Advantages of statin usage in preventing fractures for men over 50 in the United States: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Objectives: The relationship between statin treatment and fracture risk is still controversial, especially in in patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). We aim to determine whether statin therapy affects the occurrence of fractures in the general US population and in patients with CVDs.

Methods: Epidemiological data of this cross-sectional study were extracted from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES, 2001-2020, n = 9,893).

Habitual salt preference worsens blood pressure in hospitalized hypertensive patients with omicron infection under epidemic-related stress.

Background: We investigated the synergistic effect of stress and habitual salt preference (SP) on blood pressure (BP) in the hospitalized Omicron-infected patients.

Methods: From 15,185 hospitalized Omicron-infected patients who reported having high BP or hypertension, we recruited 662 patients. All patients completed an electronic questionnaire on diet and stress, and were required to complete morning BP monitoring at least three times.

A new method for the joint estimation of instantaneous reproductive number and serial interval during epidemics.

Although some methods for estimating the instantaneous reproductive number during epidemics have been developed, the existing frameworks usually require information on the distribution of the serial interval and/or additional contact tracing data. However, in the case of outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases with an unknown natural history or undetermined characteristics, the serial interval and/or contact tracing data are often not available, resulting in inaccurate estimates for this quantity. In the present study, a new framework was specifically designed for joint estimates of the instantaneous reproductive number and serial interval.

A Dynamic Compartmental Model to Explore the Optimal Strategy of Varicella Vaccination: An Epidemiological Study in Jiangsu Province, China.

Varicella (chickenpox) is highly contagious among children and frequently breaks out in schools. In this study, we developed a dynamic compartment model to explore the optimal schedule for varicella vaccination in Jiangsu Province, China. A susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) model was proposed to simulate the transmission of varicella in different age groups.

Quantitative model for assessment of lower-extremity perfusion in patients with diabetes.

Background: Although diabetic and atherosclerotic vascular diseases have different pathophysiological mechanisms, the screening methods currently used for diabetic lower-extremity vascular diseases are mainly based on the evaluation methods used for atherosclerotic vascular diseases. Thus, assessment of microvascular perfusion is of great importance in early detection of lower-extremity ischemia in diabetes.

Purpose: This cross-sectional study aimed to develop a quantitative model for evaluating lower-extremity perfusion.

Interleukin-2 promotes pegylated interferon alpha for hepatitis B surface antigen loss: A retrospective pragmatic clinical study at the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University Medical College.

Background And Aims: Interleukin-2 (IL-2) can be used as an adjuvant therapy when pegylated interferon alpha (Peg-IFN-α) does not effectively promote hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss, but the relevant timing, kinetic patterns, and prognostic associations of this intervention are unclear.

Methods: A total of 115 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) treated at our institution between October 2018 and March 2021 were included in this retrospective analysis. They were divided into two kinetic patterns by using K-medoids cluster analysis.

Assessing the mechanism of citywide test-trace-isolate Zero-COVID policy and exit strategy of COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Countries that aimed for eliminating the cases of COVID-19 with test-trace-isolate policy are found to have lower infections, deaths, and better economic performance, compared with those that opted for other mitigation strategies. However, the continuous evolution of new strains has raised the question of whether COVID-19 eradication is still possible given the limited public health response capacity and fatigue of the epidemic. We aim to investigate the mechanism of the Zero-COVID policy on outbreak containment, and to explore the possibility of eradication of Omicron transmission using the citywide test-trace-isolate (CTTI) strategy.

Spatiotemporal pattern recognition and dynamical analysis of COVID-19 in Shanghai, China.

Shanghai suffered a large outbreak of Omicron mutant of COVID-19 at the beginning of March 2022. To figure out the spatiotemporal patterns of the epidemic, a retrospective statistical investigation, coupled with a dynamic model, is implemented in this study. The hotspots of SARS-CoV-2 transmissions are identified, and strong aggregative effects in the decay stage are found.

