Pan-cancer analysis of the oncogenic effects of G-protein-coupled receptor kinase-interacting protein-1 and validation on liver hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Despite G-protein-coupled receptor kinase-interacting protein-1 (GIT1) being recognized as a new promoter gene in some types of cancer, its effect on human pan-cancers and liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) remains unclear.

OBJECTIVES

To elucidate the molecular mechanisms of GIT1 in pan-cancer and LIHC.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Various bioinformatics approaches were utilized to elucidate the oncogenic effects of GIT1 on human pan-cancers.

RESULTS

The GIT1 was aberrantly expressed in pan-cancers and associated with the clinical stage. Moreover, the upregulation of GIT1 expression was indicative of poor overall survival (OS) in patients with LIHC, skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM) and uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC), as well as of poor disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with LIHC and UCEC. Furthermore, GIT1 levels were correlated with cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC), cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CESC) and LIHC. The analysis of single-cell sequencing data revealed an association of GIT1 levels with apoptosis, cell cycle and DNA damage. In addition, multivariate Cox analysis indicated that high GIT1 levels were an independent risk factor for shorter OS in patients with LIHC. Finally, the gene set enrichment analysis revealed INFLAMMATORY_RESPONSE pathway and IL2_STAT5_SIGNALING to be the most enriched in LIHC.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data demonstrate the oncogenic effects of GIT1 on various cancers. We believe that GIT1 can serve as a biomarker for LIHC.

Unusual Surface Coagulation Activation Patterns of Crystalline and Amorphous Silicate-Based Biominerals

Activation of coagulation cascades, especially FX and prothrombin, prevents blood loss and reduces mortality from hemorrhagic shock. Inorganic salts are efficient but cannot stop bleeding completely in hemorrhagic events, and rebleeding carries a significant mortality risk. The coagulation mechanism of biominerals has been oversimplified in the past two decades, limiting the creation of novel hemostats. Herein, at the interface, the affinity of proteins, the protease activity, fibrinolysis, hydration shell, and dynamic microenvironment are monitored at the protein level. Proteomic analysis reveals that fibrinogen and antithrombin III's affinity for kaolin's interface causes a weak thrombus and rebleeding during hemostasis. Inspiringly, amorphous bioactive glass (BG) with a transient-dynamic ion microenvironment breaches the hydration layer barrier and selectively and slightly captures procoagulant components of kiniogen-1, plasma kallikrein, FXII, and FXI proteins on its interface, concurrently generating a continuous biocatalytic interface to rapidly activate both intrinsic and extrinsic coagulation pathways. Thus, prothrombin complexes are successfully hydrolyzed to thrombin without platelet membrane involvement, speeding production of high-strength clots. This study investigates how the interface of inorganic salts assists in coagulation cascades from a more comprehensive micro-perspective that may help elucidate the clinical application issues of kaolin-gauze and pave the way to new materials for managing hemorrhage.

Possible transmission of COVID-19 epidemic by a dog as a passive mechanical carrier of SARS-CoV-2, Chongqing, China, 2022

An outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was reported in Yongchuan district of Chongqing, China in March 2022, while the source was unknown. We aimed to investigate the origin and transmission route of the virus in the outbreak. We conducted field investigations for all cases and collected their epidemiological and clinical data. We performed gene sequencing and phylogenetic analysis for the cases, and draw the epidemic curve and the case relationship chart to analyze interactions and possible transmission mode of the outbreak. A total of 11 cases of COVID-19, including 5 patients and 6 asymptomatic cases were laboratory-confirmed in the outbreak. The branch of the virus was Omicron BA.2 which was introduced into Yongchuan district by a traveler in early March. Patient F and asymptomatic case G had never contact with other positive-infected individuals, but close contact with their pet dog that sniffed the discarded cigarette butts and stepped on the sputum of patient B. Laboratory test results showed that the dog hair and kennel were positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and the 10 isolates were highly homologous to an epidemic strain in a province of China. The investigation suggested that the contaminated dog by SARS-CoV-2 can act as a passive mechanical carrier of the virus and might transmit the virus to humans through close contact. Our findings suggest that during the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing hygiene measures and hand washing after close contact with pets is essential to minimize the risk of community spread of the virus.

Local application of triamcinolone acetonide-conjugated chitosan membrane to prevent benign biliary stricture

Benign biliary stricture (BBS) is the proliferation of fibrous tissue of the biliary tract caused by the biliary operation, bile duct stones, cholangitis, trauma, and other etiologies due to scar contracture. Recent therapeutic strategies to suppress stenosis are insufficient. Here, we developed a sustained-release membrane (SM) of triamcinolone acetonide (TA) with N-succinyl hydroxypropyl chitosan (TASM) for inhibiting fibroblast proliferation in vitro and bile duct hyperplasia in the rabbit model for benign biliary stricture formation. The TASM were successfully placed in 45 of 50 rabbits. Evaluation of subcutaneous stimulation and acute liver injury confirms the safety of TASM in vivo. Compared to the control group, the TASM can significantly inhibit the proliferation of scar muscle fibroblasts in vitro. ELISA and immunofluorescence showed TASM could increase bFGF level and inhibit expression of TGFβ1 and αSMA. Cholangiographic and histologic examinations demonstrated significantly decreased tissue hyperplasia in the TASM groups compared with the model group. The immunohistochemical staining showed that TASM could reduce the level of cytokine-induced scars and inhibit the proliferation of myofibroblasts. Taken together, the chitosan membrane chemically conjugated with TA can effectively inhibit the benign biliary stricture. Further clinical usage of this membrane may effectively reduce the occurrence of benign biliary stricture.

Biological Fixation of Bioactive Bone Cement in Vertebroplasty: The First Clinical Investigation of Borosilicate Glass (BSG) Reinforced PMMA Bone Cement

PMMA bone cement has been clinically used for decades in vertebroplasty due to its high mechanical strength and satisfactory injectability. However, the interface between bone and PMMA is fragile and more prone to refracture in situ because PMMA lacks a proper biological response from the host bone with minimal bone integration and dense fibrous tissue formation. Here, we modified PMMA by incoporating borosilicate glass (BSG) with a dual glass network of [BO₃] and [SiO₄], which spontaneously modulates immunity and osteogenesis. In particular, the BSG modified PMMA bone cement (abbreviated as BSG/PMMA cement) provided an alkaline microenvironment that spontaneously balanced the activities between osteoclasts and osteoblasts. Furthermore, the trace elements released from the BSGs enhanced the osteogenesis to strengthen the interface between the host bone and the implant. This study shows the first clinical case after implantation of BSG/PMMA for three months using the dual-energy CT, which found apatite nucleation around PMMA instead of fibrous tissues, indicating the biological interface was formed. Therefore, BSG/PMMA is promising as a biomaterial in vertebroplasty, overcoming the drawback of PMMA by improving the biological response from the host bone.

