Dehydrogenation Performances of Different Al Source Composite Systems of 2LiBH4 + M (M = Al, LiAlH4, Li3AlH6)

Hydrogen has become a promising energy source due to its efficient and renewable properties. Although promising, hydrogen energy has not been in widespread use due to the lack of high-performance materials for hydrogen storage. Previous studies have shown that the addition of Al-based compounds to LiBH₄ can create composites that have good properties for hydrogen storage. In this work, the dehydrogenation performances of different composite systems of 2LiBH₄+ M (M = Al, LiAlH₄, Li₃AlH₆) were investigated. The results show that, under a ball to powder ratio of 25:1 and a rotation speed of 300 rpm, the optimum ball milling time is 50 h for synthesizing Li₃AlH₆ from LiH and LiAlH₄. The three studied systems destabilized LiBH₄ at relatively low temperatures, and the 2LiBH₄-Li₃AlH₆ composite demonstrated excellent behavior. Based on the differential scanning calorimetry results, pure LiBH₄ released hydrogen at 469°C. The dehydrogenation temperature of LiBH₄ is 416°C for 2LiBH₄-Li₃AlH₆ versus 435°C for 2LiBH₄-LiAlH₄ and 445°C for 2LiBH₄-Al. The 2LiBH₄-Li₃AlH₆, 2LiBH₄-LiAlH₄, and 2LiBH₄-Al samples released 9.1, 8, and 5.7 wt.% of H₂, respectively. Additionally, the 2LiBH₄-Li₃AlH₆ composite released the 9.1 wt.% H₂ within 150 min. An increase in the kinetics was achieved. From the results, it was concluded that 2LiBH₄-Li₃AlH₆ exhibits the best dehydrogenation performance. Therefore, the 2LiBH₄-Li₃AlH₆ composite is considered a promising hydrogen storage material.

[Clinical experience of minimal invasive coronary surgery-coronary artery bypass grafting: a series of 244 cases]

Objective: To examine the safety and efficacy of minimally invasive coronary surgery-coronary artery bypass grafting (MICS-CABG). Methods: From the first case in November 2015 to November 2019, a total of 244 cases of MICS-CABG were performed in Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Peking University Third Hospital. There were 197 males and 47 females, aging (62.3±8.7)years (range: 36 to 88 years). The operations were performed via the 5(th) intercostal space of left thoracic lateral incision (length: 4 to 5 cm extended for 8 to 10 cm), and were performed under off-pump, with the help of the chest wall suspension device and cardiac fixator. The proximal anastomosis on ascending aorta and the distal anastomosis of left anterior descending branch, circumflex branch and right coronary system were completed according to procedure. In all 244 cases, the proportion of 2 grafts was 53.7% (131 cases), 3 grafts was 36.1% (88 cases), 4 grafts was 9.8% (24 cases) and 5 grafts was 0.4% (1 case). The average of grafts was 2.6±0.7 (range: 2 to 5). The proportion of hybrid was 14.3% (35 cases), sequential bypass procedure was 43.0% (105 cases) and multiple artery grafts was 25.4% (62 cases). The perioperative complications of the patients were collected, the patency rate of the grafts was evaluated by coronary angiography or CT within 7 days after the operation, and main adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) were followed up. The survival curve was drawn by Kaplan-Meier method, and the 1-year MACCE rate was calculated by survival analysis. Results: All cases had no transition to thoracotomy and cardiopulmonary bypass procedure, and no cases needed intra aortic balloon pumping and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation during the operation.There were 2 cases of poor incision healing, and reoperation was performed in 10 cases (6 cases of postoperative bleeding, 2 cases of incision debridement, and 2 cases of grafts problems). The rate of MACCE in 30 days was 2.6% (10 cases), which contained 3 cases of death (2 cases of grafts occlusion, 1 case of serious hemorrhage after thoracic puncture drainage), 3 cases of stroke and 5 cases of non-fatal myocardial infarction. By the re-examination of angiography in 7 days after operation, the overall patency of the grafts was 96.1%, and the patency of the left anterior descending was 98.6%. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was conducted for 235 patients (96.3%) with 1 to 36 months follow-up results, and the 1-year MACCE rate was 5.6% (95%CI: 4.2% to 7.0%) . There was no significant difference among the incidences of MACCE at each stage of learning curve. Surgeon could reduce the operation time and complete more anastomosis with the accumulation of experience after the early 30 cases. Conclusions: MICS-CABG can safely achieve completed revascularization, which has good operative effects in short and medium-long term. There is no significant risk in the early cases of learning curve.

