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Background: Soy 11S globulin has high thermal stability, limiting its application in the production of low-temperature gel foods. In this study, the low-frequency magnetic field (LF-MF, 5 mT) treatment (time, 30, 60, 90, and 120 min) was used to improve the solubility, conformation, physicochemical properties, surface characteristics, and gel properties of soy 11S globulin., Results: Compared with the native soy 11S globulin, the sulfhydryl content, emulsifying capacity, gel strength, water-holding capacity, and absolute zeta potential values significantly increased (P < 0.05) after LF-MF treatment. The LF-MF treatment induced the unfolding of the protein structure and the fracture of disulfide bonds. The variations in solubility, foaming properties, viscosity, surface hydrophobicity, and rheological properties were closely related to the conformational changes of soy 11S globulin, with the optimum LF-MF modification time being 90 min., Conclusion: LF-MF treatment is an effective method to improve various functional properties of native soy 11S globulin, and this study provides a reference for the development of plant-based proteins in the food industry. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.)

This study assessed the relationship between daily life changes and mental health in Korean adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data from middle and high school students who responded to the relevant survey items the 2021 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey were analyzed (n = 53,868). The survey assessed changes in economic status, physical activity, skipping breakfast, drinking, smoking, and mental health, including stress, depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and suicidal ideation, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The overall prevalence of perceived stress, depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and suicidal ideation was 38.6%, 26.4%, 12.2%, and 12.4%. Adolescents whose economic status worsened due to COVID-19 had a higher risk of perceived stress, depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and suicidal ideation. Changes in physical activity and breakfast consumption due to the COVID-19 pandemic were significantly associated with increases in perceived stress, depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and suicidal ideation. Adolescents who increased their alcohol consumption had the highest risk of perceived stress, depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and suicidal ideation. Changes in economic status and health behaviors caused by the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative effect on the mental health of Korean adolescents. These results can be used to identify adolescents at high risk of developing mental health problems., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background/objectives: Given that adolescents watch Mukbang (eating broadcast) more frequently than other age groups, interest in the potential health effects of watching Mukbang and Cookbang (cooking broadcast) is growing. This study aimed to determine the status of watching Mukbang and Cookbang among Korean adolescents and its relationship with their dietary behaviors., Subjects/methods: We used data from the 18th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey, conducted in 2022 (n = 51,850). The study included the frequency of watching Mukbang and Cookbang and the self-rated impact of watching them. Dietary behaviors included consumption of the following items: fruits (≥ once a day), vegetables (≥ 3 times a day), fast foods (≥ 3 times a week), late-night snacks (≥ 3 times a week), caffeinated drinks (≥ 3 times a week), and sweet-flavored drinks (≥ 3 times a week). Furthermore, obesity, weight loss attempts during the past 30 days, body image distortion, and inappropriate methods to control weight were also included., Results: Among adolescents, 70.6% watched Mukbang and Cookbang, and 13.2% watched them more than 5 times a week. Approximately 27.6% of the adolescents responded that they were influenced by watching Mukbang and Cookbang. Adolescents who frequently watched Mukbang and Cookbang consumed less vegetable and fruit; however, the likelihood of consuming fast food, late-night snacks, sugary drinks, and caffeinated drinks increased. In addition, they were more likely to attempt inappropriate weight-loss methods and become obese. Adolescents who responded that their eating habits were influenced by watching Mukbang and Cookbang were more likely to have unhealthy eating behavior compared to the group who responded that their habits were not influenced by these shows., Conclusion: Watching Mukbang and Cookbang is common among Korean adolescents and is associated with unhealthy dietary behaviors. Prospective studies, including broadcasting content, should evaluate the impact of Mukbang and Cookbang on health., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no potential conflicts of interests., (©2024 The Korean Nutrition Society and the Korean Society of Community Nutrition.)

Using data from the 2022 Korea Community Health Survey (n = 13 320), this study investigated helmet use and related factors among Korean adults using personal mobility devices, without distinguishing between private and hired users. Among mobility device users, 32.1% responded that they always wore a helmet. The proportion of helmet use was 35.2% among men, 25.8% among women, 29.2% among those aged 19-44 years, 42.3% among those aged 45-64 years and 26.6% among those aged 65 years or older. Furthermore, those who drank less frequently and were physically active were more likely to wear helmets. Moreover, people who always wore a seat belt when driving a car or sitting in the rear seat and people who always wore a helmet when riding a motorcycle were more likely to wear a helmet while using electric personal mobility devices. Approximately one-third of users always wore a helmet. The helmet-wearing rate was related to general characteristics such as gender and education level, and to safety behaviors such as wearing a seat belt when driving a car, sitting in the rear seat of a car, or when riding a motorcycle. In addition to considering personal characteristics investigated in this study, the helmet-wearing rate should be improved through policies or systems at the national or regional levels., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Rationale and Objectives: This study aims to predict intermediate to high-risk prostate cancer (PCa) prognosis based on 18-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose ( 18 F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) radiomics. Additionally, subgroup analysis will be performed on the androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) group and the metastatic PCa group., Materials and Methods: In the retrospective analysis of 104 intermediate to high-risk PCa patients who underwent 18 F-FDG PET/CT prior to treatment. The data set was divided into a training set (n = 72) and a testing set (n = 32). Two different PET/CT models were constructed using multivariate logistic regression with cross-validation: radiomics model A and an alternative ensemble learning-based model B. The superior model was then selected to develop a radiomics nomogram. Separate models were also developed for the ADT and metastatic PCa subgroups., Results: Model A, which integrates eight radiomics features showed excellent performance with an area under curve (AUC) of 0.844 in the training set and 0.804 in the testing set. The radiomics nomogram incorporating the radiomics score (radscore) from model A and the tumor-to-liver ratio (TLR) showed good prognostic accuracy in the testing set with an AUC of 0.827. In the subgroup analyses for endocrine therapy and metastatic cancer, the PET/CT radiomics model showed AUCs of 0.845 and 0.807 respectively, suggesting its potential effectiveness., Conclusion: The study establishes the utility of the 18 F-FDG PET/CT radiomics nomogram in predicting the prognosis of intermediate to high-risk PCa patients, indicating its potential for clinical application., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Shen Pan reports financial support was provided by the 345 Talent plan of Shengjing Hospital (Grant No. M1357). Bitian Liu reports financial support was provided by the 345 Talent plan of Shengjing Hospital (Grant No. M1358). Bitian Liu reports financial support was provided by the Applied Basic Research Foundation of Liaoning Province. Shen Pan reports financial support was provided by the Science and technology plan joint project of Liaoning province. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, clinical nurses in hospitals in South Korea were exposed to extreme stress, and many continue to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study explores the factors influencing PTSD among hospital clinical nurses during COVID-19. In total, 121 hospital clinical nurses participated in 2022, providing demographic information and completing surveys designed to measure PTSD, resilience, social support, professional pride in nursing (PPN), and variables related to COVID-19. We observed statistically significantly higher levels of resilience (91.48 vs. 70.00), social support (47.37 vs. 35.41), and PPN (88.36 vs. 68.06) in the low-risk PTSD group compared with the high-risk PTSD group. Resilience was associated with a reduced risk of PTSD (OR, 0.91; 95% CI = 0.84-0.98). The subfactors of control (OR = 0.60; 95% CI = 0.43-0.86) and sociability (OR = 0.68; 95% CI = 0.44-0.97) decreased PTSD risk. Among the social support subfactors, family support had an OR of 0.47 (95% CI = 0.26-0.86) for reducing PTSD risk. Programs involving family participation that enhance resilience and provide psychological support can help hospital nurses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic manage their PTSD. Our findings serve as foundational data to develop interventions on psychological well-being for nurses dealing with new infectious diseases.