Analysis of the Geographic Transmission Differences of COVID-19 in China Caused by Population Movement and Population Density.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has led to a global pandemic and caused huge healthy and economic losses. Non-pharmaceutical interventions, especially contact tracing and social distance restrictions, play a vital role in the control of COVID-19. Understanding the spatial impact is essential for designing such a control policy.

Dynamics of a stochastic HBV infection model with drug therapy and immune response.

Hepatitis B is a disease that damages the liver, and its control has become a public health problem that needs to be solved urgently. In this paper, we investigate analytically and numerically the dynamics of a new stochastic HBV infection model with antiviral therapies and immune response represented by CTL cells. Through using the theory of stochastic differential equations, constructing appropriate Lyapunov functions and applying Itô's formula, we prove that the disease-free equilibrium of the stochastic HBV model is stochastically asymptotically stable in the large, which reveals that the HBV infection will be eradicated with probability one.

Adaptive Weighted Neighbors Method for Sensitivity Analysis.

Identifying key factors from observational data is important for understanding complex phenomena in many disciplines, including biomedical sciences and biology. However, there are still some limitations in practical applications, such as severely nonlinear input-output relationships and highly skewed output distributions. To acquire more reliable sensitivity analysis (SA) results in these extreme cases, inspired by the weighted k-nearest neighbors algorithm, we propose a new method called adaptive weighted neighbors (AWN).

A switching dynamic model based on phased COVID-19 data in Chongqing and its evaluation.

Objectives: Although COVID-19 has been controlled in China, the risk of invasion of imported cases remains. We aimed to characterize the impact of the number of imported cases and the implementation of first-level emergency response (FLER) policy.

Methods: A SCQIHR switching model was constructed and verified by the complete phased data of COVID-19 in Chongqing in 2020.

Interaction between gender and post resuscitation interventions on neurological outcome in an asphyxial rat model of cardiac arrest.

Purpose: Previous clinical studies have suggested an effect of gender on outcome after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, but the results are conflicting and there is no uniform agreement regarding gender differences in survival and prognosis. The present study was aimed to investigate the interaction between gender and post resuscitation interventions on neurological outcome in an asphyxial rat model of cardiac arrest.

Methods: Asphyxia was induced by blocking the endotracheal tube in 120 adult Sprague-Dawley rats (60 males and 60 females) at the same age.

An Algorithm for Gene Fragment Reconstruction.

Gene sequencing technology has been playing an important role in many aspects, such as life science, disease medicine and health medicine, particularly in the extremely tough process of fighting against 2019-novel coronavirus. Drawing DNA restriction map is a particularly important technology in genetic biology. The simplified partial digestion method (SPDP), a biological method, has been widely used to cut DNA molecules into DNA fragments and obtain the biological information of each fragment.

Dynamics of a stochastic HBV infection model with cell-to-cell transmission and immune response.

In this paper, considering the proven role of exosomes and the inevitable randomization within-host, we establish a hepatitis B virus (HBV) model with cell-to-cell transmission and CTL immune response from a deterministic framework to a stochastic differential equation (SDE). By introducing the reproduction number $ R_0 $, we prove that $ R_0 $ can be used to govern the stochastic dynamics of the SDE HBV model. Under certain assumptions, if $ R_{0}\leq1 $, the solution of the SDE model always fluctuates around the infection-free equilibrium of the deterministic model, which indicates that the HBV will eventually disappear almost surely; if $ R_{0} > 1 $, under extra conditions, the solution of the SDE model fluctuates around endemic equilibrium of the corresponding deterministic model, which leads to the stochastic persistence of the HBV with probability one.

Coexistence and extinction in a data-based ratio-dependent model of an insect community.

In theory, pure competition often leads to competitive exclusion of species. However, what we often see in nature is a large number of distinct predator or consumer species coexist in a community consisting a smaller number of prey or plant species. In an effort of dissecting how indirect competition and selective predation may have contributed to the coexistence of species in an insect community, according to the replicated cage experiments (two aphid species and a specialist parasitoid that attacks only one of the aphids) and proposed mathematical models, van Veen et.

Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg) Kinetics in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients during Peginterferon Treatment.

BACKGROUND Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss/seroconversion is considered to be an ideal endpoint for antiviral therapy and a final therapeutic target for chronic hepatitis (CHB). This study aimed to evaluate the HBsAg kinetics in CHB patients during peginterferon-alpha (Peg-IFN-alpha) treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS A retrospective cohort study was performed using a case database, which included 151 patients who received Peg-IFN-alpha treatment and with HBsAg load of no less than 4 time points from May 1, 2018 to January 31, 2019.

Experimental and simulation study on chatter stability region of integral impeller with non-uniform allowance.

In order to accurately improve and predict chatter stability region of machining process, an optimization method of machining process with non-uniform allowance of integral impeller was proposed. The modal parameters of the workpiece process system were obtained using the finite element analysis. Based on the regenerative chatter analysis theory, a limit comparison diagram of the stability with uniform allowance and non-uniform allowance was established.

Sirolimus as Rescue Therapy for Refractory/Relapsed Immune Thrombocytopenia: Results of a Single-Center, Prospective, Single-Arm Study.

Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an autoimmune disease which arises due to self-destruction of circulating platelets. Failure to respond or maintain a response to first-line treatment can lead to refractory/relapsed (R/R) ITP. The mechanism remains complicated and lacks a standard clinical treatment.

Evaluation of a WeChat-based dementia-specific training program for nurses in primary care settings: A randomized controlled trial.

Community nurses play a crucial role in early detection and timely diagnosis of dementia. However, they are usually not prepared for the role through their formal education, particularly in low- and middle-income countries due to undeveloped nursing curriculum in dementia care. This paper describes a two-arm cluster-randomized controlled trial to improve community nurses' knowledge, attitudes, and practice changes using an innovative and interactive mobile phone applet-based activity in primary care settings.

Global dynamics of a delay virus model with recruitment and saturation effects of immune responses.

In this paper, we formulate a virus dynamics model with the recruitment of immune responses, saturation effects and an intracellular time delay. With the help of uniform persistence theory and Lyapunov method, we show that the global stability of the model is totally determined by the basic reproductive number R0. Furthermore, we analyze the effects of the recruitment of immune responses on virus infection by numerical simulation.

A novel use of hill function and utility of 99mTc-MIBI scintigraphy to detect earlier lower extremity microvascular perfusion in patients with type 2 diabetes.

We use the Hill function to analyze the dynamics of Tc-99m 2 methoxy-isobutyl-isonitrile (Tc-MIBI) scintigraphy data and to examine the earlier lower extremity microvascular perfusion of diabetic patients without typical clinical symptoms and with the preserved normal ankle-brachial index (ABI).Eighty-eight participants (30 healthy control, 34 diabetic patients, and 24 diabetic patients with peripheral arterial disease [PAD]) were recruited and applied Tc-MIBI scintigraphy. Fourteen diabetic patients with PAD also underwent computed tomography angiography (CTA) examination and were performed endovascular interventions.

The Role of Targeted Temperature Management in Adult Patients Resuscitated from Nonshockable Cardiac Arrests: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Routine targeted temperature management is recommended for comatose adult patients with return of spontaneous circulation after cardiac arrest. However, the role of targeted temperature management in patients resuscitated from nonshockable cardiac arrests remains uncertain. We conducted an updated systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the effects of targeted temperature management in this population.

Simulating the potential role of media coverage and infected bats in the 2014 Ebola outbreak.

Multiple epidemiological models have been developed to model the transmission dynamics of Ebola virus (EBOV) disease in West Africa in 2014 because the severity of the epidemic is commonly overestimated. A compartmental model that incorporates the media impact and the effect of infected bats was constructed and calibrated using data reported until the end of 2014. The final cumulative number of deaths and confirmed cases were estimated to be 1.