The dietary combination of essential oils and organic acids reduces Salmonella enteritidis in challenged chicks

This study was conducted to determine the effects of essential oils and organic acids (EOA) on Salmonella Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis) challenged chickens. One-day-old specific pathogen-free (SPF) chicks (250) were randomly assigned to 5 groups, with 50 birds in each group. The treatment groups were as follows: 1) basal diet, negative control group (NC); 2) basal diet + S. Enteritidis, positive control group (PC); 3) PC + 4,000 g/t of enrofloxacin (5%), antibiotic group (ENR); 4) PC + 800 g/t of EOA1, thymol-benzoic acid group (TBA); and 5) PC + 800 g/t of EOA2, cinnamylaldehyde-caproic acid group (CCA). At 7 D of age, each bird, except those in NC, was orally gavaged with 0.4 mL of a suspension of 4.4 × 10⁹ cfu S. Enteritidis/mL. Results revealed that ENR reduced bacterial counts in the liver and spleen on days 3, 5, and 7 post-challenge more (P < 0.05) than any other treatments. However, bacterial counts in cecal contents among ENR, TBA, and CCA were similar at 5 and 7 D post-challenge but lower than those of PC. Additionally, the bacterial counts in liver, spleen, and cecum contents in TBA were lower (P < 0.05) than in PC at 3, 5, and 7 D post-challenge; the bacterial counts in spleen contents in TBA were lower (P < 0.05) than in CCA at 7 D post-challenge. Tumor necrosis factor-α contents in TBA and CCA were lower (P < 0.05) than those in PC. Also, the ratio of villus height to crypt depth in the ileum of CCA was higher (P < 0.05) than that of PC and ENR; however, there was no difference in the secretory IgA content of the jejunum among the groups. In conclusion, EOA had a bacteriostatic effect on S. Enteritidis, and the effect of the thymol-benzoic acid complex surpassed that of the cinnamaldehyde-caproic acid complex. Therefore, EOA may act as an effective antibiotic substitute for animals in the prevention and treatment of Salmonella.

Underlayer engineering into the Sn-doped hematite photoanode for facilitating carrier extraction

A semiconductor underlayer(s) has been extensively used to improve the performance of photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells. Unfortunately, in many cases, the incorporation of underlayers leads to degraded system performances. A comprehensive study on the functions and manipulations of underlayers is therefore of high significance for achieving high-performance PEC cells. This study indicates that Sn-doped hematite photoanodes decorated with various underlayer materials show substantially distinguished photocurrent responses, leading to qualitatively different PEC cells. With an optimized TiO2 (ITO, Al2O3) underlayer, the photocurrent density at 1.23 V versus RHE can be enhanced from 0.25 to 0.71 (0.59, 0.42) mA cm-2, while it is decreased to 0.14 mA cm-2 by using NiO. Our further analysis reveals that the performance differences come mainly from the distinguished bulk and surface carrier recombination effects, i.e., (1) metal doping (i.e., Ti4+, In3+ and Al3+) from the underlayers improves the conductivity of hematite film and thus reduces the bulk recombination; (2) the underlayers of TiO2, ITO and Al2O3 can effectively suppress the carrier recombination at the bottom/top surfaces of the hematite layer, while the NiO underlayer leads to a higher surface recombination. Our work provides a basis for selecting an underlayer and a general guideline for the interface engineering for high performance photoelectrodes.

What is global health? Key concepts and clarification of misperceptions: Report of the 2019 GHRP editorial meeting