Objectives: This study compared the scientific publication speeds of Korean medical journals before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) era., Methods: We analyzed 2,064 papers from 43 international Korean medical journals, selecting 12 papers annually from 2019 to 2022. We assessed publication speed indicators, including the time from submission to revision and from submission to publication. Additionally, we examined variations in publication speed based on journal and paper characteristics, including whether the studies were related to COVID-19., Results: Among the 43 journals analyzed, 39.5% disclosed the peer review duration from submission to the first decision, and 11.6% reported their acceptance rates. The average time from submission to acceptance was 127.0 days in 2019, 126.1 days in 2020, 124.6 days in 2021, and 126.4 days in 2022. For COVID-19-related studies, the average time from submission to revision was 61.4 days, compared to 105.1 days for non-COVID-19 studies; from submission to acceptance, it was 87.4 days for COVID-19-related studies and 127.1 days for non-COVID-19 studies. All indicators for COVID-19-related studies showed shorter durations than those for non-COVID-19 studies, and the proportion of studies accepted within 30 or 60 days was significantly higher for COVID-19-related studies., Conclusions: This study investigated the publication speed of Korean international medical journals before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic influenced journals' review and publication processes, potentially impacting the quality of academic papers. These findings provide insights into publication speeds during the COVID-19 era, suggesting that journals should focus on maintaining the integrity of their publication and review processes.

Purpose: This study investigated the relationship between near work hours and myopia in Korean adults., Methods: We used data from the 2021 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Associations between near work time, physical activity, and myopia were assessed using chi-square tests and multiple logistic regression analyses., Results: The overall prevalence of myopia was 60.2% in adults aged 19-59 years. The prevalence of myopia was 46.2% for individuals who used smart devices for less than one hour per day, while it was 68.0% for those who used smart devices for more than four hours. In the multiple logistic regression analysis, the odds ratio (OR) for myopia was significantly higher among individuals using smart devices for 3 hours (OR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.08-2.23) or more than 4 hours (OR = 1.75, 95% CI = 1.27-2.42), compared to users with less than 1 hour of usage. Regarding sitting time, the OR for myopia was significantly higher in individuals who sat for more than 12 hours (OR = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.05-2.61) compared to those who sat less than 4 hours., Conclusion: This study found that near work and sitting times were positively associated with myopia. Given the high prevalence of myopia and its implications for serious eye diseases, it is essential to implement measures to manage myopia. Considering the increased near work hours resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is necessary to adopt supplementary measures, such as ensuring sufficient rest time for the eyes and adjusting the brightness of lights, to improve eye health.

Objective: The daily lives of adolescents have changed significantly because of COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated the effects of changes in daily life attributed to COVID-19 on allergic diseases among Korean adolescents., Methods: Data from the 2021 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey were used. In total, 54,848 survey participants were included in the analysis. Allergic diseases included allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, and asthma. Changes attributed to COVID-19 included family economic difficulties, physical activity, breakfast skipping frequency, alcohol consumption, smoking, and depressive moods. Chi-square tests and multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the impact of changes in daily life attributed to COVID-19 on allergic diseases., Results: Among the Korean adolescents surveyed, 29.8% experienced a deterioration in their economic status due to COVID-19, 49.1% reported decreased physical activity, 2.8% reported increased alcohol consumption, 1.0% reported an increase in their smoking behavior, and 36.9% reported an increase in depressive moods. Those diagnosed with atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, or asthma within the previous 12 months accounted for 17.1%, 6.2%, and 1.0% of the population, respectively. Adolescents who were significantly affected by COVID-19 in their daily lives were frequently diagnosed with allergic diseases within the last 12 months., Conclusion: Changes in daily life due to COVID-19, including decreased physical activity and increased depressive mood, were common in adolescents and were associated with an increased prevalence of allergic diseases. Since changes in daily life due to the pandemic may increase the burden of allergic disease, additional interventions for disease management should be considered.

Bioelectrochemical technologies based on electroactive biofilms (EAB) are promising for petroleum hydrocarbons (PHs) remediation as anode can serve as inexhaustible electron acceptor. However, the toxicity of PHs might inhibit the formation and function of EABs. Quorum sensing (QS) is ideal for boosting the performance of EABs, but its potential effects on reshaping microbial composition of EABs in treating PHs are poorly understood. Herein, two AHL signals, C4-HSL and C12-HSL, were employed to promote EABs for PHs degradation. The start-times of AHL-mediated EABs decreased by 18-26%, and maximum current densities increased by 28-63%. Meanwhile, the removal of total PHs increased to over 90%. AHLs facilitate thicker and more compact biofilm as well as higher viability. AHLs enhanced the electroactivity and direct electron transfer capability. The total abundance of PH-degrading bacteria increased from 52.05% to 75.33% and 72.02%, and the proportion of electroactive bacteria increased from 26.14% to 62.72% and 63.30% for MFC-C4 and MFC-C12. Microbial networks became more complex, aggregated, and stable with addition of AHLs. Furthermore, AHL-stimulated EABs showed higher abundance of genes related to PHs degradation. This work advanced our understanding of AHL-mediated QS in maintaining the stable function of microbial communities in the biodegradation process of petroleum hydrocarbons., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

To study the impact of ultrasonic duration (0, 30, and 60 min) and sodium bicarbonate concentration (0% and 0.2%) on the gel properties of reduced-salt pork myofibrillar protein, the changes in cooking yield, colour, water retention, texture properties, and dynamic rheology were investigated. The findings revealed that added sodium bicarbonate significantly increased (P < 0.05) cooking yield, hardness, springiness, and strength of myofibrillar protein while reducing centrifugal loss. Furthermore, the incorporation of sodium bicarbonate led to a significant decrease in L ⁎ , a ⁎ , b ⁎ , and white values of cooked myofibrillar protein; these effects were further amplified with increasing ultrasonic duration (P < 0.05). Additionally, storage modulus (G') significantly increased for myofibrillar protein treated with ultrasonic-assisted sodium bicarbonate treatment resulting in a more compact gel structure post-cooking. In summary, the results demonstrated that ultrasonic-assisted sodium bicarbonate treatment could enhance the tightness of reduced-salt myofibrillar protein gel structure while improving the water retention and texture properties., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors (Zhong-Wei Wu, Xue-Yan Shang, Qin Hou, Jing-Guo Xu, Zhuang-Li Kang, Han-Jun Ma) declare that there are no financial interests or personal relationships that will influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Among 369 diseases and injuries, the years lived with disability (YLDs) and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) rates for severe mental illnesses (SMIs) are within the top 20 %. Research on risk and protective factors for SMIs is critically important, as acting on modifiable factors may reduce their incidence or postpone their onset, while early detection of new cases enables prompt treatment and improves prognosis. However, as most of the studies on these factors are from Western countries, the findings are not generalizable across ethnic groups. This led us to conduct a systematic review of the risk and protective factors for SMIs identified in Asian studies. There were common factors in Asian and Western studies and unique factors in Asian studies. In-depth knowledge of these factors could help reduce disability, and the economic and emotional burden of SMIs. We hope that this review will inform future research and policy-making on mental health in Asian countries., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest, (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: This study assessed the relationship between the progression of Parkinson's disease (PD) with cognitive impairment and changes in serum uric acid (UA) and homocysteine (Hcy) concentrations and explored the factors influencing PD with cognitive impairment., Methods: The study randomly selected 74 patients with PD and evaluated their cognitive function using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MoCA). Patients with PD were divided into two subgroups: those with and without cognitive impairment. PD severity was evaluated and graded using the Hoehn and Yahr (H-Y) scale. Another 60 middle-aged and older individuals without PD during the same period were selected as a control group. Blood UA and Hcy concentrations in each group were measured to assess the relationship between PD, cognitive impairment, and changes in UA and Hcy concentrations., Results: The PD group with cognitive impairment had a lower UA concentration and higher Hcy concentration. The UA concentration was significantly higher in the early PD stages than in the middle and late stages ( P <0.05). A significant negative relationship between MoCA scores and serum UA levels was found in patients with PD, whereas a positive relationship existed between MoCA scores and serum Hcy concentrations. Regression analysis showed that a higher UA concentration was an independent protective factor for PD with cognitive impairment, while a higher Hcy concentration was a risk factor ( P <0.05). A serum UA concentration of 212.9 mmol/L and Hcy concentration of 13.35 mmol/L could distinguish between patients with PD with or without cognitive impairment with a sensitivity of 93.2% and specificity of 43.3%., Conclusion: PD and cognitive impairment were associated with a decrease in UA concentration; the later the H-Y stage was, the lower the UA concentration was. The increase in Hcy concentration was related to PD and its cognitive impairment, whereas it is not significantly correlated with PD progression., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Zhai, Yu, Ma, Liu and Zhong.)

