Iterative Innovation Empowers the Training of High-level Interdisciplinary Medical Talents in the New Era: Experiences from School of Medicine, Zhejiang University

COVID-19 highlights the lack of interdisciplinary medical talents. The international history of medical education shows the urgent need of high-level interdisciplinary medical talents. Anchoring the goal to develop a global center of talents and highland of innovation, this article takes medical education of Zhejiang University as an example, focusing on and exploring the training mode of high-level interdisciplinary medical talents in the new era. It includes: Firstly, optimizing the training mode of eight-year program for medical doctors with non-medical bachelor degree followed with complete education for a medical doctorate that innovates the curriculum system of clinical medicine;secondly, creating the training system of postdoctor of clinical medicine and integrating medical resources that include high-quality talents and health care system, in order to build a high-quality teaching staff with a interdisciplinarity background and innovative bases. It not only strengthens the residents' competency and frontier creativity, but also ensures the sustainable development of interdisciplinary medical talents. The reform of training mode, curriculum system, teaching staff and clinical teaching bases all contribute to the goal of building a country with interdisciplinary talents that serve the frontier of science and technology in the world, the major needs of the country and people's health in the new era.Copyright © 2022, Peking Union Medical College Hospital. All rights reserved.

Macroeconomic information, global economic policy uncertainty and gold futures return predictability

This study investigates the impacts of the macroeconomic variables and global economic policy uncertainty (GEPU) on gold futures return predictability using a simple regression. We find that few macroeconomic variables (e.g., inflation) can significantly have impact on gold futures excess returns. Out-of-sample results indicate that inflation can increase the forecast accuracy compared to other strategies, even during the COVID-19, two- and three-month ahead forecasts. However, the GEPU index is useless to predict the gold futures returns in various conditions and formulations. © 2023

The Impact of Higher Education Expansion on Subjective Well-Being during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Chinese Social Survey

The rage of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the downward trend seen in the economy, has further aggravated the downturn of the job market and diminished people's sense of wellbeing in recent years. To mitigate the detrimental effects of the pandemic on college students' employment, the Chinese government has further expanded the enrollment of postgraduate and undergraduate students. This study leverages data from the 2019 and 2021 waves of the Chinese Social Survey and constructs a difference-in-differences (DID) model to examine the effect of the higher education expansion (HEE) policy, initiated in 1999, on individuals' subjective well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results show that HEE policy could significantly improve individuals' subjective well-being (SWB) during the pandemic, and that social class mobility emerges as a vital mechanism through which HEE policy impacts individuals' SWB. Furthermore, there is a local-ladder effect due to reference dependence, with socio-metric status having a greater impact on SWB than socioeconomic status. This study reveals that the level of an individual's happiness depends largely on whom they are compared with. This implies that the key focus of the HEE policy is to stimulate individuals' potential and motivation for upward social mobility, ultimately enhancing their overall sense of well-being. © 2023 by the authors.

Multicenter post-marketing clinical evaluation on the clinical performance of the five domestic fast nucleic acid detection reagents for 2019-nCoV.

Objective This multicenter clinical evaluation analyzed the clinical performance of five fast nucleic acid detection systems for 2019-nCoV. Methods Clinical performance of the five fast nucleic acid detection reagents approved in China was evaluated in the present study. Fifty-seven throat swabs samples from COVID-19 patients and fifteen throat swabs samples from healthy people were collected from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University school of Medicine, Tongji Hospital of Tongji Medical College of HUST, and National Institute of Viral Disease Control and Prevention of CDC to evaluate the positive coincidence rate, negative coincidence rate, total coincidence rate, the detection time and retest rate as well as the relation between positive intensity and positive coincidence rate of the five fast nucleic acid detection systems in November 2020. Results The positive coincidence rates of the five kits were 92.59% (50/54), 83.64% (46/55), 98.25% (56/57), 94.44% (51/54) and 98.18% (54/55);and the negative coincidence rates were 93.33% (14/15), 93.33% (14/15), 86.67% (13/15), 100% (14/14) and 93.33% (14/15);and the total coincidence rates were 92.75% (64/69), 85.71% (60/70), 95.83% (69/72), 94.20% (65/69) and 97.14% (68/70), respectively. The positive coincidence rate of the five kits reached 100% for the strong-positive (90/90) and medium-positive samples (84/84), but only 82.18% (83/101) for weak-positive samples (cycle threshold value>33), and the retest rate of two kits were 15.28% (11/72) and 12.50% (9/72), which were both higher than 10%. Total time from sample extraction to amplification was between 32.33-65.33 minutes for these five kits. Conclusion The five fast nucleic acid detection reagents have good performance and can be used as a supplement to routine nucleic acid detection reagents.Copyright © 2022 Chinese Journal of Laboratory Medicine. All rights reserved.