The call for "Working Together to Build a Community of Shared Future for Mankind" requires us to improve people's health across the globe, while global health development entails a satisfactory answer to a fundamental question: "What is global health?" To promote research, teaching, policymaking, and practice in global health, we summarize the main points on the definition of global health from the Editorial Board Meeting of Global Health Research and Policy, convened in July 2019 in Wuhan, China. The meeting functioned as a platform for free brainstorming, in-depth discussion, and post-meeting synthesizing. Through the meeting, we have reached a consensus that global health can be considered as a general guiding principle, an organizing framework for thinking and action, a new branch of sciences and specialized discipline in the large family of public health and medicine. The word "global" in global health can be subjective or objective, depending on the context and setting. In addition to dual-, multi-country and global, a project or a study conducted at a local area can be global if it (1) is framed with a global perspective, (2) intends to address an issue with global impact, and/or (3) seeks global solutions to an issue, such as frameworks, strategies, policies, laws, and regulations. In this regard, global health is eventually an extension of "international health" by borrowing related knowledge, theories, technologies and methodologies from public health and medicine. Although global health is a concept that will continue to evolve, our conceptualization through group effort provides, to date, a comprehensive understanding. This report helps to inform individuals in the global health community to advance global health science and practice, and recommend to take advantage of the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China.

Supplementing glycine, serine, and threonine in low protein diets for meat type chickens

Reducing dietary protein has been of interest to the global poultry industry to improve bird health, welfare, and industry sustainability. Low protein (LP) diets are typically glycine (Gly) deficient and produce poor performance. Supplementing the diet with Gly or precursors of Gly can overcome this deficiency. A feeding experiment was conducted with 330 Ross 308 off-sex males across 5 treatments in a randomized design using 11 birds per pen replicated 6 times. Grower and finisher treatments were fed from day 7 to 21 and day 21 to 35, respectively. The objective was to test the efficacy of supplementation with Gly and Gly equivalents (Glyequiv), serine (Ser) and threonine (Thr), in plant-based LP diets on bird performance against a standard protein (SP) diet containing meat and bone meal. Glycine, Ser, or Thr were supplemented on Glyequiv basis to an approximately 3% lower CP diet to achieve the same digestible Gly and Ser level as the SP diet. Nitrogen efficiency, serum uric acid, blood plasma amino acids (AA) and AA digestibility were also investigated to monitor potential metabolic effects. Birds fed the LP diet were only 3.3% lower in final body weight than the SP treatment (2,556 vs. 2,641 g) while the supplementation of Gly or Ser had no effect. Supplementation of Thr reduced final body weight by 9.5% (P < 0.05). Reducing CP increased N efficiency by 9.6% (P < 0.05) and decreased blood serum uric acid by 26.9% (P < 0.001) in the finisher treatments. Glycine and Ser supplementation in LP diets had no effect on these parameters. The LP diet reduced AA digestibility and blood plasma AA while the supplementation with either Gly, Ser, or Thr increased overall AA digestibility (P < 0.05) but had no overall effect on blood plasma AA. Further research is required into Gly metabolism; however, Thr supplementation depressed growth and therefore is not feasible to cover Gly deficiency in LP diets on a Glyequiv basis.

Couple-based collaborative management model of type 2 diabetes mellitus for community-dwelling older adults in China: protocol for a hybrid type 1 randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

China's limited health care resources cannot meet the needs of chronic disease treatment and management of its rapid growing ageing population. The improvement and maintenance of patient's self-management is essential to disease management. Given disease management mainly occurs in the context of family, this study proposes to validate a Couple-based Collaborative Management Model of chronic diseases that integrates health professionals and family supporters; such as to empower the couples with disease management knowledge and skills, and to improve the couples' health and quality of life.

METHODS

The proposed study will validate a couple-based collaborative management model of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) in a community-based multicenter, two-arm, randomized controlled trial of block design in Guangzhou, China. Specifically, 194 T2DM patients aged ≥55 and their partners recruited from community health care centers will be randomized at the patient level for each center at a 1:1 ratio into the couple-based intervention arm and the individual-based control arm. For the intervention arm, both the patients and their spouses will receive four-weekly structured group education & training sessions and 2 months of weekly tailored behavior change boosters; while these interventions will be only provided to the patients in the control group. Behavior change incentives will be targeted at the couples or only at the patient respectively. Treatment effects on patients' hemoglobin, spouses' quality of life, alongside couples' behavior outcomes will be compared between arms. Study implementation will be evaluated considering its Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance following the RE-AIM framework.

DISCUSSION

This study will generate a model of effective collaboration between community health professionals and patients' family, which will shield light on chronic disease management strategy for the increasing ageing population.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR1900027137, Registered 1st Nov. 2019.

