[Surveillance of Aedes populations in Jiangsu Province in 2020]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the seasonal Aedes population fluctuation and the resistance of Aedes populations to common insecticides in Jiangsu Province in 2020, so as to provide insights into vector-borne infectious diseases control.

METHODS

One village was randomly sampled from each of Xinbei District of Changzhou City and Zhangjiagang County of Suzhou City in southern Jiangsu Province, Hai'an County of Nantong City and Yandu District of Yancheng City in Central Jiangsu Province, and Suining County of Xuzhou City and Sihong County of Suqian City in northern Jiangsu Province during the period between May and October, 2020. A small ponding container was sampled, and larval Aedes mosquitoes were collected using straws once each in early and late stages of each month. All larvae were bred in laboratory to adults for population identification. In addition, larval breeding were observed in all small ponding containers in and out of 30 households that were randomly sampled from six surveillance sites, and the larval mosquito density was estimated using Breteau index. Larval A. albopictus mosquitoes were sampled around Cuiyuan New Village in Jintan District of Changzhou City, and bred in laboratory to the first offspring generation, and the susceptibility of adult female mosquitoes to deltamethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, malathion, and propoxur was tested using the filter-paper bioassay recommended by WHO.

RESULTS

A total of 1 165 larval Aedes mosquitoes were captured from small ponding containers in six surveillance sites of Jiangsu Province in 2020, and all were identified as A. albopictus following eclosion. The largest number of Aedes larvae captured was found in July. A total of 1 152 households were investigated in six surveillance sites, and the mean Breteau indexes were 9.58, 13.20, 13.71, 13.20, 12.18 and 5.58 from May to October, respectively, while a high Aedes transmission risk was seen in Xinbei District of Changzhou City, with a higher Breteau index than in Suining (H = 23.667, P_adjusted = 0.001) and Sihong (H = 22.500, P_adjusted = 0.003) counties. The field-captured A. albopictus from Cuiyuan New Village in Jintan District of Changzhou City remained sensitive to malathion, but was resistant to propoxur, and developed high-level resistance to deltamethrin and lambda-cyhalothrin.

CONCLUSIONS

A. albopictus was present in southern, central and northern Jiangsu Province in 2020, and the larval density peaked in July. A. albopictus captured from Cuiyuan New Village in Jintan District of Changzhou City has developed high-level resistance to pyrethroid pesticides.

[Relationship between dynamic changes of psychological distress and quality of life in Chinese early breast cancer patients]

Objective: To explore the dynamic changes of Distress Thermometer scores and the relationship between psychological distress and quality of life in Chinese early breast cancer patients during chemotherapy. Methods: This prospective study enrolled 110 Chinese postoperative early breast cancer patients between March 2019 and December 2019. The psychological distress and quality of life (QOL) of patients were assessed by using the psychological distress management screening tool and the patient quality of life scale. Logistic regression model was used to analyze the influencing factors of psychological distress degree. The correlation between distress thermometer (DT) score changes and quality of life was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis. Results: In total, 96 valid cases were analyzed. Before chemotherapy, 47 cases (49.0%) had DT score ≥4 points. After 2 cycles of chemotherapy, 40 cases (41.7%) had DT score ≥4 points. Thirty-four patients (35.4%) had DT score ≥4 points after chemotherapy. The DT score after chemotherapy was lower than that before chemotherapy and after 2 cycles of chemotherapy. Univariate analysis showed that income level and pathological stage were still significant related to the detection of DT score ≥4 points after chemotherapy (P<0.05). The changes of DT scores before and after chemotherapy were negatively correlated with the changes of quality of life ( r=-0.298, P=0.003). Conclusions: The detection rate of psychological distress in patients with early breast cancer during chemotherapy showed a decreasing trend. Income level and tumor stage are significant factors affecting the psychological distress of patients. There is a significant correlation between the psychological distress and the quality of life during chemotherapy. We should pay attention to the evaluation and monitoring state of psychological distress of patients during chemotherapy.

History of stroke in patients with heart failure: prevalence, baseline characteristics and clinical outcomes

Background

Stroke is an important but neglected comorbidity in patients with heart failure (HF). Little is known about the characteristics and outcomes of HF patients with a history of stroke.

Purpose

To examine the prevalence of prior stroke in patients with HF and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), the clinical characteristics of patients with a history of stroke, and the clinical outcomes in patients with prior stroke compared to those without.