Impact of short-term ambient air pollution exposure on the risk of severe COVID-19

Ecological studies suggested a link between air pollution and severe COVID-19 outcomes, while studies accounting for individual-level characteristics are limited. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the impact of short-term ambient air pollution exposure on disease severity among a cohort of 569 laboratory confirmed COVID-19 patients admitted to designated hospitals in Zhejiang province, China, from January 17 to March 3, 2020, and elucidate the possible biological processes involved using transcriptomics. Compared with mild cases, severe cases had higher proportion of medical conditions as well as unfavorable results in most of the laboratory tests, and manifested higher air pollution exposure levels. Higher exposure to air pollutants was associated with increased risk of severe COVID-19 with odds ratio (OR) of 1.89 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01, 3.53), 2.35 (95% CI: 1.20, 4.61), 2.87 (95% CI: 1.68, 4.91), and 2.01 (95% CI: 1.10, 3.69) for PM2.5, PM10, NO2 and CO, respectively. OR for NO2 remained significant in two-pollutant models after adjusting for other pollutants. Transcriptional analysis showed 884 differentially expressed genes which mainly were enriched in virus clearance related biological processes between patients with high and low NO2 exposure levels, indicating that compromised immune response might be a potential underlying mechanistic pathway. These findings highlight the impact of short-term air pollution exposure, particularly for NO2, on COVID-19 severity, and emphasize the significance in mitigating the COVID-19 burden of commitments to improve air quality. © 2022

An Exploration of a Novice Kindergarten Teacher's Enactment of Multiliteracies Pedagogy during the Pandemic: A Case Study of a Virtual Kindergarten Classroom

We aim to gain insight into technology-enhanced literacy learning for kindergarten students during the COVID-19 pandemic by exploring a novice kindergarten teacher's practice of multiliteracies pedagogy in his virtual kindergarten classroom. This qualitative case study collected data from multiple sources such as virtual interviews and classroom observations, the Kindergarten Program (KP) document, teacher's reflective notes, lesson plans, students' artefacts, and researchers' observational notes and reflective journals. This study found that although the novice kindergarten teacher provided various multimodal learning opportunities for students, his literacy practice emphasized phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and letter-sound correspondence. Also, he faced numerous challenges due to inadequate teacher preparation and professional development, inconsistency of the quality and utility of technology, constraints of virtual learning for young learners, varying degrees of parental support, and challenges of implementing multiliteracies pedagogy with young children virtually. This study contributes to the existing literature on online learning for kindergarten students and expands the burgeoning multiliteracies research from physical to virtual learning environments. Also, this study demonstrates how virtual learning opens up opportunities to advance the multiliteracies pedagogy and highlights the importance of strengthening teacher education programs and providing continuous professional development for teachers. © 30th International Conference on Computers in Education Conference, ICCE 2022 - Proceedings.

The Effect of COVID-19 on Long-Term Cardiac Function in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure.

Aim      To evaluate functional changes in the heart in the long-term following COVID-19 in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF).Material and methods  Case reports of 54 patients aged 69.1±9.7 years who had COVID-19 from January 2021 through January 2022 and had been previously diagnosed with NYHA functional class II-III CHF were studied. Two comparison groups were isolated: HF with LV EF >50 % (n=39) and <50 % (n=15). Echocardiography was used to evaluate changes in LV EF and pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) 5-6 months following COVID-19.Results In all CHF patients after COVID-19 at 5.8 months on average, LV EF decreased (median difference, 2.5 %; 95 % confidence interval (CI): 6.99×10-5- 4.99) and PASP increased (median difference, 8 mm Hg; 95 % CI: 4.5-12.9). In the HF group with LV EF <50 %, the decrease in EF was greater than in the group with LV EF >50 % (6.9 and 0.7 %, respectively; p=0.037); furthermore, the CHF phenotype did not influence the change in PASP (p=0.4). The one-factor regression analysis showed that the dynamics of LV EF decrease was significantly influenced by the baseline decrease in LV EF, whereas the change in PASP was influenced by the dynamics of LV EF decrease, presence of dyslipidemia, and statin treatment. Furthermore, the multifactorial analysis showed that prognostically significant factors for long-term changes in LV EF following COVID-19 were male gender (odds ratio (OR), 5.92; 95 % CI: 1.31-26.75; p=0.014), LV EF at baseline <50 % (OR, 0.88; 95 % CI: 0.8-0.96; p<0.001); changes in PASP depended on the presence of dyslipidemia (OR, 0.08; 95 % CI: 0.01-0.84; p=0.018).Conclusion      This study showed that COVID-19 in the long term can influence the course of CHF; in this process, HF patients with EF <50 % have progression of systolic dysfunction and PASP, whereas patients with EF >50 % have an isolated increase in PASP.