Quality Factor Enhancement of Piezoelectric MEMS Resonator Using a Small Cross-Section Connection Phononic Crystal

Anchor loss is usually the most significant energy loss factor in Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) resonators, which seriously hinders the application of MEMS resonators in wireless communication. This paper proposes a cross-section connection phononic crystal (SCC-PnC), which can be used for MEMS resonators of various overtone modes. First, using the finite element method to study the frequency characteristics and delay line of the SCC-PnC band, the SCC-PnC has an ultra-wide bandgap of 56.6-269.6 MHz. Next, the effects of the height h and the position h₁ of the structural parameters of the small cross-connected plate on the band gap are studied, and it is found that h is more sensitive to the width of the band gap. Further, the SCC-PnC was implanted into the piezoelectric MEMS resonator, and the admittance and insertion loss curves were obtained. The results show that when the arrangement of 4 × 7 SCC-PnC plates is adopted, the anchor quality factors of the third-order overtone, fifth-order overtone, and seventh-order overtone MEMS resonators are increased by 1656 times, 2027 times, and 16 times, respectively.

Effect of absolute humidity on influenza activity across different climate regions in China

Until now, we have no thorough understanding the role of absolute humidity on influenza activity, especially in tropical and subtropical areas. In this study, we investigated the relationship between absolute humidity and influenza activity in seven municipalities/provinces covering different climatic zones in China. Weekly meteorological data and influenza surveillance data in seven provinces/municipalities in China were collected from January 2012 to December 2019. A distributed lag nonlinear model was adopted to investigate the association between absolute humidity (AH) and influenza activity in each study site. Then, seven study sites were grouped into three regions: northern, intermediate, and southernmost regions. A multivariate meta-analysis was applied to estimate the exposure-lag-response associations in three regions. The province-specific or municipality-specific curves appeared to be nonlinear, and the association between influenza activity and AH varied across regions. In Beijing and Tianjin, located in northern China, the cumulative relative risks (RRs) increased as weekly average AHmean fell below 3.41 g/m³ and 6.62 g/m³. In Guangdong and Hainan, located in southernmost China, the risk of influenza activity increased with rising average AHmean with 16.74 g/m³ and 20.18 g/m³ as the break points. In Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Chongqing, the relationship between weekly average AHmean and influenza could be described as U-shaped curves, with the lowest RRs when weekly average AHmean was 11.95 g/m³, 11.94 g/m³, and 15.96 g/m³, respectively. Meta-analysis results showed the cumulative RRs significantly increased as weekly average AHmean fell below 3.86 g/m³ in the northern region, whereas significantly increased as weekly average AHmean rose above 18.46 g/m³ and 15.22 g/m³ in intermediate and southernmost regions, respectively. Both low and high AH might increase influenza risk in China, and the relationship varies geographically. Our findings suggest that public health policies for climate change adaptation should be tailored to the local climate conditions.

LINC00665 interacts with BACH1 to activate Wnt1 and mediates the M2 polarization of tumor-associated macrophages in GC

Gastric cancer (GC) remains one of the prevalent causes of cancer-related deaths globally. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been associated with different cancers. The polarization of macrophages towards the M2 (alternatively activated) phenotype promotes immunologic tolerance and can induce gastric tumorigenesis. Thus far, lncRNAs have been shown to modulate the differentiation of immune cells. Here, we investigated the biological effects of LINC00665 on the progression of GC and explored the mechanisms underlying its ability to mediate the polarization of macrophages towards the M2 phenotype. We report that the levels of LINC00665 were increased in GC tissues. Furthermore, this increase in LINC00665 expression could be associated with decreased overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and post-progression survival (PPS). Using cell-based macrophage polarization models, we demonstrated that LINC00665 upregulation in GC cells facilitated the polarization of macrophages towards the M2 but not M1 (classically activated) phenotype. Furthermore, the loss of LINC00665 prevented the M2 polarization of macrophages. Mechanically, we identified that Wnt1 was the downstream target of LINC00665. Additionally, LINC00665 could directly interact with the transcription factor BTB domain and CNC homology 1 (BACH1). The interaction between LINC00665 and BACH1 resulted in the activation and binding of BACH1 to the Wnt1 promoters. Furthermore, BACH1 silencing could inhibit GC progression, which highlighted a crucial role for BACH1 in LINC00665-mediated Wnt1 activation. In addition, genetic Wnt1 overexpression effectively abolished the repression of Wnt signaling after BACH1 depletion and mediated GC development by supporting M2 macrophage polarization. In conclusion, we report that LINC00665 modulates M2 macrophage polarization and suggest that it may facilitate macrophage-dependent GC progression.

Public availability of information from officially accredited medical schools in China

BACKGROUND

Medical education accreditation in China has been conducted by the Working Committee for the Accreditation of Medical Education (WCAME) and 129 medical schools have completed accreditation by December 2021. Despite studies on the standards, process and effectiveness of accreditation, the actual information transparency of accredited medical schools in China has not been examined. The study investigated the status of publicly available information from WCAME-accredited medical schools in China, and whether public availability of information had significant differences among different types of universities.

METHODS

The 129 medical schools' official websites were reviewed for the 21 criteria of the WFME Global Standards for Quality Improvement: Basic Medical Education. Dichotomous method was used to record information as presence or absence. SPSS was utilized for descriptive and ANOVA analyses.

RESULTS

The mean of the publicly available information on the 21 criteria was 13.77 ± 3.57, and only 5 (3.9%) accredited medical schools had all relevant information available. Publicly available information on Governance (100%) and Administration (100%) was the most, whereas information on Assessment in support of learning (16.3%) was the least. Public availability of information differed significantly among schools accredited with higher (18.15 ± 2.16), medium (13.69 ± 3.41) and lower results (12.79 ± 3.19) (F = 14.71, p < 0.05). Medical universities and comprehensive universities did not show significant differences in their overall information availability (F = 0.25, p > 0.05). Central government funded universities had a remarkably larger amount of publicly available information than local government funded universities (17.86 ± 1.98 vs. 12.75 ± 2.93, p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Public availability of information from the accredited medical schools in China needs to be improved to promote transparency and continuous quality improvement, especially with regard to information on curriculum, assessment and quality assurance. Explicit information availability requirements need to be considered to include in medical education standards, and further studies are warranted to explore which information elements should be made publicly available.

