Compost mediates the recruitment of core bacterial communities in alfalfa roots to enhance their productivity potential in saline-sodic soils.

Introduction: Composting is one of the effective environmental protection and sustainable measures for improving soil quality and increasing crop yield. However, due to the special physical and chemical properties of saline-sodic soil and the complex rhizosphere microecological environment, the potential mechanism of regulating plant growth after applying compost in saline-sodic soil remains elusive.

Methods: Here, we investigated the effects of different compost addition rates (0, 5, 15, 25%) on plant growth traits, soil chemical properties, and rhizosphere bacterial community structure.

Steroid hormone-inducible biosensor based on EGFP-tagged and environmental application.

Steroid hormones as a class of emerging organic pollutant and high concern, due to their potential risks for human and environmental. Accurate analytical methods of steroid hormones are necessary in quantifying and monitoring. Biosensor is a promising technique.

Scientometric analysis and scientific trends on microplastics research.

In recent years, the environmental pollution of microplastics has attracted much attention. To date, there have been a lot of researches on microplastics and a series of studies published. In this study, by bibliometric analysis method to evaluated the development and evolution on microplastics research trends and hot spots.

Effects of saline-alkali stress on bacterial and fungal community diversity in Leymus chinensis rhizosphere soil.

The salinization of grassland in arid and semi-arid areas is a serious environmental issue in China. Halophytes show extreme salt tolerance and are grown in saline-alkaline environments. Their rhizosphere microorganisms contribute significantly to plant stress tolerance.

A predictive score for progression of COVID-19 in hospitalized persons: a cohort study.

Accurate prediction of the risk of progression of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is needed at the time of hospitalization. Logistic regression analyses are used to interrogate clinical and laboratory co-variates from every hospital admission from an area of 2 million people with sporadic cases. From a total of 98 subjects, 3 were severe COVID-19 on admission.

Team-Based Primary Care Practice Transformation Initiative and Changes in Patient Experience and Recommended Cancer Screening Rates.

Team-based care has emerged as a promising strategy for primary care practices to provide high-quality care. We examine changes in patient experience of care and recommended cancer screening rates associated with a primary care transformation initiative that established team-based care. Our observational study included 13 academically affiliated primary care practices in the Boston, Massachusetts area that participated in 2 learning collaboratives: the first (2012-2014) aimed to establish team-based primary care, while the second (2014-2016) focused on improving patient safety and cancer screening.

Effect of Infection on the Microbial Composition of Upper Airway.

Methods: Forty-four COVID-19 patients (severe/critical: N = 8, non-severe: N = 36) were examined by next generation sequencing (NGS) of nasopharyngeal test paper to observe the effect of novel coronavirus infection to the microbial composition in upper airway.

Results: In these nasopharyngeal test paper samples, 38 kinds of bacteria, 10 kinds of viruses except , nine kinds of fungi and three kinds of atypical pathogens had been found. There was some difference in microbial composition in the upper airway between severe and non-severe cases.

Impact of Risk Adjustment Using Clinical vs Administrative Data on Hospital Sepsis Mortality Comparisons.

Background: A reliable risk-adjusted sepsis outcome measure could complement current national process metrics by identifying outlier hospitals and catalyzing additional improvements in care. However, it is unclear whether integrating clinical data into risk adjustment models identifies similar high- and low-performing hospitals compared with administrative data alone, which are simpler to acquire and analyze.

Methods: We ranked 200 US hospitals by their Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Adult Sepsis Event (ASE) mortality rates and assessed how rankings changed after applying (1) an administrative risk adjustment model incorporating demographics, comorbidities, and codes for severe illness and (2) an integrated clinical and administrative model replacing severity-of-illness codes with laboratory results, vasopressors, and mechanical ventilation.

Preliminary evidence from a multicenter prospective observational study of the safety and efficacy of chloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19.

Effective therapies are urgently needed for the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Chloroquine has been proved to have antiviral effect against coronavirus . In this study, we aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of chloroquine with different doses in COVID-19.

Association of Team-Based Primary Care With Health Care Utilization and Costs Among Chronically Ill Patients.

Importance: Empirical study findings to date are mixed on the association between team-based primary care initiatives and health care use and costs for Medicaid and commercially insured patients, especially those with multiple chronic conditions.

Objective: To evaluate the association of establishing team-based primary care with patient health care use and costs.

Design, Setting, And Participants: We used difference-in-differences to compare preutilization and postutilization rates between intervention and comparison practices with inverse probability weighting to balance observable differences.

Overuse and insurance plan type in a privately insured population.

Objectives: A substantial portion of healthcare spending is wasted on services that do not directly improve patient health and that cause harm in some cases. Features of health insurance coverage, including enrollment in high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) or health maintenance organizations (HMOs), may provide financial and nonfinancial mechanisms to potentially reduce overuse of low-value healthcare services.

Study Design: Using 2009 to 2013 administrative data from 3 large commercial insurers, we examined patient characteristics and health insurance plan types associated with overuse of 6 healthcare services identified by the Choosing Wisely campaign.

Measuring overuse with electronic health records data.

Objectives: To measure overuse of low-value care using electronic health record (EHR) data and manual chart review and to evaluate whether certain low-value services are better captured using EHR data.