Abstract: First-generation Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, ibrutinib, has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular toxicities. Zanubrutinib is a more selective, next-generation BTK inhibitor. In this analysis, incidence rates of atrial fibrillation, symptomatic (grade ≥2) ventricular arrhythmia, and hypertension were evaluated in a pooled analysis of 10 clinical studies with zanubrutinib monotherapy in patients (N = 1550) with B-cell malignancies and a pooled analysis of head-to-head studies comparing zanubrutinib with ibrutinib (ASPEN cohort 1; ALPINE). Among the 10 studies, most patients (median age, 67 years) were male (66.3%) and had CLL/SLL (60.5%). Overall incidence and exposure-adjusted incidence rates (EAIR) for atrial fibrillation, symptomatic ventricular arrhythmia, and hypertension were lower with zanubrutinib than ibrutinib. Despite a similar prevalence of preexisting cardiovascular events in ASPEN and ALPINE, atrial fibrillation/flutter incidence rates (6.1% vs 15.6%) and EAIR (0.2 vs 0.64 persons per 100 person-months; P < .0001) were lower with zanubrutinib than with ibrutinib. Symptomatic ventricular arrhythmia incidence was low for both zanubrutinib (0.7%) and ibrutinib (1.7%) with numerically lower EAIR (0.02 vs 0.06 persons per 100 person-months, respectively) for zanubrutinib. The hypertension EAIR was lower with zanubrutinib than ibrutinib in ASPEN but similar between treatment arms in ALPINE. The higher hypertension EAIR in ALPINE was inconsistent with other zanubrutinib studies. However, fewer discontinuations (1 vs 14) and deaths (0 vs 6) due to cardiac disorders occurred with zanubrutinib versus ibrutinib in ALPINE. These data support zanubrutinib as a treatment option with improved cardiovascular tolerability compared with ibrutinib for patients with B-cell malignancies in need of BTK inhibitors. These trials were registered at www.ClinicalTrials.gov as # NCT03053440, NCT03336333, NCT03734016, NCT04170283, NCT03206918, NCT03206970, NCT03332173, NCT03846427, NCT02343120, and NCT03189524., (© 2024 by The American Society of Hematology. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), permitting only noncommercial, nonderivative use with attribution. All other rights reserved.)

As behavioural science is increasingly adopted by organizations, there is a growing need to assess the robustness and transferability of empirical findings. Here, we investigate the transferability of insights from various sources of behavioural science knowledge to field settings. Across three pre-registered randomized controlled trials (RCTs, N = 314,824) involving a critical policy domain-COVID-19 booster uptake-we field tested text-based interventions that either increased vaccinations in prior field work (RCT1, NCT05586204), elevated vaccination intentions in an online study (RCT2, NCT05586178) or were favoured by scientists and non-experts (RCT3, NCT05586165). Despite repeated exposure to COVID-19 vaccination messaging in our population, reminders and psychological ownership language increased booster uptake, replicating prior findings. However, strategies deemed effective by prediction or intention surveys, such as encouraging the bundling of COVID-19 boosters and flu shots or addressing misconceptions, yielded no detectable benefits over simple reminders. These findings underscore the importance of testing interventions' transferability to real-world settings., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Introduction: Whether 10-day short-course vonoprazan-amoxicillin dual therapy (VA-dual) is noninferior to the standard 14-day bismuth-based quadruple therapy (B-quadruple) against Helicobacter pylori eradication has not been determined. This trial aimed to compare the eradication rate, adverse events, and compliance of 10-day VA-dual regimen with standard 14-day B-quadruple regimen as first-line H. pylori treatment., Methods: This prospective randomized clinical trial was performed at 3 institutions in eastern China. A total of 314 treatment-naive, H. pylori -infected patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either 10-day VA-dual group or 14-day B-quadruple group. Eradication success was determined by 13 C-urea breath test at least 4 weeks after treatment. Eradication rates, adverse events, and compliance were compared between groups., Results: Eradication rates of VA-dual and B-quadruple groups were 86.0% and 89.2% ( P = 0.389), respectively, by intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis; 88.2% and 91.5% ( P = 0.338), respectively, by modified ITT analysis; and 90.8% and 91.3% ( P = 0.884), respectively, by per-protocol (PP) analysis. The efficacy of the VA-dual remained noninferior to B-quadruple therapy in all ITT, modified ITT, and PP analyses. The incidence of adverse events in the VA-dual group was significantly lower compared with that in the B-quadruple group ( P < 0.001). Poor compliance contributed to eradication failure in the VA-dual group ( P < 0.001), while not in the B-quadruple group ( P = 0.110)., Discussion: The 10-day VA-dual therapy provided satisfactory eradication rates of >90% (PP analysis) and lower rates of adverse events compared with standard 14-day B-quadruple therapy as first-line H. pylori therapy., Trail Registration Number: ChiCTR2300070100., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of The American College of Gastroenterology.)

