Patient-centred measurement of recovery from day-case surgery using wrist worn accelerometers: a pilot and feasibility study

This pilot and feasibility study evaluated wrist-worn accelerometers to measure recovery from day-case surgery in comparison with daily quality of recovery-15 scores. The protocol was designed with extensive patient and public involvement and engagement, and delivered by a research network of anaesthesia trainees. Forty-eight patients recruited through pre-operative assessment clinics wore wrist accelerometers for 7 days before (pre-operative) and immediately after elective surgery (early postoperative), and again at 3 months (late postoperative). Validated activity and quality of recovery questionnaires were administered. Raw accelerometry data were archived and analysed using open source software. The mean (SD) number of valid days of accelerometer wear per participant in the pre-operative, early and late postoperative periods were 5.4 (1.7), 6.6 (1.1) and 6.6 (1.0) days, respectively. On the day after surgery, Euclidian norm minus one (a summary measure of raw accelerations), step count, light physical activity and moderate/vigorous physical activity decreased to 57%, 47%, 59% and 35% of baseline values, respectively. Activity increased progressively on a daily basis but had not returned to baseline values by 7 days. Patient questionnaires suggested subjective recovery by postoperative day 3 to 4; however, accelerometry data showed that activity levels had not returned to baseline at this point. All activity measures had returned to baseline by 3 months. Wrist-worn accelerometery is acceptable to patients and feasible as a surrogate measure for monitoring postoperative recovery from day-case surgery. Our results suggest that patients may overestimate their rate of recovery from day-case surgery, which has important implications for future research.

Electron Microprobe/SIMS Determinations of Al in Olivine: Applications to Solar Wind, Pallasites and Trace Element Measurements

Electron probe microanalyzer measurements of trace elements with high accuracy are challenging. Accurate Al measurements in olivine are required to calibrate SIMS implant reference materials for measurement of Al in the solar wind. We adopt a combined EPMA/SIMS approach that is useful for producing SIMS reference materials as well as for EPMA at the ~100 μg g^-1 level. Even for mounts not polished with alumina photoelectron spectroscopy shows high levels of Al surface contamination. In order to minimize electron beam current density, a rastered 50 × 100 μm electron beam was adequate and minimized sensitivity to small Al-rich contaminants. Reproducible analyses of eleven SIMS-cleaned spots on San Carlos olivine agreed at 69.3 ± 1.0 μg g^-1• The known Al mass fraction was used to calibrate an Al implant into San Carlos. Accurate measurements of Al were made for olivines in the pallasites: lmilac, Eagle Station and Springwater. Our focus was on Al in olivine, but our technique could be refined to give accurate electron probe measurements for other contamination-sensitive trace elements. For solar wind, it is projected that the Al/Mg abundance ratio can be determined to 6%, a factor of 2 more precise than the solar spectroscopic ratio.

Effect of salt concentration on microbial communities, physicochemical properties and metabolite profile during spontaneous fermentation of Chinese northeast sauerkraut

AIM

The aim of this study was to study the effects of salt concentrations on the microbial communities, physicochemical properties, metabolome profiles and sensory characteristics during the fermentation of traditional northeast sauerkraut.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Northeast sauerkraut was spontaneously fermented under four salt concentrations (0·5, 1·5, 2·5 and 3·5%, w/w). The result of microbiological analysis showed that the population of lactic acid bacteria in 2·5%-salted sauerkraut was significantly higher than that in the other samples. Correspondingly, the speed of decrease in pH and accumulation of acids were the highest in 2·5%-salted sauerkraut. The glucose (analysed by HPLC) in 2·5%-salted sauerkraut was consumed more completely to produce higher levels of organic acids compared to those in the other samples. Principle component analysis showed clear differences in the metabolites of sauerkraut according to different salt concentrations. A higher level of volatiles (detected by HS-SPME/GC-MS) was identified in 2·5%-salted sauerkraut, and sensory evaluation demonstrated that 2·5%-salted sauerkraut had the best sensory characteristics.

