Diabetes mellitus is a serious worldwide public health problem due to its high prevalence. In Chile, 1.7 million people have been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, of which 90% are type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) cases(1). It is well known that blood pressure (BP) control is essential to prevent future complications and to ensure a positive prognosis for this disease (2). Moreover, studies in Chile have shown a significant increase in systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP) levels in T2DM subjects compared to the non-diabetic Chilean population (3). Therefore, this study aimed to determine and compare SBP and DBP levels according to age group in T2DM patients of primary health care centres (PHCC) in Copiapó, Chile.

Cross-sectional study within the CODIACO cohort. Data were collected from April to August 2023 on 161 patients with T2DM from eight PHCCs of Copiapó. Patients diagnosed with T2DM, of both sexes and aged between 30 and 65 years were included. Pregnant and lactating women, patients with diabetic neuropathy or nephropathy, cancer and severe inflammatory or infectious diseases were excluded. To estimate BP, three measurements were taken every five minutes. Three age groups were established: ≤ 50 (n = 36), 50-60 (n = 74) and ≥ 60 years old (n = 51). Blood pressure results were expressed as mean and standard deviation of mmHg unit. Normal distribution was analysed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test corrected for Lilliefors. In addition, the one-way ANOVA test was used to compare SBP and DBP between age groups. Bonferroni was used for post hoc testing. A P-value < 0.050 was considered statistically significant. Data were analysed using SPSS software. The study was conducted according to the ethical standards of the Declaration of Helsinki and its subsequent modifications. The CODIACO study was approved by the Scientific Research Ethics Committee of the University of Atacama. The project was funded by FONDECYT N° 11180794

The mean of systolic blood pressure (SBP) for the ≤ 50, 50-60 and ≥ 60 year groups, was 123.92 ± 14.38; 133.23 ± 18.36; 135.88 ± 15.02 mmHg (p = 0.003); respectively. Bonferroni test indicated a significant difference in SBP between the group ≤50 and 50-60 (p = 0.019) and ≥60 year groups (p = 0.003), but not between 50-60 and ≥60 year groups (p = 1.000). The ANOVA did not show a significant difference in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) between groups (p = 1.000).

The results suggest that SBP levels of T2DM patients in PHCCs of Copiapó are higher in older age groups (50-60 and ≥60y) compared to the younger age group ≤50y). No significant differences were found in DBP.

Globally, 537 million adults (20-79 years) had diabetes mellitus in 2021 (10.5%), and the estimate is projected to rise to over 643 million (11.3%) by 2030 (1). The estimated prevalence for Chile was 12.7%, 90–95% of which were type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) cases (1). In the last decades, it has been shown the importance of diet quality in the management and prognosis of T2DM (2). Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate diet quality in subjects with T2DM from primary health care centres (PHCC) in Copiapo according to age group.

A cross-sectional study was performed within the CODIACO cohort, with data collected on 160 participants during 2023. This population-based study involved women and men from 30 to 65 years, with T2DM, and users of PHCCs of Copiapo. Pregnant and lactating women, patients with diabetic neuropathy or nephropathy, cancer, and severe infectious or inflammatory diseases were excluded. Sociodemographic data were recorded, and diet quality was measured through a Mediterranean dietary index (MDI) validated in the Chilean population (3). Participants were categorised by age (≤ 50 years, 50-60 years, ≥ 60 years). The following categories were considered for MDI score: high (9-14 points), moderate (5-8.5 points), and low (<5 points) adherence. One-factor analysis of variance with the Bonferroni correction test and Chi-square test were used to assess differences in MDI according to age groups. The results were expressed as percentages or mean and standard deviation. A p-value of less than 0.050 was considered statistically significant. The CODIACO study was approved by the Scientific Ethics Committee of the University de Atacama. The project was funded by FONDECYT (N° 11180794).

The mean age of the participants was 55.64±7.48 years, and the MDI score was 6.28 (moderate diet quality). 19.4% of subjects (≤ 50 years, 13.7% of those aged 50-60 years, and 27.5% of those ≥ 60 years had low diet quality. Moderate diet quality was found in the majority of individuals from the three groups, with 72.2%, 78.1%, and 60.8%, respectively. Only 8.3% of the subjects ≤ 50 years, 8.2% of those aged 50-60 years, and 11.8% of those ≥ 60 years had high diet quality. No significant differences were observed between the means of the MDI scores of each group (p = 0.578), nor in the proportion of subjects with low, medium or high diet quality in each group (p = 0.325).

