be inserted with percutaneous or free hand techniques. This fixation also has comparable biomechanical properties to the S1 iliac screw. This technique may provide advantages such as decreased rates of reoperation, surgical site infection, wound dehiscence and symptomatic screw prominence as compared to traditional iliac screw fixation. The purpose of this manuscript is to review the S2AI screw fixation literature including anatomy, technique, biomechanics, and clinical outcomes