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Carbon loading in airway cells has shown to worsen function of antimicrobial peptides, permitting increased survival of pathogens in the respiratory tract; however, data on the impacts of carbon particles on childhood acute respiratory infection (ARI) is limited. We assembled daily health data on outpatient visits for ARI (bronchitis, pneumonia, and total upper respiratory infection [TURI]) in children aged 0–14 years between 2015 and 2019 in Beijing, China. Anthropogenic carbons, including black carbon (BC) and its emission sources, and wood smoke particles (delta carbon, ultra‐violet absorbing particulate matter, and brown carbon) were continuously monitored. Using a time‐stratified case‐crossover approach, conditional logistic regression was performed to derive risk estimates for each outcome. A total of 856,899 children were included, and a wide range of daily carbon particle concentrations was observed, with large variations for BC (0.36–20.44) and delta carbon (0.48–57.66 μg/m3). Exposure to these particles were independently associated with ARI, with nearly linear exposure‐response relationships. Interquartile range increases in concentrations of BC and delta carbon over prior 0–8 days, we observed elevation of the odd ratio of bronchitis by 1.201 (95% confidence interval, 1.180, 1.221) and 1.048 (95% CI, 1.039, 1.057), respectively. Stronger association was observed for BC from traffic sources, which increased the odd ratio of bronchitis by 1.298 (95% CI, 1.273, 1.324). Carbon particles were also associated with elevated risks of pneumonia and TURI, and subgroup analyses indicated greater risks among children older than 6 years. Our findings suggested that anthropogenic carbons in metropolitan areas may pose a significant threat to clinical manifestations of respiratory infections in vulnerable populations. Plain Language Summary: Carbon air pollution has been linked to potential biological mechanisms responsible for respiratory diseases, but its impact on childhood respiratory infection remain sparse. In this study, we examined the associations of carbon particles with childhood hospital visits for acute respiratory infection in the megacity Beijing. The results indicated that recent exposure to ambient black carbon and wood smoke‐related particles (delta carbon, ultra‐violet absorbing particulate matter, and brown carbon) was associated with heightened risks of upper and lower respiratory tract infections in children. Greater detrimental respiratory effects were observed for carbon particles from traffic. Up to date, the global pandemic of pediatric respiratory infection and air pollution episodes occurs frequently under the context of climate crisis, our findings highlighted the importance of discerning adverse respiratory effects caused by source‐specific carbon particles in real‐world settings, particularly at the extreme levels of anthropogenic carbon exposures faced by billions of children living in urban areas worldwide today. Key Points: Extremely high levels of ambient black carbon and wood smoke‐related particles were found during the study periodCarbon particles, particularly from traffic, were associated with increased risks of childhood respiratory infectionsGreater risks were found among children older than 6 years [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ambient fine particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) has been associated with deteriorated respiratory health, but evidence on particles in smaller sizes and childhood respiratory health has been limited.Methods: We collected time-series data on daily respiratory emergency room visits (ERVs) among children under 14 years old in Beijing, China, during 2015-2017. Concurrently, size-fractioned number concentrations of particles in size ranges of 5-560 nm (PNC5-560) and mass concentrations of PM2.5, black carbon (BC) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were measured from a fixed-location monitoring station in the urban area of Beijing. Confounder-adjusted Poisson regression models were used to estimate excessive risks (ERs) of particle size fractions on childhood respiratory ERVs, and positive matrix factorisation models were applied to apportion the sources of PNC5-560.Results: Among the 136 925 cases of all-respiratory ERVs, increased risks were associated with IQR increases in PNC25-100 (ER=5.4%, 95% CI 2.4% to 8.6%), PNC100-560 (4.9%, 95% CI 2.5% to 7.3%) and PM2.5 (1.3%, 95% CI 0.1% to 2.5%) at current and 1 prior days (lag0-1). Major sources of PNC5-560 were identified, including nucleation (36.5%), gasoline vehicle emissions (27.9%), diesel vehicle emissions (18.9%) and secondary aerosols (10.6%). Emissions from gasoline and diesel vehicles were found of significant associations with all-respiratory ERVs, with increased ERs of 6.0% (95% CI 2.5% to 9.7%) and 4.4% (95% CI 1.7% to 7.1%) at lag0-1 days, respectively. Exposures to other traffic-related pollutants (BC and NO2) were also associated with increased respiratory ERVs.