Life expectancy inequalities between regions of China 2004–2020: contribution of age- and cause-specific mortality

BackgroundChina's rapid economic and social development since the early 2000s has caused significant shifts in its epidemiological transition, potentially leading to health disparities across regions.ObjectivesThis study employs Life Expectancy (LE) to assess health disparities and trends among China's eastern, central, and western regions. It also examines the pace of LE gains relative to empirical trends and investigates age and causes of death mortality improvement contributing to regional LE gaps.Data and methodsUsing a log-quadratic model, the study estimates LE in China and its regions from 2004 to 2020, using census and death cause surveillance data. It also utilizes the Human Mortality Database (HMD) and the LE gains by LE level approach to analyze China and its regions' LE gains in comparison to empirical trend of developed countries. The study investigates changes in LE gaps due to age and causes of death mortality improvements during two periods, 2004–2012 and 2012–2020, through the LE factor decomposition method.ResultsFrom 2000 to 2020, China's LE exhibited faster pace of gains compared to developed countries. While men's LE growth gradually aligns with empirical trends, women experience slightly higher growth rates. Regional LE disparities significantly reduced from 2004 to 2012, with a marginal reduction from 2012 to 2020. In the latter period, the changing LE gap aligns with expected trends in developed countries, with all Chinese regions surpassing empirical estimates. Cardiovascular diseases and malignant neoplasms emerged as the primary contributors to expanding regional LE gaps, with neurological disorders and diabetes playing an increasingly negative role.ConclusionLE disparities in China have consistently decreased, although at a slower pace in recent years, mirroring empirical trends. To further reduce regional LE disparities, targeted efforts should focus on improving mortality rates related to cardiovascular diseases, neoplasms, neurological disorders and diabetes, especially in the western region. Effective health interventions should prioritize equalizing basic public health services nationwide

An Integrated Constrained Gradient Descent (iCGD) Protocol to Correct Scan-Positional Errors for Electron Ptychography with High Accuracy and Precision

Correcting scan-positional errors is critical in achieving electron ptychography with both high resolution and high precision. This is a demanding and challenging task due to the sheer number of parameters that need to be optimized. For atomic-resolution ptychographic reconstructions, we found classical refining methods for scan positions not satisfactory due to the inherent entanglement between the object and scan positions, which can produce systematic errors in the results. Here, we propose a new protocol consisting of a series of constrained gradient descent (CGD) methods to achieve better recovery of scan positions. The central idea of these CGD methods is to utilize a priori knowledge about the nature of STEM experiments and add necessary constraints to isolate different types of scan positional errors during the iterative reconstruction process. Each constraint will be introduced with the help of simulated 4D-STEM datasets with known positional errors. Then the integrated constrained gradient decent (iCGD) protocol will be demonstrated using an experimental 4D-STEM dataset of the 1H-MoS2 monolayer. We will show that the iCGD protocol can effectively address the errors of scan positions across the spectrum and help to achieve electron ptychography with high accuracy and precision

6G Enabled Advanced Transportation Systems

The 6th generation (6G) wireless communication network is envisaged to be able to change our lives drastically, including transportation. In this paper, two ways of interactions between 6G communication networks and transportation are introduced. With the new usage scenarios and capabilities 6G is going to support, passengers on all sorts of transportation systems will be able to get data more easily, even in the most remote areas on the planet. The quality of communication will also be improved significantly, thanks to the advanced capabilities of 6G. On top of providing seamless and ubiquitous connectivity to all forms of transportation, 6G will also transform the transportation systems to make them more intelligent, more efficient, and safer. Based on the latest research and standardization progresses, technical analysis on how 6G can empower advanced transportation systems are provided, as well as challenges and insights for a possible road ahead.Comment: Submitted to an open access journa

Effects of Girdling and Foliar Fertilization with K on Physicochemical Parameters, Phenolic and Volatile Composition in ‘Hanxiangmi’ Table Grape