The findings of the present study showed subjects with T2DM and users of the PHCCs of Copiapo (Chile) had a moderate diet quality, mainly. The proportion of patients with low, moderate, and high diet quality was similar among those ≤ 50 years, those 50-60 years, and those ≥ 60 years. Further investigations are needed to evaluate in depth the diet in this population.

Polarized electron beam production via laser wakefield acceleration in pre-polarized plasma is investigated by particle-in-cell simulations. The evolution of the electron beam polarization is studied based on the Thomas–Bargmann–Michel–Telegdi equation for the transverse and longitudinal self-injection, and the depolarization process is found to be influenced by the injection schemes. In the case of transverse self-injection, as found typically in the bubble regime, the spin precession of the accelerated electrons is mainly influenced by the wakefield. However, in the case of longitudinal injection in the quasi-1D regime (for example, F. Y. Li et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 135002 (2013)), the direction of electron spin oscillates in the laser field. Since the electrons move around the laser axis, the net influence of the laser field is nearly zero and the contribution of the wakefield can be ignored. Finally, an ultra-short electron beam with polarization of $99\%$ can be obtained using longitudinal self-injection.

Water droplets containing the SARS-CoV-2 virus, responsible for coronavirus 2019 transmission, were introduced into a controlled-temperature and -humidity chamber. The SARS-CoV-2 virus with green fluorescent protein tag in droplets was used to infect Caco-2 cells, with viability assessed through flow cytometry and microscopic counting. Whereas temperature fluctuations within typical indoor ranges (20°C–30°C) had minimal impact, we observed a notable decrease in infection rate as the surrounding air’s relative humidity increased. By investigating humidity levels between 20% and 70%, we identified a threshold of ≥40% relative humidity as most effective in diminishing SARS-CoV-2 infectivity. We also found that damage of the viral proteins under high relative humidity may be responsible for the decrease in their activity. This outcome supports previous research demonstrating a rise in the concentration of reactive oxygen species within water droplets with elevated relative humidity.

Machine vision has been extensively researched in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) recently. However, the ability of Sense and Avoid (SAA) largely limited by environmental visibility, which brings hazards to flight safety in low illumination or nighttime conditions. In order to solve this critical problem, an approach of image enhancement is proposed in this paper to improve image qualities in low illumination conditions. Considering the complementarity of visible and infrared images, a visible and infrared image fusion method based on convolutional sparse representation (CSR) is a promising solution to improve the SAA ability of UAVs. Firstly, the source image is decomposed into a texture layer and structure layer since infrared images are good at characterising structural information, and visible images have richer texture information. Both the structure and the texture layers are transformed into the sparse convolutional domain through the CSR mechanism, and then CSR coefficient mapping are fused via activity level assessment. Finally, the image is synthesised through the reconstruction results of the fusion texture and structure layers. In the experimental simulation section, a series of visible and infrared registered images including aerial targets are adopted to evaluate the proposed algorithm. Experimental results demonstrates that the proposed method increases image qualities in low illumination conditions effectively and can enhance the object details, which has better performance than traditional methods.

The effect of vitamin D (VD) on the risk of preeclampsia (PE) is uncertain. Few of previous studies focused on the relationship between dietary VD intake and PE risk. Therefore, we conducted this 1:1 matched case–control study to explore the association of dietary VD intake and serum VD concentrations with PE risk in Chinese pregnant women. A total of 440 pairs of participants were recruited during March 2016 to June 2019. Dietary information was obtained using a seventy-eight-item semi-quantitative FFQ. Serum concentrations of 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 were measured by liquid chromatography–tandem MS. Multivariate conditional logistic regression was used to estimate OR and 95 % CI. Restricted cubic splines (RCS) were plotted to evaluate the dose–response relationship of dietary VD intake and serum VD concentrations with PE risk. Compared with the lowest quartile, the OR of the highest quartile were 0·45 (95 % CI 0·29, 0·71, Ptrend = 0·001) for VD dietary intake and 0·26 (95 % CI 0·11, 0·60, Ptrend = 0·003) for serum levels after adjusting for confounders. In addition, the RCS analysis suggested a reverse J-shaped relationship between dietary VD intake and PE risk (P-nonlinearity = 0·02). A similar association was also found between serum concentrations of total 25(OH)D and PE risk (P-nonlinearity = 0·02). In conclusion, this study provides evidence that higher dietary intake and serum levels of VD are associated with the lower risk of PE in Chinese pregnant women.

