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Background: Acute respiratory infections have been associated with a transient increase in cardiovascular risk. However, whether such an association persists beyond 1 month and the potential modifying effect of cardiovascular risk factors on such an association are less well established.Methods: The China Kadoorie Biobank enrolled 512 726 participants aged 30-79 years from 10 areas across China during 2004-2008. By the end of 2017, a total of 5444 participants with new-onset ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and 4846 with ischaemic stroke (IS) who also had at least a record of hospitalization for pneumonia during follow-up were included. We used a self-controlled case-series method and calculated the age- and season-adjusted relative incidences (RIs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for ischaemic cardiovascular disease (CVD) after pneumonia.Results: The risk of ischaemic CVD increased during days 1-3 after pneumonia hospitalization, with an RI (95% CI) of 4.24 (2.92-6.15) for IHD and 1.85 (1.02-3.35) for IS. The risk gradually reduced with longer duration since pneumonia hospitalization but remained elevated until days 92-365 for IHD (1.23, 1.12-1.35) and days 29-91 for IS (1.25, 1.05-1.48). Pre-existing cardiovascular risk factors amplified the associations between pneumonia and ischaemic CVD risks, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for both IHD and IS, and diabetes and smoking for IHD (all Pinteraction < 0.05). Besides, the risk of ischaemic CVD was also higher among the participants aged ≥70 years (Pinteraction < 0.001 for IHD and 0.033 for IS).Conclusion: Among middle-aged and older Chinese adults, pneumonia hospitalization was associated with both short- and long-term increases in ischaemic CVD risk for ≤1 year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims  The potential difference in the impacts of lifestyle factors (LFs) on progression from healthy to first cardiometabolic disease (FCMD), subsequently to cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CMM), and further to death is unclear. Methods and results  We used data from the China Kadoorie Biobank of 461 047 adults aged 30–79 free of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes at baseline. Cardiometabolic multimorbidity was defined as the coexistence of two or three CMDs, including ischaemic heart disease (IHD), stroke, and type 2 diabetes (T2D). We used multi-state model to analyse the impacts of high-risk LFs (current smoking or quitting because of illness, current excessive alcohol drinking or quitting, poor diet, physical inactivity, and unhealthy body shape) on the progression of CMD. During a median follow-up of 11.2 years, 87 687 participants developed at least one CMD, 14 164 developed CMM, and 17 541 died afterwards. Five high-risk LFs played crucial but different roles in all transitions from healthy to FCMD, to CMM, and then to death. The hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) per one-factor increase were 1.20 (1.19, 1.21) and 1.14 (1.11, 1.16) for transitions from healthy to FCMD, and from FCMD to CMM, and 1.21 (1.19, 1.23), 1.12 (1.10, 1.15), and 1.10 (1.06, 1.15) for mortality risk from healthy, FCMD, and CMM, respectively. When we further divided FCMDs into IHD, ischaemic stroke, haemorrhagic stroke, and T2D, we found that LFs played different roles in disease-specific transitions even within the same transition stage. Conclusion  Assuming causality exists, our findings emphasize the significance of integrating comprehensive lifestyle interventions into both health management and CMD management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CH3NH3PbBr3@CsPbBr3 quantum dots were prepared by epitaxially growing a CsPbBr3 shell on the surface of CH3NH3PbBr3 due to their similar crystal structures. The inorganic CsPbBr3 shell provides enhanced stability for the CH3NH3PbBr3 core. Compared with that of CH3NH3PbBr3, the photoluminescence of CH3NH3PbBr3@CsPbBr3 quantum dots is not only strong, but also stable for months, in addition to having a high quantum yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Backgrounds: In contrast to developed countries, breast cancer in China is characterized by a rapidly escalating incidence rate in the past two decades, lower survival rate, and vast geographic variation. However, there is no validated risk prediction model in China to aid early detection yet.Methods: A large nationwide prospective cohort, China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB), was used to evaluate relative and attributable risks of invasive breast cancer. A total of 300,824 women free of any prior cancer were recruited during 2004-2008 and followed up to Dec 31, 2016. Cox models were used to identify breast cancer risk factors and build a relative risk model. Absolute risks were calculated by incorporating national age- and residence-specific breast cancer incidence and non-breast cancer mortality rates. We used an independent large prospective cohort, Shanghai Women's Health Study (SWHS), with 73,203 women to externally validate the calibration and discriminating accuracy.Results: During a median of 10.2 years of follow-up in the CKB, 2287 cases were observed. The final model included age, residence area, education, BMI, height, family history of overall cancer, parity, and age at menarche. The model was well-calibrated in both the CKB and the SWHS, yielding expected/observed (E/O) ratios of 1.01 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.94-1.09) and 0.94 (95% CI, 0.89-0.99), respectively. After eliminating the effect of age and residence, the model maintained moderate but comparable discriminating accuracy compared with those of some previous externally validated models. The adjusted areas under the receiver operating curve (AUC) were 0.634 (95% CI, 0.608-0.661) and 0.585 (95% CI, 0.564-0.605) in the CKB and the SWHS, respectively.Conclusions: Based only on non-laboratory predictors, our model has a good calibration and moderate discriminating capacity. The model may serve as a useful tool to raise individuals' awareness and aid risk-stratified screening and prevention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: China has the largest burden of esophageal cancer (EC). Prediction models can be used to identify high-risk individuals for intensive lifestyle interventions and endoscopy screening. However, the current prediction models are limited by small sample size and a lack of external validation, and none of them can be embedded into the booming electronic health records (EHRs) in China., Objective: This study aims to develop and validate absolute risk prediction models for EC in the Chinese population. In particular, we assessed whether models that contain only EHR-available predictors performed well., Methods: A prospective cohort recruiting 510,145 participants free of cancer from both high EC-risk and low EC-risk areas in China was used to develop EC models. Another prospective cohort of 18,441 participants was used for validation. A flexible parametric model was used to develop a 10-year absolute risk model by considering the competing risks (full model). The full model was then abbreviated by keeping only EHR-available predictors. We internally and externally validated the models by using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and calibration plots and compared them based on classification measures., Results: During a median of 11.1 years of follow-up, we observed 2550 EC incident cases. The models consisted of age, sex, regional EC-risk level (high-risk areas: 2 study regions; low-risk areas: 8 regions), education, family history of cancer (simple model), smoking, alcohol use, BMI (intermediate model), physical activity, hot tea consumption, and fresh fruit consumption (full model). The performance was only slightly compromised after the abbreviation. The simple and intermediate models showed good calibration and excellent discriminating ability with AUCs (95% CIs) of 0.822 (0.783-0.861) and 0.830 (0.792-0.867) in the external validation and 0.871 (0.858-0.884) and 0.879 (0.867-0.892) in the internal validation, respectively., Conclusions: Three nested 10-year EC absolute risk prediction models for Chinese adults aged 30-79 years were developed and validated, which may be particularly useful for populations in low EC-risk areas. Even the simple model with only 5 predictors available from EHRs had excellent discrimination and good calibration, indicating its potential for broader use in tailored EC prevention. The simple and intermediate models have the potential to be widely used for both primary and secondary prevention of EC., (©Yuting Han, Xia Zhu, Yizhen Hu, Canqing Yu, Yu Guo, Dong Hang, Yuanjie Pang, Pei Pei, Hongxia Ma, Dianjianyi Sun, Ling Yang, Yiping Chen, Huaidong Du, Min Yu, Junshi Chen, Zhengming Chen, Dezheng Huo, Guangfu Jin, Jun Lv, Zhibin Hu, Hongbing Shen, Liming Li. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (https://publichealth.jmir.org), 15.03.2023.)

