Urban rats are the 'fall-guy': Resident motivations for municipal rat complaints.

Rats are an important issue in cities globally. Despite their ubiquity, perceptions and concerns about rats vary with circumstance and the context in which a person interacts with them. Municipal rat management programs are a service to communities and therefore must be responsive to the varied concerns of their residents. Understanding why communities are concerned about rats can help inform rat management programs to meet the specific needs of their residents. The objective of this study was to identify why the residents of Vancouver, Canada care about rats and what they want done to address them. To do this, we qualitatively analyzed 6,158 resident complaints about rats made to the city's municipal government between January 2014 and May 2020. Using a qualitative descriptive coding process, we found that rats were a priority in a minority of cases. In general, people were more concerned about broader community issues, such as neighborhood disorder, of which rats were one part. Complaints tended to be made when problems were highly visible, nearby, and when the complainant wanted the city to take action to alleviate this issue, particularly when they were in and around their living spaces. The rates of complaints were highest in the most economically and socially deprived neighborhoods and lowest in the most privileged neighbourhoods. We synthesize this information with a view towards understanding how to develop objectives and actions for municipal management strategies that are grounded in community concerns.

The intensity and duration of occupational noise exposure and cardiovascular disease in the United States: a nationally representative study, 2015 to 2020.

OBJECTIVES: Occupational noise exposure may be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Yet the findings are inconclusive. This study aimed to examine the association between self-reported occupational noise exposure and CVD (using a broad composite case definition and by each condition) and identify how these associations vary with the intensity and duration of noise exposure, and combinations thereof. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included a nationally representative sample (n = 6,266) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2015 to 2020), aged 20 and greater, in the United States. Survey-weighted logistic regression models were constructed from multiple imputed datasets. RESULTS: Relative to the unexposed, the adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of composite CVD was 1.33 (1.05 to 1.67) among the noise-exposed population, and ranged from 1.23 to 1.56 when examining CVD conditions separately. The odds ratios of composite CVD were 1.43 (1.06 to 1.93), 1.43 (1.04 to 1.95), and 1.51 (1.03 to 2.21) among those who had noise exposure with very loud intensity of any duration, with duration ≥10 years at any intensity, and with a combination of very loud noise ≥10 years, respectively, compared to those unexposed. CONCLUSIONS: Increased risk of CVD is associated with occupational noise exposure, particularly at higher intensities and longer durations. Policies and interventions for noise mitigation at workplaces are warranted, targeting individuals with chronic exposure to high-level noise.

Addition of Auricular Acupoint Stimulation to 0.01% Atropine for Myopia: 12-Month Results from a Randomized Trial.

Introduction: A previous 6-month report showed that adjunctive auricular acupoint stimulation (AAS) slowed myopia progression compared with 0.01% atropine (0.01% A) alone. This 12-month report was to determine whether the antimyopic effect of AAS, when added to 0.01% A, continued beyond treatment cessation, and explore the mode of action of AAS from the accommodative response. Design and Interventions: One hundred four children were randomly assigned to either a 0.01% A group or a 0.01% A + AAS group. Participants in the 0.01% A + AAS group received AAS in addition to 0.01% A for 6 months, and then kept using 0.01% A for the following 6 months. Participants in the 0.01% A group only used 0.01% A. The primary outcome was the difference in the mean cycloplegic spherical equivalent refraction (SER) from the baseline to the 12-month visit. Secondary outcomes included axial length (AL) and accommodative lag assessments. Results: The adjusted mean change from baseline to month 12 in the SER was -0.62 D for 0.01% A and -0.46 D for 0.01% A + AAS (difference, 0.16 D; p = 0.01), with a respective mean increase of 0.37 and 0.31 mm in AL (difference, -0.05 mm; p = 0.05). For the 5D near target, there was a reduction in the accommodative lag in children receiving add-on AAS relative to 0.01% A alone at 1 and 6 months (both p = 0.002). Conclusions: AAS treatment produced additional benefits >0.01% A in slowing myopia progression over the 12-month period, where the efficacy was sustained after the cessation of AAS. An effect of add-on AAS on reducing accommodative lag in response to 5D stimulus was found, but its role in mediating therapeutic response remained unclear. Chinese Clinical Trial Registry number: ChiCTR1900021316.