A mechanically bendable and conformally attachable polymer membrane microlaser array enabled by digital interference lithography

The progressive miniaturization and thinning of photonic devices would enable the realization of multi-functional photonic integrated circuits and expand the application frontier to novel fields including wearable and disposable electronics. Herein, we have demonstrated a mechanically bendable and conformally attachable polymer membrane microcavity laser array using digital interference lithography. The developed lithography system could distribute a number of subwavelength grating pixels with both high efficiency (1k pixels per second) and excellent versatility (ease of control in the pixel size, spacing, and grating periodicity) as the microcavity laser array, in which a pair of subwavelength gratings constitutes a distributed Bragg resonator microcavity via coherent interference, furnishes a vertically emitting microcavity laser array for convenient light coupling and utilization. The microlaser array polymer membrane presented a total thickness of only 30 μm with excellent performance stability and reliability against long time operation and harsh environmental conditions, which could be further reversibly stretched, repeatedly bendable and conformally attached onto rounded or irregular surfaces or biological tissues with no degradation in single-mode or low-threshold characteristics, paving a way for on-chip optical functionalization toward wearable electronics and outdoor environmental monitoring applications.

Tin and Oxygen-Vacancy Co-doping into Hematite Photoanode for Improved Photoelectrochemical Performances

Hematite (α-Fe₂O₃) material is regarded as a promising candidate for solar-driven water splitting because of the low cost, chemical stability, and appropriate bandgap; however, the corresponding system performances are limited by the poor electrical conductivity, short diffusion length of minority carrier, and sluggish oxygen evolution reaction. Here, we introduce the in situ Sn doping into the nanoworm-like α-Fe₂O₃ film with ultrasonic spray pyrolysis method. We show that the current density at 1.23 V vs. RHE (J_ph@1.23V) under one-sun illumination can be improved from 10 to 130 μA/cm² after optimizing the Sn dopant density. Moreover, J_ph@1.23V can be further enhanced 25-folds compared to the untreated counterpart via the post-rapid thermal process (RTP), which is used to introduce the defect doping of oxygen vacancy. Photoelectrochemical impedance spectrum and Mott-Schottky analysis indicate that the performance improvement can be ascribed to the increased carrier density and the decreased resistances for the charge trapping on the surface states and the surface charge transferring into the electrolyte. X-ray photoelectron spectrum and X-ray diffraction confirm the existence of Sn and oxygen vacancy, and the potential influences of varying levels of Sn doping and oxygen vacancy are discussed. Our work points out one universal approach to efficiently improve the photoelectrochemical performances of the metal oxide semiconductors.

Tunable infrared hot-electron photodetection by exciting gap-mode plasmons with wafer-scale gold nanohole arrays

Due to the strongly concentrated electromagnetic field and the ability to detect the below-bandgap photon energies, surface-plasmon-based photodetections have attracted considerable attention. However, the manipulation of plasmonic resonance is complicated with a high cost in fabrication; moreover, the performance of hot-electron photodetectors is generally unsatisfactorily low. Here, we demonstrated that a tunable absorption can be realized by using the nanohole patterned metal-spacer-metal (MSM) structure, which can be wafer-scale fabricated by the nanosphere lithography technology. The angle- and polarization-insensitive absorption is realized under the excitation of the gap-mode plasmons, which can be facilely manipulated in the near-infrared band by varying the thicknesses and material of the spacer as well as the diameter and period of the nanohole arrays. An asymmetrically bended electrical system is proposed to efficiently convert the highly absorbed photon energies into the photocurrent. Results show that the responsivity of the prepared MSM structure can be up to ∼2.82 mA/W at the wavelength of 1150 nm.

Phenotypical and potential functional characteristics of different immune cells expressing CD28H/B7-H5 and their relationship with cancer prognosis

CD28H and B7-H5 have been identified as receptor-ligand pairs in the B7/CD28 family, and have co-stimulatory activity in immune cells. Here, we have systematically reviewed the research reports concerning the CD28H/B7-H5 pathway. It was found that CD28H is mainly expressed in T cells and natural killer (NK) cells with naive and poorly differentiated properties, and repeated antigen stimulation leads to permanent loss of CD28H. In tumors, CD28H is mainly expressed in tissue-resident memory (T_RM ) lymphocyte T cells, which is associated with improved tumor prognosis. B7-H5 is a ligand for CD28H and is widely expressed in tumor cells. B7-H5 expression is closely related to the prognosis of the tumor. Studies have shown that high expression of B7-H5 in tumor is related to a worse prognosis for lung cancer, osteosarcoma, oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), breast carcinoma, human clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), bladder urothelial carcinoma (BUC) and colorectal cancer (CRC), but is associated with a better prognosis for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and glioma. Controversial views exist in studies on gastric cancer prognosis.