Association between Meteorological Factors and Mumps and Models for Prediction in Chongqing, China

(1) Background: To explore whether meteorological factors have an impact on the prevalence of mumps, and to make a short−term prediction of the case number of mumps in Chongqing. (2) Methods: K−means clustering algorithm was used to divide the monthly mumps cases of each year into the high and low case number clusters, and Student t−test was applied for difference analysis. The cross−correlation function (CCF) was used to evaluate the correlation between the meteorological factors and mumps, and an ARIMAX model was constructed by additionally incorporating meteorological factors as exogenous variables in the ARIMA model, and a short−term prediction was conducted for mumps in Chongqing, evaluated by MAE, RMSE. (3) Results: All the meteorological factors were significantly different (p < 0.05), except for the relative humidity between the high and low case number clusters. The CCF and ARIMAX model showed that monthly precipitation, temperature, relative humidity and wind velocity were associated with mumps, and there were significant lag effects. The ARIMAX model could accurately predict mumps in the short term, and the prediction errors (MAE, RMSE) were lower than those of the ARIMA model. (4) Conclusions: Meteorological factors can affect the occurrence of mumps, and the ARIMAX model can effectively predict the incidence trend of mumps in Chongqing, which can provide an early warning for relevant departments.

Three Cases Infected with Avian Influenza A(H5N6) Virus — Chongqing Municipality, China, January–September, 2021

What is already known about this topic?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported a total of 48 cases by October 15, 2021. The continuous genomic reassortments of H5N6 and other subtype avian influenza viruses (AIVs) pose a long-term threat to public health and the poultry industry.

What is added by this report?

Three new cases of H5N6 that occurred from January to September 2021 in Chongqing Municipality, China were reported in this study. Epidemiological information of the three cases showed raising poultry and visiting live poultry market contributed to these infections, and there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission of H5N6 currently but a potential spatial cluster. An increase of H5N6 cases was recorded in the area.

What are the implications for public health practice?

In case of unexplained pneumonia or severe respiratory infection, the patients’ epidemiological history of contact with poultry or live poultry markets (LPMs) may be an important interrogation to help diagnose. Extensive and long-term surveillance of avian influenza viruses in LPMs is essential.

Phase control of ZIF-7 nanoparticles via mechanochemical synthesis

MOF crystal phase control is made possible through a mechanochemical process.

[The clinical effect of ultrasonic bone curette-assisted "zoning" style laminectomy for the treatment of severe ossification of thoracic ligamentum flavum]

Objective: To investigate the safety and clinical efficacy of "zoning" style laminectomy by ultrasonic bone curette in patients with severe thoracic ossification of the ligamentum flavum(TOLF). Methods: The clinical data of 36 patients with severe TOLF treated by "zoning" style laminectomy at Department of Spinal Surgery,Zhengzhou Orthopaedic Hospital from October 2015 to October 2018 were respectively analyzed.There were 17 males and 19 females,aged(57.3±10.2)years(range:43 to 80 years).According to the anatomical characteristics of the thoracic ligamentum flavum and the pathological process of ossionization,each decompression segment was divided into the upper 1/3 area of the lamina,the bilateral area of the ossionum flavum,the transitional area,and the area of close contact between the ossionum flavum and the spinal cord.Different surgical strategies were used for decompression in turn.The modified Japanese Orthopedic Association (mJOA) was used to evaluate the neurological function status before and after surgery,to evaluate the surgical effect of patients,and to observe the surgical complications.Paired sample T test was used for data analysis. Results: All 36 patients successfully completed the operation,the operation time was (88.6±24.6) minutes(range:60 to 150 minutes).The intraoperative blood loss was (426.7±167.4) ml(range:250 to 800 ml).Follow-up time was (27.2±7.7) months(range:12 to 48 months).The mJOA score at the last follow-up was 9.0±1.5,which was statistically significant compared with the preoperative score 5.4±1.8 (t=13.59,P<0.01).The improvement rate of mJOA score was (65.7±22.1) %,of which 17 cases were excellent (47.2%),13 cases were good (36.1%),4 cases were normal (11.1%),2 cases were ineffective (5.6%).Ten patients had cerebrospinal fluid leakage during the separation or removal of dural ossification and were cured after a series of comprehensive conservative treatment.Two patients showed transient neurological deterioration,and the neurological function gradually recovered to the preoperative state after comprehensive treatment such as increasing the mean arterial pressure and using neurotrophic drugs.During the follow-up,no aggravation of neurological dysfunction and segmental kyphosis were found. Conclusions: The ultrasonic bone curette-assisted "zoning" style laminectomy for the treatment of severe TOLF can directly observed the position relationship between ossification of the ligamentum flavum and the spinal canal structure during the operation,and accurately guide the surgical decompression.It has the advantages of safe operation and complete decompression,which provides an important reference for the selection of clinical surgery.

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Seasonal Influenza Vaccination of Health Workers

A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the pooled effect of influenza vaccinations for health workers (HWs). Nine databases were screened to identify randomized clinical trials and comparative observational studies that reported the effect of influenza vaccination among HWs. The risk ratio (RR), standardized mean difference, and 95% confidence interval (CI) were employed to study the effect size using fixed/random-effect models. Subgroup analyses and sensitivity analyses were conducted accordingly. Publication bias was examined. Sixteen studies (involving 7971 HWs from nine countries) were included after a comprehensive literature search. The combined RR regarding the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza was 0.36 (95% CI: 0.25 to 0.54), the incidence of influenza-like illness (ILI) was 0.69 (95% CI: 0.45 to 1.06), the absenteeism rate was 0.63 (95% CI: 0.46 to 0.86), and the integrated standardized mean difference of workdays lost was −0.18 (95% CI: −0.28 to −0.07) days/person. The subgroup analysis indicated that vaccination significantly decreases the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza in different countries, study populations, and average-age vaccinated groups. Influenza vaccinations could effectively reduce the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza, absenteeism rates, and workdays lost among HWs. It is advisable, therefore, to improve the coverage and increase the influenza vaccination count among HWs, which may benefit both workers and medical institutions.

OP0081 A CASE OF ATYPICAL MYCOBACTERIUM INFECTION COMPLICATING EXTRA-NODAL ROSAI-DORFMAN DISEASE IN A PATIENT WITH SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS (SLE)

Background:

We present the case of a 28 year old Black-British female with severe SLE requiring treatment with rituximab in 2012 due to persistent low-grade activity and severe episodes of pleuro-pericardial effusions, pancytopaenia, fever and weight loss

Her other background includes beta-thalassaemia trait and excision of calcific fibrotic tissue on bilateral anterolateral orbits in 2015.

In 2018 she reported an 18-month history of non-tender, non-fluctuant, slow growing left thigh mass with USS revealing a well demarcated subcutaneous complex cystic lesion of ~2x4x7cm. There was no preceding trauma or skin infection. Histology from a needle biopsy revealed diffuse histiocytosis with positive immunohistochemistry (ICH) for S100, CD68 and CD31, it was negative for CD1a, consistent with Extra-nodal Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD).