Effects of electroacupuncture on dry eye: A pilot randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to assess the efficacy of electroacupuncture on dry eye (DE). METHODS: Eighty-four DE patients were randomly assigned to receive electroacupuncture (EAG) three times a week or 0.1% sodium hyaluronate artificial tears (ATG) four times per day for 4 weeks. The primary outcomes were non-invasive tear film breakup time (NIBUT) and tear meniscus height (TMH). The secondary outcomes included the ocular surface disease index (OSDI), Schirmer I test (SIT), corneal sodium fluorescein staining (CFS) score, corneal topography descriptors surface asymmetry index (SAI) and surface regularity index (SRI), corneal sensitivity, 36-item Short-form Health Survey (SF-36) score and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) score. All outcomes were assessed at Week 0 (baseline), Week 4 (after-treatment) and Week 8 (follow-up). RESULTS: Between-group comparisons showed significant differences in the changes in NIBUT (Week 4, p = 0.003; Week 8, p = 0.008), TMH (Week 4, p = 0.014; Week 8, p = 0.009), OSDI (Week 4, p = 0.029; Week 8, p = 0.022), CFS score (Week 8, p = 0.036) and SF-36 role-physical score (Week 4, p = 0.010), favouring EAG. Mean changes in SIT, SAI, SRI, corneal sensitivity and HADS scores were statistically equal between the two groups (all p > 0.05). Treatment with electroacupuncture was well-tolerated and showed minimal adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with artificial tears, electroacupuncture shows superior efficacy in improving tear film stability and symptoms of DE.

LncRNA-miRNA-mRNA Network Analysis Reveals the Potential Biomarkers in Crohn's Disease Rats Treated with Herb-Partitioned Moxibustion.

Background: Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) is receiving growing attention in Crohn's disease (CD). However, the mechanism by which herb-partitioned moxibustion (HPM) regulates the expression and functions of lncRNAs in CD rats is still unclear. The aim of our study is to identify lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network potential biological functions in CD. Methods: RNA sequencing and microRNA (miRNA) sequencing were carried out to analyze lncRNA, miRNA and mRNA expression profiles among the CD rats, normal control rats, and CD rats after HPM treatment and constructed the potential related lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks. Then, Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis, protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) were performed to explore potentially important genes in ceRNA networks. Results: A total of 189 lncRNAs, 32 miRNAs and 463 mRNAs were determined as differentially expressed (DE) genes in CD rats compared to normal control rats, and 161 lncRNAs, 12 miRNAs and 130 mRNAs were identified as remarkably DE genes in CD rats after HPM treatment compared to CD rats. GO analysis indicated that the target genes were most enriched in cAMP and in KEGG pathway analysis the main pathways included adipocytokine, PPAR, AMPK, FoxO and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. Finally, qRT-PCR results confirmed that lncRNA LOC102550026 sponged miRNA-34c-5p to regulate the intestinal immune inflammatory response by targeting Pck1. Conclusion: By constructing a ceRNA network with lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA, PCR verification, and KEGG analysis, we revealed that LOC102550026/miRNA-34c-5p/Pck1 axis and adipocytokine, PPAR, AMPK, FoxO, and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways might regulate the intestinal immune-inflammatory response, and HPM may regulate the lncRNA LOC102550026/miR-34c-5p/Pck1 axis and adipocytokine, PPAR, AMPK, FoxO, and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways, thus improving intestinal inflammation in CD. These findings may be novel potential targets in CD.