Spillover effect of the RMB and Non-USD currencies after the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence captured from 30-minute high frequency data

Amid the faster- and wider-than-expected spread of COVID-19, which has added new twists to the global economic outlook and profoundly impacted the performance of major currencies around the world, the RMB has been performing well, and thus, its market standing has improved. However, uncertainties about the future pose enormous challenges to the RMB internationalization. By processing 30-min high-frequency data, this paper aims to study changes in the characteristics of the relationship between the RMB and other non-USD currencies at five stages of the pandemic, first by means of auxiliary regression analysis, in which the pandemic is accounted for with a dummy variable, and then with a VAR-BEKK-GARCH model. The research shows that since the latter stages of the global pandemic, significant negative spillover effects among major non-USD currencies can be observed, while the independence of offshore RMB has increased gradually, and there have been weakening trends in the sustainability of the mean spillover and volatility spillover effects among other currencies. As the "regular pandemic prevention and control” begins to take hold in China and the geopolitical uncertainty increasingly outbreaks, the top priority in global currency market should be to resist the pressure of RMB independence with policy changes and increase caution in investing RMB assets. © 2022 Elsevier Inc.

Multicenter post-marketing clinical evaluation on the clinical performance of the five domestic fast nucleic acid detection reagents for 2019-nCoV

Objective This multicenter clinical evaluation analyzed the clinical performance of five fast nucleic acid detection systems for 2019-nCoV. Methods Clinical performance of the five fast nucleic acid detection reagents approved in China was evaluated in the present study. Fifty-seven throat swabs samples from COVID-19 patients and fifteen throat swabs samples from healthy people were collected from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University school of Medicine, Tongji Hospital of Tongji Medical College of HUST, and National Institute of Viral Disease Control and Prevention of CDC to evaluate the positive coincidence rate, negative coincidence rate, total coincidence rate, the detection time and retest rate as well as the relation between positive intensity and positive coincidence rate of the five fast nucleic acid detection systems in November 2020. Results The positive coincidence rates of the five kits were 92.59% (50/54), 83.64% (46/55), 98.25% (56/57), 94.44% (51/54) and 98.18% (54/55);and the negative coincidence rates were 93.33% (14/15), 93.33% (14/15), 86.67% (13/15), 100% (14/14) and 93.33% (14/15);and the total coincidence rates were 92.75% (64/69), 85.71% (60/70), 95.83% (69/72), 94.20% (65/69) and 97.14% (68/70), respectively. The positive coincidence rate of the five kits reached 100% for the strong-positive (90/90) and medium-positive samples (84/84), but only 82.18% (83/101) for weak-positive samples (cycle threshold value>33), and the retest rate of two kits were 15.28% (11/72) and 12.50% (9/72), which were both higher than 10%. Total time from sample extraction to amplification was between 32.33-65.33 minutes for these five kits. Conclusion The five fast nucleic acid detection reagents have good performance and can be used as a supplement to routine nucleic acid detection reagents.

Multicenter post-marketing clinical evaluation on the clinical performance of the five domestic fast nucleic acid detection reagents for 2019-nCoV