[Application of Chen's pancreaticojejunostomy technique in laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (116 cases report)]

Objective: To investigate the safety and feasibility of longitudinal transpancreatic U-sutures invaginated pancreatojejunostomy (Chen's pancreaticojejunostomy technique) in laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD). Methods: Clinical data of 116 consecutive patients who underwent LPD using Chen's pancreaticojejunostomy technique in Hunan Provincial People's Hospital from May 2017 to December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Among these patients, 66 were males and 50 were females. The median age was 58 years old (32-84 yeas old). All 116 patients underwent pure laparoscopic whipple procedure with Child reconstruction method, using Chen's pancreaticojejunostomy technique. The intraoperative and postoperative data of patients were analyzed. Results: All 116 patients underwent LPD successfully. The mean operative time was (260.3±33.5) minutes (200-620 minutes). The mean time of pancreaticojejunostomy was (18.2±7.6) minutes (14-35 minutes). The mean time of hepaticojejunostomy was (14.6±6.3) minutes (10-25 minutes). The mean time of gastrojejunostomy was (12.0±5.5) minutes (8-20 minutes). The mean estimated blood loss was (106.0±87.6) ml (20-800 ml). Postoperative complications were: 11.2%(13/116) of cases had postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF), including 10.3% (12/116) of biochemical fistula and 0.9%(1/116) of grade B POPF, no grade C POPF occurred; 10.3%(12/116) had gastrojejunal anastomotic bleeding; 3.4%(4/116) had hepaticojejunal anastomotic fistula; 3.4%(4/116) had delayed gastric emptying; 4.3% (5/116) had localized abdominal infection; 12.1%(14/116) had pulmonary infection; postoperative mortality were 0(0/116) and 1.7%(2/116) within 30 days and 90 days, respectively. One patient died of massive abdominal bleeding secondary to Gastroduodenal artery pseudoaneurysm rupture, the other patient died of extensive tumor recurrence and metastasis after surgery. Conclusions: Chen's pancreaticojejunostomy technique is safe and feasible for LPD.It is an option especially for surgeons who have not completed the learning curve of LPD.

Planar, narrowband, and tunable photodetection in the near-infrared with Au/TiO2 nanodiodes based on Tamm plasmons

There is increasing interest in hot-electron photodetection due to the extended photoresponse well below the semiconductor band edge. However, the photoresponsivity is extremely low and the metallic nanostructures used to excite surface plasmons (SPs) for improved quantum yield are too complex for practical applications. Here, we show that by exciting Tamm plasmons (TPs), a planar device consisting of a thin metal film of 30 nm on a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) can absorb ∼93% of the incident light, resulting in a high hot-electron generation that is over 34-fold enhanced compared to that of the reference without the DBR. Besides, the electric field increases with the light penetration depth in the metal, leading to hot-electron generation that is strongly concentrated near the Schottky interface. As a result, the photoresponsivity can be over 30 (6) times larger than that of the reference (conventional grating system). Moreover, the planar device exhibits an easily tunable working wavelength from the visible to the near-infrared, sustained performance under oblique incidences, and a multiband photodetection functionality. The proposed strategy avoids the complicated fabrication of the metallic nanostructures, facilitating the compact, large-area, and low-cost photodetection, biosensing, and photocatalysis applications.

Simultaneously performing optical and electrical responses from a plasmonic sensor based on gold/silicon Schottky junction

Making the chemical or biological sensors simpler and more compatible with other measurements is a key enabling technology for commercial application. In this work, we propose a plasmonic refractive-index sensor only based on gold/silicon Schottky junction to simultaneously perform optical and electrical read-out responses. Via exciting surface plasmon resonance (SPR), the designed device shows a few characteristic reflection valleys and greatly enhances the narrowband light absorption. Calculated results indicate that the SPR resonance wavelength can be tuned in the wavelength range of 1100-2000 nm by manipulating the period, width of the Si nanochannel and the incident angle of light. When the analyte is changed, the SPR resonance wavelength generated at the bottom surface of the Au layer barely shifts, while the one at the top surface shows a significant linear shift. The optimally designed system shows an optical response with a refractive index sensitivity of over 1000 nm per refractive index unit (nm/RIU). Moreover, the electrodynamic calculation of the hot electrons predicts the electrical response can be up to 14.5 mA/(W·RIU) for an example of detecting trichloromethane, where the employed light can be a monochromatic light and the sensing operation can be much simpler relative to the conventional spectral work mode.