She developed constitutional symptoms after reporting months of gradual weight loss with gradual ESR, CRP rise and leucocytosis. Her SLE symptoms were stable and given lack of SLE-specific symptoms; PET-CT was used to identify systemic RDD; the thigh mass showed strong FDG avidity along with a small focus of uptake in the small bowel, thought to be RDD related with no other areas of uptake.

She had ongoing ooze from the enlarging thigh lesion (5 x 26 x 15 cm), this was sent for MCS and AAFB; which isolated Mycobacterium avium. She was treated with rifampicin, ethambutol and clarithromycin resulting in improved thigh lesion, constitutional symptoms and inflammatory markers.

Objectives:

[1]To describe a rare associated complication of severe SLE and to educate and inform clinicians regarding possible masquerades of disease

[2]To education and inform about the approach to diagnosis of mycobacterium infection.

Methods:

Case report and literature review.

Results:

Mycobacterium infections rarely complicate RDD; to date, only one case report is published involving an HIV infected patient with RDD confirmed on LN biopsy presenting with splenomegaly and treated with oral corticosteroids (OCS) complicated by Mycobacterium avium complex and Salmonella enterica confirmed on bone marrow biopsy/culture, similar to our patient, he presented with constitutional symptoms and weight loss(2).

Mycobacterium can also mimic RDD, a case report has described a 74 year old with tender lymphadenopathy diagnosed with RDD on LN biopsy. She was treated with IV and OCS, but was unresponsive. A repeat LN biopsy and CT imaging revealed the presence of mycobacterium kansasii; her biopsy was positive for CD68/S100 throughout. Of note, she had high levels of anti-interferon autoantibodies and was diagnosed with adult-onset immunodeficiency syndrome(3).

Conclusion:

This case illustrates the need for a MDT approach for multi-system diseases such as SLE and RDD, and the need to consider atypical infections when blood tests are incongruent with clinical state.

References:

[1]Bruce-Brand C, Schneider JW, Schubert P. Rosai-Dorfman disease: an overview. J Clin Pathol. 2020 Nov;73(11):697-705. doi: 10.1136/jclinpath-2020-206733.

[2]Olmedo-Reneaum A, Molina-Jaimes A, Conde-Vazquez E, Montero-Vazquez S. Rosai-Dorfman disease and superinfection due to Salmonella enterica and Mycobacterium avium complex in a patient living with HIV. IDCases. 2020 Jan 14;19:e00698.

[3]King YA, Hu CH, Lee YJ, Lin CF, Liu D, Wang KH. Disseminated cutaneous Mycobacterium kansasii infection presenting with Rosai-Dorfman disease-like histological features in a patient carrying anti-interferon-γ autoantibodies. J Dermatol. 2017 Dec;44(12):1396-1400.

Image 1.Table 1.SLE Clinical HistoryDiagnosed 2006 (‘97 ACR Classification Criteria)Clinical -Polyarthritis -Glandular (lacrimal swelling) -Pericardial effusion/Pleural Effusion -MyositisSerological -Anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) -Anti-dsDNA -Anti-U1-RNP -Anti- SS-A/Ro -Lupus AnticoagulantPrevious SLE Treatment -Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) -Methotrexate (MTX) -Azathioprine (AZA) -Rituximab (RTX)

Disclosure of Interests:

None declared

Hyaluronic acid facilitates bone repair effects of calcium phosphate cement by accelerating osteogenic expression

Calcium phosphate cements (CPC) are widely anticipated to be an optimum bone repair substitute due to its satisfied biocompatibility and degradability, suitable to be used in minimally invasive treatment of bone defects. However the clinical application of CPC is still not satisfied by its poor cohesiveness and mechanical properties, in particular its osteoinductivity. Hyaluronic acid reinforced calcium phosphate cements (HA/CPC) showed extroadinary potential not only enhancing the compressive strength of the cements but also significantly increasing its osteoinductivity. In our study, the compressive strength of HA/CPC increased significantly when the cement was added 1% hyaluronic acid (denoted as 1-HA/CPC). In the meantime, hyaluronic acid obviously promoted ALP activity, osteogenic related protein and mRNA expression of hBMSCs (human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells) in vitro, cement group of HA/CPC with 4% hyaluronic acid adding (denoted as 4-HA/CPC) showed optimal enhancement in hBMSCs differentiation. After being implanted in rat tibial defects, 4-HA/CPC group exhibited better bone repair ability and bone growth promoting factors, comparing to pure CPC and 1-HA/CPC groups. The underlying biological mechanism of this stimulation for HA/CPC may be on account of higher osteogenic promoting factors secretion and osteogenic genes expression with hyaluronic acid incorporation. These results indicate that hyaluronic acid is a highly anticipated additive to improve physicochemical properties and osteoinductivity performance of CPCs for minimally invasive healing of bone defects.

Targeted exome sequencing for the identification of common mutational signatures and potential driver mutations for brain metastases and prognosis

Brain metastases (BMs) are malignancies in the central nervous system with poor prognosis. Genetic landscapes of the primary tumor sites have been extensively profiled; however, mutations associated with BMs are poorly understood. In the present study, target exome sequencing of 560 cancer-associated genes in samples from 52 patients with brain metastasis from various primary sites was performed. Recurrent mutations for BMs from distinct origins were identified. There were both genetic homogeneity and heterogeneity between BMs and primary lung tumor tissues. The mutation rate of the major cancer driver gene, TP53, was consistently high in both the primary lung cancer sites and BMs, while some genetic alterations, associated with DNA damage response deficiency, were specifically enriched in BMs. The mutational signatures enriched in BMs could serve as actionable targets for treatment. The mutation in the primary site of the potential brain metastasis driver gene, nuclear mitotic apparatus protein 1 (NUMA1), affected the progression-free survival time of patients with lung cancer, and patients with the NUMA1 mutation in BMs had a good prognosis. This suggested that the occurrence and clinical outcome of brain metastases could be independent of each other.

Effective control of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in Wanzhou, China

The effectiveness of control measures to contain coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wanzhou, China was assessed. Epidemiological data were analyzed for 183 confirmed COVID-19 cases and their close contacts from five generations of transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 throughout the entire COVID-19 outbreak in Wanzhou. Approximately 67.2% and 32.8% of cases were symptomatic and asymptomatic, respectively. Asymptomatic and presymptomatic transmission accounted for 75.9% of the total recorded transmission. The reproductive number was 1.64 (95% confidence interval: 1.16-2.40) for G1-to-G2 transmission, decreasing to 0.31-0.39 in later generations, concomitant with implementation of rigorous control measures. Substantially higher infection risk was associated with contact within 5 d after the infectors had been infected, frequent contact and ≥8 h of contact duration. The spread of COVID-19 was effectively controlled in Wanzhou by breaking the transmission chain through social distancing, extensive contact tracing, mass testing and strict quarantine of close contacts.