Introduction: Ixekizumab, a monoclonal antibody against interleukin-17A, demonstrated effectiveness in the treatment of psoriasis in a Chinese real-world study that was consistent with previous randomized controlled trials. Here, we report further analyses from this study to explore the effectiveness of ixekizumab for treating patients with psoriasis and the involvement of special body areas (scalp, nail, joint, palmoplantar, or genital areas)., Methods: A multicenter, prospective, observational, single-arm, post-marketing surveillance study was conducted in patients aged ≥ 18 years with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis and prescribed with ixekizumab in 26 Chinese hospitals. Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) scores were compared between patients with versus without psoriasis in special body areas in the overall study population and across subgroups by body area., Results: In total, 612 patients were included. At baseline, most patients (93.6%) had psoriasis involvement in at least one special body area. Overall, patients with psoriasis in special body areas reported a worse quality of life (QoL) than those without. Patients with versus without psoriasis in special body areas achieved a comparable mean reduction from baseline in PASI score (10.9 vs. 9.2 at week 2, and 16.9 vs. 14.7 at week 12, respectively) and DLQI score (6.0 vs. 4.4 at week 2, and 9.9 vs. 7.5 at week 12, respectively); a similar proportion of patients also achieved PASI 50 at week 2, and PASI 75 and PASI 90 at week 12, and a DLQI (0/1) at weeks 2 and 12. Several significantly different results were reported between subgroups, the majority of which favored patients with special body area involvement., Conclusion: Most patients had psoriasis involvement in a special body area which was associated with worse QoL. Ixekizumab is similarly effective in reducing disease severity and improving QoL in patients with plaque psoriasis across different special body areas., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objectives: The population attributable fraction (PAF), an epidemiologic measure of exposures and health outcomes, can provide information on the public health impacts of exposures in populations. This study aimed to systematically summarize the PAF estimates of modifiable cancer risk factors in Korea., Methods: This review included studies that determined PAFs of modifiable risk factors for cancer in Korea. We performed systematic searches in EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane library, and Korean databases for studies published up to July 2021. Two reviewers independently screened studies for eligibility, extracted data, and performed quality assessments of the included studies. Due to high variability among the data acquisition methods and PAF estimates, we presented the results qualitatively and did not perform quantitative data synthesis., Results: We reviewed 16 studies that reported the PAFs of risk factors for cancer, including smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, and various cancer sites. We found considerable variability in the PAF estimates across exposure and cancer pairs. However, PAF estimates for smoking and respiratory cancer were consistently high in men. PAF estimates were higher in men than in women for smoking and alcohol consumption but higher in women for obesity. We found limited evidence for other exposures and cancers., Conclusion: Our findings may be used to prioritize and plan strategies to reduce cancer burden. We encourage further and updated assessments of cancer risk factors, including those not addressed in the studies included in this review, and their potential contributions to cancer burden to better inform strategies for cancer control., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) often overlaps with the clinical manifestations and chest imaging manifestations of other types of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). We retrospectively analyzed the clinical and imaging data of a group of patients with CAP, summarized their clinical and imaging characteristics, and discussed the diagnostic significance of their certain HRCT findings. The HRCT findings of CAP researched in our study included tree-in-bud sign (TIB), ground-glass opacity (GGO), tree fog sign (TIB + GGO), bronchial wall thickening, air-bronchogram, pleural effusion and cavity. The HRCT findings of all cases were analyzed. Among the 200 cases of MPP, 174 cases showed the TIB, 193 showed the GGO, 175 showed the tree fog sign, 181 lacked air-bronchogram. In case taking the tree fog sign and lack of air-bronchogram simultaneously as an index to distinguish MPP from OCAP, the sensitivity was 87.5%, the specificity was 97.5%, the accuracy was 92.5%. This study showed that that specific HRCT findings could be used to distinguish MPP from OCAP. The combined HRCT findings including the tree fog sign and lacked air-bronchogram simultaneously would contribute to a more accurate diagnosis of MPP., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: adequate bowel preparation is related to the quality of colonoscopy. Dried lemon slices can increase gastrointestinal peristalsis, which has shown potential as an adjuvant of bowel preparation. We hypothesized that the combination of dried lemon slices and polyethylene glycol (PEG) could improve the efficacy of bowel preparation and be more acceptable to participants., Aim: to investigate the effectiveness of lemon slices combined with PEG for colonoscopy preparation., Methods: a prospective, single-center, randomized, controlled trial was performed of 521 patients randomly assigned to two groups. A total of 254 patients were given lemon slices based on conventional 4-L PEG treatment for the bowel, while 267 patients received only 4-L PEG treatment. Patients' basic information, procedure-related parameters, adverse effects, and subjective feelings were collected by questionnaires. Intestinal tract cleanliness was scored according to the Boston Bowel Preparation Scale (BBPS) by experienced endoscopists. Data were analyzed by the two-sample t-test or the Chi-squared test., Results: the BBPS scores were significantly higher in the PEG + lemon slice group (p < 0.05). The taste acceptability, satisfaction, and willingness to repeat bowel preparation were significantly higher in the PEG+ lemon slice group (p < 0.05). However, a larger proportion of patients from the PEG+ lemon slice group (30.7 %) suffered abdominal distension compared with the PEG group (20.6 %), while the incidence of other adverse effects was comparable between the two groups., Conclusion: the addition of dried lemon slices to conventional PEG showed its superiority for bowel preparation.

The International Paralympic Committee has been promoting the development of evidence-based classification to reduce the subjectivity in current decision-making systems. The current study aimed to evaluate the validity of the impairment and performance tests for para-alpine sit skiing classification, and whether cluster analysis of the measures would produce a valid classification structure. Thirty-eight para-alpine sit skiers with different disabilities completed seven tests. During these tests, isometric trunk strength, trunk muscle excitation, trunk range of movement (ROM), and simulated skiing performance (board tilt angle) were assessed. Correlations between the measures and the board tilt angle were calculated. To group athletes, K-means cluster analysis was performed according to how much the impairment measures affected the board tilting. There were significant correlations between all measures and the maximal board tilt angle (r = 0.35-0.81, p < 0.05). The cluster analysis revealed that the introduction of ROM and muscle excitation was an effective supplement to strength measures in improving the classification accuracy (53%-79%). It produced four clusters with strong structures (mean silhouette coefficient = 0.81) and large and significant inter-cluster differences in most measures and performance between clusters (p < 0.05). The cluster analysis produced classes comprising athletes with similar degrees of activity limitation. All tests reported can help establish a more transparent classification system for para-alpine sit skiers. This study also provides a reference for evidence-based classification systems in other Para sports., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objectives: This study was conducted to systematically summarize trends in research concerning patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as reported in Korean medical journals., Methods: We performed a literature search of KoreaMed from January 2020 to September 2022. We included only primary studies of patients with COVID-19. Two reviewers screened titles and abstracts, then performed full-text screening, both independently and in duplicate. We first identified the 5 journals with the greatest numbers of eligible publications, then extracted data pertaining to the general characteristics, study population attributes, and research features of papers published in these journals., Results: Our analysis encompassed 142 primary studies. Of these, approximately 41.0% reported a funding source, while 3.5% disclosed a conflict of interest. In 2020, 42.9% of studies included fewer than 10 participants; however, by 2022, the proportion of studies with over 200 participants had increased to 40.6%. The most common design was the cohort study (48.6%), followed by case reports/series (35.2%). Only 3 randomized controlled trials were identified. Studies most frequently focused on prognosis (58.5%), followed by therapy/intervention (20.4%). Regarding the type of intervention/exposure, therapeutic clinical interventions comprised 26.1%, while studies of morbidity accounted for 13.4%. As for the outcomes measured, 50.7% of studies assessed symptoms/clinical status/improvement, and 14.1% evaluated mortality., Conclusions: Employing a systematic approach, we examined the characteristics of research involving patients with COVID-19 that was published in Korean medical journals from 2020 onward. Subsequent research should assess not only publication trends over a longer timeframe but also the quality of evidence provided.