Methods

Individual patient data analysis using three recent HFrEF trials (ATMOSPHERE, PARADIGM-HF, and DAPA-HF) and HFpEF trials (CHARM-Preserved, I-Preserve, TOPCAT-Americas, and PARAGON-HF). Cox regression was used to analyze clinical outcomes.

Results

Among 20159 HFrEF patients enrolled, 1683 (8.3%) had a history of stroke and among the 13252 patients with HFpEF 1287 (9.7%) had a prior stroke. Compared to patients without stroke, those with stroke were slightly older and more likely to have a history of hypertension, myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation, diabetes, carotid artery disease, and peripheral artery disease (for both HFrEF and HFpEF). Patients with a history of stroke had worse NYHA class and KCCQ scores, and a higher rate of fatigue; they also had a higher median NT-proBNP level and lower eGFR than those without prior stroke (whether HFrEF or HFpEF). Systolic BP, pulse pressure and LVEF did not differ susbtantialy between patients with and without a history of stroke. The table shows outcomes according to history of stroke or not, stratified by LVEF phenotype. During follow-up, all fatal and non-fatal outcomes were significantly more common in patients with a history of stroke. The augmentation of risk tended to be greater in patients with HFpEF than HFrEF, but was not statistically different.

Conclusion

Approximately 1 in 11 patients in recent HF trials had a history of stroke and these patients were at higher risk of fatal and non-fatal events than those without prior stroke. HF hospitalization as well as atherothrombotic events (myocardial infarction and stroke) were more common among patients with prior stroke – patients with prior stroke had at least 30% higher risk of all events examined, regardless of LVEF, and more than double incidence of repeat stroke.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: Other.

HLA-A*24:02 increase the risk of allopurinol-induced drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms in HLA-B*58:01 carriers in a Korean population; a multicenter cross-sectional case-control study

Background

HLA-B*58:01 is a well-known risk factor for allopurinol-induced severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs). However, only a minority of HLA-B*58:01 carriers suffer SCARs after taking allopurinol. The aim of this study was to investigate subsidiary genetic markers that could identify those at further increased risk of developing allopurinol-induced drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) in subjects with HLA-B*58:01.

Methods

Subjects with B*58:01 were enrolled (21 allopurinol-induced DRESS and 52 allopurinol-tolerant control). HLA-A, -B, -C and -DRB1 alleles were compared. Comparison of risk between HLAs and allopurinol-induced SCAR in separate populations was performed to support the results. Kruskal-Wallis test, Pearson's chi-square test, Fisher's exact test and binary logistic regression were used to analyze the risk of SCAR development.

Results

Frequencies of A*24:02 (71.4 vs. 17.3%, p < 0.001, odds ratio [OR] = 12.0; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.6-39.2) were significantly higher in B*58:01 (+) DRESS than B*58:01 (+) tolerant controls. In addition, DRB1*13:02 further increased the risk of DRESS. The phenotype frequency of A*24:02/DRB1*13:02 was significantly higher in the B*58:01 (+) DRESS group than in the B*58:01 (+) tolerant controls (52.4% vs. 5.8%, p < 0.001, OR, 66.0; 95% CI, 6.1-716.2). In 2782 allopurinol user cohort, the overall prevalence of DRESS was 0.22%, which increased to 1.62% and 2.86% in the presence of B*58:01 and B*58:01/A*24:02, respectively.

Conclusion

The additional secondary screening with A*24:02 and DRB1*13:02 alleles may identify those at further increased risk of allopurinol-induced DRESS in B*58:01 carriers.

Coherent Picture on the Pure Spin Transport between Ag/Bi and Ferromagnets

In a joint effort of both experiments and first-principles calculations, we resolve a hotly debated controversy and provide a coherent picture on the pure spin transport between Ag/Bi and ferromagnets. We demonstrate a strong inverse Rashba-Edelstein effect (IREE) at the interface in between Ag/Bi with a ferromagnetic metal (FM) but not with a ferromagnetic insulator. This is in sharp contrast to the previously claimed IREE at Ag/Bi interface or inverse spin Hall effect dominated spin transport. A more than one order of magnitude modulation of IREE signal is realized for different Ag/Bi-FM interfaces, casting strong tunability and a new direction for searching efficient spintronics materials.

