LncRNA SNHG6 accelerates hyperoxia-induced lung cell injury via regulating miR-335 to activate KLF5/NF-κB pathway.

BACKGROUND: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a common chronic lung disease in premature infants, and its pathogenesis has not been clarified. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) have important functions in cell bioactivity. However, their role in developmental lung disease remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to demonstrate the role of lncRNA SNHG6 (SNHG6) in BPD and its underlying mechanisms. METHODS: The blood of patients with BPD were collected, and BPD model of BEAS-2B cells was established by hyperoxia method. SNHG6, miR-335 and KLF5 mRNA expression were detected by RT-qPCR. Western blot was conducted to measure the levels of apoptosis-related proteins' expression and NF-κB pathway related proteins. BEAS-2B cell viability and apoptosis were assessed by CCK-8 and flow cytometry, respectively. Assay Kit was applied to detect ROS, MDA and SOD levels, respectively. ELISA was performed to assess the levels of inflammatory factors. The binding site of miR-335 with SNHG6 or KLF5 were predicted by using DIANA or TargetScan, and which was verified by double luciferase reporter assay. RESULTS: Firstly, SNHG6 was highly expressed and miR-335 was lowly expressed in BPD model, SNHG6 knockdown and miR-335 mimics both alleviated hyperoxia-induced lung cell injury, and SNHG6 targeted miR-335. Subsequently, KLF5 was targeted by miR-335, and KLF5 promoted lung cell injury via activating NF-κB pathway. Furthermore, SNHG6 mediated lung cell injury via regulating the miR-335/KLF5/NF-κB pathway. CONCLUSION: Our research confirmed that SNHG6 mediated hyperoxia-induced lung cell injury via regulating the miR-335/KLF5/NF-κB pathway. These findings suggest that SNHG6 serves as promising targets for the treatment of newborns with BPD.

An investigation of vitamin D nutritional status in children after outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019. / æ–°åž‹å† çŠ¶ç— æ¯’è‚ºç‚Žç–«æƒ åŽå„¿ç«¥ç»´ç”Ÿç´ Dè¥å »çŠ¶å†µè°ƒæŸ¥.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate vitamin D nutritional status in children after outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), as well as the effect of strict epidemic prevention and control measures for the COVID-19 epidemic on vitamin D nutritional status in children. METHODS: A total of 7 460 children who underwent routine physical examinations from February to August, 2020 and had normal results were retrospectively enrolled as the observation group, and 10 102 children who underwent routine physical examinations from February to August, 2019 (no epidemic of COVID-19) and had normal results were enrolled as the control group. The serum level of 25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D] was compared between the two groups. The children in the observation and control groups who underwent physical examinations in March and April were selected as the epidemic prevention subgroup (n=1 710) and non-epidemic subgroup (n=2 877) respectively. The subjects were divided into five age groups (infancy, early childhood, preschool, school age and adolescence), and serum 25(OH)D levels of children of all ages were compared between the epidemic prevention and non-epidemic subgroups. RESULTS: The observation group had a lower serum level of 25(OH)D than the control group in March and April (P<0.001). The epidemic prevention subgroup had a lower serum level of 25(OH)D than the non-epidemic subgroup in all age groups (P<0.001). The vitamin D sufficiency rate in early childhood, preschool, school and adolescent children from the epidemic prevention subgroup was lower than the non-epidemic subgroup (P<0.001), with a reduction of 10.71%, 18.76%, 59.63% and 56.29% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Strict prevention and control measures for the COVID-19 epidemic may lead to a significant reduction in vitamin D level in children, especially school-aged and adolescent children. It is recommended to timely monitor vitamin D level in children, take vitamin D supplements, and increase the time of outdoor sunshine as far as possible under the premise of adherence to epidemic prevention regulations.