Clustering and Recognition of Spatiotemporal Features Through Interpretable Embedding of Sequence to Sequence Recurrent Neural Networks

Encoder-decoder recurrent neural network models (RNN Seq2Seq) have achieved success in ubiquitous areas of computation and applications. They were shown to be effective in modeling data with both temporal and spatial dependencies for translation or prediction tasks. In this study, we propose an embedding approach to visualize and interpret the representation of data by these models. Furthermore, we show that the embedding is an effective method for unsupervised learning and can be utilized to estimate the optimality of model training. In particular, we demonstrate that embedding space projections of the decoder states of RNN Seq2Seq model trained on sequences prediction are organized in clusters capturing similarities and differences in the dynamics of these sequences. Such performance corresponds to an unsupervised clustering of any spatio-temporal features and can be employed for time-dependent problems such as temporal segmentation, clustering of dynamic activity, self-supervised classification, action recognition, failure prediction, etc. We test and demonstrate the application of the embedding methodology to time-sequences of 3D human body poses. We show that the methodology provides a high-quality unsupervised categorization of movements. The source code with examples is available in a Github repository¹.

MIR22HG inhibits cell growth, migration and invasion through regulating the miR-24-3p/p27kip1 axis in thyroid papillary carcinomas

OBJECTIVE

To explore the underlying mechanism of ncRNA (MIR22HG) in thyroid papillary carcinomas.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

40 pairs of thyroid papillary carcinomas tissues and adjacent normal tissues were collected from patients of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, who underwent oral surgery. qRT-PCR was applied to detect the expression of MIR22HG, miR-24-3p and p27kip1 in tissues and cells. Western blot was used to measure the protein level of p27kip1 in tissues and cells. Kaplan-Meier plot was used to analyze the overall survival rates in thyroid papillary carcinomas. Pearson's correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation relationship among MIR22HG, miR-24-3p and p27kip1 expression. Flow cytometric assay was applied to measure cell apoptosis. Transwell assay was used to assess cell migration and invasion abilities. Luciferase reporter assay was applied to verify the molecular relationships among MIR22HG, miR-24-3p and p27kip1 in thyroid papillary carcinomas.

RESULTS

LncRNA MIR22HG and p27kip expressed low while miR-24-3p expressed high in thyroid papillary carcinomas and cells. Overexpression of MIR22HG inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion, whereas promoted cell apoptosis in thyroid papillary carcinomas cells. However, these effects were reversed by upregulation of miR-24-3p. Further exploration showed that the promoted effects of miR-24-3p mimics on thyroid papillary carcinomas cells were suppressed by enhancing p27kip1 expression. Meanwhile, MIR22HG induced p27kip1 expression by binding miR-24-3p in thyroid papillary carcinomas.

CONCLUSIONS

MIR22HG inhibited cell growth through modulating p27kip1 by decreasing miR-24-3p expression in thyroid papillary carcinomas, providing a new modulate mechanism and therapeutic targets in thyroid papillary carcinomas.

Clinical and immunological assessment of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections

The clinical features and immune responses of asymptomatic individuals infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have not been well described. We studied 37 asymptomatic individuals in the Wanzhou District who were diagnosed with RT-PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections but without any relevant clinical symptoms in the preceding 14 d and during hospitalization. Asymptomatic individuals were admitted to the government-designated Wanzhou People's Hospital for centralized isolation in accordance with policy¹. The median duration of viral shedding in the asymptomatic group was 19 d (interquartile range (IQR), 15-26 d). The asymptomatic group had a significantly longer duration of viral shedding than the symptomatic group (log-rank P = 0.028). The virus-specific IgG levels in the asymptomatic group (median S/CO, 3.4; IQR, 1.6-10.7) were significantly lower (P = 0.005) relative to the symptomatic group (median S/CO, 20.5; IQR, 5.8-38.2) in the acute phase. Of asymptomatic individuals, 93.3% (28/30) and 81.1% (30/37) had reduction in IgG and neutralizing antibody levels, respectively, during the early convalescent phase, as compared to 96.8% (30/31) and 62.2% (23/37) of symptomatic patients. Forty percent of asymptomatic individuals became seronegative and 12.9% of the symptomatic group became negative for IgG in the early convalescent phase. In addition, asymptomatic individuals exhibited lower levels of 18 pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. These data suggest that asymptomatic individuals had a weaker immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. The reduction in IgG and neutralizing antibody levels in the early convalescent phase might have implications for immunity strategy and serological surveys.

Clinical and immunological assessment of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections

The clinical features and immune responses of asymptomatic individuals infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have not been well described. We studied 37 asymptomatic individuals in the Wanzhou District who were diagnosed with RT-PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections but without any relevant clinical symptoms in the preceding 14 d and during hospitalization. Asymptomatic individuals were admitted to the government-designated Wanzhou People's Hospital for centralized isolation in accordance with policy¹. The median duration of viral shedding in the asymptomatic group was 19 d (interquartile range (IQR), 15-26 d). The asymptomatic group had a significantly longer duration of viral shedding than the symptomatic group (log-rank P = 0.028). The virus-specific IgG levels in the asymptomatic group (median S/CO, 3.4; IQR, 1.6-10.7) were significantly lower (P = 0.005) relative to the symptomatic group (median S/CO, 20.5; IQR, 5.8-38.2) in the acute phase. Of asymptomatic individuals, 93.3% (28/30) and 81.1% (30/37) had reduction in IgG and neutralizing antibody levels, respectively, during the early convalescent phase, as compared to 96.8% (30/31) and 62.2% (23/37) of symptomatic patients. Forty percent of asymptomatic individuals became seronegative and 12.9% of the symptomatic group became negative for IgG in the early convalescent phase. In addition, asymptomatic individuals exhibited lower levels of 18 pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. These data suggest that asymptomatic individuals had a weaker immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. The reduction in IgG and neutralizing antibody levels in the early convalescent phase might have implications for immunity strategy and serological surveys.

The burden of influenza and pneumonia mortality attributable to absolute humidity among elderly people in Chongqing, China, 2012-2018

OBJECTIVE

To examine the association between absolute humidity (AH) and influenza and pneumonia (P&I) mortality, and to quantify P&I mortality burden attributable to non-optimum AHs among elderly people aged ≥65 years in Chongqing, the largest municipality of China.

METHODS

Daily data of P&I mortality from 2012 to 2018, and the contemporaneous meteorological data in the study area were collected. Distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) was applied to estimate the non-linear and delayed effects of absolute humidity (AH) on P&I mortality. Then, attributable deaths were calculated for the dry and moist AH, defined as AH below and above the minimum mortality AH (MMAH), respectively. Moderate and extreme AHs were defined using cutoffs at the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles of AH.