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that exposures to higher levels of PNC5-560 from traffic emissions could be attributed to increased childhood respiratory morbidity, which supports traffic emission control priority in urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known on the potential impact of temperature on respiratory morbidity, especially for children whose respiratory system can be more vulnerable to climate changes. In this time-series study, Poisson generalized additive models combined with distributed lag nonlinear models were used to assess the associations between ambient temperature and childhood respiratory morbidity. The impacts of extreme cold and hot temperatures were calculated as cumulative relative risks (cum.RRs) at the 1st and 99th temperature percentiles relative to the minimum morbidity temperature percentile. Attributable fractions of respiratory morbidity due to cold or heat were calculated for temperatures below or above the minimum morbidity temperature. Effect modifications by air pollution, age, and sex were assessed in stratified analyses. A total of 877,793 respiratory hospital visits of children under 14 years old between 2013 and 2017 were collected from Beijing Children's Hospital. Overall, we observed J-shaped associations with greater respiratory morbidity risks for exposure to lower temperatures, and higher fraction of all-cause respiratory hospital visits was caused by cold (33.1%) than by heat (0.9%). Relative to the minimum morbidity temperature (25 °C, except for rhinitis, which is 31 °C), the cum.RRs for extreme cold temperature (-6 °C) were 2.64 (95%CI: 1.51–4.61) for all-cause respiratory hospital visits, 2.73 (95%CI: 1.44–5.18) for upper respiratory infection, 2.76 (95%CI: 1.56–4.89) for bronchitis, 2.12 (95%CI: 1.30–3.47) for pneumonia, 2.06 (95%CI: 1.27–3.34) for rhinitis, and 4.02 (95%CI: 2.14–7.55) for asthma, whereas the associations between extreme hot temperature (29 °C) and respiratory hospital visits were not significant. The impacts of extreme cold temperature on asthma hospital visits were greater at higher levels of ozone (O3) exposure (> 50th percentile). Our findings suggest significantly increased childhood respiratory morbidity risks at extreme cold temperature, and the impact of extreme cold temperature on asthma hospital visits can be enhanced under higher level exposure to O3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limited evidence was seen as the association between fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and physician visits for allergic rhinitis (AR), especially in countries with extreme air pollution exposure. This paper addressed the issues about the association between PM2.5 and daily outpatient visits for AR among individuals residing in Beijing, China. Data on daily outpatient visits for AR obtained from Beijing Medical Claim Data for Employees and daily PM2.5 concentrations available from US embassy reports were linked by date from January 1, 2010, to June 30, 2012. A time-series analysis was conducted with a generalized additive Poisson model to assess the association between PM2.5 and AR, adjusting for daily average temperature, relative humidity, day of the week, calendar time, and public holiday. Totally, 229,685 outpatient visits for AR were included in the analysis. The daily mean (SD) concentration of PM2.5 was 99.5 (75.3) μg/m3 during the study period. We found that a 10-μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 content was associated with a 0.47% (95% CI: 0.39% to 0.55%) increase in the number of outpatient visits on the same day. Furthermore, results from subgroup analyses suggested that the association was consistently significant among the groups of different ages (< 65 years and ≥ 65 years) and gender. However, this study failed to find a statistically significant association in the autumn season but found significant positive associations during the spring and summer seasons (P for interaction < 0.001). This study indicated a possible association between PM2.5 and AR outpatients, which may benefit further researches in studying PM2.5 and its influence on diseases in a real and seriously air-polluted context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data on fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) in China were first announced in 2013. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the acute effects of PM 2.5 on asthma morbidity in Beijing, China. A total of 978,658 asthma hospital visits consisting of 928,607 outpatient visits, 40,063 emergency room visits and 9988 hospital admissions from January 1, 2010, to June 30, 2012, were identified from the Beijing Medical Claim Data for Employees. A generalized additive Poisson model was applied to explore the association between PM 2.5 and health service use. The mean daily PM 2.5 concentration was 99.5 μg/m 3 with a range from 7.2 μg/m 3 to 492.8 μg/m 3 . Ambient PM 2.5 concentration was significantly associated with increased use of asthma-related health services. Every 10 μg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 concentration on the same day was significantly associated with a 0.67% (95% CI, 0.53%–0.81%), 0.65% (95% CI, 0.51%–0.80%), and 0.49% (95% CI, 0.35%–0.64%) increase in total hospital visits, outpatient visits and emergency room visits, respectively. The exposure–response association between PM 2.5 concentration and hospital visits for asthma exacerbations was approximately linear. In conclusion, this study found that short-term elevations in PM 2.5 concentration may increase the risk of asthma exacerbations. Our findings contribute to the limited scientific literature concerning the acute effects of PM 2.5 on asthma morbidity outcomes in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To discover possible relationships between CXCL12 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and its risk factors. Methods: The present sib-pair study was conducted in a rural community of Beijing, China. SNPs rs2297630, rs1746048, and rs1801157 located within or nearby the CXCL12 gene were genotyped using the allele-specific polymerase chain reaction method. Haseman-Elston regression was used to investigate linkages between these SNPs and T2DM. A generalized estimating equation logistic regression model was used to discover associations between the SNPs, T2DM, and its risk factors. Results: A total of 3171 participants were recruited, comprising 2277 sib pairs. After Bonferroni correction (α = 0.016), rs2297630 was found to be significantly linked to (p = 0.003) and associated with T2DM (AA vs. GG/GA: OR = 2.26, 95% CI: 1.31–3.88, p = 0.003). There were interactions between rs2297630 and dyslipidemia (p < 0.001) and between rs1746048 and hypertension (p = 0.011). Compared to dyslipidemia-free subjects with rs2297630 GG/GA genotypes, dyslipidemia patients with rs2297630 AA had a higher risk of T2DM (OR = 4.15, 95% CI: 2.24–7.67, p < 0.001). Compared to hypertension-free subjects with rs1746048 CC genotypes, hypertension-free subjects with rs1746048 CT/TT had a decreased risk of T2DM (OR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.60–0.99, p = 0.045). Conclusions: A novel linkage and association was found between rs2297630 and T2DM. Moreover, novel interactions were found between rs2297630 and dyslipidemia as well as rs1746048 and hypertension. These findings will help identify individuals at higher risk of developing T2DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and preliminary safety of the Moscow Eye Microsurgery Complex in Russia (MICOF) keratoprosthesis in eyes with complicated corneal opacities unsuitable for keratoplasty. Design: Retrospective review of consecutive clinical case series. Participants: We analyzed 85 eyes of 85 patients who previously underwent MICOF keratoprosthesis implantation at the Chinese PLA General Hospital between April 1, 2000, and August 31, 2009. The mean follow-up after MICOF keratoprosthesis implantation (measured after the second stage of the implantation) was 34.7 months (range, 3–107 months). Methods: The MICOF keratoprosthesis surgery involves 2 procedures. In stage 1, a supporting titanium frame is inserted into the lamellar pocket; a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) optical cylinder is implanted 3 months later (stage 2). Data were collected from the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative courses. Statistical analysis was performed to identify factors influencing postoperative complications. Main Outcome Measures: Visual acuity (VA), keratoprosthesis retention, and significant postoperative complications. Results: The MICOF keratoprosthesis dramatically improved vision in most patients. The percentage of eyes with postoperative VA of 20/100 or better was 80.7% (67/83) at 6 months after stage 2, 82.4% (61/74) at 1 year, 72.7% (40/55) at 2 years, 78.8% (26/33) at 3 years, 78.9% (15/19) at 4 years, 100% (8/8) at 5 years, 80% (4/5) at 6 years, 100% (2/2) at 7 and 8 years, and 100% (1/1) at 9 years. The most common complication, retroprosthetic membrane formation, occurred in 39 of 85 eyes. The overall keratoprosthesis retention rate was 81.2% at an average follow-up of 34.7 months (range, 3–107 months). Ten eyes presented with elevated intraocular pressure after implantation; 3 of these had underlying glaucoma. All 3 eyes received cyclocryotherapy to control intraocular pressure. Sterile vitreitis occurred in 2 eyes, and retinal detachment occurred in 1 eye. Conclusions: The MICOF keratoprosthesis is an effective alternative for patients with corneal blindness and a poor prognosis for penetrating keratoplasty. Financial Disclosure(s): The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]