Background:The role of monitoring serum vancomycin levels during treatment of peritoneal dialysis (PD)–associated peritonitis is controversial. Substantial inter-individual variability may result in suboptimal serum levels despite similar dosing of vancomycin. The published predictors of suboptimal serum vancomycin levels remain limited.Methods:Data were retrospectively collected from 541 patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 312019. For gram-positive cocci and culture-negative peritonitis, we adopted a vancomycin administration and monitoring protocol. Short-term adverse...

High-power, high-brightness laser lighting promotes new requirements for light-conversion materials, such as high thermal conductivity, high saturation threshold and compact encapsulation. In this paper, we designed and fabricated a novel composite structure ceramic including a 1.0×1.0 mm2 Al₂O₃-YAG:Ce ceramic and a φ=16.0 mm transparent YAG ceramic for the transmissive configuration in laser lighting. When pumped by blue laser from 0~60 W mm2, all the samples exhibited no luminous saturation phenomenon, and the 10.0 wt.%Al₂O₃-YAG:Ce/YAG composite...

Abstract Background Dengue is the fastest spreading arboviral disease, posing great challenges on global public health. A reproduceable and comparable global genotyping framework for contextualizing spatiotemporal epidemiological data of dengue virus (DENV) is essential for research studies and collaborative surveillance. Methods Targeting DENV-1 spreading prominently in recent decades, by reconciling all qualified complete E gene sequences of 5003 DENV-1 strains with epidemiological information from 78 epidemic countries/areas ranging from 1944 to 2018, we established and...

Abstract Background As an emerging therapeutic modality, chemodynamic therapy (CDT), converting hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) into highly toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS), has been developed for tumor-specific therapy. However, the deficiency of endogenous H2O2 and high concentration of glutathione (GSH) in the tumor microenvironment (TME) weaken the CDT-based tumor-therapeutic efficacy. Herein, a photothermal-enhanced tumor-specific cascade catalytic nanosystem has been constructed on the basis of glucose oxidase (GOD)-functionalized molybdenum (Mo)-based polyoxometalate (POM) nanoclusters, termed as GOD@POMs. Methods...

Abstract Objective To evaluate the safety and efficacy of associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) in the treatment of initially unresectable hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to preliminarily explore the mechanism of rapid growth of the future liver remnant (FLR). Methods Twenty-four patients with HBV-associated HCC who underwent ALPPS in our hospital from August 2014 to January 2021 were retrospectively studied. Propensity score matching was used to...

Abstract Objective Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is associated with elevated morbidity and mortality, and it usually occurs in older adults. Our goal here was to assess the efficacies of muscle mass-related biomarkers, such as, aspartate transaminase/alanine transaminase (AST/ALT) and creatinine/cystatin C*100 (Cr/CysC*100), in predicting 1-, 2-, and 3-year mortalities of older CAP patients. Methods Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting and Participants: A teaching hospital in western China. Hospitalized CAP patients, aged≥60 years. We separated patients into...

Abstract Spindle and kinetochore-associated complex subunit 3 (SKA3) is a microtubule-binding subcomplex of the outer kinetochore that is required for proper chromosomal segregation and cell division. However, little is known regarding the probable mechanism of SKA3, particularly in terms of prostate cancer (PCA) progression. Multiple databases, including TCGA and GTEx, were utilized to examine the expression of SKA3 in PCA patients and to shed light on the clinical significance and potential mechanism of SKA3 in...

Abstract Background The identification of differentially expressed tumor-associated proteins and genomic alterations driving neoplasia is critical in the development of clinical assays to detect cancers and forms the foundation for understanding cancer biology. One of the challenges in the analysis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the low neoplastic cellularity and heterogeneous composition of bulk tumors. To enrich neoplastic cells from bulk tumor tissue, coring, and laser microdissection (LMD) sampling techniques have been employed. In...

Abstract Background Abnormal metabolism and perturbations in metabolic pathways play significant roles in the development and progression of prostate cancer; however, comprehensive metabolomic analyses of human data are lacking and needed to elucidate the interrelationships. Methods We examined the serum metabolome in relation to prostate cancer survival in a cohort of 1812 cases in the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) Study. Using an ultrahigh-performance LC-MS/MS platform, we identified 961 known metabolites in prospectively collected serum....

Abstract Background The current COVID-19 pandemic and the previous SARS/MERS outbreaks of 2003 and 2012 have resulted in a series of major global public health crises. We argue that in the interest of developing effective and safe vaccines and drugs and to better understand coronaviruses and associated disease mechenisms it is necessary to integrate the large and exponentially growing body of heterogeneous coronavirus data. Ontologies play an important role in standard-based knowledge and data representation,...

PurposeExtracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is employed to support critically ill COVD-19 patients. The occurrence of ischemic stroke and intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), as well as the implementation of anticoagulation strategies under the dual influence of ECMO and COVID-19 remain unclear. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to describe the ischemic stroke, ICH and overall in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients receiving ECMO and summarize the anticoagulation regimens.MethodsEMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane, and Scopus were searched for studies examining...

Abstract Objective To compare colorectal cancer (CRC) incidences in carriers of pathogenic variants of the MMR genes in the PLSD and IMRC cohorts, of which only the former included mandatory colonoscopy surveillance for all participants. Methods CRC incidences were calculated in an intervention group comprising a cohort of confirmed carriers of pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in mismatch repair genes (path_MMR) followed prospectively by the Prospective Lynch Syndrome Database (PLSD). All had colonoscopy surveillance, with...