Objective This multicenter clinical evaluation analyzed the clinical performance of five fast nucleic acid detection systems for 2019-nCoV. Methods Clinical performance of the five fast nucleic acid detection reagents approved in China was evaluated in the present study. Fifty-seven throat swabs samples from COVID-19 patients and fifteen throat swabs samples from healthy people were collected from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University school of Medicine, Tongji Hospital of Tongji Medical College of HUST, and National Institute of Viral Disease Control and Prevention of CDC to evaluate the positive coincidence rate, negative coincidence rate, total coincidence rate, the detection time and retest rate as well as the relation between positive intensity and positive coincidence rate of the five fast nucleic acid detection systems in November 2020. Results The positive coincidence rates of the five kits were 92.59% (50/54), 83.64% (46/55), 98.25% (56/57), 94.44% (51/54) and 98.18% (54/55);and the negative coincidence rates were 93.33% (14/15), 93.33% (14/15), 86.67% (13/15), 100% (14/14) and 93.33% (14/15);and the total coincidence rates were 92.75% (64/69), 85.71% (60/70), 95.83% (69/72), 94.20% (65/69) and 97.14% (68/70), respectively. The positive coincidence rate of the five kits reached 100% for the strong-positive (90/90) and medium-positive samples (84/84), but only 82.18% (83/101) for weak-positive samples (cycle threshold value>33), and the retest rate of two kits were 15.28% (11/72) and 12.50% (9/72), which were both higher than 10%. Total time from sample extraction to amplification was between 32.33-65.33 minutes for these five kits. Conclusion The five fast nucleic acid detection reagents have good performance and can be used as a supplement to routine nucleic acid detection reagents. © 2022 Chinese Journal of Laboratory Medicine. All rights reserved.

Impact of short-term ambient air pollution exposure on the risk of severe COVID-19

Ecological studies suggested a link between air pollution and severe COVID-19 outcomes, while studies accounting for individual-level characteristics are limited. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the impact of short-term ambient air pollution exposure on disease severity among a cohort of 569 laboratory confirmed COVID-19 patients admitted to designated hospitals in Zhejiang province, China, from January 17 to March 3, 2020, and elucidate the possible biological processes involved using transcriptomics. Compared with mild cases, severe cases had higher proportion of medical conditions as well as unfavorable results in most of the laboratory tests, and manifested higher air pollution exposure levels. Higher exposure to air pollutants was associated with increased risk of severe COVID-19 with odds ratio (OR) of 1.89 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01, 3.53), 2.35 (95% CI: 1.20, 4.61), 2.87 (95% CI: 1.68, 4.91), and 2.01 (95% CI: 1.10, 3.69) for PM2.5, PM10, NO2 and CO, respectively. OR for NO2 remained significant in two-pollutant models after adjusting for other pollutants. Transcriptional analysis showed 884 differentially expressed genes which mainly were enriched in virus clearance related biological processes between patients with high and low NO2 exposure levels, indicating that compromised immune response might be a potential underlying mechanistic pathway. These findings highlight the impact of short-term air pollution exposure, particularly for NO2, on COVID-19 severity, and emphasize the significance in mitigating the COVID-19 burden of commitments to improve air quality.

The impact of COVID-19 on adults with vision and/or hearing impairment in California

Purpose : To explore associations between sensory impairment (vision and/or hearing) and Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the adult 2020 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) population. Methods : A cross-sectional study was conducted using the 2020 CHIS, the nation's largest state health survey with a sample representative of the population of California. The exposure of interest was having sensory impairment, defined as answering “Yes” to the question, “Are you blind or deaf, or do you have a severe vision or hearing problem?” The outcome of interest was whether a health professional suspected the respondent had COVID-19, assessed among those adults who had or thought they had COVID-19 and contacted a health professional. Logistic regression models were constructed to determine the odds of suspected COVID-19 by sensory impairment status, controlling for the following covariates: age, sex, race/ethnicity, self-reported general health status, current smoking habits, overweight/obese body mass index, and current health insurance status. All analyses were weighted according to the CHIS sampling design. Results : A total of 21,949 sampled participants were included, representing a weighted estimate of 29,684,882 individuals. The weighted prevalence of sensory impairment was 5.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] 5.4-6.4%). Approximately 10.9% (95% CI: 10.3-11.6%) of all participants had or thought they had COVID-19, 4.9% (95% CI: 4.5-5.3%) contacted a health professional about COVID-19 concerns, and 1.7% (95% CI: 1.4-2.0%) were suspected of having COVID-19 by a health professional. Regression analyses were performed in a subgroup of 988 participants representing 1,431,690 individuals who had or thought they had COVID-19 and contacted a health professional. Those with sensory impairment had 2.12 times the unadjusted odds of suspected COVID-19 compared to those without sensory impairment (odds ratio [OR]: 2.12, 95% CI: 0.98-4.63). Those with sensory impairment had 2.51 times the adjusted odds of suspected COVID-19 compared to those without sensory impairment (adjusted OR: 2.51, 95% CI: 1.03-6.10). Conclusions : In the 2020 CHIS adult population, individuals with vision and/or hearing impairment had greater odds of having COVID-19 suspected by a health professional. Additional studies are necessary to triangulate these findings and further explore this possible increased risk for COVID-19 in this vulnerable population.

