The association between marathon running and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Marathon running is an extreme sport with a distance of about 42 kilometers. Its relationship to high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) remains controversial. OBJECTIVE: As the gold standard for detecting myocardial injury, the trends of hs-cTn before and after a marathon were investigated and analyzed. METHODS: A literature search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases by combing the keywords marathon and troponin, and studies regarding high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) concentrations before and after marathon running (not for half-marathon and ultra-marathon) were included. "Quality Assessment Tool for Before-After (Pre-Post) Studies With No Control Group" were used to assess the risk of bias. Statistical analysis was performed using Review Manager, presenting data as mean values and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Sensitivity analysis and subgroup analysis were performed if there was high heterogeneity among studies based on I2 statistic. RESULTS: A total of 13 studies involving 824 marathoners were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. Both hs-cTnI (MD 68.79 ng/L, [95% CI 53.22, 84.37], p< 0.001) and hs-cTnT (MD 42.91 ng/L, [95% CI 30.39, 55.43], p< 0.001) were elevated after running a marathon, but the concentration of hs-cTnT returned to baseline after 72 to 96 h post-race (MD 0.11 ng/L, [95% CI -1.30, 1.52], p= 0.88). The results of subgroup analysis demonstrated that the 99th percentile upper reference limit of hs-cTnT might be the source of heterogeneity. CONCLUSION: The concentrations of hs-cTnI and hs-cTnT were increased after marathon running, but the change of hs-cTnT is usually not seen as irreversible myocardial injury.

CT-based morphological study of the pelvis in patients with gluteal muscle contracture.

BACKGROUND: In the clinic, gluteal muscle contracture (GMC) causes pelvic structural changes, including acetabular retroversion. However, its causes and forms are not well understood. This study aimed to investigate and analyse the clinical significance of pelvic structural differences between GMC patients and healthy individuals. METHODS: As the GMC group, we identified 100 GMC patients who received treatment and met the inclusion criteria between January 2019 and January 2020. Control subjects were drawn from the hospital's emergency trauma patients who had no history of pelvic or hip joint disease. All subjects underwent CT scans to measure their pelvic rotation, including the superior iliac angle (SIA), inferior iliac angle (IIA), and ischiopubic angle (IPA), and acetabular coverage, which includes anterior acetabular sector angle (AASA), posterior acetabular sector angle (PASA), horizontal acetabular sector angle (HASA), and superior acetabular sector angle (SASA). RESULTS: The SIA, IIA, IPA, and PASA of the GMC group were considerably smaller than those of the control group, while the AASA of the GMC group was higher, indicating a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05). The HASA and SASA of the GMC group, on the other hand, were not considerably different from those of the control group. The angles in the GMC group were relativized as follows: The HASA had a positive correlation with the AASA and PASA (r = 0.750, P < 0.01; r = 0.749, P < 0.01); the SASA had a positive correlation with the AASA, PASA, and HASA (r = 0.555, P < 0.01; r = 0.273, P < 0.01; r = 0.552, P < 0.01); the AASA had a negative correlation with the SIA, IIA and IPA (r = - 0.355, P < 0.01; r = - 0.551, P < 0.01; r = - 0.30, P < 0.01); the PASA had a positive correlation with the IIA (r = 0.315, P < 0.01) and had no correlation with the SIA and IPA (P > 0.05); and the IIA had a positive correlation with both the SIA and IPA (r = 0.664, P < 0.01; r = 0.465, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Individuals with GMC have an abnormal pelvic morphology, with acetabular retroversion caused by ilial rotation rather than dysplasia of the acetabular wall.

Silver doped-silica nanoparticles reinforced poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate/hyaluronic acid hydrogel dressings for synergistically accelerating bacterial-infected wound healing.

Various cutaneous wounds are easily infected with external bacteria, which might result in a chronic wound and ongoing consequences. However, the appropriate development of biomaterials for the controllable delivery of antibacterial silver (Ag) and the simultaneous enhancement of mechanical adhesiveness remains an urgent challenge. Herein, we proposed a double network (DN) hydrogel dressings based on a covalent network of polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) and a coordination network between catechol-modified hyaluronic acid (C-HA) and Ag-doped mesoporous silica nanoparticle (AMSN) for promoting the bacterial-infected full-thickness skin wound regeneration. This distinctive dual cross-linked structure of PEGDA/C-HA-AMSN significantly improved physicochemical properties, including gelation time, mechanical performance, and tissue adhesion strength. Importantly, PEGDA/C-HA-AMSN served as a hydrogel dressing that can respond to the acidic environment of bacterial-infected wounds leading to the controllable and optimized delivery of Ag, enabling the durable antibacterial activity accompanied by favorable cytocompatibility and angiogenesis capability. Further in vivo studies validated the higher efficacy of hydrogel dressings in treating wound healing by the synergistic antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and pro-vascular strategies, meaning the prominent potential of the prepared dressings for overcoming the concerns of wound theranostics.