Study Design: We implemented algorithms to extract performance on 13 Choosing Wisely-identified healthcare services using EHR data at a large physician practice group between 2011 and 2013.

Methods: We calculated rates of overuse using automated EHR extracts.

Trends in Beverage Consumption Among Children and Adults, 2003-2014.

Objective: This study aimed to provide the most recent national estimates for beverage consumption among children and adults in the United States.

Methods: Dietary data were collected from 18,600 children aged 2 to 19 years and from 27,652 adults aged ≥ 20 years in the 2003 to 2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Total beverage and sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption was measured by 24-hour dietary recall.

End-of-Life Experience of Older Adults Dying of End-Stage Renal Disease: A Comparison With Cancer.

Context: Older adults with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are a rapidly growing group of seriously ill patients. Yet, despite a mortality rate almost twice that of cancer, less is known about the impact of ESRD on patients' end-of-life experience.

Objective: To compare the end-of-life experience of older adults who died of ESRD vs.

The influence of fasudil on renal proximal tubular cell epithelial-mesenchymal transition induced by parathormone.

Background: Renal fibrosis is a common pathway through which a variety of chronic kidney diseases progress to end-stage renal disease. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of renal proximal tubular cells is one of the most important factors in renal fibrosis. This study investigates if fasudil could influence EMT of renal proximal tubular cells.

Relationship Between Labor and Delivery Unit Management Practices and Maternal Outcomes.

Objective: To define, measure, and characterize key competencies of managing labor and delivery units in the United States and assess the associations between unit management and maternal outcomes.

Methods: We developed and administered a management measurement instrument using structured telephone interviews with both the primary nurse and physician managers at 53 diverse hospitals across the United States. A trained interviewer scored the managers' interview responses based on management practices that ranged from most reactive (lowest scores) to most proactive (highest scores).

Perception of Safety of Surgical Practice Among Operating Room Personnel From Survey Data Is Associated With All-cause 30-day Postoperative Death Rate in South Carolina.

Objective: To evaluate whether the perception of safety of surgical practice among operating room (OR) personnel is associated with hospital-level 30-day postoperative death.

Background: The relationship between improvements in the safety of surgical practice and benefits to postoperative outcomes has not been demonstrated empirically.

Methods: As part of the Safe Surgery 2015: South Carolina initiative, a baseline survey measuring the perception of safety of surgical practice among OR personnel was completed.

Payer Type and Low-Value Care: Comparing Choosing Wisely Services across Commercial and Medicare Populations.

Objective: To compare low-value health service use among commercially insured and Medicare populations and explore the influence of payer type on the provision of low-value care.

Data Sources: 2009-2011 national Medicare and commercial insurance administrative data.

Design: We created claims-based algorithms to measure seven Choosing Wisely-identified low-value services and examined the correlation between commercial and Medicare overuse overall and at the regional level.

Relationship Between Operating Room Teamwork, Contextual Factors, and Safety Checklist Performance.

Background: Studies show that using surgical safety checklists (SSCs) reduces complications. Many believe SSCs accomplish this by enhancing teamwork, but evidence is limited. Our study sought to relate teamwork to checklist performance, understand how they relate, and determine conditions that affect this relationship.

Bovine parathyroid hormone enhances osteoclast bone resorption by modulating V-ATPase through PTH1R.

The vacuolar-type H+ adenosine triphosphatase (V-ATPase) plays an important role in cellular acidification and bone resorption by osteoclasts. However, the direct effect of bovine parathyroid hormone (bPTH) on V-ATPase has not yet been elucidated. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of bPTH on V-ATPase and osteoclasts.

Impact of the Cincinnati Aligning Forces for Quality Multi-Payer Patient Centered Medical Home Pilot on Health Care Quality, Utilization, and Costs.

To evaluate the potential for a patient-centered medical home initiative to reduce utilization and cost while improving quality, we examined a natural experiment involving 11 primary care practices in Cincinnati, Ohio, that participated in the Aligning Forces for Quality Multi-Payer Patient Centered Medical Home pilot. Our research design involved difference-in-difference analyses, comparing changes in utilization, costs, and quality between patients attributed to pilot practices compared with those attributed to a matched comparison cohort after 2 years of active engagement by the practices. The Cincinnati pilot was associated with a reduction of ambulatory care-sensitive emergency department visits of approximately 0.

A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of Changes in Quality, Utilization and Cost Following the Colorado Multi-Payer Patient-Centered Medical Home Pilot.

Background: Research on the effects of patient-centered medical homes on quality and cost of care is mixed, so further study is needed to understand how and in what contexts they are effective.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate effects of a multi-payer pilot promoting patient-centered medical home implementation in 15 small and medium-sized primary care groups in Colorado.

Design: We conducted difference-in-difference analyses, comparing changes in utilization, costs, and quality between patients attributed to pilot and non-pilot practices.

The effect of bovine parathyroid hormone withdrawal on MC3T3-E1 cell proliferation and phosphorus metabolism.

Hypocalcemia and hypophosphatemia are common complications after parathyroidectomy (PTX). Sudden removal of high circulating levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH) causes decreased osteoclastic resorption resulting in a decreased bone remodeling space. These phenomena are likely due to an increased influx of calcium and phosphorus into bone.