A biomimetic elastomeric robot skin using electrical impedance and acoustic tomography for tactile sensing

Human skin perceives physical stimuli applied to the body and mitigates the risk of physical interaction through its soft and resilient mechanical properties. Social robots would benefit from whole-body robotic skin (or tactile sensors) resembling human skin in realizing a safe, intuitive, and contact-rich human-robot interaction. However, existing soft tactile sensors show several drawbacks (complex structure, poor scalability, and fragility), which limit their application in whole-body robotic skin. Here, we introduce biomimetic robotic skin based on hydrogel-elastomer hybrids and tomographic imaging. The developed skin consists of a tough hydrogel and a silicone elastomer forming a skin-inspired multilayer structure, achieving sufficient softness and resilience for protection. The sensor structure can also be easily repaired with adhesives even after severe damage (incision). For multimodal tactile sensation, electrodes and microphones are deployed in the sensor structure to measure local resistance changes and vibration due to touch. The ionic hydrogel layer is deformed owing to an external force, and the resulting local conductivity changes are measured via electrodes. The microphones also detect the vibration generated from touch to determine the location and type of dynamic tactile stimuli. The measurement data are then converted into multimodal tactile information through tomographic imaging and deep neural networks. We further implement a sensorized cosmetic prosthesis, demonstrating that our design could be used to implement deformable or complex-shaped robotic skin.

[Identification of serological biomarkers for diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis using a protein array-based approach]

OBJECTIVE

To study the cytokine patterns in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and healthy individuals and identify candidate serum biomarkers for clinical diagnosis of RA.

METHODS

This study was conducted among 59 patients diagnosed with RA in our hospital from 2015 to 2019 with 46 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects who received regular physical examinations in our hospital as the control group. Serological autoimmune profiles of 5 RA patients and 5 healthy control subjects were obtained from human cytokine microarrays. We selected 4 differentially expressed cytokines (LIMPII, ROBO3, Periostin and IGFBP-4) and 2 soluble cytokine receptors of interest (2B4 and Tie-2) and examined their serum levels using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 54 RA patients and 41 healthy control subjects. Spearman correlation test was performed to assess the correlation of serum cytokine and soluble receptor expression levels with the clinical features including rheumatoid factor (RF), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), disease activity score (DAS28) and health assessment questionnaire (HAQ). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic capability of these cytokines.

RESULTS

We identified 6 dysregulated cytokines and soluble receptors (2B4, LIMPII, Tie-2, ROBO3, periostin and IGFBP-4) in RA patients (P < 0.01). The serum levels of LIMPII, ROBO3 and periostin were significantly correlated with the disease activity indicators including RF (P < 0.001), CRP (P < 0.001), DAS28 (P < 0.001) and HAQ (P < 0.001) in RA patients. Among the 6 candidate cytokines, 2B4 showed the largest area under the curve (AUC) of 0.861 for RA diagnosis (P < 0.001), followed then by LIMPII, ROBO3, periostin, Tie-2 and IGFBP-4.

CONCLUSION

Serum levels of LIMPII, ROBO3 and periostin can be indicative of the disease activity of RA, and serum 2B4, LIMPII, periostin, ROBO3, IGFBP-4 and Tie-2 levels may serve as biomarkers for the diagnosis of RA.

[Prevalence of chronic respiratory symptoms and dyspnea and related factors in residents in China]

Objective: To understand the prevalence of chronic cough, chronic expectoration and dyspnea and related factors in residents aged ≥40 years in China, and provide basic data for the prevention and control of chronic respiratory diseases. Methods: Data were from 2014-2015 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease surveillance in China. The information about chronic respiratory symptoms were collected by face-to-face interview. The prevalence rates of chronic cough, chronic expectoration, dyspnea and chronic respiratory symptoms and their 95%CI were estimated with complex sampling weights. Results: A total of 75 082 subjects were included in the analysis. The prevalence rates of chronic cough, chronic expectoration, dyspnea and chronic respiratory symptoms in the Chinese aged ≥40 years were 3.75% (95%CI: 3.38%-4.11%), 5.83% (95%CI: 5.40%-6.26%), 2.45% (95%CI: 2.02%-2.87%) and 8.93% (95%CI: 8.25%-9.62%), respectively. The prevalence rates of chronic cough, chronic expectoration, dyspnea and chronic respiratory symptoms in patients with chronic respiratory diseases were relatively higher, which were 10.27%, 13.85%, 6.43%, 20.72% respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age, region, education level, occupation, BMI, family history of respiratory diseases, history of severe respiratory infections in childhood, exposure to dust or chemicals in workplace and smoking status affected the prevalence of chronic cough, chronic expectoration and dyspnea. The prevalence of the three types of chronic respiratory symptoms increased significantly with age, which were higher in western region, smokers and underweight/obese subjects. The three prevalence rates mentioned above were higher in those with a history of severe respiratory infection in childhood, those exposed to biomass fuel in household, and those exposed to dust or chemicals in workplace. Conclusions: The prevalence rate of chronic respiratory symptoms was high in residents aged ≥40 years in China. Many factors affected the prevalence of chronic respiratory symptoms. Comprehensive prevention and control measures targeting risk factors should be taken to reduce the burden of chronic respiratory diseases.