The mental health of frontline and non-frontline medical workers during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in China: A case-control study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new infectious disease with high transmissibility and morbidity. It has caused substantial mental distress to medical professionals. We aimed to compare the psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak between frontline and non-frontline medical workers in China. METHODS: This case-control study recruited 1173 frontline and 1173 age- and sex-matched non-frontline medical workers during the COVID-19 outbreak (February 11 to 26, 2020). A set of online questionnaires were used to measure mental problems (i.e., anxiety, insomnia, and depressive symptoms), and help-seeking behavior and treatment for these mental problems. RESULTS: Frontline medical workers had higher rates of any mental problem (52.6% vs. 34.0%, adjusted OR=1.88, 95% CI=1.57-2.25), anxiety symptoms (15.7% vs. 7.4%, adjusted OR=1.95, 95% CI=1.46-2.61), depressed mood (marginally insignificant; 14.3% vs. 10.1%, adjusted OR=1.32, 95% CI=0.99-1.76) and insomnia (47.8% vs. 29.1%, adjusted OR=1.96, 95% CI=1.63-2.36) than non-frontline medical workers. No significant difference was observed in terms of suicidal ideation (12.0% vs. 9.0%, adjusted OR=1.25, 95% CI=0.92-1.71), help-seeking (4.5% vs. 4.5%, adjusted OR=1.00, 95% CI=0.53-1.87) or treatment (3.4% vs. 2.3%, adjusted OR=1.38, 95% CI=0.54-3.52) for mental problems. LIMITATIONS: The case-control nature of the data precludes causal inferences, and there is a possibility of bias related to self-reports. CONCLUSIONS: Frontline medical workers had more mental problems but comparable help-seeking behaviors and treatment for these problems than non-frontline medical workers. These findings highlight the timely mental support and intervention for medical workers, especially for those on the frontline.

[Dynamic change in vitamin D level in infants/toddlers with severe pneumonia and a correlation analysis].

OBJECTIVE: To study the correlation of dynamic change in serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D] level with the disease severity and related laboratory markers in infants/toddlers with severe pneumonia. METHODS: A total of 132 infants/toddlers with severe pneumonia who were hospitalized between March 2017 and March 2018 were enrolled as the severe pneumonia group. According to the disease severity on admission and after one week of treatment, they were further divided into non-critical group (41 children on admission and 78 after one week of treatment), critical group (59 children on admission and 35 after one week of treatment), and extremely critical group (32 children on admission and 19 after one week of treatment). A total of 142 infants/toddlers who underwent physical examination during the same period of time were enrolled as the healthy control group. The serum levels of 25(OH)D, procalcitonin (PCT), and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) were measured on admission and after one week of treatment for the severe pneumonia group, and the serum level of 25(OH)D was measured on admission for the healthy control group. According to the 25(OH)D level after one week of treatment, the children with severe pneumonia were divided into increased vitamin D (VD) group with 81 children and reduced VD group with 51 children, and a comparative analysis and a correlation analysis were performed. RESULTS: The severe pneumonia group had a significantly lower mean 25(OH)D level than the healthy control group (P<0.05), and all the three subgroups of different severities had significantly lower 25(OH)D level than the healthy control group (P<0.05). On admission and after one week of treatment, the non-critical group had a significantly higher 25(OH)D level than the critical and extremely critical groups (P<0.01), and the critical group had a significantly higher 25(OH)D level than the extremely critical group (P<0.05). The extremely critical and critical groups had significantly higher serum levels of PCT and NT-proBNP than the non-critical group on admission and after one week of treatment (P<0.05). After one week of treatment, compared with the reduced VD group, the increased VD group had a significantly less serious condition. At discharge, the increased VD group had a significantly better outcome compared with the reduced VD group (P<0.01). In the children with severe pneumonia, the change value of serum 25(OH)D level after treatment was negatively correlated with the change values of PCT and NT-proBNP (r=-0.597 and -0.404 respectively; P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The change in VD level is correlated with the severity of severe pneumonia in infants/toddlers and can be used as an index for disease monitoring. VD supplementation may help with disease recovery.

Effect of ciprofloxacin on biological nitrogen and phosphorus removal from wastewater.

In this work, both short-term and long-term experiments were therefore conducted to assess the effects of ciprofloxacin (0.2 and 2mg·L-1) on wastewater nutrient removal. The results showed that both levels of ciprofloxacin had no acute and chronic adverse effects on the surface integrity and viability of activated sludge. Short-term exposure to all the ciprofloxacin levels induced negligible influences on wastewater nutrient removal. However, the prolonged exposure to ciprofloxacin decreased total phosphorus and nitrogen removal efficiencies from 96.8, 95.8% (control) to 91.7, 84.9% (0.2mg·L-1) and 90.5%, 80.2% (2mg·L-1), respectively. The mechanism study showed that ciprofloxacin exposure suppressed denitrification and phosphorus uptake processes. It was also found that ciprofloxacin affected the transformations of intracellular polyhydroxyalkanoates and glycogen in the oxic and anoxic stages. Moreover the activities of nitrite reductase and polyphosphate kinase were inhibited by the presence of ciprofloxacin. Further analysis with high-throughput sequencing revealed that compared with the control, the abundances of polyphosphate accumulating organisms, glycogen accumulating organisms and denitrifying bacteria in ciprofloxacin exposure reactors reduced, which were consistent with the decreased nutrient removal performance measured in these reactors.

