Abstract Background Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a leading infectious cause of hospitalisation and death worldwide. The knowledge about the incidence and aetiology of CAP in China was fragmented. Methods A multicenter study performed at four hospitals in four regions in China and clinical samples from CAP patients were collected and used for pathogen identification from July 2016 to June 2019. Results A total of 1,674 patients were enrolled and the average annual incidence of hospitalized CAP was 18.7 cases per 10,000 people (95% confidence interval 18.5–19.0). The most common viral and bacterial agents found in patients were respiratory syncytial virus (19.2%) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (9.3%). The co-infections percentage was 13.8%. Pathogen distribution displayed variations within age groups, and seasonal and regional differences. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was not detected. Respiratory virus detection was significantly positively correlated with air pollutants, including PM2.5, PM10, NO2 and SO2; and significantly negatively correlated with ambient temperature and O3 content; bacteria detection was opposite. Conclusion The hospitalized CAP incidence in China was higher than previously known. CAP etiology showed differences in age, seasons, regions, and respiratory viruses were detected at a higher rate than bacterial infection overall. Air pollutants and temperature have influence on the detection of pathogens.
Background and Aims . Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an alarming public health problem that directly contributes to increased prevalence of liver cirrhosis and hepatic cell cancer, but without any specific pharmacological option. Sheng‐jiang powder (SJP), an empirical Chinese medicine formula to treat NAFLD, showed great efficacy but the specific mechanisms have never been reported. Therefore, we performed this study to explore the effect of SJP on NAFLD and the potential mechanism. Methods . NAFLD was induced by high fat diet (HFD) feeding. Rats were treated with SJP/normal saline daily for 10 weeks and all rats were euthanized after 12 weeks’ feeding. Liver tissue samples were obtained for biochemistry test and pathological evaluation. Additionally, oleic acid induced LO2 cells were employed to simulate a cell model of NAFLD. Cells were subjected to western blotting for Akt, mTOR, S6, SREBP1‐c, and FASN detection after coincubated with SJP, LY294002 (a selective PI3K inhibitor), or the combination for 24h. Results . HFD significantly induced hepatic steatosis. Plenty of lipid droplets were observed under transmission electron microscope. The ultrastructure of liver cells showed distinct changes with obvious endoplasmic reticulum expansion, mitochondrial contraction, and cell matrix solidification. Although no difference was detected in serum hepatic enzymes and tissue proinflammatory cytokines, the tissue level of SOD and GSH‐px was much lower and the pathologic injuries were much severe in HFD feeding rats. However, SJP treatment significantly attenuated the ultrastructure changes and protected rat liver against inflammatory injury. Abundant of lipid droplets and high expression of pAkt, pmTOR, pS6, and FASN were observed in oleic acid treated LO2 cells, while these changes were restored by SJP treatment. Conclusions . SJP is efficient in attenuating HFD induced NAFLD in rats and this effect might be partly related to the inhibition of Akt/mTOR/S6 pathway.
Intensive farming can reduce production cost and maximize animal production efficiency; however, it also causes many adverse effects on the welfare of dairy cows. Mechanical brush is an automated grooming device that promotes the grooming behavior of dairy cattle, thereby helping them to alleviate stress. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of using mechanical brushes on the production performance of dairy cows by comprehensively analyzing their milk production, health status, and reproductive performance. The cows were assigned to six groups: 109 lactating dairy cows and 105 controls, 64 dry milk dairy cows and 49 controls, and 198 perinatal cows and 65 controls. Mechanical brush use was analyzed during the lactation, dry milk, and perinatal periods. Body surface cleanliness, lactation, disease incidence, and reproduction performance were assessed. Uterine involution, luteolysis, serum estradiol and progesterone levels were analyzed. We found an increasing trend in the daily utility time and usage frequency of the mechanical brush for each cow during the lactating period (7.73 ± 4.02 min/d; 2.90 ± 1.22 times/d, respectively), dry period (15.97 ± 14.16 min/d; 4.21 ± 2.91 times/d, respectively), and perinatal period (25.15 ± 19.05 min/d; 5.45 ± 3.83 times/d, respectively). The installation location of the mechanical brush significantly affected the frequency of usage during the different periods. The head was the preferred body part for using the mechanical brush during the lactation and dry periods (59.32% and 44.54%, respectively), while the hip was the main preferred grooming part during the perinatal period (40.17%). Additionally, mechanical brush use in lactating and dry dairy cows significantly improved the cleanliness of the body's surface (P < 0.05), and enhanced milk production of lactating cows (P < 0.01), particularly for cows with 4 and 5 parities. The uterine involution rate (70%), luteolysis rate (100%), and first service conception rate (35.94%) were better in the experimental groups than in the control groups (95%, 55%, and 30.61%, respectively); however, the differences were not significant. Moreover, mechanical brush use did not significantly affect the disease incidence rates of cows or the concentration of circulating steroid hormones. Overall, the time, frequency, and preferred body part of dairy cows that used the mechanical brush varied across different physiological stages. Thus, the use of mechanical brushes has the potential to improve the production performance of dairy cows and enhance sustainable and healthy development of pasture.
In order to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the inversion of perfectly electric conductors (PECs), an iterative method based on linear approximation (IMLA) is proposed in this work. In the iteration, the computational complexity of the proposed IMLA is well reduced by the implementation of a linear approximation, which makes the inversion highly efficient. Although the linear approximation is employed to solve the inverse scattering problem, full-wave effect is still considered to improve the inversion accuracy in the iteration. In addition, to effectively solve the ill-posed inverse scattering problem and improve the inversion quality, Tikhonov regularization method is introduced, and the corresponding regularization parameter is determined by a self-adaptive L-curve method. To verify the effects of scatterer size and noise on the reconstruction, typical two-dimensional experiments are given, and the results show that the proposed IMLA could efficiently and accurately retrieve complex PEC scatterer shapes, even in the presence of noise.