Abnormal keratin expression pattern in prurigo nodularis epidermis

Background

Prurigo nodularis (PN) is a highly pruritic, chronic dermatosis and difficult to treat. PN lesions are characterized by existence of many hyperkeratotic, erosive papules and nodules. However, the pathogenesis of PN still remains unelucidated.

Aim

To clarify the keratin role in the epidermis hyperproliferation, the keratin expression pattern in the PN lesional skin.

Methods

In this study, we enrolled 24 patients with PN and 9 healthy control volunteers. K1/K10, K5/K14, K6/K16/K17 expression pattern were investigated by using immunohistochemical staining.

Results

The lesional skin consists of the thickened spinous layers, in which active cell division was found. K5/K14 were upregulated in PN lesional epidermis, the staining signal localized in the basal layer and lower suprabasal layers. Hyperproliferation‐associated K6 was found in all layers of epidermal lesional skin, especially in the spinous layers. In contrast, K16 was only detected in the basal and lower suprabasal layers, K17 was observed in the basal and spinous layers. Terminal differential keratins K1/K10 were upregulated, detected in the pan‐epidermis, but spared in the basal and low suprabasal layers.

Conclusion

The keratinocytes enter an alternative differentiation pathway, which are responsible for the activated keratinocyte phenotype, abnormal keratins expression potentially contributes to the keratinocytes proliferation, subsequently lead to increased lesional skin epidermis thickness, hyperkeratiosis and alteration of skin barrier properties.

Neurotoxic 18-kDa apolipoprotein E fragment production contributes to anesthetic sevoflurane-induced tau phosphorylation and neuroinflammation in vitro

Anesthesia may induce neuronal tau phosphorylation and neurotoxicity in the developing brain. Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) may play a protective role in neuronal activity and injury repair, whereas its 18-kDa fragments are reported to induce neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease patients. We aimed to test the hypothesis that differences in 18-kDa ApoE fragment levels, but not full-length ApoE, in primary neurons contribute to differences in tau phosphorylation and neuroinflammation with or without sevoflurane administration. Neurons extracted from wild-type (WT), ApoE knockout (ApoE-KO), and ApoE ε3-and ε2-targeted replacement (ApoE ε3, ApoE ε2) mice were divided into control and sevoflurane groups. Neurons in the sevoflurane group were treated with 21% O₂, 5% CO₂, and 4.1% sevoflurane, whereas those in the control group were treated with 21% O₂ and 5% CO₂ only on day 5 of neuronal culture. ApoE mRNA, full-length ApoE, 18-kDa ApoE fragments, Tau-PS202/PT205 (AT8), Tau-PSer396/404 (PHF1), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1β levels were measured. The data showed that sevoflurane-induced AT8 and PHF1 increases, and TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β increases in WT or ApoE ε3 neurons (both expressing full-length and 18-kDa fragmented ApoE) could be mitigated in ApoE ε2 (only expressing full-length ApoE), but not in ApoE-KO neurons, indicating that differences in 18-kDa ApoE fragments, but not full-length ApoE, in primary mouse neurons contributed to differences in tau phosphorylation and neuroinflammation with or without 4.1% sevoflurane administration.