CONCLUSION

The best quality of sauerkraut was obtained from fermented under 2·5% salt concentration.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

This study facilitated the understanding of the effects of salt on the sauerkraut fermentation and may be useful for developing the quality of sauerkraut.

Molecular genetic analysis in 21 Chinese families with congenital insensitivity to pain with or without anhidrosis

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies (HSANs) are a group of clinically and genetically heterogeneous neurological disorders characterized by sensory dysfunctions. Here, 21 affected Chinese families are reported, including 19 with congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA; namely HSAN IV) and two with congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP; namely HSAN IID) caused by biallelic variations in NTRK1 and SCN9A, respectively, aiming to identify causative variants in these families and compare how different variants in NTRK1 affect the function of tropomyosin receptor kinase A (TrkA).

METHODS

Recombinant plasmids harboring the wild-type and six mutant alleles (p.Gln216*, p.Glu584Lys, p.Leu595Arg, p.Pro684Leu, p.Val709Leu and p.Arg765Cys) of NTRK1 cDNA were constructed and transfected into HEK293 cells.

RESULTS

The results suggested that the five missense variants only presented a subtle influence on the expression level and glycosylation of TrkA but compromised the receptor phosphorylation. Our findings also suggested that a synonymous variant c.219C>T in NTRK1 may cause aberrant splicing, indicating a potential novel pathogenic mechanism of CIPA. Furthermore, gross deletion of SCN9A was first associated with CIP.

CONCLUSIONS

This study identified multiple forms of variants responsible for CIPA/CIP in the Chinese population and might provide new insights into the pathogenesis of CIPA.

Measurement of R(D) and R(D^{*}) with a Semileptonic Tagging Method

The experimental results on the ratios of branching fractions R(D)=B(B[over ¯]→Dτ^{-}ν[over ¯]_{τ})/B(B[over ¯]→Dℓ^{-}ν[over ¯]_{ℓ}) and R(D^{*})=B(B[over ¯]→D^{*}τ^{-}ν[over ¯]_{τ})/B(B[over ¯]→D^{*}ℓ^{-}ν[over ¯]_{ℓ}), where ℓ denotes an electron or a muon, show a long-standing discrepancy with the standard model predictions, and might hint at a violation of lepton flavor universality. We report a new simultaneous measurement of R(D) and R(D^{*}), based on a data sample containing 772×10^{6}  BB[over ¯] events recorded at the ϒ(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB e^{+}e^{-} collider. In this analysis the tag-side B meson is reconstructed in a semileptonic decay mode and the signal-side τ is reconstructed in a purely leptonic decay. The measured values are R(D)=0.307±0.037±0.016 and R(D^{*})=0.283±0.018±0.014, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic. These results are in agreement with the standard model predictions within 0.2, 1.1, and 0.8 standard deviations for R(D), R(D^{*}), and their combination, respectively. This work constitutes the most precise measurements of R(D) and R(D^{*}) performed to date as well as the first result for R(D) based on a semileptonic tagging method.

Search for an Invisibly Decaying Z^{'} Boson at Belle II in e^{+}e^{-}→μ^{+}μ^{-}(e^{±}μ^{∓}) Plus Missing Energy Final States

Theories beyond the standard model often predict the existence of an additional neutral boson, the Z^{'}. Using data collected by the Belle II experiment during 2018 at the SuperKEKB collider, we perform the first searches for the invisible decay of a Z^{'} in the process e^{+}e^{-}→μ^{+}μ^{-}Z^{'} and of a lepton-flavor-violating Z^{'} in e^{+}e^{-}→e^{±}μ^{∓}Z^{'}. We do not find any excess of events and set 90% credibility level upper limits on the cross sections of these processes. We translate the former, in the framework of an L_{μ}-L_{τ} theory, into upper limits on the Z^{'} coupling constant at the level of 5×10^{-2}-1 for M_{Z^{'}}≤6  GeV/c^{2}.