Carbohydrate Metabolism Regulated by Antisense vicR RNA in Cariogenicity

Streptococcus mutans is a major cariogenic pathogen that resides in multispecies oral microbial biofilms. The VicRK 2-component system is crucial for bacterial adaptation, virulence, and biofilm organization and contains a global and vital response regulator, VicR. Notably, we identified an antisense vicR RNA (AS vicR) associated with an adjacent RNase III–encoding ( rnc) gene that was relevant to microRNA-size small RNAs (msRNAs). Here, we report that ASvicR overexpression significantly impeded bacterial growth, biofilm exopolysaccharide synthesis, and cariogenicity in vivo. Transcriptome analysis revealed that the AS vicR RNA mainly regulated carbohydrate metabolism. In particular, overproducing AS vicR demonstrated a reduction in galactose and glucose metabolism by monosaccharide composition analysis. The results of high-performance gel permeation chromatography revealed that the water-insoluble glucans isolated from AS vicR presented much lower molecular weights. Furthermore, direct evidence showed that total RNAs were disrupted by rnc-encoded RNase III. With the coexpression of T4 RNA ligase, putative msRNA1657, which is an rnc-related messenger RNA, was verified to bind to the 5′-UTR regions of the vicR gene. Furthermore, AS vicR regulation revealed a sponge regulatory-mediated network for msRNA associated with adjacent RNase III–encoding genes. There was an increase in AS vicR transcript levels in clinical S. mutans strains from caries-free children, while the expression of AS vicR was decreased in early childhood caries patients; this outcome may be explored as a potential strategy contributing to the management of dental caries. Taken together, our findings suggest an important role of AS vicR-mediated sponge regulation in S. mutans, indicating the characterization of lactose metabolism by a vital response regulator in cariogenicity. These findings have a number of implications and have reshaped our understanding of bacterial gene regulation from its transcriptional conception to the key roles of regulatory RNAs.

Weyl-like points from band inversions of spin-polarised surface states in NbGeSb

Band inversions are key to stabilising a variety of novel electronic states in solids, from topological surface states to the formation of symmetry-protected three-dimensional Dirac and Weyl points and nodal-line semimetals. Here, we create a band inversion not of bulk states, but rather between manifolds of surface states. We realise this by aliovalent substitution of Nb for Zr and Sb for S in the ZrSiS family of nonsymmorphic semimetals. Using angle-resolved photoemission and density-functional theory, we show how two pairs of surface states, known from ZrSiS, are driven to intersect each other near the Fermi level in NbGeSb, and to develop pronounced spin splittings. We demonstrate how mirror symmetry leads to protected crossing points in the resulting spin-orbital entangled surface band structure, thereby stabilising surface state analogues of three-dimensional Weyl points. More generally, our observations suggest new opportunities for engineering topologically and symmetry-protected states via band inversions of surface states.

Prospective study of perceived dietary salt intake and the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

BACKGROUND

A high sodium intake is associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome. However, little is known regarding whether greater salt intake is a potential risk factor for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We thus prospectively investigated whether individuals with higher perceived dietary salt intake had a higher risk of developing NAFLD.

METHODS

The present study included 35 023 participants (22 629 men and 12 394 women) from the Kailuan study who were free of NAFLD at baseline (2006) and who did not drink alcohol at baseline and during follow-up (2006-2014; follow-rate 95.2%). NAFLD was defined as a participant who had been diagnosed with fatty liver at least twice by ultrasound tests conducted every 2 years during follow-up. Dietary salt intake was determined by a self-report question and was classified into three categories: low (<6 g day^-1 ), medium (6-9 g day^-1 ) or high (≥10 g day^-1 ). Cox proportional models were used to estimate the risk of NAFLD, adjusting for potential confounders, such as age, sex, education, physical activity, smoking, income, occupation, marriage, body mass index, waist circumference and blood pressure, as well as serum concentrations of glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, glucose, total cholesterol and triglyceride.