Design of FOPID Controller for Pneumatic Control Valve Based on Improved BBO Algorithm.

Aiming at the problems of nonlinearity and inaccuracy in the model of the pneumatic control valve position in the industrial control process, a valve position control method based on a fractional-order PID controller is proposed. The working principle of the pneumatic control valve is analyzed, and its mathematical model is established. In order to improve the accuracy of the model, an improved biogeography-based optimization algorithm is proposed to tune the parameters of the fractional-order PID controller in view of the wide range and high complexity of the fractional-order PID controller. The initialization of the chaotic graph, the adjustment of the migration model, and the improvement of the migration operator and the mutation operator are introduced to improve the algorithm optimization ability, which is used for the model identification of the control valve control system. The simulation and experimental results clearly show that, compared with the integer-order PID controller, the designed fractional-order PID controller has faster response speed and control accuracy, which can better meet the requirements of pneumatic control valve position control.

Common Pathogens and Drug Resistance of Neonatal Pneumonia with New Multichannel Sensor.

This study aimed to study the application value of a new multichannel sensor in pathogen detection and drug resistance analysis of neonatal pneumonia. 180 newborns with infectious pneumonia were selected, and a new multichannel piezoelectric sensor was constructed. The traditional Kirby-Bauer (K-B) method and the piezoelectric sensor were adopted to detect the pathogens and drug resistance in newborn samples, respectively. The results showed that the sensitivity and specificity under the K-B method (99.58% and 99.32%) and the multichannel piezoelectric sensor (99.43% and 94.29%) were not statistically different (P > 0.05). The detection time (17.25 h) of the K-B method was significantly longer than that (7.43 h) of the multichannel piezoelectric sensor (P < 0.05). From the results of pathogen detection, it was found that Klebsiella pneumoniae accounted for a relatively high proportion of 25.1%, followed by Staphylococcus aureus and Haemophilus influenzae of 13.4% and 12.33%, respectively. The resistance rate of the Staphylococcus aureus to vancomycin and rifampicin was as high as 100% and that to gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, and erythromycin reached more than 50%. In short, the new multichannel piezoelectric sensor had the high sensitivity and specificity for the pathogens' detection of neonatal pneumonia, and it required a shorter time. The pathogens were mostly Gram-negative bacteria, followed by Gram-positive bacteria and fungi. Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Haemophilus influenzae were the main ones. The neonatal pneumonia pathogens had also strong drug resistance against vancomycin, rifampicin, chloramphenicol, meropenem, amikacin sulfate, chloramphenicol, and many other antibacterial drugs.

Multifunctional injectable hydrogel for effective promotion of cartilage regeneration and protection against osteoarthritis: combined chondroinductive, antioxidative and anti-inflammatory strategy.

The regeneration of the articular cartilage defects is characterized by the improvement in the quality of the repaired tissue and the reduction in the potential development of perifocal osteoarthritis (OA). Usually, the injection of dexamethasone (Dex) in the OA joints slows down the progression of inflammation and relieves pain. However, the anti-inflammatory Dex injected in the joint cavity is rapidly cleared, leading to a poor therapeutic effect. Multifunctional hydrogels with simultaneous chondrogenic differentiation, antioxidative, and anti-inflammatory capacities may represent a promising solution. Therefore, in this work, a novel injectable hydrogel based on double cross-linking of Schiff base bonds and coordination of catechol-Fe was developed. The obtained hydrogel (Gel-DA/DOHA/DMON@Dex@Fe) possessed molding performance in situ, excellent mechanical strength, controllable biodegradability, the on-demand release of the drug, and biocompatibility. The hydrogel system stimulated the HIF-1α signaling pathway and suppressed inflammation thanks to the introduction of DMON@Fe, consequently facilitating chondrogenic differentiation. The synergistic anti-inflammatory effect together with the induction of chondrogenesis by Dex-loaded Gel-DA/DOHA/DMON@Fe hydrogel allowed the promotion of cartilage repair, as demonstrated by in vivo experiments. Hence, the proposed multifunctional scaffold provides a promising advancement in articular cartilage tissue engineering and may have great prospects in the prevention of OA.