Introduction: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disease all over the world, and no drug is approved for the treatment of NAFLD. Bavachinin (BVC) is proven to possess liver-protecting effect against NAFLD, but its mechanism is still blurry., Objectives: With the use of Click Chemistry-Activity-Based Protein Profiling (CC-ABPP) technology, this study aims to identify the target of BVC, and investigate the mechanism by which BVC exerts its liver-protecting effect., Methods: The high fat diet induced hamster NAFLD model is introduced to investigate BVC's lipid-lowering and liver-protecting effects. Then, a small molecular probe ofBVC is designed and synthesized based on theCC-ABPP technology, and BVC's target is fished out. A series of experiments are performed to identify the target, including competitive inhibition assay, surface-plasmon resonance (SPR), cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA), drug affinity responsive target stability (DARTS) assay, and co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP). Afterward, the pro-regeneration effects of BVC are validated in vitro and in vivo through flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, and the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL)., Result: In the hamster NAFLD model, BVC shows lipid-lowing effect and improvement on the histology. PCNA is identified as the target of BVC with the method mentioned above, and BVC facilitates the interaction between PCNA and DNA polymerase delta. BVC promotes HepG2 cells proliferation which is inhibited by T2AA, an inhibitor suppresses the interaction between PCNA and DNA polymerase delta. In NAFLD hamsters, BVC enhances PCNA expression and liver regeneration, reduces hepatocyte apoptosis., Conclusion: This study suggests that, besides the anti-lipemic effect, BVC binds to the pocket of PCNA facilitating its interaction with DNA polymerase delta and pro-regeneration effect, thereby exerts the protective effect against HFD induced liver injury., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.)

Many emerging Internet of Things (IoT) applications deployed on cloud platforms have strict latency requirements or deadline constraints, and thus meeting the deadlines is crucial to ensure the quality of service for users and the revenue for service providers in these delay-stringent IoT applications. Efficient flow scheduling in data center networks (DCNs) plays a major role in reducing the execution time of jobs and has garnered significant attention in recent years. However, only few studies have attempted to combine job-level flow scheduling and routing to guarantee meeting the deadlines of multi-stage jobs. In this paper, an efficient heuristic joint flow scheduling and routing (JFSR) scheme is proposed. First, targeting maximizing the number of jobs for which the deadlines have been met, we formulate the joint flow scheduling and routing optimization problem for multiple multi-stage jobs. Second, due to its mathematical intractability, this problem is decomposed into two sub-problems: inter-coflow scheduling and intra-coflow scheduling. In the first sub-problem, coflows from different jobs are scheduled according to their relative remaining times; in the second sub-problem, an iterative coflow scheduling and routing (ICSR) algorithm is designed to alternately optimize the routing path and bandwidth allocation for each scheduled coflow. Finally, simulation results demonstrate that the proposed JFSR scheme can significantly increase the number of jobs for which the deadlines have been met in DCNs.

Aim: To describe barriers to implementation of diabetic retinopathy (DR) teleretinal screening programs and artificial intelligence (AI) integration at the University of California (UC). Methods: Institutional representatives from UC Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Irvine, and Davis were surveyed for the year of their program's initiation, active status at the time of survey (December 2021), number of primary care clinics involved, screening image quality, types of eye providers, image interpretation turnaround time, and billing codes used. Representatives were asked to rate perceptions toward barriers to teleretinal DR screening and AI implementation using a 5-point Likert scale. Results: Four UC campuses had active DR teleretinal screening programs at the time of survey and screened between 246 and 2,123 patients at 1-6 clinics per campus. Sites reported variation between poor-quality photos (<5% to 15%) and average image interpretation time (1-5 days). Patient education, resource availability, and infrastructural support were identified as barriers to DR teleretinal screening. Cost and integration into existing technology infrastructures were identified as barriers to AI integration in DR screening. Conclusions: Despite the potential to increase access to care, there remain several barriers to widespread implementation of DR teleretinal screening. More research is needed to develop best practices to overcome these barriers.

Satellite vegetation index (VI) products, such as normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and enhanced vegetation index (EVI), have been widely used. However, they are severely contaminated by clouds and other factors and provide false signals of the surface vegetation conditions. In this study, the new global seamless 250 m, eight-day NDVI and EVI products from 2000-2021 were developed from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) surface reflectance data using a long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network method. High-quality globally representative time series VI samples were constructed to train the model using a combination of the Savitzky-Golay filter (SG), Global LAnd Surface Satellite (GLASS) leaf area index (LAI) fitting and upper envelope methods. To evaluate the proposed method and the 250 m VI products, the MODIS VI product (MOD13Q1) was used for the inter-comparisons using four widely used VI reconstruction methods. Assuming that the MODIS VI data of high quality represents the true values, the root mean square error (RMSE) for NDVI and EVI generated by the LSTM model are 0.0734 and 0.0509, respectively., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Impacts of Mn alloying on lattice stabilities, magnetic properties, electronic structures of the bcc and fcc phases and the fcc→bcc phase transition in Fe16-xMnx (x = 0, 1 and 2) alloys are studied by first-principles calculations. Results show that the doped Mn atom prefers ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interaction with the host Fe atoms in the bcc and fcc phases, respectively. In these two phases, the magnetic moment of Mn is smaller and larger than Fe, respectively. The local moment of Fe is decided by the Fe-Mn distance in the bcc phase, whereas in the fcc phase, it is determined by spatial orientation with Mn. In the different phases, Mn prefers different site occupations, which can be understood from the electronic density of states near Fermi energy, implying a possibility of element redistribution during phase transition. The driving force of phase transition decreases with Mn alloying. Both destabilized bcc phase and stabilized fcc phase contribute to the inhibited phase transition, but the latter plays a dominant role. Antiferromagnetism is recognized as the key reason for the enhanced stability of the fcc phase by Mn alloying.