Aroma is one of the most important indicators of grape quality. Girdling and foliar fertilization with K (K2O) are common agronomic practices applied to improve berry quality in grape production. However, little is known about its effect on the accumulation and biosynthesis of the entire aromatic profile. Our study was aimed to explore the influences of girdling and foliar fertilization with K (alone or in combination) on the general properties, phenolic composition, volatile free aroma compounds, spatial and temporal expression of terpene-related genes and sensory properties in ‘Hanxiangmi’ table grape. In this study, we found that girdling and foliar fertilization with K (alone or in combination) facilitated fruit enlargement and increased the accumulation of phenolic compounds in skin. The combination treatment of girdling and foliar fertilization with K significantly promoted the concentrations of total soluble solids (TSS) in the pulp and proanthocyanidins in the berry skin, and had a lower titratable acidity (TA) compared to those of the control. In contrast, girdling treatment alone increased the concentrations of titratable acidity. Volatile free aroma composition analysis revealed that the combination treatment increased the volatile compounds and concentrations significantly, most notably in terpenes, such as nerol, citronellol and linalool. Spatial and temporal expression analysis showed that the expression level of VvDXS was significantly correlated with linalool and total terpenes concentrations, as a result of which, we speculated that VvDXS is the candidate gene for the regulation of important grape terpenes. We hope that our results can direct farmers to better apply girdling and foliar fertilization with K in grape production

Genomic and evolutionary inferences between American and global strains of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus

AbstractPorcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) has caused severe economic losses both recently in the United States (US) and historically throughout Europe and Asia. Traditionally, analysis of the spike gene has been used to determine phylogenetic relationships between PEDV strains. We determined the complete genomes of 93 PEDV field samples from US swine and analyzed the data in conjunction with complete genome sequences available from GenBank (n=126) to determine the most variable genomic areas. Our results indicate high levels of variation within the ORF1 and spike regions while the C-terminal domains of structural genes were highly conserved. Analysis of the Receptor Binding Domains in the spike gene revealed a limited number of amino acid substitutions in US strains compared to Asian strains. Phylogenetic analysis of the complete genome sequence data revealed high rates of recombination, resulting in differing evolutionary patterns in phylogenies inferred for the spike region versus whole genomes. These finding suggest that significant genetic events outside of the spike region have contributed to the evolution of PEDV

Herbal formulas for detoxification and dredging collaterals in treating carotid atherosclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of the Chinese medicine detoxification and dredging collaterals in treating carotid atherosclerosis (CAS).Methods: A systematic and comprehensive search of nine relevant domestic and international databases were conducted from their inception until June 2022. The methodological quality of the included trials was evaluated, and the efficacy and safety were comprehensively analyzed. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria to the randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the research quality evaluation and data extraction were conducted, followed by a meta-analysis of the selected articles. The Cochrane’s Bias risk assessment was utilized to evaluate the quality of the evidence.Results: Of the 2,660 studies initially retrieved, 14 studies were included, involving a total of 1,518 patients. The results of the meta-analysis indicated that the clinical efficacy of the Detoxification and Collateral Dredging method in the treatment of CAS was superior to that of western medicine treatment alone, and the difference was statistically significant [RR = 1.23, 95% CI (1.13, 1.34)] Furthermore, carotid intima-media thickness [Mean Difference (MD) = −0.10, 95% CI (−0.13, −0.08)] and Crouse plaque score [MD = −0.54, 95% CI (−0.75, −0.32)] were significantly lower in the Detoxification and Collateral Dredging group compared to the pure western medicine treatment group. The difference was statistically significant. In addition, serum total cholesterol [MD = −0.70, 95% CI (−0.85, −0.55)] and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol [MD = −0.70, 95% CI (−0.85, −0.55)] were lower in the Detoxification and Collateral Dredging group than in the Western medicine group, with all differences being statistically significant. Serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was higher in the Detoxification and Collateral Dredging group compared to the pure western medicine group, and the difference was statistically significant [MD = 0.17, 95% CI (0.11, 0.23)].Conclusion: The use of Chinese medicine Detoxification and Collateral Dredging approach in the treatment of CAS may offer benefits in improving carotid atherosclerotic plaque and reducing blood lipid levels, with a safety profile superior to that of western medicine treatment alone

Seed Germination Indicates Adaptive Transgenerational Plasticity in a Submerged Macrophyte