Clinical effect of different maintenance doses of caffeine citrate in the treatment of preterm infants requiring assisted ventilation: a pilot multicenter study. / ä¸åŒç»´æŒå‰‚é‡æž¸æ©¼é ¸å’–å•¡å› å¯¹è¾ åŠ©é€šæ°”æ—©äº§å„¿çš„ç–—æ•ˆè¯„ä¼°ï¼šä¸€é¡¹åˆæ­¥å¤šä¸­å¿ƒç ”ç©¶.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the optimal maintenance dose of caffeine citrate for preterm infants requiring assisted ventilation and caffeine citrate treatment. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on the medical data of 566 preterm infants (gestational age ≤34 weeks) who were treated and required assisted ventilation and caffeine citrate treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit of 30 tertiary hospitals in Jiangsu Province of China between January 1 and December 31, 2019. The 405 preterm infants receiving high-dose (10 mg/kg per day) caffeine citrate after a loading dose of 20 mg/kg within 24 hours after birth were enrolled as the high-dose group. The 161 preterm infants receiving low-dose (5 mg/kg per day) caffeine citrate were enrolled as the low-dose group. RESULTS: Compared with the low-dose group, the high-dose group had significant reductions in the need for high-concentration oxygen during assisted ventilation (P=0.044), the duration of oxygen inhalation after weaning from noninvasive ventilation (P<0.01), total oxygen inhalation time during hospitalization (P<0.01), the proportion of preterm infants requiring noninvasive ventilation again (P<0.01), the rate of use of pulmonary surfactant and budesonide (P<0.05), and the incidence rates of apnea and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (P<0.01), but the high-dose group had a significantly increased incidence rate of feeding intolerance (P=0.032). There were no significant differences between the two groups in the body weight change, the incidence rates of retinopathy of prematurity, intraventricular hemorrhage or necrotizing enterocolitis, the mortality rate, and the duration of caffeine use (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This pilot multicenter study shows that the high maintenance dose (10 mg/kg per day) is generally beneficial to preterm infants in China and does not increase the incidence rate of common adverse reactions. For the risk of feeding intolerance, further research is needed to eliminate the interference of confounding factors as far as possible.

Spinal-pelvic sagittal parameters in patients with gluteal muscle contracture: an imaging study.

Background: Gluteal muscle contracture (GMC) may cause abnormal spinal alignment as well as hip and pelvic deformities. The spine-pelvis alignment of GMC patients is unclear. This study aimed to describe the spine-pelvis sagittal alignment in patients with GMC and to explore the impact of GMC on the pathogenesis of low back pain (LBP). Methods: Radiological analysis was performed in 100 patients with GMC and 100 asymptomatic volunteers who acted as the control group. Sagittal parameters were measured by two independent raters and their averages were presented on lateral radiographs of the whole spine, including pelvic incidence (PI), sagittal vertical axis (SVA), pelvic tilt (PT), lumbar lordosis (LL), sacral slope (SS), thoracic kyphosis (TK), and the relationship between PI and LL (expressed as PI-LL). All cases were categorized into one of three classes based on the apex position of lumbar lordosis and were further divided into three groups by the PI value. The GMC and control parameters were compared and the correlations between the parameters in the GMC group were analysed. Results: The PI value of the GMC group was significantly less than that of the control group (42.38 ± 10.90° vs 45.68 ± 7.49°, P < 0.05). There was no difference found between the key parameters (SVA, PT, and PI-LL), which correlated with outcomes in adult deformity. No differences of SS were found between the two groups (P > 0.05). The GMC group showed lower average LL (42.77 ± 10.97° vs 46.41 ± 9.07°) and TK (17.34 ± 9.50° vs 20.45 ± 8.02°) compared with the control group (P < 0.05). LL was correlated with PI, SS, PT, TK (P < 0.01) and SVA (P < 0.05). TK and SVA were not correlated with any parameters except LL and pairwise correlations were found among PI, SS, and PT. There were no differences found between the distributions of the lumbar lordosis apex of GMC and the control but the range of SS in apex groups 3 and 4 did differ. GMC patients had the most small-PI value (44%) while approximately 64% of asymptomatic individuals had a normal PI. Interobserver variability was sufficient for all parameters calculated by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Conclusions: Gluteal muscle contracture causes a low PI which may contribute to low back pain. Patients with GMC present the same global sagittal spinal-pelvic balance as asymptomatic individuals due to a compensatory mechanism through excessive flat lumbar and thoracic curves. Future studies on the relationship between spinal-pelvic sagittal and coronal alignment and low back pain are needed to understand the mechanical forces involved in the onset of GMC.