RESULTS

The relationship between AH and P&I mortality was a U-shaped curve. The MMAH was 11.5 g/m³ (46.4th percentile). In total, 25.7% (95% confidence interval: 10.0-38.2) of P&I mortality (4673 deaths) was attributed to non-optimum AHs. Low AHs were responsible for 12.7% of the P&I death burden (95%CI: 0.2-20.1), while high AHs for 13.0% (95%CI: -9.4-25.7). Extreme low and high AHs accounted for 3.7% (95%CI: 0.1-6.8) and 3.0% (95%CI: 0-5.4) of P&I mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study showed that both low AHs and high AHs are responsible for considerable AH-related P&I mortality burden among elderly people. Our results may have important public health implications for the development of relevant intervention policies to reduce P&I deaths among the elderly.

Mortality burden from seasonal influenza in Chongqing, China, 2012-2018

Purpose

To estimate influenza-associated excess mortality rates (EMRs) in Chongqing from 2012 to 2018.

Methods

We obtained weekly mortality data for all-cause and four underlying causes of death (circulatory and respiratory disease (CRD), pneumonia and influenza (P&I), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and ischemic heart disease (IDH)), and influenza surveillance data, from 2012 to 2018. A negative-binomial regression model was used to estimate influenza-associated EMRs in two age groups (<65 years and ≥65 years).

Results

It was estimated that an annual average of 10025 influenza-associated deaths occurred in Chongqing, corresponding to 5.2% of all deaths. The average EMR for all-cause death associated with influenza was 33.5 (95% confidence interval (CI): 31.5–35.6) per 100 000 persons, and in separate cause-specific models we attributed 24.7 (95% CI: 23.3–26.0), 0.8 (95% CI: 0.7–0.8), 8.5 (95% CI: 8.1–9.0) and 5.0 (95% CI: 4.7–5.3) per 100 000 persons EMRs to CRD, P&I, COPD and IDH, respectively. The estimated EMR for influenza B virus was 20.6 (95% CI: 20.3–21.0), which was significantly higher than the rates of 5.3 (95% CI: 4.5–6.1) and 7.5 (95% CI: 6.7–8.3) for A(H3N2) and A(H1N1) pdm09 virus, respectively. The estimated EMR was 152.3 (95% CI: 136.1–168.4) for people aged ≥65 years, which was significantly higher than the rate for those aged <65 years (6.8, 95% CI: 6.3–7.2).

Conclusions

Influenza was associated with substantial EMRs in Chongqing, especially among elderly people. Influenza B virus caused a relatively higher excess mortality impact compared with A(H1N1)pdm09 and A(H3N2). It is advisable to optimize future seasonal influenza vaccine reimbursement policy in Chongqing to curb disease burden.

Comparison of influenza hospitalization outcomes among adults, older adults, and octogenarians: a US national population-based study

OBJECTIVES

This study sought to more fully elucidate the age-related trends in influenza mortality with a secondary goal of uncovering implications for treatment and prevention.

METHODS

In this retrospective cohort analysis of data from the Nationwide Readmission Database, patients with influenza as a primary or secondary discharge diagnosis were separated into three age groups: 55 638 adults aged 20-64 years, 36 862 adults aged 65-79 years and 41 806 octogenarians aged ≥80 years. Propensity score (PS) weighting was performed to isolate age from other baseline differences. Crude and PS-weighted hazard ratios (HR) were calculated from the in-hospital all-cause 30-day mortality rate. Admission threshold bias was minimized by comparison of influenza with bacterial pneumonia mortality.

RESULTS

Adults aged 20-64 years experienced higher in-hospital 30-day mortality compared with older adults aged 65-79 years (HR 0.66; 95% CI 0.55-0.79). Octogenarians had the highest mortality rate, but this was statistically insignificant compared with the adult cohort (HR 1.09; 95% CI 0.94-1.27). This trend was not explained by admission threshold bias: the 30-day mortality rate due to in-hospital bacterial pneumonia increased consistently with age (older adult HR 1.45; 95% CI 1.32-1.59; octogenarian HR 1.99; 95% CI 1.82-2.18).

CONCLUSIONS

Adults aged 20-64 years and octogenarians were more likely to experience all-cause 30-day mortality during influenza hospitalization compared with older adults aged 65-79 years. These data emphasize the importance of prevention and suggest the need for more tailored treatment interventions based on risk stratification that includes age.

Rapid Photo-Sonotherapy for Clinical Treatment of Bacterial Infected Bone Implants by Creating Oxygen Deficiency Using Sulfur Doping

Periprosthetic infection is considered the main cause of implant failure, which is expected to be solved by fabricating an antibacterial coating on the surface of the implant. Nevertheless, systemic antibiotic treatment still represents the mainstream method for preventing infection, and few antibacterial coatings are applied clinically. This is because the externally introduced traditional antibacterial coatings suffer from the risk of invalidation and tissue toxicity induced by the consumption of antibacterial agents, degradation, and shedding. In this work, we proposed a rapid photo-sonotherapy by creating an oxygen deficiency on a titanium (Ti) implant through sulfur (S)-doping (Ti-S-TiO_2-x), which endowed the implants with great sonodynamic and photothermal ability. Without introducing an external antibacterial coating, it reached a high antibacterial efficiency of 99.995% against Staphylococcus aureus under 15 min near-infrared light and ultrasound treatments. Furthermore, bone infection was successfully treated after combination treatments, and improved osseointegration was observed. Importantly, the S-doped Ti implant immersed in water for 6 months showed an unchanged structure and properties, suggesting that the Ti implant with intrinsic modification showed stable antibacterial performance under exogenous stimuli with a high antibacterial performance in vivo. This photo-sonotherapy based on sulfur doping is also promising for cancer therapy with biosafety.

Rapid Photo-Sonotherapy for Clinical Treatment of Bacterial Infected Bone Implants by Creating Oxygen Deficiency Using Sulfur Doping

Periprosthetic infection is considered the main cause of implant failure, which is expected to be solved by fabricating an antibacterial coating on the surface of the implant. Nevertheless, systemic antibiotic treatment still represents the mainstream method for preventing infection, and few antibacterial coatings are applied clinically. This is because the externally introduced traditional antibacterial coatings suffer from the risk of invalidation and tissue toxicity induced by the consumption of antibacterial agents, degradation, and shedding. In this work, we proposed a rapid photo-sonotherapy by creating an oxygen deficiency on a titanium (Ti) implant through sulfur (S)-doping (Ti-S-TiO_2-x), which endowed the implants with great sonodynamic and photothermal ability. Without introducing an external antibacterial coating, it reached a high antibacterial efficiency of 99.995% against Staphylococcus aureus under 15 min near-infrared light and ultrasound treatments. Furthermore, bone infection was successfully treated after combination treatments, and improved osseointegration was observed. Importantly, the S-doped Ti implant immersed in water for 6 months showed an unchanged structure and properties, suggesting that the Ti implant with intrinsic modification showed stable antibacterial performance under exogenous stimuli with a high antibacterial performance in vivo. This photo-sonotherapy based on sulfur doping is also promising for cancer therapy with biosafety.