RESULTS

During 8 years of follow-up, we identified 5102 incident NAFLD cases. After adjusting for potential confounders, the hazard ratio (95% conference interval) for NAFLD was 1.12 (1.00, 1.26) for medium salt intake and 1.19 (1.02,1.39) for high salt consumption (P trend = 0.03) relative to the low salt consumption group.

CONCLUSIONS

A perceived high salt intake was associated with a higher future risk of NAFLD.

Dietary hydrolysed yeast cell wall extract is comparable to antibiotics in the control of subclinical necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens

1. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of yeast cell wall (YCW) on performance and physiological responses of broiler chickens under subclinical necrotic enteritis challenge.2. Six treatments in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement (non-challenged or challenged plus no supplement, YCW or antibiotics (AB)) was used. Each treatment was replicated eight times with 12 birds per replicate. The treatments included: (1) Positive control (PC; no additive, not challenged); (2) Negative control (NC; no additive, with challenge); (3) YCWN = yeast cell wall (2.0 g/kg diet, not challenged; (4) YCWC = yeast cell wall (2.0 g/kg diet, challenged); (5) ABN = zinc bacitracin 50 ppm + Salinomycin 60 ppm, not challenged); (6) ABC = zinc bacitracin 50 ppm + Salinomycin 60 ppm, challenged).3. Eimeria challenge at 9 d of age did not affect feed intake (FI), body weight gain (BWG), FCR or liveability at 10 d. The BWG and FCR at 10 d were greater (P < 0.05) in birds fed YCW or AB (AB) diets relative to the PC or NC groups. On 24 and 35 d, FI, BWG, FCR and flock uniformity (28 d) were greater (P < 0.05) in the challenged groups fed YCW or AB diets compared to NC group.4. Supplementation with YCW ameliorated the negative effects of NE on liver, spleen and bursa weight of birds.5. Necrotic enteritis challenge decreased (P < 0.05) caecal Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium spp. counts, and increased ileum lesion score and caecal Clostridium perfirngens counts. This was reversed by the addition of either YCW or AB.6. Supplementation with YCW and AB resulted to a greater (P < 0.05) dressing percentage and meat yield (35 d).7. The results indicated that YCW plays a vital role in improving the physiological response and performance of broiler chickens under subclinical necrotic enteritis challenge.

Metabolic syndrome and renal cell cancer risk in Chinese males: a population-based prospective study

Background

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is now a common public health problem. Few researches have reported the relationship between MetS and the risk of renal cell cancer (RCC). To investigate the association of metabolic syndrome and its components with the risk of RCC in Chinese males, the study was performed in the Kailuan male cohort, a large prospective cohort study.

Methods

A total of 104,333 eligible males enrolled in the every 2-year health checkup were involved in the Kailuan male cohort study (2006-2015). Information on demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, lifestyle, medical history and laboratory tests at baseline entry was obtained. Univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate the association between MetS and the RCC risk.

Results

During a median follow-up of 8.9 years, 131 RCC cases were verified over a total of 824,211.96 person-years. Among the 5 single MetS components, hypertension (Systolic/diastolic blood pressure≥130/85 mm Hg or antihypertensive drug treatment of previously hypertension) (HR = 2.35, 95%CI:1.48-3.72) and elevated triglyceride (TG) (≥1.7mmol/L) (HR = 1.78, 95%CI:1.23-2.56) showed significant risk for RCC. Multivariate analysis showed that compared to those who did not meet MetS diagnostic criteria (number of abnormal MetS components&lt;3), HR of RCC risk for participants with MetS was 1.95 (95% CI 1.35-2.83). The number of abnormal MetS components was linearly associated with an increased risk of RCC (P trend&lt;0.001), and the HRs of RCC risk for males with 1, 2 and ≥3 MetS components were 1.27 (0.56-2.90), 2.42 (1.12-5.20) and 3.32 (1.56-7.07), respectively, compared with subjects without MetS components.

Conclusions

MetS was inversely associated with of RCC risk in males.

Key messages

MetS might be one of the scientific and important predictors of RCC. Controlling metabolic syndrome may potentially have key scientific and clinical significance for RCC prevention.