The concerns and perceived challenges that students faced when traditional in-person engineering courses suddenly transitioned to remote learning

This research evaluates the impact of switching college engineering courses from in-person instruction to emergency remote learning among engineering students at a university in the Midwest. The study aimed to answer the question: What were the concerns and perceived challenges students faced when traditional in-person engineering courses suddenly transitioned to remote learning? The goal of this study is to uncover the challenges students were facing in engineering online courses and to understand students' concerns. Our findings can help improve teaching instruction to provide students with previously unavailable educational assistance for online engineering courses. We collected online survey responses during weeks 8 and 9 of the academic semester, shortly after the COVID-19 shutdown and emergency transition to remote learning in Spring 2020. The survey included two open-ended questions which inquired about students' feedback about moving the class online, and one two-item scale which assessed students' confidence in online engineering learning. Data analysis for the open-ended questions was guided by the theoretical framework - Social Cognitive Career Theory [1] that explores how context, person factors and social cognitions contribute to career goals, interests and actions. A phenomenological approach [2] was conducted to understand the experience of these students. Open coding and axial coding [2] methods were used to create initial categories then themes related to students' concerns and challenges. Data from the two-item scale was evaluated using descriptive statistics: means, standard deviations, and ranges. Four main themes with separate sub-categories emerged from the student responses: 1) Instructor's ability to teach course online (Instructional limitations, Seeking help, Increased Workload), 2) Student's ability to learn online (Time Management, Lower engagement and motivation, Harder to absorb material, Hard to focus, Worry about performance), 3) Difficulties outside of class (Technology issues), and 4) No concerns. Students seemed more concerned about their ability to learn the material (48% of responses) than the instructor's ability to teach the material (36% of responses). The instructional limitations or lack of instructional support (22% of responses) and time management (12% of responses) were among the major concerns in the sub-categories. The results from two-item scale indicated participants' s confidence in their ability to master their classroom knowledge was at an intermediate level via online instruction (6/10), and participants' confidence in the instructor's ability to teach knowledge in online classes is moderate to high (7/10). The results align with the open-ended question response in which students were somewhat more concerned about their ability to learn than the instructor's ability to teach. The themes and analysis will be a valuable tool to help institutions and instructors improve student learning experiences. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022.

Iterative Innovation Empowers the Training of High-level Interdisciplinary Medical Talents in the New Era: Experiences from School of Medicine, Zhejiang University

COVID-19 highlights the lack of interdisciplinary medical talents. The international history of medical education shows the urgent need of high-level interdisciplinary medical talents. Anchoring the goal to develop a global center of talents and highland of innovation, this article takes medical education of Zhejiang University as an example, focusing on and exploring the training mode of high-level interdisciplinary medical talents in the new era. It includes: Firstly, optimizing the training mode of eight-year program for medical doctors with non-medical bachelor degree followed with complete education for a medical doctorate that innovates the curriculum system of clinical medicine;secondly, creating the training system of postdoctor of clinical medicine and integrating medical resources that include high-quality talents and health care system, in order to build a high-quality teaching staff with a interdisciplinarity background and innovative bases. It not only strengthens the residents' competency and frontier creativity, but also ensures the sustainable development of interdisciplinary medical talents. The reform of training mode, curriculum system, teaching staff and clinical teaching bases all contribute to the goal of building a country with interdisciplinary talents that serve the frontier of science and technology in the world, the major needs of the country and people's health in the new era. © 2022, Peking Union Medical College Hospital. All rights reserved.

Associations between severe pulmonary function and residual CT abnormalities in rehabilitating COVID-19 patients

OBJECTIVE: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread around the world in 2020. Abnormal pulmonary function and residual CT abnormalities were observed in COVID-19 patients during recovery. Appropriate rehabilitation training is around the corner. The correlation between spirometric impairment and residual CT abnormality remains largely unknown. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study conducted on the pulmonary function of 101 convalescent COVID-19 patients before discharge. Multivariate analysis was used to establish a scoring system to evaluate the spirometric abnormality based on residual chest CT. RESULTS: Lung consolidation area >25% and severe-type COVID-19 were two independent risk factors for severe pulmonary dysfunction. Besides, a scoring system was established. People scoring more than 12 points have more chances (17 times) to get severe pulmonary function impairment before discharge. CONCLUSIONS: For the first time, a chest CT characteristics-based grading system was suggested to predict the pulmonary dysfunction of COVID-19 patients during convalescence in this study. This study may provide suggestions for pulmonary rehabilitation.