This study aimed to verify the relationship between the level of understanding of health information and health behaviors among Korean adults. In total, 228 984 adults who participated in the 2021 Korea Community Health Survey were included. Participants were divided into three groups according to age (19-44, 45-64 and 65+). The ability to understand verbal and written health information was included, and its association with health behaviors, including smoking, alcohol consumption and preventive health service uptake, was assessed. Associations between the ability to understand health information and health behaviors were analyzed using chi-squared tests and multiple logistic regression analyses. Approximately 22.7% and 20% of the participants responded that verbal and written health information were easy to understand, respectively, with significant differences by age group. Compared to those with easy-to-understand verbal health information, those with difficulty in understanding had a higher risk of current cigarette smoking and monthly drinking and were less likely to engage in more than moderate physical activity, walking, influenza vaccination in 1 year, cancer examination in 2 years and medical examination in 2 years. Difficulty in understanding or no interest in written health information was also associated with unhealthy behaviors. A strong ability to understand health information is related to positive health behaviors. However, there are differences in the associations by age group, which should be considered when establishing a health literacy improvement strategy. These findings could promote health literacy and ultimately contribute to helping individuals make better choices for positive health behaviors., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Electroactive biofilms (EABs) have aroused wide concern in waste treatment due to their unique capability of extracellular electron transfer with solid materials. The combined effect of different operating conditions on the formation, microbial architecture, composition, and metabolic activity of EABs is still unknown. In this study, the impact of three different factors (anode electrode, substrate concentration, and resistance) on the acclimation and performance of EABs was investigated. The results showed that the shortest start-up time of 127.3 h and highest power density of 0.84 W m -2 were obtained with carbon brush as electrode, low concentration of substrate (1.0 g L -1 ), and 1000 Ω external resistance (denoted as N1). The EABs under N1 condition also represented strongest redox capacity, lowest internal resistance, and close arrangement of bacteria. Moreover, the EABs cultured under different conditions both showed similar results, with direct electron transfer (DET) dominated from EABs to anode. Microbial community compositions indicated that EABs under N1 condition have lowest diversity and highest abundance of electroactive bacteria (46.68%). Higher substrate concentration (3.0 g L -1 ) promoted the proliferation of some other bacteria without electroactivity, which was adverse to EABs. The metabolic analysis showed the difference of genes related to electron transfer (cytochrome C and pili) and biofilm formation (xap) of EABs under different conditions, which further demonstrated the higher electroactivity of EABs under N1. These results provided a comprehensive understanding of the effect of different operating conditions on EABs including biofilm formation and electrochemical activity., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The presence of nearby conformal field theories (CFTs) hidden in the complex plane of the tuning parameter was recently proposed as an elegant explanation for the ubiquity of "weakly first-order" transitions in condensed matter and high-energy systems. In this work, we perform an exact microscopic study of such a complex CFT (CCFT) in the two-dimensional O(n) loop model. The well-known absence of symmetry-breaking of the O(n>2) model is understood as arising from the displacement of the nontrivial fixed points into the complex temperature plane. Thanks to a numerical finite-size study of the transfer matrix, we confirm the presence of a CCFT in the complex plane and extract the real and imaginary parts of the central charge and scaling dimensions. By comparing those with the analytic continuation of predictions from Coulomb gas techniques, we determine the range of validity of the analytic continuation to extend up to n&#95;{g}≈12.34, beyond which the CCFT gives way to a gapped state. Finally, we propose a beta function which reproduces the main features of the phase diagram and which suggests an interpretation of the CCFT as a liquid-gas critical point at the end of a first-order transition line.

Purpose: We evaluate the reporting of the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) approach to rating the certainty of evidence in systematic reviews published in the urological literature., Materials and Methods: Based on a predefined protocol, we identified all systematic reviews published in 5 major urological journals from 1998 to 2021 that reported the use of GRADE. Two authors performed study selection and data abstraction independently to assess reporting in accordance with established criteria for applying GRADE., Results: We included 68 of 522 (13.0%) systematic reviews that reported the use of GRADE; the first was published in 2009. Approximately half were published between 2009-2018 (n=36) and the other half between 2019-2021 (n=32). Oncology (24; 35.3%) was the most common clinical topic, and the authors were mostly based in Europe (34; 50%). In their abstract, less than half of all systematic reviews (32; 47.1%) provided any certainty of evidence rating. Only 41 (60.3%) included a tabular result summary in the format of a summary of findings table (24; 35.3%) or evidence profile (17; 25.0%). Few (35.3%) addressed the GRADE certainty of evidence rating in the discussion section. Reporting did not improve over time when comparing the 2 time periods., Conclusions: Whereas GRADE is increasingly being applied for rating the certainty of evidence, systematic reviews published in the urological literature frequently have not followed established criteria for applying or using GRADE. There is a need for better training of authors and editors, as well as for a GRADE reporting checklist for systematic review authors.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many cases of infection and deaths worldwide. Patients with cancer are a high-risk group for COVID-19-related death. However, a systematic summary of the prognostic factors related to mortality in these patients is limited. We systematically summarise the evidence on the prognostic factors of mortality in patients with pre-existing cancer, infected with COVID-19., Methods and Analysis: We will address the prognostic factors for mortality, including cohort studies of adult patients with cancer infected with COVID-19. We will search MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane Central Libraries for data from December 2019 to the present day. The prognostic factors for mortality include general, cancer-related and clinical characteristics. We will not limit the COVID-19 severity, cancer type and follow-up period of the included studies. Two reviewers will independently and in duplicate conduct reference screening, data abstraction and risk of bias assessment. We will perform a random-effect meta-analysis to calculate the pooled relative effect estimates for each prognostic factor of mortality. We will assess the risk of bias for each included study and rate the certainty of evidence using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. This study will provide information about high-risk groups for mortality in patients with cancer infected with COVID-19., Ethics and Dissemination: This study will use only the published references and would not need to obtain ethical approval. We will disseminate our study findings through a peer-reviewed journal., Prospero Registration Number: CRD42023390905., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Objectives: To systematically survey Cochrane reviews' approaches to calculating, presenting, and interpreting pooled estimates of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs)., Study Design and Setting: We retrospectively selected 200 Cochrane reviews that met the eligibility criteria. Two researchers independently extracted the pooled effect measures and approaches for pooling and interpreting the effect measures, reaching consensus through discussions., Results: When primary studies used the same PROM, Cochrane review authors most often used mean differences (MDs) (81.9%) for calculating the pooled effect measures; when primary studies used different PROMs, the review authors often applied standardized mean differences (SMDs) (54.3%). Although in most cases (80.1%) the review authors interpreted the importance of effect, they failed, in 48.5% of the pooled effect measures, to report criteria for categorizing the magnitude of effect. When authors interpreted the importance of the effect, for those with primary studies using the same PROM, they most often referred to the minimally important differences (MIDs) (75.0%); for those with primary studies using different PROMs, the approaches used varied., Conclusion: Cochrane review authors most often used MDs or SMDs for calculating and presenting the pooled effect measures of PROs but often failed to make explicit their criteria for categorizing the magnitude of effect., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background and Objectives: To assess the effects of fosfomycin compared with other antibiotics as a prophylaxis for urinary tract infections (UTIs) in men undergoing transrectal prostate biopsies. Materials and Methods: We searched multiple databases and trial registries without publication language or status restrictions until 4 January 2022. Parallel-group randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-randomized studies (NRS) were included. The primary outcomes were febrile UTI, afebrile UTI, and overall UTI. We used GRADE guidance to rate the certainty of evidence of RCTs and NRSs. The protocol was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42022302743). Results: We found data on five comparisons; however, this abstract focuses on the primary outcomes of the two most clinically relevant comparisons. Regarding fosfomycin versus fluoroquinolone, five RCTs and four NRSs with a one-month follow-up were included. Based on the RCT evidence, fosfomycin likely resulted in little to no difference in febrile UTIs compared with fluoroquinolone. This difference corresponded to four fewer febrile UTIs per 1000 patients. Fosfomycin likely resulted in little to no difference in afebrile UTIs compared with fluoroquinolone. This difference corresponded to 29 fewer afebrile UTIs per 1000 patients. Fosfomycin likely resulted in little to no difference in overall UTIs compared with fluoroquinolone. This difference corresponded to 35 fewer overall UTIs per 1000 patients. Regarding fosfomycin and fluoroquinolone combined versus fluoroquinolone, two NRSs with a one- to three-month follow-up were included. Based on the NRS evidence, fosfomycin and fluoroquinolone combined may result in little to no difference in febrile UTIs compared with fluoroquinolone. This difference corresponded to 16 fewer febrile UTIs per 1000 patients. Conclusions: Compared with fluoroquinolone, fosfomycin or fosfomycin and fluoroquinolone combined may have a similar prophylactic effect on UTIs after a transrectal prostate biopsy. Given the increasing fluoroquinolone resistance and its ease to use, fosfomycin may be a good option for antibiotic prophylaxis.