Gravitational waves from coalescing neutron stars encode information about nuclear matter at extreme densities, inaccessible by laboratory experiments. The late inspiral is influenced by the presence of tides, which depend on the neutron star equation of state. Neutron star mergers are expected to often produce rapidly rotating remnant neutron stars that emit gravitational waves. These will provide clues to the extremely hot post-merger environment. This signature of nuclear matter in gravitational waves contains most information in the 2–4 kHz frequency band, which is outside of the most sensitive band of current detectors. We present the design concept and science case for a Neutron Star Extreme Matter Observatory (NEMO): a gravitational-wave interferometer optimised to study nuclear physics with merging neutron stars. The concept uses high-circulating laser power, quantum squeezing, and a detector topology specifically designed to achieve the high-frequency sensitivity necessary to probe nuclear matter using gravitational waves. Above 1 kHz, the proposed strain sensitivity is comparable to full third-generation detectors at a fraction of the cost. Such sensitivity changes expected event rates for detection of post-merger remnants from approximately one per few decades with two A+ detectors to a few per year and potentially allow for the first gravitational-wave observations of supernovae, isolated neutron stars, and other exotica.

The aim of the present study is to use the syndemic framework to investigate the risk of contracting HIV in the US population. Cross-sectional analyses are from The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We extracted and aggregated data on HIV antibody test, socio-demographic characteristics, alcohol use, drug use, depression, sexual behaviours and sexually transmitted diseases from cycle 2009–2010 to 2015–2016. We carried out weighted regression among young adults (20–39 years) and adults (40–59 years) separately. In total, 5230 men and 5794 women aged 20–59 years were included in the present analyses. In total, 0.8% men and 0.2% women were tested HIV-positive. Each increasing HIV risk behaviour was associated with elevated odds of being tested HIV-positive (1.15, 95% CI 1.15–1.15) among young adults and adults (1.61, 95% CI 1.61–1.61). Multi-faceted, community-based interventions are urgently required to reduce the incidence of HIV in the USA.

The potential combined effects of oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids supplementation on lactation performance and the milk fatty acid (FA) profile in dairy cows have not been well investigated. Our objective was to examine the effects of supplementation with a combination of these FA as well as the effects of removing each from the combination on lactation performance and the milk FA profile in dairy cows. Eight Holstein cows (101±11 days in milk) received four intravenously infused treatments in a 4×4 Latin square design, and each period lasted for 12 days which consisted of 5 days of infusion and 7 days of recovery. The control treatment (CTL) contained 58.30, 58.17 and 39.96 g/day of C18 : 1 cis-9; C18 : 2 cis-9, cis-12; and C18 : 3 cis-9, cis-12, cis-15, respectively. The other three treatments were designated −−C18 : 1 (20.68, 61.17 and 41.72 g/day of C18 : 1 cis-9; C18 : 2 cis-9, cis-12; and C18 : 3 cis-9, cis-12, cis-15, respectively), −C18 : 2 (61.49, 19.55 and 42.13 g/day of C18 : 1 cis-9; C18 : 2 cis-9, cis-12; and C18 : 3 cis-9, cis-12, cis-15, respectively) and −C18 : 3 (60.89, 60.16 and 1.53 g/day of C18 : 1 cis-9; C18 : 2 cis-9, cis-12; and C18 : 3 cis-9, cis-12, cis-15, respectively). Dry matter intake and lactose content were not affected by the treatments, but the milk protein content was lower in cows treated with −C18 : 2 than that in CTL-treated cows. Milk yield as well as milk fat, protein and lactose yields were higher in cows treated with −C18 : 3 than the yields in CTL-treated cows, and these yields increased linearly as the unsaturation degree of the supplemental FA decreased. Compared with the CTL treatment, the −C18 : 2 treatment decreased milk C18 : 2 cis-9 content (by 2.80%) and yield (by 22.12 g/day), and the −C18 : 3 treatment decreased milk C18 : 3 cis-9, cis-12, cis-15 content (by 2.72%) and yield (by 22.33 g/day). In contrast, removing C18 : 1 cis-9 did not affect the milk content or yield of C18 : 1 cis-9. The −C18 : 2-treated cows had a higher C18 : 1 cis-9 content and tended to have a higher C18 : 1 cis-9 yield than CTL-treated cows. The yields of C8 : 0, C14 : 0 and C16 : 0 as well as <C16 : 0 tended to increase linearly as the unsaturation degree of the supplemental FA decreased (P=0.06, 0.07, 0.07 and 0.09, respectively). These results indicated that supplementation with C18 unsaturated FA might not independently affect the lactation performance and the milk FA profile of dairy cows.