Abstract Here, we systematically review research on teaching knowledge in the context of undergraduate STEM education, with particular attention to what this research reveals about knowledge that is important for evidence-based teaching. Evidence-based teaching can improve student outcomes in undergraduate STEM education. However, the enactment of promising evidence-based teaching strategies depends greatly on the instructor and potentially on the teaching knowledge they are able to deploy. The review includes an overview of prevalent teaching knowledge...

Abstract Background Total hip arthroplasties (THA) are cost-effective interventions for patients with osteoarthritis refractory to physical therapy or medical management. Most individuals report positive surgical outcomes with reduction in pain and improved joint function. Multiple recent studies demonstrated the influence of patient mental health on surgical success. We sought to determine the relationship between patient preoperative psychological factors and postoperative THA outcomes, specifically pain and function. Methods PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Reviews databases were queried...

Abstract Background To assess age- and sex-related changes in the superficial retinal capillary plexus (SCP) and deep retinal capillary plexus (DCP) in healthy Chinese adults. Methods In this cross-sectional study, all data were derived from the community-based Jidong Eye Cohort Study. Participants underwent optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) and other ocular and systemic examinations. The vessel densities of the whole measured area, parafovea, and four quadrants in the SCP and DCP were measured. Results We...

Abstract Large- and small-scale transformation of healthcare delivery toward improved patient experience through promotion of patient-centered and coordinated care continues to be at the forefront of health system efforts in the United States. As part of a Quality Improvement (QI) project at a large, midwestern health system, a case series of high-performing organizations was explored with the goal of identifying best practices in patient-centered care and/or care coordination (PCC/CC). Identification of best practices was done...

Electrochemical oxidation of carbon fiber (CF) is used to enhance the interfacial adhesion of CF-reinforced polyaryletherketone (CF/PAEK) composites. The effect of current intensity parameter on surface structure of CF and interfacial properties of the corresponding thermoplastic composites are deeply investigated. The results show that the current intensity in the range of 80 A–300 A does not lead to a decrease in the mechanical property of CFs. When the current intensity is 200 A, CF/PAEK composites...

How does higher education shape the Black-White earnings gap? It may help close the gap if Black youth benefit more from attending and completing college than do White youth. On the other hand, Black college-goers are less likely to complete college relative to White students, and this disparity in degree completion helps reproduce racial inequality. In this study, we use a novel causal decomposition and a debiased machine learning method to isolate, quantify, and explain...

In recent years, the promotional discourse has grown more versatile due to the emergence of new social media. YouTube influencer marketing is of increasing significance for brands’ promotion, especially in the beauty category. Many studies on the effect of influencer marketing used self-reported surveys, the results of which provide limited help in formulating effective videos. The current study aims to characterize YouTube influencer marketing videos through speech act analysis and genre analysis and then determine...

In recent years, the promotional discourse has grown more versatile due to the emergence of new social media. YouTube influencer marketing is of increasing significance for brands’ promotion, especially in the beauty category. Many studies on the effect of influencer marketing used self-reported surveys, the results of which provide limited help in formulating effective videos. The current study aims to characterize YouTube influencer marketing videos through speech act analysis and genre analysis and then determine...

Social withdrawal and isolation are frequently experienced among people with cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease related dementias. Few assistive technologies exist to support persons with memory concerns’ (PWMC) continuing social engagement. This study aimed to understand PWMC and family caregivers’ initial perspectives on the feasibility and utility of a wearable technology-based social memory aid. We recruited 20 dyads, presented the memory aid, and conducted semi-structured interviews from June to August 2020 over Zoom...

Infant neglect is a common type of child maltreatment. According to the Social Information Processing theory, maternal executive function (EF) and reflective function (RF) are assumed to be important contributing factors to infant neglect. However, empirical evidence about this assumption is sparse. This was a cross-sectional study. A total of 1010 eligible women participated. The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function—Adult Version, Parental Reflective Function Questionnaire, and Signs of Neglect in Infants Assessment Scale (SIGN)...

The strong stochastic nonlinear impairment induced by random mode coupling appears to be a long-standing performance-limiting problem in the orbital angular momentum (OAM) mode division multiplexing (MDM) of intensity modulation direct detection (IM/DD) transmission systems. In this letter, we propose a Bayesian Neural Networks (BNN) nonlinear equalizer for an OAM-MDM IM/DD transmission with three modes. Unlike conventional Volterra and convolutional neural network (CNN) equalizers with fixed weight coefficients, the weights and biases of the BNN...

Biomineralization is one of the key biochemical processes in calcifying bivalve species such as oysters that is affected by ocean acidification (OA). Larval life stages of oysters are made of aragonite crystals whereas the adults are made of calcite and/or aragonite. Though both calcite and aragonite are crystal polymorphs of calcium carbonate, they have different mechanical properties and hence it is important to study the micro and nano structure of different life stages of oyster...

Biomineralization is one of the key biochemical processes in calcifying bivalve species such as oysters that is affected by ocean acidification (OA). Larval life stages of oysters are made of aragonite crystals whereas the adults are made of calcite and/or aragonite. Though both calcite and aragonite are crystal polymorphs of calcium carbonate, they have different mechanical properties and hence it is important to study the micro and nano structure of different life stages of oyster...