Search

This paper develops a new concept called virus-combat social capital and presents relevant findings from a survey of 3009 Chinese WeChat networkers. Virus-combat social capital is defined by the intensity and extensity of social connectedness under conditions of physical isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey shows that as compared to their counterparts, Chinese people with higher virus-combat social capital consistently do better in both behavioral responses and measures of quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese economy displays considerable inequality across regions. In this paper, we analyzed the distribution of intermediate input shares in China. We use regional input-output tables from 2007 and find that regions with higher GDP per capita generally had higher input shares, regardless of sector. Then, using intermediate input shares as a proxy of technology, we analyzed the pattern of regional technology distributions across manufacturing sectors as well as the extent of interregional technology spillovers. Our results indicate that interregional backward spillovers have significantly positive impacts on the shape of the technology distributions in eastern (coastal) regions. By contrast, the vertical spillovers of the central and western regions are largely dominated by intra-regional forward effects. Our results suggest that the shift of Chinese manufacturing from coastal to inland regions with lower production costs cannot reduce the imbalance among regions unless the technology gap is narrowed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anembryonic pregnancy (AP; blighted ovum is the clinical term) is a common presentation of first-trimester abortion in China and affected women usually miscarry at 8–13 weeks. The association of plasma lead and the risk of AP in women from Shanxi Province, China, was examined. A case–control study was conducted, and plasma concentrations of lead were measured in blood obtained from women ( n= 40) with AP and controls ( n= 40) of normal pregnancy at their prenatal examination. AP was diagnosed by ultrasound scanning. The controls were identified and qualified by following up until a normal neonate was born. The mean concentration of lead in patients (53 μg/L, 95%CI: 4.3–6.3 μg/L) was slightly greater than the normal reference (50 μg/L, P < 0.01). The mean concentration of lead was higher in patients than in controls (53 versus 45 μg/L, P= 0.03). The lead concentration may be associated with the risk of AP, and should be paid more attention. Lead concentration that is slightly more than the standard limit may increase the risk of AP, but there may also be some other factors assisting lead to cause the occurrence of AP. Additional studies will be needed to confirm the findings and to find which factors were associated with the risk of AP when plasma lead is present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loess Plateau is one of the ecologically fragile regions in China. It is one of the slippery strata of which landslides often developed. The formation and development of landslides are mainly affected by various natural environments, triggering factors, the vulnerability of landslide-bearing bodies, and topography has a controlling effect on landslides and determines landslide distribution. As important environmental elements, the selection and reclassification of topographic factors are the basis for loess landslide vulnerability map. In this study, our research suggests an effective workflow to select and analyze the topographic factors in the loess landslides. Nine hazard-formative environmental factors [e.g., slope, aspect, slope shape (SS), slope of slope (SOS), slope of aspect (SOA), surface amplitude (SA), surface roughness (SR), incision depth (ID) and elevation variation coefficient (EVC)] are prepared for landslide suitability analysis. The models of certainty factor, sensitivity index and correlation coefficient are combined to select and analyze the suitability of these factors. Four topographic factors (i.e., slope, SOS, SS and SR) were ultimately selected to carry out the landslide vulnerability mapping with other factors. Our results showed that most of the landslides were located in medium and high classes and accounting for 75.3%, and these places also coincided with higher economies and intense human activities. Our research also suggested that in situ measurements are necessary to determine how to reclassify these topographic factors and how many grades these topographic factors divided, which would further improve the reliability of landslide vulnerability map for the decision makers to deal with the possible future landslides in terms of safety and human activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Reconstructed low salinity and suboxic to anoxic conditions during XML period. • Absent steranes may be the result of benthic microbial reworking processes and/or a very low environmental abundance of eukaryotes. • Absence of strong carotenoid biomarker evidence for photic zone euxinia. Indigenous hydrocarbon biomarkers in the black shales of the 1.40 billion-year-old Xiamaling Formation (XML) from the North China Craton were systematically analyzed to reveal the redox condition and biological community. These black shales are not only rich in organic matter, but also undergone an unexpectedly low thermal evolution process, both of which contribute to well-preserved indigenous hydrocarbons and promote the convincing discovery of the Precambrian biology. The combination of the absence or low concentrations of gammacerane, dibenzothiophene series and aryl isoprenoids, abundant rearranged hopanes, the occurrence of micro-ripples, and low level of redox-sensitive trace elements suggested shallow, low salinity and suboxic to anoxic conditions during the deposition period of XML. The absence of aryl isoprenoids as diagnostic biomarkers for green/purple sulfur bacteria strongly argued against the pervasively euxinic (sulphidic) bottom water in mid-Proterozoic ocean. The scenario of large hump unresolved complex mixture and abundant monomethyl alkanes as well as absent steranes may be derived from benthic microbial reworking processes for biolipids. Here the absence of saturated and aromatic steroids in the XML sediments suggested that eukaryotic algae have little ecological contribution to primitive biomass and/or are the result of heterotrophic reworking from benthic microbial mats. Abundant presence of hopanoid, tricyclic terpane and n -alkane in these samples supported the predominant contribution of (cyano) bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has triggered multiple global healthcare system crises. Apart from the pandemic itself, the travel restriction and social distance policy for the purpose of epidemic control has cast a shadow on the management of cancer survivors. Cancer survivors suffered a double blow from both the epidemic and cancer. To deal with the challenge, we explored a new Internet-based patient management model. This model has overcome the limitation of time and space and thus can help oncologists to provide remote multidisciplinary healthcare services for cancer survivors. These patients can get high-quality cancer management from multidisciplinary experts without too much transportation. This model has been applied in patients with genitourinary cancers and proved to be effective and efficient. Our study demonstrated that more patients benefited from this model during the pandemic of COVID-19, especially in those affected heavily by COVID-19. These results suggested that it can also give insight into the management of other cancer survivors in China. Given the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we would like to introduce our new model of healthcare service and the application of Internet-based multidisciplinary management to our global peers and medical industries to help their cancer survivors who are delayed in treatment due to the COVID-19 pandemic., 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 © 2022 Zhu, Jin, Fu, Zhang, Lu, Gu, Gu, Wan, Yang, Qin and Ye.)