Background: Lower respiratory tract infections, including pneumonia, have been associated with short-term increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, there is only limited evidence about the long-term impact of pneumonia on the cardiovascular system beyond one year., Methods: We conducted a prospective matched cohort study based on data from the China Kadoorie Biobank study of 482,017 adults who were enrolled between June 25, 2004, and July 15, 2008, and were free of CVD at baseline and before pneumonia hospitalization. A total of 24,060 patients hospitalised with pneumonia were identified until December 31, 2018, and were matched on age, sex, urban or rural areas, and decile of the frailty index to 223,875 controls. We used the piecewise Cox proportional hazards model to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for pre-specified incident CVD outcomes, including ischaemic heart disease (IHD), arrhythmia, heart failure (HF), ischaemic stroke (IS), and hemorrhagic stroke (HS), at various time intervals through 10 years after pneumonia hospitalization., Findings: Of the 247,935 pneumonia cases and controls included, the mean age (standard deviation) was 53.5 (10.4), and 40.8% (101,159) were men. During follow-up, 2389 (9.9%) pneumonia cases developed IHD, 489 (2.0%) cases developed arrhythmia, 545 (2.3%) cases developed HF, 1764 (7.3%) cases developed IS, and 348 (1.4%) cases developed HS. After adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, health status and medication, underlying conditions, and family history of CVD, the elevated CVD risk was highest within the first 30 days after pneumonia hospitalisation, with subsequent risk reductions varying by subtypes. The elevated risk remained until the eighth year after pneumonia hospitalisation for IHD, arrhythmia, and HF, with HRs (95% CIs) of 1.48 (1.13-1.93), 2.69 (1.70-4.25), and 4.36 (2.86-6.64), respectively. The risk of stroke associated with pneumonia hospitalisation remained elevated until the seventh year for IS (HR = 1.30; 95% CI: 1.04-1.63), and until the second year for HS (1.39; 1.07-1.80). The above associations were consistently observed across various characteristics of the participants., Interpretation: In middle-aged and older Chinese adults, pneumonia hospitalisation was associated with short- and long-term CVD risk, with the elevated risk of certain CVD outcomes persisting for up to 8 years., Funding: National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Key R&D Program of China, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, the Kadoorie Charitable Foundation in Hong Kong, the UK Wellcome Trust., Competing Interests: All authors declare no competing interests., (© 2022 The Author(s).)

