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BACKGROUND: Disruptions in vascular formation attributable to chemical insults is a pivotal risk factor or potential etiology of developmental defects and various disease settings. Among the thousands of chemicals threatening human health, the highly concerning groups prevalent in the environment and detected in biological monitoring in the general population ought to be prioritized because of their high exposure risks. However, the impacts of a large number of environmental chemicals on vasculature are far from understood. The angioarchitecture complexity and technical limitations make it challenging to analyze the entire vasculature efficiently and identify subtle changes through a high-throughput in vivo assay. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to develop an automated morphometric approach for the vascular profile and assess the vascular morphology of healthconcerning environmental chemicals. METHODS: High-resolution images of the entire vasculature in Tg(fli1a:eGFP) zebrafish were collected using a high-content imaging platform. We established a deep learning-based quantitative framework, ECA-ResXUnet, combined with MATLAB to segment the vascular networks and extract features. Vessel scores based on the rates of morphological changes were calculated to rank vascular toxicity. Potential biomarkers were identified by vessel--endothelium-gene--disease integrative analysis. RESULTS: Whole-trunk blood vessels and the cerebral vasculature in larvae exposed to 150 representative chemicals were automatically segmented as comparable to human-level accuracy, with sensitivity and specificity of 95.56% and 95.81%, respectively. Chemical treatments led to heterogeneous vascular patterns manifested by 31 architecture indexes, and the common cardinal vein (CCV) was the most affected vessel. The antipsychotic medicine haloperidol, flame retardant 2,2-bis(chloromethyl)trimethylenebis[bis(2-chloroethyl) phosphate], and tert-butylphenyl diphenyl phosphate ranked as the top three in vessel scores. Pesticides accounted for the largest group, with a vessel score of [greater than or equal to]1, characterized by a remarkable inhibition of subintestinal venous plexus and delayed development of CCV. Multiple-concentration evaluation of nine per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) indicated a low-concentration effect on vascular impairment and a positive association between carbon chain length and benchmark concentration. Target vessel-directed single-cell RNA sequencing of fli1a (+) cells from larvae treated with k-cyhalothrin, perfluorohexanesulfonic acid, or benzylbutyl phthalate, along with vessel--endothelium-gene--disease integrative analysis, uncovered potential associations with vascular disorders and identified biomarker candidates. DISCUSSION: This study provides a novel paradigm for phenotype-driven screenings of vascular-disrupting chemicals by converging morphological and transcriptomic profiles at a high-resolution level, serving as a powerful tool for large-scale toxicity tests. Our approach and the high-quality morphometric data facilitate the precise evaluation of vascular effects caused by environmental chemicals. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP13214, Introduction Vascular formation is one of the earliest essential steps during embryogenesis, and intact vasculature plays a crucial role in tissue homeostasis and disease throughout life. (1) Disturbance of vascular [...]

Test negative studies have been used extensively for the estimation of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE). Such studies are able to estimate VE against medically-attended illness under certain assumptions. Selection bias may be present if the probability of participation is associated with vaccination or COVID-19, but this can be mitigated through use of a clinical case definition to screen patients for eligibility, which increases the likelihood that cases and non-cases come from the same source population. We examined the extent to which this type of bias could harm COVID-19 VE through systematic review and simulation. A systematic review of test-negative studies was re-analysed to identify studies ignoring the need for clinical criteria. Studies using a clinical case definition had a lower pooled VE estimate compared with studies that did not. Simulations varied the probability of selection by case and vaccination status. Positive bias away from the null (i.e., inflated VE consistent with the systematic review) was observed when there was a higher proportion of healthy, vaccinated non-cases, which may occur if a dataset contains many results from asymptomatic screening in settings where vaccination coverage is high. We provide an html tool for researchers to explore site-specific sources of selection bias in their own studies. We recommend all groups consider the potential for selection bias in their vaccine effectiveness studies, particularly when using administrative data.

Within the context of carbon peaking and neutrality, carbon capture plants can effectively reduce carbon emissions in power systems. Yet, the regular integration of these units for peak shaving in grids harnessing renewable energy tends to hamper system efficiency. Thus, acknowledging the operation and carbon trading mechanism of adaptable carbon capture plants, firstly, the incorporation of pumped storage plants is suggested to aid peak shaving, thereby facilitating wind power utilization, optimizing carbon capture plants for carbon sequestration, and reducing overall system carbon emissions. Then, given the uncertainty following grid-integrated wind power, fuzzy theory is employed to model system power constraints as fuzzy parameters, representing wind power and load. The constraint is transformed into a credibility-based fuzzy chance constraint. This fuzzy chance constraint is clarified by the clear equivalence classes. Prioritizing maximum system net income as the objective function, elements such as unit online revenue, extraction income, carbon trading profits, operational costs, and system security constraints are considered. The carbon capture-pumped storage joint operation model is developed. Finally, the model is solved using CPLEX. Simulation results validate that the integration of pumped storage plant enhances the system′s net income by 7.62% and reduces carbon emissions by 7.01%, reflecting a balanced consideration of both economic and environmental aspects.

