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Background Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is essential for assessing the maximal exercise capacity of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and for developing rehabilitation prescriptions. Body composition has been shown to be associated with CPET results, which is complex, time-consuming, contraindicated, and risky, and cannot be performed in some COPD patients, whereas body composition analysis is simple and fast. Objective This paper focuses on the correlation between body composition and CPET in patients with COPD, and provides a basis for predicting maximal exercise capacity, formulating rehabilitation prescriptions, and rational nutritional support for patients with COPD who are unable to complete cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Methods Stable COPD patients were enrolled in the outpatient respiratory clinic of China-Japan Friendship Hospital between July 2021 and March 2022, and were sequentially subjected to body composition measurements and CPET with continuous incremental loading, and the test results were analyzed to assess the relationship between body composition and CPET results, and to analyze the value of the body composition indexes in predicting the results of CPET. Results Seventy-seven eligible patients with stable COPD completed body composition measurement and exercise cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Correlation analysis showed that body fat percentage (BFP) was negatively correlated with peak metabolic equivalents (peakMETs) (P

Near‐infrared (NIR) chiroptical response has been less explored because it is challenging to achieve both chirality and NIR absorption/emission. Herein, we describe the design of heterohelicene‐type β‐isoindigo‐based boron‐dipyrromethene (BODIPY) analogs (β‐IBs), which shift the absorption peak to 800 nm and produce significant Cotton effects (127.8 M−1 cm−1) and absorbance dissymmetry factors (|gabs| = 3.5 × 10−3). The luminescence dissymmetry factor (glum) and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) brightness (BCPL) of up to 1.24 × 10−3 and 1.78 M−1 cm−1 were realized beyond 800 nm. These β‐IBs are the first examples of helicene‐type compounds with the highest gabs in the NIR region and CPL beyond 800 nm. Theoretical calculations demonstrate that the strong chiroptical activities are triggered by their large transition magnetic dipole moments. This study not only provides a new approach to the synthesis of a larger variety of unprecedented helicene‐type BODIPY analogs but also demonstrates excellent NIR chiroptical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microcystis blooms have a marked effect on microbial taxonomical diversity in eutrophic lakes, but their influence on the composition of microbial functional genes is still unclear. In this study, the free-living microbial functional genes (FMFG) composition was investigated in the period before Microcystis blooms (March) and during Microcystis blooms (July) using a comprehensive functional gene array (GeoChip 5.0). The composition and richness of FMFG in the water column was significantly different between these two periods. The FMFG in March was enriched in the functional categories of nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus cycling, whereas the FMFG in July was enriched in carbon cycling, organic remediation, and metal homeostasis. Molecular ecological network analysis further demonstrated fewer functional gene interactions and reduced complexity in July than in March. Module hubs of the March network were mediated by functional genes associated with carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus, whereas those in July by a metal homeostasis functional gene. We also observed stronger deterministic processes in the FMFG assembly in July than in March. Collectively, this study demonstrated that Microcystis blooms induced significant changes in FMFG composition and metabolic potential, and abundance—information, which can support the understanding and management of biogeochemical cycling in eutrophic lake ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Grade repetition is practiced worldwide and varies considerably across the globe. Globally, around 32.2 million students repeated a grade at the primary education level in 2010. Although a large body of research has documented grade repetition's academic and non-academic effects, the limited evidence on associations between grade repetition and school bullying is inconsistent and ambiguous. This study aimed to investigate the global association of grade repetition with bullying victimization in a large-scale school-based cross-sectional study. Methods and findings We used the latest global data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018. PISA 2018 was conducted between March and August 2018 in 80 countries and economies among students aged 15-16 years attending secondary education. The students reported their experiences of repeating a grade at any time point before the survey and of being bullied in the past 12 months. The outcome measures were 6 types of bullying victimization. We accounted for the complex survey design and used multivariate logistic regression models to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of grade repetition with bullying victimization after adjusting for potential confounders (sex; age group; migrant status; school type; economic, social, and cultural status; and parental emotional support). This study included 465,146 students (234,218 girls and 230,928 boys) with complete data on grade repetition and bullying victimization in 74 countries and economies. The lifetime prevalence of grade repetition was 12.26%, and 30.32% of students experienced bullying at least a few times a month during the past 12 months. Grade repetition was statistically significantly associated with each type of bullying victimization. The OR (95% CI) of overall bullying victimization for grade repeaters compared with their promoted peers was 1.42 (95% CI 1.32-1.52, p < 0.001). The sex-specific analysis produced similar results in both boys and girls. Furthermore, girls who repeated a grade had higher risks of being made fun of, being threatened, having possessions taken away, and being pushed around than boys. The major limitation is that this study only included students attending schools and therefore may be subject to possible selection bias. In addition, the cross-sectional design hinders us from establishing causality between grade repetition and bullying victimization. Conclusions In this study, we observed that, globally, both boys and girls who repeat a grade are at increased risk of being bullied compared with promoted peers, but girls may experience higher risks than boys of specific types of bullying associated with repeating a grade. These findings provide evidence for the association of grade repetition with bullying victimization. Sex differences in risk of experiencing some types of bullying suggest that tailored interventions for girls who repeat a grade may be warranted., Author(s): Qiguo Lian 1, Chunyan Yu 1, Xiaowen Tu 1, Minglin Deng 2, Tongjie Wang 2, Qiru Su 3,*, Xiayun Zuo 1,* Introduction Grade repetition (or grade retention), the practice [...]