[Influence of dietary patterns on type 2 diabetes mellitus in local residents aged 40 years and above in Songjiang district, Shanghai]

Objective: To evaluate the association between dietary pattern and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in local residents aged 40 years and above in Songjiang district of Shanghai. Methods: Data was obtained from the baseline investigation of Shanghai Peak-Plan cohort. According to inclusion and exclusion criteria, we selected people with T2DM as the case group, and people without T2DM as controls, matched with gender, age and alcohol intake status. Dietary patterns were established by factor analysis. Conditional logistic regression model (CLRM) was used to explore the relationship between different dietary patterns and T2DM, as well as the association between multiplicative interactions of dietary patterns and T2DM. Results: We used factor analysis to obtain six dietary patterns: including meat, desserts-coarse cereals, condiment-egg, beverage, cereals-tubers and fruit-vegetable. Data from multivariate condition logistic regression suggested that condiment-egg patterns as (OR=0.543, 95%CI: 0.377-0.781), beverage (OR=0.590, 95%CI: 0.409-0.852), cereals-tubers (OR=0.592, 95%CI: 0.414-0.848), fruit-vegetable (OR=0.604, 95%CI: 0.417-0.876) were associated with the reduced risks for T2DM. After analyzing the multiplicative interactions between dietary patterns, there were three interaction items associated with T2DM with statistical significances: the multiplicative interaction between meat pattern and condiments-egg pattern was related with the increased risk for T2MD, and the multiplicative interactions between cereal-tubers pattern, meat pattern between cereal-tubers pattern and fruit-vegetable pattern were related with the reduced risks for T2MD. Conclusions: In the six dietary pattern under study, cereals-tubers pattern undwr studly, fruit-vegetable pattern might be more practical in preventing T2DM. In addition, the dietary pattern with cereals and potatos as the main ingredients, appropriate meat and reduced condiment intake might also play positive roles in reducing the risk for T2DM.

Unraveling cancer lineage drivers in squamous cell carcinomas

Cancer hijacks embryonic development and adult wound repair mechanisms to fuel malignancy. Cancer frequently originates from de-regulated adult stem cells or progenitors, which are otherwise essential units for postnatal tissue remodeling and repair. Cancer genomics studies have revealed convergence of multiple cancers across organ sites, including squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), a common group of cancers arising from the head and neck, esophagus, lung, cervix and skin. In this review, we summarize our current knowledge on the molecular drivers of SCCs, including these five major organ sites. We especially focus our discussion on lineage dependent driver genes and pathways, in the context of squamous development and stratification. We then use skin as a model to discuss the notion of field cancerization during SCC carcinogenesis, and cancer as a wound that never heals. Finally, we turn to the idea of context dependency widely observed in cancer driver genes, and outline literature support and possible explanations for their lineage specific functions. Through these discussions, we aim to provide an up-to-date summary of molecular mechanisms driving tumor plasticity in squamous cancers. Such basic knowledge will be helpful to inform the clinics for better stratifying cancer patients, revealing novel drug targets and providing effective treatment options.

Magnesium isotopes of the bulk solar wind from Genesis diamond-like carbon films

NASA's Genesis Mission returned solar wind (SW) to the Earth for analysis to derive the composition of the solar photosphere from solar material. SW analyses control the precision of the derived solar compositions, but their ultimate accuracy is limited by the theoretical or empirical models of fractionation due to SW formation. Mg isotopes are "ground truth" for these models since, except for CAIs, planetary materials have a uniform Mg isotopic composition (within ≤1‰) so any significant isotopic fractionation of SW Mg is primarily that of SW formation and subsequent acceleration through the corona. This study analyzed Mg isotopes in a bulk SW diamond-like carbon (DLC) film on silicon collector returned by the Genesis Mission. A novel data reduction technique was required to account for variable ion yield and instrumental mass fractionation (IMF) in the DLC. The resulting SW Mg fractionation relative to the DSM-3 laboratory standard was (-14.4‰, -30.2‰) ± (4.1‰, 5.5‰), where the uncertainty is 2ơ SE of the data combined with a 2.5‰ (total) error in the IMF determination. Two of the SW fractionation models considered generally agreed with our data. Their possible ramifications are discussed for O isotopes based on the CAI nebular composition of McKeegan et al. (2011).