In this study, crude polysaccharides from soybean and natto were prepared by water extraction followed by ethanol precipitation. The chemical compositions, structural characteristics, water solubility, water-holding capacity (WHC) and fat-binding capacity (FBC) of soybean and natto polysaccharides were analyzed. Their in vitro antioxidant, hypoglycemic, and lipid-lowering activities were compared and analyzed. The results showed that the content of uronic acid was significantly higher in natto polysaccharide than in soybean polysaccharide (P < 0.05). The molecular masses of soybean and natto polysaccharides were 5.256 and 33.532 ku, respectively, and the monosaccharide compositions of soybean and natto polysaccharides were similar in the types but different in the proportions of monosaccharide. The surface of soybean polysaccharide was rough, whereas the surface of natto polysaccharide was smooth and dense. The water solubility of natto polysaccharide was 2.04 times as high as that of soybean polysaccharide, and the FBC was 2.99 times as high as that of natto polysaccharide. Natto polysaccharide exhibited better antioxidant activity, with half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of (0.049 ± 0.015) and (2.640 ± 0.072) mg/mL for scavenging of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical and 2,2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) cation radical, respectively. The IC50 for the inhibition of α-amylase activity by natto polysaccharide was (3.297 ± 0.395) mg/mL. Natto polysaccharide had significantly higher in vitro hypoglycemic activity (P < 0.05), stronger cholate binding capacity and in vitro hypolipidemic activity than soybean polysaccharide. This study has provided an important theoretical basis for the structural analysis and biological activity evaluation of natto polysaccharide.

This article summarized the nursing practice of an elderly patient with dermatomyositis complicated by dysphagia and malnutrition. A comprehensive risk assessment on dysphagia and nutritional status was conducted before treatment. A personalized rehabilitation plan consisting of nutrition support, skin care, medication guidance, prevention and treatment of complications and mental health was formulated to relieve the dysphagia symptoms and improve the recovery of the patient. (本文总结1例老年皮肌炎合并吞咽困难和营养不良患者的护理经验。针对患者的吞咽困难以及营养状况及时进行评估, 根据评估结果调整康复方案, 同时加强皮肤护理, 严格规范用药, 积极处理并发症, 并关注患者心理状态, 稳定患者情绪, 改善吞咽障碍, 促进患者早期康复。)

In the existing locational marginal price mechanism, conventional generators have market manipulation power. When independently participating electricity market, the market share of energy storage plants can be suppressed and squeezed by each generator by taking strategic offers. Energy storage plants are prevented from participating in market clearing by traditional generators, and the total cost of indirect market clearing is caused to increase. To this end, a market competition mechanism is proposed in the paper that includes the participation of traditional units and energy storage power plants. Firstly, the drawbacks of the existing market settlement mechanism and the reasons hindering the participation of energy storage in market clearing are analyzed. Secondly, a market clearing model with energy storage participation is established, and a two-stage stochastic planning model is solved by using the sample mean approximation. Then, a day-ahead market value allocation mechanism adapted to the participation of energy storage is proposed based on the Vickrey-Clarke-Groves (VCG) settlement mechanism. Finally, a strategy to address the system issue imbalance of payments and revenues caused by incentive compatibility is proposed. The IEEE 30-node system is used in the paper. It is demonstrated that the mechanism satisfies the properties of incentive compatibility, imbalance of payments and revenues and weakening of the market manipulation power of conventional generators. The total cost of clearing the system is reduced and the risk is lowered in the face of sharp market price fluctuations.

After 2 years of minimal incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infections in Hong Kong, the Omicron BA.2 variant began to spread in January 2022. The resulting 5th COVID-19 wave in Hong Kong's [...]

Abstract Background There are significant differences in the incidence and risk factors of tumor patients, and there is no relevant statistical data. Therefore, this study aims to clarify the incidence and risk factors of acute kidney injury (AKI) in malignant tumor patients and compare critically ill patients with non-critically ill patients. Methods Relevant literature on the occurrence of AKI in malignant tumors was retrieved from databases. Two authors independently screened and evaluated the eligibility and quality of the literature and extracted the data. The Stata 12.0 software was used for meta-analysis. Results A total of 3922 articles were initially retrieved, and 24 articles were finally included, 8 of which were about critically ill malignant tumor patients, and 16 were about malignant tumor patients. Among the 4107 patients included in the 8 studies on critically ill malignant tumors, 1932 developed AKI, with an incidence rate of 52% (95%CI 34–70%, I2 = 99%). The risk factors for AKI in critically ill malignant tumor patients were sepsis and hypovolemia, which were different from those in non-critically ill patients. Among the 292,874 patients included in the 16 studies on malignant tumors, 51,211 developed AKI, and the combined incidence rate was 24% (95%CI 17–30%, I2 = 100%). The risk factors for AKI in critical malignant tumor patients were sepsis and hypovolemia. Conclusion This meta-analysis shows that the incidence of AKI in critically ill malignant tumor patients is consistent with that in other critically ill patients, and independent risk factors are sepsis and hypovolemia. The incidence of AKI in malignant tumor patients is higher than that in other patients, and tumor is a risk factor for AKI. This study has been registered in INPLASY (INPLASY202320079),Registered February 18,2023.