Adaptive transgenerational plasticity is an important evolutionary strategy in plants. We investigated the resource allocation strategy in sexual reproduction and performed an in situ seed germination experiment of Potamogeton maackianus to reveal their responses to different water depths. Later, we discussed the biased adaptability to the maternal habitat in this species. We found a positive correlation between sexual and asexual reproduction in water depths from 1.0 m to 3.0 m, such a correlation failed to occur in 4.0 m water depth. These results indicate that the trade-off between sexual and asexual reproduction should only be expected in a stressful habitat, where resource acquisition is limited. For trade-off between quantity and quality of sexual units in different water depths, P. maackianus tends to produce more but lower quality sexual reproductive units in shallow water, and fewer but higher quality sexual units are found in deep water. The total germination percentage of seeds of P. maackianus was relatively poor, less than 46.65% in all of the treatments. The maximum germination percentage of seeds from 1.0 m, 2.0 m, 3.0 m, and 4.0 m water depths are 14.4%, 17.75%, 25.51%, and 46.65%, respectively. Seeds with higher germination percentage were from deeper water depths. The most interesting result was that the maximum final germination percentage occurred only when treatment water depth was the same as collection water depth. Our result showed that the variations in germination characters of the studied species appear to be based partly on the effects of maternal environmental factors. Our findings proved the adaptive transgenerational plasticity in P. maackianus, which will play an important role in evolutionary response to the selection of water depths

Clinical Outcome of Twice-Weekly Hemodialysis Patients with Long-Term Dialysis Vintage

Background/Aims: Twice-weekly hemodialysis(HD) is prevalent in the developing countries, scarce data are available for this treatment in patients with long-term dialysis vintage. Methods: 106 patients with more than 5 years HD vintage undergoing twice-weekly HD or thrice-weekly HD in a hemodialysis center in Shanghai between December 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013 were enrolled into the cohort study with 3 years follow-up. Kaplan–Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards models were used to compare patient survival between the two groups. Subgroup analysis of 62 patients more than 10 years HD vintage was also performed according to their different dialysis frequency. Results: Compared with patients on thrice-weekly HD, twice-weekly HD patients had significantly longer HD session time and higher single-pool Kt/V (spKt/V) (session time, 4.59±0.45 vs 4.14±0.31 hours/per session, P< 0.001; spKt/V, 2.12±0.31 vs 1.83±0.30, P< 0.001). Kaplan–Meier survival analysis indicated that the two groups had similar survival (P=0.983). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that age and time-dependent serum albumin were predictors of patient mortality. Subgroup analysis of 62 patients more than 10 years HD vintage also indicated that the two groups had similar survival. During the follow-up, 4 patients dropped out from the twice-weekly HD group and transferred to thrice-weekly HD. Conclusion: The similar survival between twice-weekly HD and thrice-weekly HD in patients with long-term dialysis vintage is likely relating to patient selection, individualized treatment for dialysis patients based on clinical features and socioeconomic factors remains a tough task for the clinicians

Littoral Slope, Water Depth and Alternative Response Strategies to Light Attenuation Shape the Distribution of Submerged Macrophytes in a Mesotrophic Lake

Light is a major limiting resource in aquatic ecosystems and numerous studies have investigated the response of submerged macrophytes to low light conditions. However, few studies have tested whether different light response strategies can also have consequences for macrophyte distribution along different littoral slopes in lakes, which are known to affect macrophyte biomass due to differences in drag forces and sediment characteristic. In this study, we tested (1) whether two macrophyte species of different growth forms (canopy-forming: Potamogeton maackianus, rosette-type: Vallisneria natans) differ in their response strategies to low light conditions and (2) how these responses influence their distribution along different basin slopes in the mesotrophic Lake Erhai, China. We hypothesized that the canopy-forming species responds to low light conditions at deeper sites by stem elongation while the rosette-type species increases its shoot chlorophyll content. As a consequence, P. maackianus should have a higher susceptibility to drag forces and thus prevail at sites with lower slopes. Sites with higher slopes should offer a niche for rosette-type species like V. natans that can better withstand drag forces. We surveyed the distribution and abundance of the two macrophyte species at 527 sampling points along 97 transects in Lake Erhai and measured their height, leaf and stem/rhizome biomass, and leaf chlorophyll a content at different water depths. Our results confirmed stem elongation as a strategy to low light conditions by the canopy-forming species P. maackianus, while V. natans produced more chlorophyll a per shoot biomass at deeper sites to tolerate shading. As hypothesized, these alternative response strategies to low light conditions resulted in a trade-off regarding the plants ability to grow at different basin slopes. P. maackianus was dominant at sites with low-moderate slope (0–4%) and low-moderate water depth (2–4 m), while sites with high basin slope (4–7%) combined with moderate-high water depth (3–5 m) were dominantly colonized by V. natans. The latter habitat thus represents a potential refuge for rosette-type macrophyte species that are often outcompeted when shading increases during eutrophication