Advanced landfill leachate treatment using iron-carbon microelectrolysis- Fenton process: Process optimization and column experiments.

A novel hydrogen peroxide-enhanced iron-carbon (Fe-C) microelectrolysis reactor was proposed for the pretreatment of mature landfill leachate. This reactor, combining microelectrolysis with Fenton process, revealed high treatment efficiency. The operating variables, including Fe-C dosage, H2O2 concentration and initial pH, were optimized by the response surface methodology (RSM), regarding the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency and biochemical oxygen demand: chemical oxygen demand (BOD5/COD) as the responses. The highest COD removal (74.59%) and BOD5/COD (0.50) was obtained at optimal conditions of Fe-C dosage 55.72g/L, H2O2 concentration 12.32mL/L and initial pH 3.12. Three-dimensional excitation and emission matrix (3D-EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy and molecular weight (MW) distribution demonstrated that high molecular weight fractions such as refractory fulvic-like substances in leachate were effectively destroyed during the combined processes, which should be attributed to the combination oxidative effect of microelectrolysis and Fenton. The fixed-bed column experiments were performed and the breakthrough curves at different flow rates were evaluated to determine the practical applicability of the combined process. All these results show that the hydrogen peroxide-enhanced iron-carbon (Fe-C) microelectrolysis reactor is a promising and efficient technology for the treatment of mature landfill leachate.

Enhanced dewaterability of waste activated sludge by Fe(II)-activated peroxymonosulfate oxidation.

The effect of Fe(II)-activated peroxymonosulfate (Fe(II)-PMS) oxidation on the waste activated sludge (WAS) dewatering and its mechanisms were investigated in this study. The capillary suction time (CST), specific resistance to filterability (SRF) of sludge and water content (WC) of dewatered sludge cake were chosen as the main parameters to evaluate the sludge dewaterability. Experimental results showed that Fe(II)-PMS effectively disintegrated sludge and improved sludge dewaterability. High CST and SRF reduction (90% and 97%) was achieved at the optimal conditions of PMS (HSO5(-)) 0.9 mmol/gVSS, Fe(II) 0.81 mmol/gVSS, and pH 6.8. Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix (3D-EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy before and after Fe(II)-PMS oxidation were determined to explain the enhanced dewatering mechanism. The release of EPS-bound water induced by the destruction of EPS was the primary reason for the improvement of sludge dewaterability during Fe(II)-PMS oxidation.

An efficient and green pretreatment to stimulate short-chain fatty acids production from waste activated sludge anaerobic fermentation using free nitrous acid.

Short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production from waste activated sludge (WAS) anaerobic fermentation is often limited by the slow hydrolysis rate and poor substrate availability, thus a long fermentation time is required. This paper reports a new pretreatment approach, i.e., using free nitrous acid (FNA) to pretreat sludge, for significantly enhanced SCFA production. Experimental results showed the highest SCFA production occurred at 1.8 mg FNA/L with time of day 6, which was 3.7-fold of the blank at fermentation time of day 12. Mechanism studies revealed that FNA pretreatment accelerated disruption of both extracellular polymeric substances and cell envelope. It was also found that FNA pretreatment benefited hydrolysis and acidification processes but inhibited the activities of methanogens, thereby promoting the yield of SCFA. In addition, the FNA pretreatment substantially stimulated the activities of key enzymes responsible for hydrolysis and acidification, which were consistent with the improvement of solubilization, hydrolysis and acidification of WAS anaerobic fermentation.

[Risk factors for coronary artery lesions secondary to Kawasaki disease in children].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the risk factors for coronary artery lesions (CAL) secondary to Kawasaki disease (KD) in children. METHODS: The medical data of 895 children with KD were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were classified into two groups according to the presence of CAL: CAL (n=284) and control (n=611). The clinical and laboratory indices were compared between the two groups. The risk factors for the development of CAL in children with KD were identified by multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Male gender (OR=1.712), occurrence of non-CAL complications (OR=2.028), atypical KD (OR=3.655), intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) resistance (OR=2.912), more than 5 days of fever duration before IVIG treatment (OR=1.350), and increased serum procalcitonin (PCT) level (OR=1.068) were the independent risk factors for the development of CAL in children with KD (P<0.05), whereas increased serum albumin (Alb) level was a protective factor (OR=0.931, P<0.05). The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of serum PCT and ALB for prediction of the development of CAL in children with KD were 0.631 and 0.558, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Male gender, atypical KD, occurrence of other non-CAL complications, long duration of fever and IVIG resistance are associated with an increased risk for CAL in children with KD. Serum PCT and ALB have little value in the prediction of CAL in children with KD.