Background: China is embracing an ageing population without sustainable end-of-life care services. However, changes in place of death and trends of going home to die (GHTD) from the hospital remains unknown., Methods: A total of 42,956 participants from the China Kadoorie Biobank, a large Chinese cohort, who died between 2009 and 2017 was included into analysis. GHTD was defined as death at home within 7 days after discharge from the hospital. A modified Poisson regression was used to investigate temporal trends of the place of death and GHTD, and estimate prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association of GHTD with health insurance (HI) schemes., Findings: From 2009 to 2017, home remained the most common place of death (71·5%), followed by the hospital (21·6%). The proportion of GHTD for Urban and Rural Residents' Basic Medical Insurance (URRBMI) beneficiaries was around six times higher than that for Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI) beneficiaries (66·0% vs 11·6%). Besides, a substantial increase in the proportion of GHTD throughout the study period was observed regardless of HI schemes (4·4% annually for URRBMI, and 5·4% for UEBMI). Compared with UEBMI beneficiaries, URRBMI beneficiaries were more likely to experience GHTD, with an adjusted PR (95% CI) of 1·19 (95% CI: 1·12, 1·27) ( P <0·001)., Interpretation: In China, most of deaths occurred at home, with a large proportion of decedents GHTD from the hospital, especially for URRBMI beneficiaries. Substantial variation in the phenomenon of GHTD across HI schemes indicates inequalities in end-of-life care utilization., Funding: The National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Kadoorie Charitable Foundation, the National Key R&D Program of China, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology., (© 2021 The Author(s).)

CH 3 NH 3 PbBr 3 @CsPbBr 3 quantum dots were prepared by epitaxially growing a CsPbBr 3 shell on the surface of CH 3 NH 3 PbBr 3 due to their similar crystal structures. The inorganic CsPbBr 3 shell provides enhanced stability for the CH 3 NH 3 PbBr 3 core. Compared with that of CH 3 NH 3 PbBr 3 , the photoluminescence of CH 3 NH 3 PbBr 3 @CsPbBr 3 quantum dots is not only strong, but also stable for months, in addition to having a high quantum yield.

In order to elucidate the effect of dexamethasone on the expression of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) in ciliary pigment epithelial (CPE) cells cultured in vitro, rabbit CPE cells were cultured in vitro, treated with DMEM medium containing 0, 1 x 10(-8), 5 x 10(-8), 10 x 10(-8) and 50 x 10(-8) mol/L dexamethasone respectively for 5 days. The TGF-beta1 expression was detected by immunohistochemistry Supervision methods and analyzed semi-quantitatively by HMIAS-2000 image system. As opposed to in vivo, rabbit CPE cells expressed TGF-beta1 under cultured circumstance in vitro. The gray scales of the positive yellow staining in the groups of 1 x 10(-8), 5 x 10(-8), 10 x 10(-8) and 50 x 10(-8) mol/L dexamethasone were 136.57 +/- 4.43, 140.20 +/- 6.10, 142.98 +/- 2.99, 146.80 +/- 1.68 and 150.05 +/- 1.94 respectively. When the concentrations of dexamethasone were equal to or higher than 5 x 10(-8) mol/L and, the expression of TGF-beta1 was inhibited. 10(-7) mol/L dexamethasone showed a significant inhibition. It was suggested that CPE cells possess the potential ability of synthesizing and expressing TGF-beta1. The inhibition of TGF-beta1 expression by dexamethasone may be beneficial to the treatment of proliferative vitroretinopathy, also exert some influence on the secretion of aqueous humor and ciliary inflammation.

