Multi-Model Strategies for Prevention of Infection Caused by Certain Multi-Drug Resistant Organisms in A Rehabilitation Unit: A Semi-Experimental Study.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of multi-model strategies on healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) caused by multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs) in rehabilitation units. Methods: A semi-experimental study was conducted in a rehabilitation unit with 181 beds from January 2021 to December 2022 in a teaching hospital with 4300 beds in China. In 2021, many basic prevention and control measures were conducted routinely. Based on the basic measures, strengthening multi-model strategies for the prevention and control of MDROs was pursued year-round since 1 January 2022. Results: A total of 6206 patients were enrolled during the study period. The incidence density of HAIs caused by MDROs decreased from 1.22 (95% CI, 0.96~1.54) cases/1000 patient-days in the pre-intervention period to 0.70 (95% CI, 0.50~0.95) cases/1000 patient-days (p = 0.004). Similarly, the incidence of HAIs in the intervention period was 50.85% lower than that in the pre-intervention period (2.02 (95% CI, 1.50~2.72) vs. 4.11 (95% CI, 3.45-4.85) cases/100 patients, p < 0.001). The rate of MDROs isolated from the environment decreased by 30.00%, although the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.259). Conclusion: Multi-model strategies can reduce the incidence of HAIs and HAIs caused by certain MDROs in the rehabilitation unit.

Sorption of Sulfamethoxazole on Inorganic Acid Solution-Etched Biochar Derived from Alfalfa.

The properties of alfalfa-derived biochars etched with phosphoric (PBC) or hydrochloric acid (ClBC) compared with raw materials (BC) were examine in this paper. SEM, FT-IR, XRD, BET and elemental analysis were performed to characterize the micromorphology and chemical structure comprehensibly. The results showed that the porous structure was enhanced, and surface area was increased via etching with inorganic acids. Batch adsorption experiments were performed for sulfamethoxazole (SMX) to biochars. The experimental data showed that modified biochars exhibited higher adsorption capacity for SMX, i.e., the adsorption quantity of ClBC and PBC had risen by 38% and 46%. The impact on pH values suggested that the physisorption, including pore-filling and electrostatic interaction, might be applied to original biochar. In addition, chemisorption also played a role, including hydrogen bonding, π-π electron donor acceptor interaction (π-π EDA), and so on. Furthermore, both pH and coexisting ions also had a certain effect on sorption. Enhancement of the electrostatic attraction between biochar and SMX might also account for the enhanced capacity of SMX at pH < 7, and coexisting ions could decrease the amount of SMX adsorbed onto biochars, mainly because of competition for adsorption sites.

Role of physical performance measures for identifying functional disability among Chinese older adults: Data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study.

BACKGROUND: Functional disability is a common health burden in older adults and follows a hierarchical pattern. Physical performance measures are useful for the objective estimation of functional disability. This study primarily aimed to compare the validity of handgrip strength and gait speed, alone and in combination, for recognizing the functional disability among Chinese older adults. This study also aimed to stratify the functional disability according to the criterion-referenced values of handgrip strength and gait speed. METHODS: We selected 6127 respondents from the 2011 wave of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. Here, we defined functional disability as needing any help in any items of activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). To assess the validity of physical performance measures alone and in combination for the recognition of functional disability, we conducted the receiver operating characteristic analysis. RESULTS: Compared with handgrip strength, the gait speed could better discriminate ADL disability and showed a satisfactory discriminant validity (area under the curve ≥ 0.7) in men. However, this finding was not found in the recognition of IADL disability. When combining these two measures, the parallel test showed a high sensitivity with a poor specificity, whereas the serial test showed a perfect specificity with a poor sensitivity. CONCLUSION: We developed the hierarchical cut-off values of handgrip strength and gait speed for identifying and stratifying the functional disability among Chinese adults over 60 years old. The speed test was superior to handgrip strength in identifying ADL disability. The parallel tests of those with high sensitivity perhaps could help identify the functional disability. Further work on cost-utility analysis is warranted.

The consumption of chili peppers and the risk of colorectal cancer: a matched case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Chili peppers have properties that plausibly could either increase or decrease a person's risk of developing colorectal cancer, but their consumption in relation to disease risk has not been well studied. We sought to explore the association between chili peppers intake and the risk of colorectal cancer. METHODS: Eight hundred subjects (400 cases with colorectal cancer and 400 controls) were enrolled in this study. Cases were primarily colorectal cancer patients diagnosed by histopathology at the Department of Intestinal Surgery, Sichuan Cancer Hospital from July 2010 to May 2012. Controls were people receiving routine medical examinations from the Zhonghe Community Health Service Center during the same period of time. An in-person interview was used to collect demographic characteristics, lifestyle, and dietary habits of the subjects in reference to the 10 years prior to disease diagnosis. Conditional logistic regression was conducted to examine the possible association between the risk of colorectal cancer and chili peppers consumption. RESULTS: Compared with persons who consumed chili peppers ≤ 2 times per week, those who consumed chili peppers 3-7 times per week (OR = 1.2, 95% CI 0.75-2.0, P = 0.413) and > 7 times per week (OR = 1.4, 95% CI 0.84-2.2, P = 0.205) were not at an increased risk of colorectal cancer. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the consumption of chili peppers does not increase or decrease the risk of colorectal cancer. This question warrants being re-addressed in a study in which there is prospective ascertainment of dietary characteristics.