SURAMIN INTRAVENOUS INFUSION FOR TREATING BOYS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER: RESULTS OF A 14-WEEK, RANDOMIZED, DOUBLE-BLIND, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED, MULTIDOSE, PHASE 2 STUDY

Objectives: The objective of this presentation is to test the efficacy and safety of 2 doses of suramin vs placebo in children aged 4 to 17 years with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The hypotheses are that at least 1 of 2 suramin doses would show improvement in the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) Core score and that treatment would be safe and tolerable. Methods: Fifty-two boys were enrolled in 3 treatment arms: 10 mg/kg and 20 mg/kg, and placebo dosed at baseline, at weeks 4 and 8. Subjects were diagnosed by DSM-5 criteria and severity measured by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. The main efficacy analyses were ABC Core (subscales 2, 3, and 5) and Clinical Global Impression–Improvement (CGI-I) scale. Question 1 was assessed using intent-to-treat sample change scores from baseline to endpoint using ANOVA. Although the study was not designed for formal statistical comparison, ABC Core and CGI-I were tested at a family-wise Type I level of 0.05 using Dunnett’s p value for multiple comparisons. The study was approved by the South Africa Health Products Regulatory Authority and each site’s IRB. Results: The study was conducted at 6 sites in South Africa. The sample was multiracial with a mean age of approximately 8 years and a range of 4 to 15 years. There was a wide variability in the severity of ASD symptoms at baseline. Forty-four subjects completed the study, and there were 8 early withdrawals (COVID-19: 5;serious adverse event [SAE]: 1;other reason: 2). The 10 mg arm showed a sustained benefit across time points. The ABC Core modeling mean ± standard error (SE) of 10 mg showed a greater numeric improvement (–12.5 ± 3.18) vs placebo (–8.9 ± 2.86) (nonsignificant) at Week 14. The 20 mg arm did not show improvement vs placebo at Week 14. In exploratory analyses, the 10 mg arm showed greater differences from placebo in ABC Core in younger and less severe subjects. CGI-I modeled mean ± SE changes from baseline were 2.8 ± 0.30 (p = 0.016) in the 10 mg arm and 2.0 ± 0.28 (p = 0.65) in the 20 mg arm vs 1.7 ± 0.27 in the placebo. Suramin was generally safe and well tolerated over 14 weeks. There was 1 SAE, status epilepticus, in a subject (20-mg arm) with multiple risk factors for seizure;it resolved without sequelae. Conclusions: This dose-ranging proof-of-concept study showed some positive results from a treatment with a novel mechanism of action. Limitations include the small sample size and exploratory analyses that require confirmation in a larger study. Suramin was safe and tolerable over 14 weeks.

Sensitivity Analysis for Dry Deposition and PM2.5-bound Content of PCDD/Fs in the Ambient Air

This study mainly involved conducting an atmospheric sensitivity analysis of the dry deposition and PM2.5-bound content of total PCDD/Fs-WHO2005-TEQ, respectively. The results for Fuzhou and Xiamen cities showed that the total PCDD/F mass concentration was the factor most positively correlated to the dry deposition flux: When Delta P/P ranged from -50% to 0%, Delta S/S ranged from -66.0% to 0%, but when Delta P/P increased from 0% to +50%, Delta S/S increased from 0% to +66.0%, respectively. The second factor positively correlated with the deposition flux was the PM2.5 concentration: When Delta P/P ranged from -50% to 0%, Delta S/S ranged from -63.3% to 0%;when Delta P/P increased from 0% to +50% and +100%, Delta S/S ranged from 0% to +20.8 and -0.9%, respectively. Ambient air temperature was found to be less sensitive to dry deposition fluxes in total PCDD/Fs-WHO2005-TEQ: When Delta P/P ranged from -50% to -17% and 0%, Delta S/S ranged from -17.0% to +5.6% and 0%;when Delta P/P increased from 0% to +50%, Delta S/S increased from 0% to -84.5%, respectively. The sensitivity analysis for PM2.5-bound total PCDD/Fs-WHO2005-TEQ content had similar results to those for dry deposition flux. In addition, in 2018, 2019, and 2020, the annual average PM2.5-bound total PCDD/Fs-WHO2005-TEQ content at Fuzhou and Xiamen was 0.430, 0.127, 0.303, and 0.426 ng-WHO2005-TEQ g(-1) in the spring, summer, autumn and winter, respectively, which showed that summer had the lowest content, while spring and winter had the highest. The results of this study provided useful information for gaining a deeper understanding of both dry deposition and particle-bound of PCDD/Fs in the ambient air.