Effects of nitrogen supply rate on photosynthesis, nitrogen uptake and growth of seedlings in a Eucalyptus/Dalbergia odorifera intercropping system

The introduction of N₂ -fixing species into a Eucalyptus plantation resulted in a successful planting system. It is essential to understand the contribution of nitrogen (N) competition and photosynthetic efficiency to plant dry matter yield to shed more light on the growth mechanism of the Eucalyptus/legume system. We compared N competition, photosynthesis and dry matter yield of Eucalyptus urophylla × E. grandis and the N₂ -fixing tree species Dalbergia odorifera in intercropping and monoculture systems under different N levels. The photosynthesis of E. urophylla × E. grandis was improved, while that of D. odorifera was inhibited in the intercropping system. Intercropped E. urophylla × E. grandis increased the N utilization and the dry matter yield by 6.57-48.46% and 7.59-97.26%, and decreased those of D. odorifera by 10.21-30.33% and 0.48-13.19%, respectively. Furthermore, N application enhanced the competitive ability of E. urophylla × E. grandis relative to D. odorifera and changed the N contents and chlorophyll synthesis to optimize the photosynthetic structure of both species. Our results reveal Eucalyptus for photosynthesis, N absorption and increasing the growth benefit from the introduction of N₂ -fixing species, which hence can be considered to be an effective sustainable management option of Eucalyptus plantations.

Sex-Specific Associations of Dietary Iron Intake with Brain Iron Deposition on Imaging and Incident Dementia: A Prospective Cohort Study

OBJECTIVES

The study aimed to evaluate the association of dietary iron intake with incident dementia and brain iron deposition.

DESIGN/SETTING/PARTICIPANTS

We included dementia-free participants from the UK Biobank who completed at least one 24-hour dietary recall at study baseline (2009-2012) and were followed up to 2021. Incident dementia was determined through linkage to medical records and death registries. Brain MRI was conducted in a subgroup of participants since 2014, with T2* measurements being used as indicators of brain iron deposition.

MEASUREMENTS

Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess the associations of high (top quintile) and low (bottom quintile) versus medium (quintile 2 to 4) level of dietary iron intake with incident dementia, respectively. Linear regression was applied to assess the relations between dietary iron intake and brain T2* measurements.

RESULTS

During follow-up (mean = 9.5 years), a total of 1,454 participants (650 women and 804 men) developed dementia among 191,694 participants (55.0% female; mean age, 56.2 years). When adjusted for sociodemographic, lifestyle, and other dietary factors, participants with low dietary iron intake (< 10.05 mg/day) had a significantly higher dementia risk (hazard ratio [HR], 1.50, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.19-1.89), while the relation for high intake (> 16.92 mg/day) was non-significant (HR, 1.16, 95% CI, 0.92-1.46). A significant gender difference (P-interaction < 0.001) was observed, with a U-shaped association in male participants (HR for low vs. medium, 1.56, 95% CI, 1.14-2.13; HR for high vs. medium, 1.39, 95% CI, 1.03 - 1.88; P-nonlinearity < 0.001) and no significant association in females, regardless of their menopause status. In general, dietary iron intake was not related to T2* measurements of iron deposition in most brain regions.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggested a U-shape relationship between dietary iron intake and risk of dementia among males, but not females.

Association between the Lymphocyte-to-C-Reactive Protein Ratio and Survival Outcomes in Cancer Patients with GLIM-Defined Malnutrition: A Multicenter Study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

This study assessed the prognostic value of LCR in patients with cancer-associated malnutrition (CAM). Systemic inflammatory markers, particularly the lymphocyte-to-C-reactive protein ratio (LCR), are related to the survival of patients with CAM. The present retrospective analysis based on a prospective multicenter cohort study, which involved 1,437 hospitalized patients with CAM.

METHODS

The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of ten inflammatory indicators-LCR, advanced lung cancer inflammation index, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, prognostic nutritional index, modified Glasgow prognostic score, systemic immune-inflammation index, albumin-to-globulin ratio, LCR score, glucose-to-lymphocyte ratio, and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio-were constructed. Nutritional status, blood markers, and quality of life (QoL) were evaluated within 48 h of admission. The overall survival (OS) was evaluated from September 1 to December 29, 2021.

RESULTS

A total of 1,431 cancer patients diagnosed with malnutrition based on the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria. Male patients were 62.8% of all, and the mean age was 60.66 years old. The AUC of LCR was higher than that of other inflammatory markers. The restricted cubic spline (RCS) of the Hazard ratios (HRs) showed an inverse L-shaped relationship with LCR. In addition, patients with low LCR had significantly poorer OS than those with high LCR. The addition of LCR to the model increased the predictive ability of 1-year mortality (AUC increase of 0.036), 3-year mortality (AUC increase of 0.038), and 5-year mortality (AUC increase of 0.031).

CONCLUSIONS

Assessing the LCR can help the medical staff identify cancer patients with nutritional deficiency at high risk of oncological outcomes and develop individualized therapeutic strategies.