The Performance of Belle II High Level Trigger in the First Physics Run

The Belle II experiment is a new generation B-factory experiment at KEK in Japan aiming at the search for New Physics in a huge sample of B-meson decays. The commissioning of the accelerator and the detector for the first physics run has started from March this year. The Belle II High Level Trigger (HLT) is fully working in the beam run. The HLT is now operated with 1600 cores clusterized in 5 units, which is 1/4 of the full configuration. The software trigger is performed using the same offline reconstruction code, and events are classified into a set of physics categories. Only the events in the categories of interest are finally sent out to the storage. Live data quality monitoring is also performed on HLT. For the selected events, the reconstructed tracks are extrapolated to the surface of the pixel detector (PXD) and quickly fed back to the readout electronics for the real time data reduction by sending only the associated hits. The maximum trigger rate in the first physics run was 3.5kHz, and the Belle II data acquisition system was stably operated. There were several problems in the HLT operation, but they have successfully been fixed during the data taking period. The HLT reduction factor is measured to be 8 which is still higher than the design because of the high background environment.

Effects of sevoflurane or propofol combined with remifentanil anesthesia on clinical efficacy and stress response in pregnant women with pregnancy-induced hypertension

OBJECTIVE

To compare the effects of sevoflurane or propofol combined with remifentanil anesthesia on the clinical efficacy and stress response of pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIHS) in cesarean section.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

150 patients with PIHS and treated with cesarean section in our hospital from May 2015 to September 2016 were selected. All patients were randomly divided into sevoflurane-remifentanil group (n=75) and propofol-remifentanil (n=75). The elbow blood of patients in both groups were collected, the levels of Norepinephrine (NE) adrenaline (AD), cortisol and blood glucose in plasma were compared at before anesthesia induction (T0), operation 30 min (T1), end of operation (T2), 2 h after operation (T3), 24 h after operation (T4). The blood pressure control, muscle control, anesthesia onset time, maternal pain and complications were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

The patients in the sevoflurane group were superior to the propofol group (p<0.05) in terms of muscle control effect, anesthesia onset time and maternal pain. There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of blood pressure control and anesthesia complications (p>0.05). There was no significant difference in plasma AD, NE, cortisol and blood glucose between the two groups before induction of anesthesia (p>0.05). However, the plasma markers of the two groups began to increase after anesthesia induction and reached peak at T2 or T3, returned back to preoperative level or higher than before surgery at T4. The levels of AD, NE, cortisol and blood glucose in plasma of sevoflurane group were significantly lower than those in propofol group at T1-T4 time point, the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The clinical efficacy of sevoflurane combined with remifentanil anesthesia is better than that of propofol combined with remifentanil, and it can effectively reduce the stress of pregnant women with pregnancy-induced hypertension treated with cesarean section.

[The Rice OsDUF810 Family: OsDUF810.7 May be Involved in the Tolerance to Salt and Drought]

With the advance of sequencing technology, the number of sequenced plant genomes has been rapidly increasing. However, understanding of the gene function in these sequenced genomes lags far behind; as a result, many coding plant sequences in public databases are annotated as proteins with domains of unknown function (DUF). Function of a protein family DUF810 in rice is not known. In this study, we analysed seven members of OsDU810 (OsDUF810.1-OsDUF810.7) family with three distinct motifs in rice Nipponbare. By phylogenetic analysis, OsDUF810 proteins fall into three major groups (I, II, III). Expression patterns of the seven corresponding OsDUF810 protein-encoding genes in 15 different rice tissues vary. Under drought, salt, cold and heat stress conditions and ABA treatment, the expression of OsDUF810.7 significantly increases. Overexpression of this protein in E. coli lead to a significant enhancement of catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD) activities, and improved bacterial resistance to salt and drought.