The evolution of glyphosate resistance in weedy species places an environmentally benign herbicide in peril. The first report of a dicot plant with evolved glyphosate resistance was horseweed, which occurred in 2001. Since then, several species have evolved glyphosate resistance and genomic information about nontarget resistance mechanisms in any of them ranges from none to little. Here, we report a study combining iGentifier transcriptome analysis, cDNA sequencing, and a heterologous microarray analysis to explore potential molecular and transcriptomic mechanisms of nontarget glyphosate resistance of horseweed. The results indicate that similar molecular mechanisms might exist for nontarget herbicide resistance across multiple resistant plants from different locations, even though resistance among these resistant plants likely evolved independently and available evidence suggests resistance has evolved at least four separate times. In addition, both the microarray and sequence analyses identified non–target-site resistance candidate genes for follow-on functional genomics analysis.

An outbreak of acute hepatitis recently occurred in a nursing home in Zhejiang Province, China. The objectives of this study were to confirm the outbreak and identify the aetiology, source and transmission patterns. All residents and staff in or near the nursing home during the period from 1 October 2014 to 21 May 2015 were investigated regarding hygiene and for epidemiological information including water and food (eating meat especially pork products). Serum and stool specimens were collected for detection of hepatitis E virus (HEV) antibodies using ELISA and RNA using RT–PCR. Samples that were RNA positive were genotyped. Of 185 senior residents and 24 staff in the nursing home, there were 37 laboratory-confirmed cases during the outbreak. Of these cases, 12 patients (three deaths) were symptomatic with jaundice, a common clinical symptom for hepatitis E infection. HEV strains were isolated from three cases and they formed a single cluster within genotype 4d. A case-control study was conducted to investigate potential risk factors for the outbreak and the results revealed that cases more often washed their dishes and rinsed their mouths using tap water than the controls (P < 0·05). Based on hygiene investigation and meteorological information, it is likely that HEV-infected sewage and faeces contaminated the water network on rainy days. Collectively, these results suggest that the outbreak of HEV genotype 4 infection was most likely caused by contaminated tap water rather than food.

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease that was caused by a novel bunyavirus, SFTSV. The study aimed to disclose the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of SFTSV infection in China so far. An integrated clinical database comprising 1920 SFTS patients was constructed by combining first-hand clinical information collected from SFTS sentinel hospitals (n = 1159) and extracted data (n = 761) from published literature. The considered variables comprised clinical manifestations, routine laboratory tests of acute infection, hospitalization duration and disease outcome. SFTSV-IgG data from 19 119 healthy subjects were extracted from the published papers. The key clinical variables, case-fatality rate (CFR) and seroprevalence were estimated by meta-analysis. The most commonly seen clinical manifestations of SFTSV infection were fever, anorexia, myalgia, chill and lymphadenopathy. The major laboratory findings were elevated lactate dehydrogenase, aminotransferase, followed by thrombocytopenia, lymphocytopenia, elevated alanine transaminase and creatine kinase. A CFR of 12·2% was estimated, significantly higher than that obtained from national reporting data, but showing no geographical difference. In our paper, the mortality rate was about 1·9 parts per million. Older age and longer delay to hospitalization were significantly associated with fatal outcome. A pooled seroprevalence of 3·0% was obtained, which increased with age, while comparable for gender. This study represents a clinical characterization on the largest group of SFTS patients up to now. A higher than expected CFR was obtained. A wider spectrum of clinical index was suggested to be used to identify SFTSV infection, while the useful predictor for fatal outcome was found to be restricted.

Across 366 California hospitals, we identified hospital-level characteristics predicting increased hospital-associated Clostridium difficile infection (HA-CDI) rates including more licensed beds, teaching and long-term acute care (LTAC) hospitals, and polymerase chain reaction testing. Adjustment for these characteristics impacted rankings in 24% of teaching hospitals, 13% of community hospitals, and 11% of LTAC hospitals.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2015;00(0): 1–3

This study describes the first large-scale serosurvey on West Nile virus (WNV) conducted in the equine population in Pakistan. Sera were collected from 449 equids from two provinces of Pakistan during 2012–2013. Equine serum samples were screened using a commercial ELISA kit detecting antibodies against WNV and related flaviviruses. ELISA-positive samples were further investigated using virus-specific microneutralization tests (MNTs) to identify infections with Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), WNV and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). Anti-WNV antibodies were detected in 292 samples by ELISA (seroprevalence 65·0%) and WNV infections were confirmed in 249 animals by MNT. However, there was no animal found infected by JEV or TBEV. The detection of WNV-seropositive equines in Pakistan strongly suggests a widespread circulation of WNV in Pakistan.