Purpose: We have reported the efficacy and safety of 2-micrometer continuous-wave laser cystectomy of non-muscle invasive bladder tumor (NMIBC) (J Urol. 2009;182:66-9). In this study, we evaluated the long-term outcomes of patients with NMIBC who underwent transurethral partial cystectomy with a 2-micrometer continuous-wave laser, and explored the risk factors for tumor recurrence., Methods: This was a retrospective study of patients with NMIBC planned to undergo transurethral partial cystectomy with a 2-micrometer continuous-wave laser at the Fourth Medical Center of the PLA General Hospital between January 2012 and December 2014. The primary outcome was bladder cancer recurrence., Results: A total of 75 patients were enrolled. Sixty-two (82.7%) were male. The patients were 59.8 ± 12.9 years of age. The mean operation time was 38.7 ± 20.4 min. No Clavien grade >2 complications occurred. The duration of catheter indwelling was 3.6 ± 1.8 days. The hospital stay was 6.0 ± 2.3 days. The median follow-up was 80 months. A total of 17 patients had a recurrence during follow-up, and the recurrence-free survival (RFS) rate was 77.3%. In the multivariable analysis, the tumor risk group were independently associated with the recurrence of NMIBC ( p  = 0.026)., Conclusions: After TURBT with a 2-micrometer continuous-wave laser, RFS was 77.3% at the median follow-up of 80 months. All complications were mild. Only tumor risk group was independently associated with the recurrence of NMIBC., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© 2023 Lu, Jiang, Yin, Guo, Zhu, Ma, Zhang, Yu, Xiao and Yang.)

The higher spin Kitaev model prominently features the extensive locally conserved quantities the same as the spin-1/2 Kitaev honeycomb model, although it is not exactly solvable. It remains an open question regarding the physical meaning of these conserved quantities in the higher spin model. In this Letter, by introducing a Majorana parton construction for a general spin-S we uncover that these conserved quantities are exactly the Z&#95;{2} gauge fluxes in the general spin-S model, including the case of spin-1/2. Particularly, we find an even-odd effect that the Z&#95;{2} gauge charges are fermions in the half integer spin model, but are bosons in the integer spin model. We further prove that the fermionic Z&#95;{2} gauge charges are always deconfined; hence, the half integer spin Kitaev model would have nontrivial spin liquid ground states regardless of interaction strengths in the Hamiltonian. The bosonic Z&#95;{2} gauge charges of the integer spin model, on the other hand, could condense, leading to a trivial product state, and this is indeed the case at the anisotropic limit of the model.

Introduction: Northeast China has always been an area with severe brucellosis prevalence. This study will identify Brucella in Northeast China and test its resistance to antibiotics, in order to clarify its resistance mechanism. Brucella is a widespread and highly pathogenic bacteria that poses serious threats to public health and animal husbandry., Methods: In this study, 61 Brucella isolates were identified by abortus-melitensis-ovis-suis polymerase chain reaction (AMOS-PCR) for biotypes and epidemic potential was clarified by multi-locus sequence analysis. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was performed and the antibiotic susceptibility of the Brucella strains against 13 antibiotics was detected with the use of E-test strips., Results: The results showed that all of the isolates were Brucella melitensis ST8, group CC4 with little genetic variation and obvious geographical characteristics. All 61 Brucella isolates were sensitive to doxycycline, tetracycline, minocycline, levofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, and streptomycin, while 24.6%, 86.9%, 65.6%, 27.9%, 3.3%, and 1.6% were resistant to rifampin, azithromycin, cefepime, cefoperazone/sulbactam, cefotaxime, and meperidine/sulfamethoxazole, respectively. This is the first report of cephalosporin-resistant B. melitensis in China. The WGS results indicated that about 60% of the antibiotic resistance genes were associated with efflux pumps (mainly the resistance nodulation division family)., Discussion: Brucellosis is usually treated with antibiotics for several months, which can easily lead to the emergence of antibiotic resistance. To ensure the effectiveness and safety of antibiotics for treatment of brucellosis, continuous surveillance of antibiotic susceptibility is especially important., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Ma, Xu, Wang, Bu, Yao, Zheng, Sun, Ji and Liu.)

Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi A ( S . Paratyphi A) is a pathogen that can cause enteric fever. According to the recent epidemic trends of typhoid fever, S . Paratyphi A has been the major important causative factor in paratyphoid fever. An effective vaccine for S . Paratyphi A has not been developed, which made it a tricky public health concern. Until now, how S . Paratyphi A interacts with organisms remain unknown. Here using lifespan assay, we found that S . Paratyphi A could infect Caenorhabditis elegans ( C. elegans ) at 25°C, and attenuate thermotolerance. The immune response of C. elegans was mediated by tir-1 , nsy-1 , sek-1 , pmk-1 , mpk-1 , skn-1 , daf-2 and daf-16 , suggesting that S . Paratyphi A could regulate the MAPK and insulin pathways. Furthermore, we observed several phenotypical changes when C. elegans were fed S . Paratyphi A, including an accelerated decline in body movement, reduced the reproductive capacity, shortened spawning cycle, strong preference for OP50, arrested pharyngeal pumping and colonization of the intestinal lumen. The virulence of S . Paratyphi A requires living bacteria and is not mediated by secreting toxin. Using hydrogen peroxide analysis and quantitative RT-PCR, we discovered that S . Paratyphi A could increase oxidative stress and regulate the immune response in C . elegans . Our results sheds light on the infection mechanisms of S . Paratyphi A and lays a foundation for drugs and vaccine development., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Ding, Zhang, Tao, Chen, Liu, Dong, Ma, Pan, He and Zeng.)

Background/objectives: The prevalence of diabetes has continued to increase globally. Changes in eating habits, lack of exercise, increased stress, and aging are major contributors. Glycemic control is the key strategy of diabetes management. The purpose of this study was to analyze the utilization of nutrition labels and related factors among patients with diabetes., Materials/methods: Data from the 7th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were used. General, health-related, diabetes-related characteristics from 1,587 adults with diabetes history were included. Nutrition label utilization was assessed with awareness and use of nutrition labels and effects on food choice. For statistical analyses, chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed., Results: The prevalence of awareness, use, and effects of nutrition labels on food choice among diabetic patients were 48.8%, 11.4%, and 9.6%, respectively. High monthly income, walking frequency, family history of diabetes, younger age at diagnosis, and shorter duration of diabetes were associated with higher nutrition label awareness. Nutrition label use and effect on food choice were higher in women, those with high monthly income, those diagnosed at younger than 45 yrs, those with diabetes for less than 10 yrs, those with meal therapy, or patients who had undergone a fundus examination., Conclusions: Nutrition label utilization status was low in Korean patients with diabetes. Strategies are needed to promote nutrition label use as a diet management tool for patients with diabetes., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no potential conflicts of interests., (©2023 The Korean Nutrition Society and the Korean Society of Community Nutrition.)