[Spectrum and indications of acupuncture and moxibustion therapy based on bibliometric analysis].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the literature of acupuncture and moxibustion for diseases in the recent 5 years, and discuss the spectrum and indications of acupuncture and moxibustion. METHODS: The literature on acupuncture and moxibustion for diseases in CNKI, Wanfang and VIP databases from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2019 was searched, summarized and analyzed, and the disease spectrum was summarized. At the same time, the literature from 2015 to 2019 (group A), 1978 to 2005 (group B), and 1949 to 2005 (group C) was compared, and the indications of acupuncture and moxibustion therapy were summarized. RESULTS: There were 32 011 articles on acupuncture and moxibustion for diseases in the recent 5 years, including 377 kinds of indications. These indications can be mostly classified as neurology (9384), orthopedics and traumatology (7765), gastroenterology (3529) and obstetrics and gynecology (2283). The types of diseases were mostly gastroenterology (52 types), neurology (47 types), ophthalmology and otorhinolaryngology (47 types), and obstetrics and gynecology (42 types). The first-class indications of acupuncture and moxibustion therapy in the recent 5 years were hemiplegia, lumbar disc herniation, cervical spondylosis, knee osteoarthritis, insomnia, constipation and cerebrovascular diseases; the second-class were facial neuritis, shoulder pain and headache; the third-class were dysphagia, dysmenorrhea and depression; the forth-class were asthma, urinary retention, cerebral palsy, hypertension, dementia, side effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, infertility, allergic rhinitis, vertigo, shoulder-hand syndrome, diabetic neuropathy, herpes zoster, pain, hiccup, diarrhea, lumbar sprain and sciatica. CONCLUSION: Although the disease spectrum and indications of acupuncture and moxibustion therapy have changed to some extent in the recent 5 years, neurology and orthopedics and traumatology are still predominant, and the observation objects tend to transition from symptoms to diseases.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effect of 0.01% Atropine Eye Drops Combined with Auricular Acupoint Stimulation on Myopia Progression.

BACKGROUND: Use of 0.01% atropine eye drops (0.01% A) is one of the most common treatments for myopia control for children in Asia. Auricular acupoint stimulation (AAS) was reported to enhance the effect of higher-concentration atropine (0.25%, 0.125%) on myopia control. This study was designed to compare the effect of 0.01% A combined with AAS and 0.01% A alone on myopia progression and choroidal thickness in children. METHODS: A total of 104 children were stratified by age and randomly assigned at 1 : 1 to receive 0.01% A or 0.01% A + AAS treatment for 6 months. Repeated measurements of cycloplegic spherical equivalent (SE) autorefraction, axial length (AL), and choroidal thickness were performed at baseline, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months. RESULTS: The adjusted mean SE change over the 6 months was -0.38 ± 0.04 D in the 0.01% A group (n = 50) and -0.25 ± 0.04 D in the 0.01% A + AAS group (n = 50), demonstrating a significant between-group difference (P = 0.02). There was no statistically significant difference in the change of AL and choroidal thickness between the two groups (both P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Adjunctive AAS compared with 0.01% A monotherapy slowed myopic progression in Chinese children by a statistically small amount, but had no effect on axial elongation and choroidal thickness during this 6-month observation. The trial is registered with ChiCTR1900021316.

Herb-partitioned moxibustion alleviates colonic inflammation in Crohn's disease rats by inhibiting hyperactivation of the NLRP3 inflammasome via regulation of the P2X7R-Pannexin-1 signaling pathway.

Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease and the NLRP3 inflammasome plays an important role in Crohn's disease. Previous studies have shown that Herb-partitioned moxibustion treating (at Qihai (CV 6) and Tianshu (ST 25)) prevented the excessive activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and repaired damaged colonic mucosa in Crohn's disease. However, the mechanism by which Herb-partitioned moxibustion (at CV 6 and ST 25) regulates NLRP3 remains unclear. In this study, we treated Crohn's disease rats with herb-partitioned moxibustion (at CV 6 and ST 25) to investigate the mechanism by which Herb-partitioned moxibustion regulates the colonic NLRP3 inflammasome by observing colon length, the colon macroscopic damage indexes, and the expression of ATP, P2X7R, Pannexin-1, NF-κBp65, NLRP3, ASC, caspase-1, IL-1ß and IL-18 in the colon in Crohn's disease. Here, this study shows that herb-partitioned moxibustion (at CV 6 and ST 25) can reduce colon macroscopic damage indexes and colon histopathological scores, alleviate colon shortening and block the abnormal activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome by inhibiting the ATP content and the expression of P2X7R, Pannexin-1 and NF-κBp65, thereby reducing the release of the downstream inflammatory cytokine IL-1ß and ultimately suppressing colonic inflammation in Crohn's disease rats. This study for the first time identifies the mechanism by which herb-partitioned moxibustion (at CV 6 and ST 25) may inhibit the abnormal activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome by inhibiting the P2X7R-Pannexin-1 signaling pathway in Crohn's disease rats.