Abelmoschus manihot (A. manihot) flowers have been heavily researched and applied in medicine and food additive due to its individual active ingredients and biological activity. Here, ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE) was designed to extract flavonoids compounds from A. manihot flowers based on single factor experiments and response surface methodology (RSM). Moreover, the total flavonoid content (TFC), yield, characteristics and antioxidant activities of these extractions were evaluated. Comparison of four extraction methods, the TFC and antioxidant activity of extracts from A. manihot flowers can significantly improve by UAE, showing UAE is the most efficient and economical extraction method. The optimized conditions of flavonoid extractions contained an ultrasound time of 36.8 min, ultrasound power of 228 W, liquid-solid ratio of 54.9 ml g-1, and ethanol content of 59.8%, respectively, in which the TFC extraction yield was 51.53±0.66 mg g-1. The predicted and experimental extraction yield of TFC showed no significant differences (less than 0.05), suggesting that the UAE process is feasible and suitable for scale up extraction flavonoids from A. manihot flowers. 19 flavonoid compounds of the optimized extractions were quantified by HPLC-MS, and hyperoside (12663.25 ± 342.06 μg g-1), quercetin 3-glucoside (4337.19 ± 99.66 μg g-1), rutin (1293.53 ± 6.69 μg g-1), quercetin (641.76 ± 13.20 μg g-1) and myricetin (292.76 ± 38.01 μg g-1) were confirmed as major compounds. Moreover, no significant structural differences were observed in the FTIR spectra of extracts using UAE and ME. Correlation analysis showed that the TFC, ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging activity of A. manihot flowers extracts significantly correlated with the contents and their compositions. In general, these results offered a blueprint for reliable and efficient guides for obtaining the flavonoid enriched extracts from A. manihot flowers. Moreover, these flavonoid compounds may be potentially considered as a source of natural antioxidant additives in some industries.
Community-acquired pneumonia(CAP)is a common respiratory infectious disease. The etiologic diagnosis of CAP remains an uneasy task. Early etiologic diagnosis is critical for proper treatment and might improve the prognosis. So, it is important to identify pathogens causing CAP in early time and accurate way with sensitive and effective method. This paper summarizes the recent progress in the research of the detection assay for CAP.
The nasopharyngeal microbiota is composed of a variety of not only the true commensal bacterial species but also the two-face pathobionts, which are one a harmless commensal bacterial species and the other a highly invasive and deadly pathogen. In a previous study, we found that the diversity of nasopharyngeal microbiota was lost in severe influenza patients.
Background Adults with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in China suffer high morbidity. CAP is caused by a multitude of pathogens; however, pathogen-directed clinical symptoms are often lacking. Therefore, patients lacking an accurate microbiological diagnosis are administered with empirical antimicrobials. Methods We collected bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, as well as clinical and laboratory data from 650 adult patients with CAP admitted to three hospitals in Hubei, Sichuan, and Zhejiang provinces in China. Specimens were cultured and tested using real-time reverse transcription qPCR (RT-qPCR) assays for the presence of 42 respiratory bacteria and viruses. CAP was investigated with respect to regions, genders, and age and patterns of infections or co-infections. Employing clinical guidelines adapted for diagnosis, we assessed retrospectively the appropriate pathogen-directed therapy and compared it with the initial empirical therapies. Results Our study identified that 21.38% (139/650) of the patients were classified as having Severe CAP (S-CAP), with a higher prevalence among males, older adults, and during the warm season. Bacterial pathogens were detected in 35.53% (231/650) of cases. K. pneumoniae , H. influenzae , and S. aureus were the most prevalent bacteria across different demographics and regions. Viral pathogens were found in 48.76% (317/650) of patients Epstein-Barr, Human rhinovirus, and Cytomegalovirus were the most common viruses. Co-infections were present in 24.31% (158/650) of cases, with viral-bacterial co-infections being the most frequent. The RT-qPCR demonstrated significantly higher detection rates for key pathogens compared to standard culture methods. It showed potential in optimizing antimicrobial prescriptions by allowing for de-escalation in 18.30% (95/518) of patients, among which reducing the number of excessive antibiotics mainly comprised decreasing the use of 2nd or 3rd generation cephalosporins (5.79%, 30/518) and β-lactamase inhibitor combinations. Conclusion The study highlights the significant burden of S-CAP, particularly among specific demographics and seasons. The prevalence of bacterial and viral pathogens, along with the high rate of co-infections, emphasizes the need for comprehensive diagnostic approaches. The RT-qPCR assays emerge as a superior diagnostic tool, offering enhanced pathogen detection capabilities and facilitating more precise antimicrobial therapy. This could lead to improved patient outcomes and contribute to the rational use of antimicrobials, addressing the growing concern of antibiotic resistance.
Bridge cables are the safety lifelines of cable-supported bridges. However, many suspenders in cable-supported bridges were inaccurately evaluated and suffered from premature damage under complex environmental and load actions. A multifactor competition model was proposed and validated to consider the coupling effect of multifactor actions. Furthermore, a framework for corrosion-fretting fatigue analysis was established based on the competition model, stochastic finite-element method, and time-dependent reliability. The degradation process in the wires and suspenders of a bridge was analyzed, and their service lives were accurately predicted. In addition, the suspenders were quantitatively investigated for multifactor coupling and single-factor effects. This paper found that the coupling effect of corrosion, fretting, and fatigue significantly aggravates wire damage and reduces the service lives of short suspenders.
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