Enterovirus 71 vaccine acceptance among parents of children < 5 years old and their knowledge of hand, foot and mouth disease, Chongqing, China, 2017

Background

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) vaccine, which was put into market in China in 2016, has been viewed as a promising prevention measure against severe and fatal hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD). This study aimed to investigate the knowledge of HFMD and acceptability of EV71 vaccine among parents of under-five in Chongqing, China.

Methodology /Principal findings

A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2017. A validated questionnaire consisting of three sections including demographic information, knowledge of HFMD, acceptability and reasons for declining vaccination was developed based on literature review. Factors associated with unwillingness to receive EV71 vaccine were explored using multivariate logistic regression. A total of 992 parents finished the questionnaire with a response rate of 91.9%. Awareness of HFMD and EV71 vaccine were reported by 823 (83.0%) parents and 386 (38.9%) parents respectively. Knowledge about HFMD was with a mean score of 5.0 (standard deviation = 3.5) out of a total score of 12. Only 369 (37.2%) participants were classified as with good knowledge level about HFMD. 279 (28.1%) participants had their children received EV71 vaccine and 271 (27.3%) expressed willingness to vaccinate their children after a short-time education about EV71 vaccine. Acceptability of EV71 vaccine increased along with parents’ education level (p = 0.008) and HFMD knowledge level (p<0.001). Parents of scattered children had higher acceptability than those of preschool children (p = 0.002). 442 (44.6%) of participants were unwilling to have their children vaccinated with EV71 vaccine. The most common reasons for declining EV71 vaccine were doubts about its safety (56.6%) and efficacy (48.3%), and the necessity of vaccination (38.3%). Physicians and vaccination certificate were the parents’ most trusted sources of vaccine information.

Conclusions

Parents’ knowledge about HFMD was not sufficient, and nearly half of the parents expressed unwillingness to vaccinate their children with EV71 vaccine. Our findings stress that more efforts by health authorities in Chongqing are needed to increase the acceptability of EV71 vaccine, especially among parents of preschool children with lower education level.

The enhanced photocatalytic properties of MnO2/g-C3N4 heterostructure for rapid sterilization under visible light

Herein, a heterostructure based on MnO₂ and g-C₃N₄ was constructed on the surface of metallic Ti implants, in which MnO₂ favored the transfer and separation of free charges to enhance the photoconversion efficiency of g-C₃N₄ by 21.11%. Consequently, the yield of ROS was promoted significantly, which denatured protein and damaged DNA to kill bacteria efficiently. In addition, glutathione (GSH, l-γ-glutamyl-l-cysteinyl-glycine) defending oxidative stress in bacteria, was oxidized by MnO₂ in the hybrid coating once the bacterial membrane was disrupted by ROS. Hence, after visible light irradiation for 20 min, MnO₂/g-C₃N₄ coating exhibited superior disinfection efficacy of 99.96% and 99.26% against S. aureus and E. coli severally. This work provided a practical sterilization strategy about MnO₂/g-C₃N₄ systems through the synergistic effects of enhanced photodynamic antibacterial therapy and oxidization effect of MnO₂ with great biosafety, in which MnO₂ enhanced the photocatalyst property of g-C₃N₄ to generate more ROS and deplete GSH to improve antibacterial efficiency. It will bring more insight into rapid and highly effective disinfection and antibacterial strategy without using traditional high-temperature, ultraviolet ray and antibiotics that cause side-effects.

Highly Effective and Noninvasive Near-Infrared Eradication of a Staphylococcus aureus Biofilm on Implants by a Photoresponsive Coating within 20 Min

Biofilms have been related to the persistence of infections on medical implants, and these cannot be eradicated because of the resistance of biofilm structures. Therefore, a biocompatible phototherapeutic system is developed composed of MoS2, IR780 photosensitizer, and arginine-glycine-aspartic acid-cysteine (RGDC) to safely eradicate biofilms on titanium implants within 20 min. The magnetron-sputtered MoS2 film possesses excellent photothermal properties, and IR780 can produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) with the irradiation of near-infrared (NIR, λ = 700-1100 nm) light. Consequently, the combination of photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT), assisted by glutathione oxidation accelerated by NIR light, can provide synergistic and rapid killing of bacteria, i.e., 98.99 ± 0.42% eradication ratio against a Staphylococcus aureus biofilm in vivo within 20 min, which is much greater than that of PTT or PDT alone. With the assistance of ROS, the permeability of damaged bacterial membranes increases, and the damaged bacterial membranes become more sensitive to heat, thus accelerating the leakage of proteins from the bacteria. In addition, RGDC can provide excellent biosafety and osteoconductivity, which is confirmed by in vivo animal experiments.

Forecasting influenza activity using self-adaptive AI model and multi-source data in Chongqing, China

Background

Early detection of influenza activity followed by timely response is a critical component of preparedness for seasonal influenza epidemic and influenza pandemic. However, most relevant studies were conducted at the regional or national level with regular seasonal influenza trends. There are few feasible strategies to forecast influenza activity at the local level with irregular trends.

Methods

Multi-source electronic data, including historical percentage of influenza-like illness (ILI%), weather data, Baidu search index and Sina Weibo data of Chongqing, China, were collected and integrated into an innovative Self-adaptive AI Model (SAAIM), which was constructed by integrating Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average model and XGBoost model using a self-adaptive weight adjustment mechanism. SAAIM was applied to ILI% forecast in Chongqing from 2017 to 2018, of which the performance was compared with three previously available models on forecasting.

Findings

ILI% showed an irregular seasonal trend from 2012 to 2018 in Chongqing. Compared with three reference models, SAAIM achieved the best performance on forecasting ILI% of Chongqing with the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 11·9%, 7·5%, and 11·9% during the periods of the year 2014–2016, 2017, and 2018 respectively. Among the three categories of source data, historical influenza activity contributed the most to the forecast accuracy by decreasing the MAPE by 19·6%, 43·1%, and 11·1%, followed by weather information (MAPE reduced by 3·3%, 17·1%, and 2·2%), and Internet-related public sentiment data (MAPE reduced by 1·1%, 0·9%, and 1·3%).

Interpretation

Accurate influenza forecast in areas with irregular seasonal influenza trends can be made by SAAIM with multi-source electronic data.