In this work, the differences in macrostructure and microstructure, rheology, and storage stability of pre-emulsified safflower oil (PSO) prepared by natural and magnetic field modified soy 11S globulin were analysised. It was concluded that the PSO with magnetic field modified soy 11S globulin (MPSO) has better emulsifying activity and physical stability. The changes in gel quality, oxidational sensitivity, rheological, and sensory properties of pork batters with different substitute ratios (0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) of pork back-fat by MPSO with magnetic field modified soy 11S globulin were studied. Compared to the sample without MPSO, pork batter with MPSO showed higher emulsion stability, apparent viscosity, L ⁎ value, springiness, cohesiveness, and expressible moisture, while lower a ⁎ value and cooking loss. Moreover, added MPSO could be more uniformly distributed into the meat matrix with smaller holes. With the increase in the replacement proportion of pork back-fat, the hardness, water- and fat-holding capacity, and P 21 of pork batter significantly decreased (P < 0.05). As revealed by sensory evaluation and TBARS, using MPSO to substitute for pork back-fat decreased the lipid oxidational sensitivity of pork batter, and without negative effects on the appearance, juiciness and overall acceptability. Overall, it is feasible to apply MPSO as a pork-fat replacer to produce reduced-animal fat pork batter with excellent gel and sensory properties., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors (Zhuang-Li Kang, Jing-jie Xie, Yan-ping Li, Wan-jie Song, Han-Jun Ma) declare that there are no financial interests or personal relationships that will influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: With rapid socioeconomic development and transition, associations between socioeconomic status (SES) and hypertension remained uncertain in China. We aimed to examine the health effects of SES on hypertension incidence and explore the sex differences among Chinese adults., Methods: We included 53 891 participants without hypertension from the China-PAR (Prediction for Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk in China) project. SES was evaluated by education level, occupation prestige, and household monthly per capita income, and categorized into low, medium, and high groups. Hazard ratios and their 95% CIs were calculated using Cox proportional hazards regression models., Results: Compared with high SES, participants with medium SES (hazard ratio, 1.142 [95% CI, 1.068-1.220]) or low SES (hazard ratio, 1.166 [95% CI, 1.096-1.241]) had increased risks of incident hypertension in multivariate analyses. Interactions between SES and sex on hypertension were observed, with more pronounced adverse effects of lower SES among women. The corresponding hazard ratios (95% CIs) for low SES group were 1.270 (1.155-1.397) for women and 1.086 (0.999-1.181) for men. Effects of occupation prestige on hypertension were the strongest among SES factors., Conclusions: Our study provided the compelling evidence from China that lower SES was associated with incident hypertension and women were more susceptible. These findings will have substantial implications on future hypertension prevention and management, especially among women. Sex-specific approaches are warranted to reduce socioeconomic disparities.

Background: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an acute febrile disease caused by bites from ticks infected with the SFTS virus. In Korea, SFTS patients are observed nationwide, including Jeju Island, but there are currently no data regarding the national prevalence of SFTS, including that of residents of 16 cities and provinces. This study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of SFTS in Korea., Methodology/principal Findings: A total of 1500 participants were selected through random sampling from the 2014-2015 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). An indirect immunofluorescence antibody assay (IFA) was performed to assess immunoglobulin (Ig) G and IgM antibody titers against SFTS virus., Results: Of the 1500 participants, 55 (3.7%) tested positive for IgG and 1 (0.1%) tested positive for IgM, with antibody titer of ≥ 1:32. Approximately 3.9% and 2.5% of participants in urban and rural areas, respectively, had a positive titer of ≥ 1:32. There was a significant correlation between SFTS incidence per 100,000 population and seroprevalence using an IgG titer ≥ 1:64 as the cut-off value., Conclusion: This is the first study to investigate national SFTS seroprevalence in all 16 cities and provinces representing Korea. Our study will also provide useful guidelines for the development of preventive measures against SFTS., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Kim et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: Several studies reported temperature exposure was associated with altered cardiac automatic function, while this effect of temperature on hourly heart rate variability (HRV) among populations with cardiovascular risks was seldom addressed., Methods: We conducted this panel study in four Chinese cities with three repeated visits among 296 participants at intermediate to high-risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Real-time temperature level and 24-h ambulatory electrocardiogram were monitored during each seasonal visit. Linear mixed-effects models were used to investigate associations between individual temperature and HRV parameters, and the seasonal effects and circadian effect were also evaluated., Results: We found the overall downward trend of hourly HRV associated with acute exposure to higher temperature. For each 1 °C increment in temperature of 1-3 h prior to HRV measurements (lag 1-3 h), hourly standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals (SDNN) decreased by 0.38% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.22, 0.54), 0.28% (95% CI: 0.12, 0.44), and 0.20% (95% CI: 0.04, 0.36), respectively. Similar inverse associations between temperature and HRV were observed in stratified analyses by temperature level. Inverse associations for cold and warm seasons were also observed, despite some effects gradually decreased and reversed in the warm season as lag times extended. Moreover, HRV showed a more significant reduction with increased temperature during daytime than nighttime. Percent change of hourly SDNN was -0.41% (95% CI: -0.62, -0.21) with 1 °C increment of lag 1 h during daytime, while few obvious changes were revealed during nighttime., Conclusions: Generally, increasing temperature was significantly associated with reduced HRV. Inverse relationships for cold and warm seasons were also observed. Associations during daytime were much more prominent than nighttime. Our findings clarified the relationship of temperature with HRV and provided evidence for prevention approaches to alleviate cardiac automatic dysfunction among populations at intermediate to high-risk of CVD., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is a zoonotic tick-borne infectious disease caused by the SFTS virus (SFTSV). Few studies have assessed SFTS seroprevalence among veterinary hospital staff and their awareness of SFTS. From January to May 2021, serum samples from 103 veterinary hospital staff were tested for SFTS using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), an immunofluorescence assay, and a 50% plaque reduction neutralization antibody test, which yielded positive results in four (3.9%), three (2.9%), and two (1.9%) participants, respectively. A questionnaire was used for an epidemiological investigation. ELISA positivity was higher among those who lacked awareness of possible animal-to-human SFTS transmission ( p = 0.029). SFTS awareness was significantly lower among veterinary hospital staff than among the veterinarians ( p < 0.001). Providing staff with training concerning standard precautions and the use of appropriate personal protective equipment is important.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic value and safety of ultrathin bronchoscope and endobronchial ultrasonography with a guide sheath (EBUS-GS) combined with rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) system for peripheral pulmonary infectious diseases., Methods: The clinical data of 196 patients visiting our hospital, who had peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPLs) indicated by spiral computed tomography (CT) of the chest and were finally diagnosed as infectious PPLs, were retrospectively collected. Then the patients were divided into ultrathin bronchoscope + ROSE group, EBUS-GS + ROSE group and ultrathin bronchoscope + EBUS-GS + ROSE group based on different diagnostic techniques. Moreover, the general conditions, diagnostic results and specific operation parameters of the patients were recorded, and the diagnostic rate, sensitivity and complications were compared., Results: In ultrathin bronchoscope + EBUS-GS + ROSE group, the time of localizing lesions and operation time were the shortest, and the grade of bronchi reached by the bronchoscope was the highest. The differences were significant between any two groups (P<0.05). Patients with bacterial pneumonia, and patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and nontuberculous mycobacterial disease, ultrathin bronchoscope + EBUS-GS + ROSE group exhibited the highest definite diagnosis rate of bronchoscope and diagnostic sensitivity of ROSE system, with significant differences from those of the other two groups (P<0.05). The incidence rates of complications were low in all groups, and there were no significant differences between any two groups (P>0.05)., Conclusions: Ultrathin bronchoscope and EBUS-GS combined with ROSE system can prominently decrease the time of localizing lesions and operation time, remarkably improve the diagnostic accuracy and sensitivity and result in fewer complications.