A novel magnesium ion-incorporating dual-crosslinked hydrogel to improve bone scaffold-mediated osteogenesis and angiogenesis.

Osteogenesis is closely complemented by angiogenesis during the bone regeneration process. The development of functional hydrogel bone substitutes that mimic the extracellular matrix is a promising strategy for bone tissue engineering. However, the development of scaffold materials tailored to exhibit sufficient biomechanics, biodegradability, and favorable osteogenic and angiogenic activity continue to present a great challenge. Herein, we prepared a novel magnesium ion-incorporating dual-crosslinked hydrogel through the photocrosslinking of gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA), thiolated chitosan (TCS) and modified polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) nanoparticles, and active Mg2+ ions were then introduced into system via coordination bonds of MgS, which can be tailored to possess superior mechanical strength, a stable network structure and more suitable pore size and degradation properties. The fabricated GelMA/TCS/POSS-Mg hydrogels effectively promoted cell adhesion, spreading, and proliferation, demonstrating that the introduction of POSS and Mg2+ not only stimulates the osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs but also promotes angiogenesis both in vitro and in vivo, thereby facilitating subsequent bone regeneration in calvarial defects of rats. Taken together, the results of this study indicate that the GelMA/TCS/POSS-Mg hydrogel has promising potential for repairing bone defects by promoting cell adhesion, osteogenesis and vascularization.

The effect of running on knee joint cartilage: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Although running causes inevitable stress to the joints, data regarding its effect on the cartilage of the knee are conflicting. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effect of running on knee joint cartilage. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, SportDiscus, and Cochrane Library databases were searched to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies. The outcome indicators were cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), cartilage volume and thickness, and T2. RESULTS: A total of two RCTs and 13 cohort studies were included. There was no significant difference in cartilage volume between the running and control groups (MD, -115.88 U/I; 95% CI, -320.03 to 88.27; p = 0.27). However, running would decrease cartilage thickness (MD, -0.09 mm; 95%CI, -0.18 to -0.01; p = 0.03) and T2 (MD, -2.78 ms; 95% CI, -4.12 to -1.45; p < 0.001). Subgroup analysis demonstrated that COMP immediately or at 0.5 h after running was significantly increased, but there were no significant changes at 1 h or 2 h. CONCLUSIONS: Running has advantages in promoting nutrition penetrating into the cartilage as well as squeezing out the metabolic substance, such as water. Our study found that running had a short-term adverse effect on COMP and did not affect cartilage volume or thickness.

The impact of nutritional quality and gut bacteria on the fitness of Bactrocera minax (Diptera: Tephritidae).

To examine how nutritional quality and resident gut bacteria interplay in improving the fitness of an oligophagous fruit fly, Bactrocera minax, artificial sucrose diets and full diets (sucrose, tryptone and yeast extract) were fed to flies with and without antibiotic supplementation. Furthermore, Klebsiella oxytoca and Citrobacter freundii were supplemented to sucrose-only diets. Flies were maintained in the laboratory and the fitness parameters, male and female longevity, number of copulations and female fecundity, were recorded. Full diet without bacterial depletion significantly increased fecundity and copulation. In the absence of gut bacteria, flies fed with full diets had significantly decreased mean fecundity and copulation rate. Flies that were fed with sucrose diet had a very low copulation rate and produced no eggs. Diet type and the presence of bacteria did not have any effect on the average longevity of male and female flies. Bacterial supplementation in sucrose diets did not improve any of the measured parameters. The results demonstrate that gut bacteria interact with diet to influence mating and reproduction in B. minax. Symbiotic bacteria significantly and positively impact reproduction in B. minax; however, their impact can only be fully realized when the flies are fed with a nutritionally complete diet.