Purpose: Targeted therapies, including sunitinib, sorafenib, axitinib, and everolimus, have recently become the mainstay for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). The objective of this study was to estimate the costs of sequential treatment regimens for mRCC and associated adverse events (AEs) from the Chinese payers' perspective., Methods: Key inputs included in the calculation were patient population, dosing information, incidence rates and associated costs of Grade 3/4 AEs, treatment costs (including drug discount programs), and patients' progression-free survival (PFS) as a proxy for length of treatment. To calculate PFS, this study identified pivotal clinical trials and generated a reconstructed individual patient data set from the published Kaplan-Meier survival curves. The median PFS from the pooled estimates were used in the calculation. In the base-case scenario, sunitinib was used as first line and the other three therapies were used as second line. Sensitivity analyses were conducted where (1) sorafenib was used as first line, or (2) a third-line therapy was added to the base-case scenario., Results: In the base case, the cost per patient per treatment month (PPPM) cost was the lowest for sunitinib + axitinib among all sequential regimens (¥14,898) and was the highest for sunitinib + sorafenib (¥20,103). If sorafenib is used as first line, everolimus had lower per patient per months (PPPM) cost than axitinib (¥17,046 vs ¥23,337), but also had shorter PFS (13.5 months vs 15 months). Second sensitivity analysis with an additional third-line therapy showed consistent results with the base-case scenario; axitinib as second line was the least costly., Conclusions: This study demonstrates that, for mRCC sequential treatment, sunitinib followed by axitinib generates the highest cost savings from the Chinese payers' perspective. Future studies are warranted to examine the cost-effectiveness of various mRCC treatment regimens in Chinese populations.

Neural tube defects (NTDs) in mammals are rooted in aberrant neural tube closure during early embryogenesis, which is caused by multiple environmental and genetic factors. The Sonic Hedgehog pathway is involved in the induction of the floor plate and participates in formation of the neural tube. Mutation of the suppressor of fused gene (SUFU), an essential repressor of Sonic Hedgehog signaling pathway, can result in NTDs. A case-control study was designed to compare the frequencies of the polymorphism at four sites in the SUFU gene in control and NTDs group, as well as in subtype groups, including anencephaly, spina bifida and encephalocele. We also explored the association between polymorphism and NTDs risk in a high prevalence population in China. Rs10786691, but not the other three SNPs, had an association between polymorphisms and NTDs. The heterozygous AG allele of rs10786691 was significantly related with NTDs and encephalocele (OR = 1.60, 95% CI: 1.04-2.48, p = 0.034; OR = 2.83, 95% CI: 1.07-7.47, p = 0.036). In female but not male fetuses, the AG genotype of rs10786691 increased the risk of NTDs (OR = 1.88, 95% CI: 1.03-3.41, p = 0.040). The SUFU rs10786691 A>G polymorphism may be a potential risk factor for NTDs and encephalocele in this high-risk population, but the association between the polymorphism and NTDs was probably influenced by gender.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of PKA and neural tube defects (NTDs) in Chinese population., Method: A total of 183 NTDs cases and 200 healthy controls were used in this study. 7 selected single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sites in the PKA gene were analyzed with MassArray high-throughput DNA analyzer with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. A series of statistical methods were carried out to investigate the correlation between the SNPs and the patient susceptibility to NTDs., Results: Statistical analysis showed a significant correlation between the SNP sites rs12132032 in PRKACB and NTDs. The AA genotype, A-allele and dominant AA in rs12132032 significantly increased the incidence of NTDs especially anencephaly (OR=3.87, 95% CI: 1.80-8.34 with genotype; OR=2.08, 95% CI: 1.43-3.04 with allele; OR=3.10, 95% CI: 1.53-6.26 with dominant). The T-allele of rs594631 in PRKACB was correlative with NTDs in male but not in female., Conclusions: The gene polymorphism loci rs12132032 in PRKACB maybe a potential risk factor for anencephaly in Chinese population from Shanxi, while gender susceptibility may influence the correlation.