To investigate the neuroprotective effect of melatonin (MT) on retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in rats with ischemia reperfusion injury (RIR), 24 healthy SD rats were randomly divided into two groups: group A and group B. RIR model was induced in the left eyes by increasing the pressure of the anterior chamber. Group A was treated with 10 % alcohol- normal saline (1 mL/kg/d, ip), while group B was treated with 0.5 % MT (1 mL/kg/d, ip). On the basis of the time interval between the left eyes RIR and the sacrifice, rats in both group A and group B were further divided into 3 subgroups: groups A1 and B1 (days 7), groups A2 and B2 (days 14), groups A3 and B3 (days 30), with 4 rats in each subgroup. 7 day before the sacrifice, 3 % fluorogold was bilaterally injected into superior colliculi and geniculate body. The eyes were enucleated after being sacrificed, and mounting of the retina from both eyes was performed on a slide and observed under a fluorescence microscope. Four photos were taken from each of the four quadrants of the retina. The labeled-RGCs were counted by using a computerized image analyzer. The rate of the labeled-RGCs was used for statistical analysis. Our results showed that, in group A, the rate of the labeled-RGCs was (77.16 +/- 6.35) %, (65.53 +/- 7.01) %, (53.85 +/- 4.38) % on day 7, 14 and 30. In group B, the rate of the labeled-RGCs was (81. 33 +/- 9.27) %, (79.80 +/- 8.36) %, (80. 34 +/- 11.05) % on day 7, 14 and 30. In group B, which was treated with MT after RIR, the rate of labeled-RGCs was significantly higher than that of group A on day 14 and day 30 (P<0.05). It is concluded that, in the RIR rats, MT therapy could increase the survival rate of the RGCs and could rescue and restore the injured RGCs.

To study the effect of tTG fully phosphorothioated antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (tTG-ASDON) on tTG expression in cultured bovine trabecular meshwork cells (BTMCs) in vitro and explore a new treatment alternative for primary open angle glaucoma (POAG), the ASDON1 and ASDON2 complementary to the protein codogram region of tTG were designed, synthesized and phosphorothioated according to the secondary structure of tTG. The ASDON1 and ASDON2 were embedded in Lipofectamine and transfected into BTMCs. The untreated group served as negative controls. The expression of tTG in the mRNA and protein level were measured by semi-quantitative RT-PCR and immunohistochemical technique-Supervision method respectively. Our results showed that both the mRNA and the protein of tTG with tTG-ASDON and tTG-ASDON2 were significantly decreased as compared with that of the controls (P < 0.05). On the other hand, no significant difference was found between the ASDON1 group and the ASDON2 group. It is concluded that the expression of tTG mRNA and protein in cultured BTMC are down-regulated by tTG- ASDON. As a result, tTG-ASDON may be used for the treatment of POAG through the inhibitory effect on the expression of tTG.

To evaluate the effect of dexamethasone on the expression of aquaporin-1 (AQP-1) in cultured bovine trabecular meshwork cells, bovine trabecular meshwork cells were cultured in vitro and reproduced to the third and the fourth generation, then treated with dexamethasone at the concentrations of 5, 25, 50, 250 microg/L respectively for 7 days. Immunohistochemical technique-supervision method was employed to measure, and image analysis system to analyze the expression of AQP-1 in normal cultured bovine trabecular meshwork cells and those treated with dexamethasone. In normal bovine trabecular meshwork cells, the grayscale of AQP-1 positive staining was 167.94 +/- 1.18, while it was 168.92 +/- 0.91, 176.72 +/- 1.80, 180.64 +/- 1.31, 185.64 +/- 1.58 in cells treated with 5, 25, 50, 250 microg/L concentrations of dexamethasone. When the concentration of dexamethasone was higher than 25 microg/L, the expression of AQP-1 was significantly inhibited (P < 0.05). The regulation of AQP-1 expression by dexamethasone in cultured bovine trabecular meshwork cells in vitro may be one of causes that retard the aqueous outflow in glucocorticoid- induced glaucoma.

The inhibitory mechanism of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) on the fibroblasts from Tenon's capsule was studied. By using immunohistochemical SP method and pathological image system, the inhibitory effects of IFN-gamma on the expression of transforming growth factor beta receptor I in the in vitro cultured fibroblasts from Tenon's capsule were quantitatively analyzed. The results showed that IFN-gamma could reduce the expression of transforming growth factor beta receptor I in the fibroblasts with the following dose-effect relationship: Y = 1937.5-134.2 Igx (r=-0.971, P<0.01). It was concluded that IFN-gamma could inhibit the expression of transforming growth factor beta receptor I in the fibroblasts from Tenon's capsule. The modulation of the transforming growth factor beta receptor I expression by IFN-gamma may be beneficial to the alleviation of the hyperplasia of scar after trabeculectomy.

To study whether cultured bovine trabecluar meshwork cells (BTMC) are capable of expressing tTG in protein and at mRNA level, BTMC were cultured in vitro and passaged three times, then the cells were transferred onto or cultured on sterile cover or submitted to isolation of RNA with Trizol, and the expression of tTG was detected by immunohistochemical technique and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) respectively. Our results showed that tTG immunostaining was positive in the cytoplasm and rarely in the nucleus of cultured BTMC. No immunostaining was seen in the negative control. Moreover, a single RT-PCR amplified product whose sequence and size were in accordance with our known parameters was obtained. The expression of tTG in cultured BTMC was confirmed in protein and at mRNA level. BMTC is available more readily for the investigation of the relationship between tTG and primary open-angle glaucoma.