[The relationship between inflammatory markers and the risk of lung cancer: a prospective cohort study]

Objective: To investigate whether elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and neutrophil (NE) in the blood is associated with an increased risk of lung cancer incidence. Methods: From 2006 to 2007, all employees and retirees from Kailuan (Group) Limited liability Corporation were included in this Kailuan Cohort study. The last follow-up date was December 2015. Data on new cases of lung cancer were collected, and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to the relationship between baseline CRP and NE at baseline and risk of lung cancer. Results: A total of 92 735 participants were enrolled in this study. During the follow-up, 850 new cases of lung cancer were identified. All subjects were divided into four groups according to the combination level of CRP and NE at baseline: CRP≤3 mg/L and NE≤4×10(9)/L(Group A), CRP≤3 mg/L and NE>4×10(9)/L(Group B), CRP>3 mg/L and NE≤4×10(9)/L(Group C), CRP>3 mg/L and NE>4×10(9)/L(Group D). The cumulative incidence of lung cancer were 950/100 000, 1 030/100 000, 1 081/100 000 and 1 596/100 000 in these four groups, respectively (P<0.001). Multivariate Cox proportional risk model showed that participants from Group D had an significantly increased 72% risks of lung cancer when compared to Group A (95% CI: 1.40~2.12, P<0.001). Stratified analyses gender showed that males in Group D had higher risk of lung cancer when compared with participants in Group A (HR=1.73, 95% CI: 1.40~2.15, P<0.001). Conclusion: Elevated levels of CRP and NE might increase the risk of lung cancer.

Corporate dispersion and tax avoidance

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of corporate dispersion on tax avoidance from geographical and institutional dispersion perspectives by using evidence from China.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a panel data of Chinese listed firms during 2003-2015, this paper estimates with correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis.

Findings

Both geographical and institutional dispersion are negatively associated with the degree of corporate tax avoidance. Furthermore, corporate governance mechanisms and female chief executive officers can mitigate the negative relation between corporate dispersion and tax avoidance. The results also indicate that ineffective internal control is one of the channels through which corporate dispersion reduces tax avoidance.

Originality/value

This is the first paper about the impact of firm dispersion on the degree of tax avoidance, complementing the research content of diversification and corporate decision-making.

Rapid and Highly Effective Noninvasive Disinfection by Hybrid Ag/CS@MnO2 Nanosheets Using Near-Infrared Light

A bacterial infection on the surface of medical apparatus and instruments as well as artificial implants is threatening human health greatly. Antibiotics and traditional bacterial-killing agents, even silver nanoparticles, can induce bacterial resistance during long-term interaction with bacteria. Hence, rapid surface sterilization and prevention of bacterial infection in the long term are urgent for biomedical devices, especially for artificial implant materials. Herein, a hybridized chitosan (CS), silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), and MnO₂ nanosheets coating was designed on the surface of titanium plates, which can ensure the implants a rapid and highly effective antibacterial efficacy of 99.00% against Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus) and 99.25% against Escherichia coli ( E. coli) within 20 min of 808 nm near-infrared light (NIR) irradiation. The exogenous NIR irradiation can trigger the MnO₂ nanosheets to produce enough hyperthermia within 10 min, which can combine with a low concentration of prereleased Ag⁺ from the coating to achieve superior antimicrobial efficacy through synergistic effects. In contrast, either prereleased Ag ions or a photothermal effect alone can achieve much lower antibacterial efficiency under the same concentration, i.e., 24.00% and 30.01% for the former and 30.00% and 42.54% for the later toward S. aureus and E. coli, respectively. The possible cytotoxicity of coatings could be eliminated owing to the low concentration of AgNPs and chitosan encapsulation. Thus, the novel bifunctional coating Ag/CS@MnO₂ can exhibit great potential in deep site disinfection of Ti implants through the synergy of prereleased Ag ions and a photothermal effect within a short time.

Influenza A(H7N9) virus emerged and resulted in human infections in Chongqing, southwestern China since 2017

OBJECTIVES

Influenza A(H7N9) virus has emerged and resulted in human infections in Chongqing, southwestern China since 2017. This study aimed to describe the epidemiological characteristics of the first epidemic in this region.

METHODS

The epidemiological data of patients were collected. Live poultry markets (LPMs), commercial poultry farms (CPFs) and backyard poultry farms (BPFs) were monitored, and poultry sources were registered. Samples derived from the patients, their close contacts, and the environments were tested for influenza A(H7N9) virus by real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Genetic sequencing and phylogenetic analysis were also conducted.

RESULTS

Since the confirmation of the first patient infected with influenza A(H7N9) virus on March 5, 2017, nine patients had been identified within four months in Chongqing. Their mean age was 45 years, 77.8% were male, 66.7% were urban residents and 55.6% were of poultry related occupation. All patients became infected after exposure to live chickens. The median time interval from initial detection of influenza A(H7N9) virus in Chongqing to the patients' onset was 75 days. Since initial detection in February 2017, influenza A(H7N9) virus was detected in 21 (53.8%) counties within four months. The proportion of positive samples was 2.94% (337/11,451) from February 2017 to May 2018, and was higher (χ²=75.78, P<0.001) in LPMs (3.66%, 329/8979) than that in CPFs (0.41%, 5/1229) and BPFs (0.24%, 3/1243). The proportion of positive samples (34.4%, 22/64) at the premises to which the patients were exposed was significantly higher than that (5.7%, 257/4474) in premises with no patients. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the viruses isolated in Chongqing belonged to the Yangtze River Delta lineage and resembled those circulated in Jiangsu and Anhui provinces between late 2016 and early 2017.

CONCLUSION

Influenza A(H7N9) virus was newly introduced into Chongqing most likely between late 2016 and early 2017, which swept across half of Chongqing territory and resulted in human infections within months. The most impacted premises and population were LPMs and poultry related workers respectively in the epidemic.

Enhancing Capacitance of Nickel Cobalt Chalcogenide via Interface Structural Design

Spinel NiCo₂X₄ (X = O or S), comprising two geometrical cobalt ions, Co²⁺ in the tetrahedral site (Co²⁺_Td) and Co³⁺ in the octahedral site (Co³⁺_Oh), has been widely evaluated as a promising pseudocapacitor electrode material. Previous literature mainly demonstrated that much higher specific capacitance of NiCo₂S₄ than that of NiCo₂O₄ was ascribed to the higher electronic conductivity. However, we argue that only a small amount of capacitance can be induced by the electronic conductivity, while the significance of electrochemical active species in these system has long been ignored. Here, we propose that geometrical-site-dependent pseudocapacitive activity will generate enhanced specific capacitance through the interface structural design. It reveals that specific capacitance of NiCo₂S₄ (1862 F g^-1 at 4 A g^-1) is 50% higher than that of NiCo₂O₄ (1230 F g^-1 at 4 A g^-1), which is derived from the designed increase of Co²⁺_Td ions (cobalt ions in the tetrahedral site) in NiCo₂S₄. These results have significant implications for the design and optimization of the electrochemical properties of transition-metal-based pseudocapacitors.