Protein-L-isoaspartate (D-aspartate) O-methyltransferase 1 (PCMT1) gene encodes for the protein repair enzyme L-isoaspartate (D-aspartate) O-methyltransferase (PIMT), which is known to protect certain neural cells from Bax-induced apoptosis. Previous study has shown that PCMT1 polymorphisms rs4552 and rs4816 of infant are associated with spina bifida in the Californian population. The association between maternal polymorphism and neural tube defects is still uncovered. A case-control study was conducted to investigate a possible association between maternal PCMT1 and NTDs in Lvliang high-risk area of Shanxi Province in China, using a high-resolution DNA melting analysis genotyping method. We found that increased risk for anencephaly in isolated NTDs compared with the normal control group was observed for the G (vs. A) allele (p=0.034, OR=1.896, 95% CI, 1.04-3.45) and genotypes GG+GA (p=0.025, OR=2.237, 95% CI, 1.09-4.57). Although the significance was lost after multiple comparison correction, the results implied that maternal polymorphisms in PCMT1 might be a potential genetic risk factor for isolated anencephaly in this Chinese population., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII) catalyzes the hydrolysis of N-acetylaspartylglutamate into N-acetylaspartate and glutamate in the brain. Animal experiments suggested that GCPII plays an essential role in early embryonic development. Previous studies provided conflicting results on the effect of the GCPII rs61886492 C>T (or 1561C>T) polymorphism on NTDs. In the Lvliang area of Shanxi province, where the incidence of NTDs is the highest in China, a case-control study was conducted to investigate possible association between the GCPII rs61886492 and rs202676 polymorphisms and NTD risk. Results indicated all the case and control samples displayed the rs61886492 GG genotype. Although no significant differences in rs202676 genotype or allele frequencies were found between the NTD and control groups, the combined AG+GG genotype group was significantly associated with anencephaly (p = 0.03, OR = 2.11, 95% CI, 1.11-4.01), but not with spina bifida or encephalocele. Overall, the rs202676 A>G polymorphism is a potential risk factor for anencephaly. The results of this study suggest that phenotypic heterogeneity may exist among NTDs in this Chinese population.

Background: Neural tube defects are severe, common birth defects that result from failure of neural tube closure. They are considered to be a multifactorial disorder, and our knowledge of causal mechanisms remains limited. We hypothesized that abnormal DNA methylation occurs in NTD-affected fetuses. The correlations of global DNA methylation levels with complexity of NTDs and known risk factors of NTDs, MTHFR genotype and fever, were analyzed., Methods: A hospital-based case-control study was performed. Epidemiologic data, pathologic diagnosis, and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) genotype analysis were completed. Array comparative genomic hybridization was used to exclude cytogenetic abnormalities. Global DNA methylation statuses were determined for both brain and skin tissue., Results: Sixty-five NTD-affected fetuses and 65 normal controls matched for gestational and maternal ages were collected. In brain tissue, global DNA methylation levels were significantly decreased in cases compared with controls (4.12 vs. 4.99%; p < 0.001). DNA hypomethylation (<4.35%) resulted in a significant 5.736-fold increased risk for NTDs (95% confidence interval, 1.731-19.009; p = 0.004). Nonisolated NTDs had lower levels of global DNA methylation than did isolated NTDs (3.77 vs. 4.70%; p = 0.022). After stratifying subjects by MTHFR genotype, we observed a skewed distribution of global DNA methylation levels. For genotype C/C, global DNA methylation status was the same in the two groups (4.51 vs. 4.72%; p = 0.687). For T/T, cases had significantly lower global methylation levels than did controls (5.23 vs. 3.79%; p < 0.001)., Conclusions: Global DNA hypomethylation in fetal brain tissue was associated with NTD-affected pregnancy. DNA methylation levels were correlated with NTD complexity. The MTHFR genotype contributed to global DNA hypomethylation. Birth Defects Research (Part A), 2010. (c) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Objective: To estimate the association of anembryonic pregnancy with 55 elements, homocysteine, folate and S-adenosylhomocysteine in pregnant women., Methods: Thirty cases of anembryonic pregnancy were diagnosed using ultrasound scanning that showed an empty gestation sac with no embryo pole in the uterus. Additionally, thirty women with normal pregnancy were followed through the delivery a live and normal baby. The cases and controls were matched by age and week of gestation. Levels of 55 elements, homocysteine, folate and S-adenosylhomocysteine in women with anembryonic pregnancies were compared with those of the women experiencing normal pregnancies., Results: Women with anembryonic pregnancies had statistically significantly lower levels of folate and 10 elements including V, Ti, Li, Cd, Sr, Rb, P, Na, K, and B than did women experiencing normal pregnancies. However, they had higher homocysteine and Ge levels than did the controls., Conclusions: The levels of multiple nutrients including folate, 11 elements and homocysteine may be associated with the risk of anembryonic pregnancy.