A cross-disorder study to identify causal relationships, shared genetic variants, and genes across 21 digestive disorders.

Digestive disorders are a significant contributor to the global burden of disease and seriously affect human quality of life. Research has already confirmed the presence of pleiotropic genetic loci among digestive disorders, and studies have explored shared genetic factors among pan-cancers, including various malignant digestive disorders. However, most cross-phenotype studies within the digestive tract system have been limited to a few traits, with no systematic coverage of common benign and malignant digestive disorders.

Plasma Proteomics to Identify Drug Targets for Ischemic Heart Disease.

Background: Integrated analyses of plasma proteomic and genetic markers in prospective studies can clarify the causal relevance of proteins and discover novel targets for ischemic heart disease (IHD) and other diseases.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine associations of proteomics and genetics data with IHD in population studies to discover novel preventive treatments.

Methods: We conducted a nested case-cohort study in the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) involving 1,971 incident IHD cases and 2,001 subcohort participants who were genotyped and free of prior cardiovascular disease.

MTHFR and risk of stroke and heart disease in a low-folate population: a prospective study of 156 000 Chinese adults.

Background: The relevance of folic acid for stroke prevention in low-folate populations such as in China is uncertain. Genetic studies of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism, which increases plasma homocysteine (tHcy) levels, could clarify the causal relevance of elevated tHcy levels for stroke, ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and other diseases in populations without folic acid fortification.

Methods: In the prospective China Kadoorie Biobank, 156 253 participants were genotyped for MTHFR and 12 240 developed a stroke during the 12-year follow-up.

Conventional and genetic associations of adiposity with 1463 proteins in relatively lean Chinese adults.

Adiposity is associated with multiple diseases and traits, but little is known about the causal relevance and mechanisms underlying these associations. Large-scale proteomic profiling, especially when integrated with genetic data, can clarify mechanisms linking adiposity with disease outcomes. We examined the associations of adiposity with plasma levels of 1463 proteins in 3977 Chinese adults, using measured and genetically-instrumented BMI.

Characterising personal, household, and community PM exposure in one urban and two rural communities in China.

Background: Cooking and heating in households contribute importantly to air pollution exposure worldwide. However, there is insufficient investigation of measured fine particulate matter (PM) exposure levels, variability, seasonality, and inter-spatial dynamics associated with these behaviours.

Methods: We undertook parallel measurements of personal, household (kitchen and living room), and community PM in summer (May-September 2017) and winter (November 2017-Janauary 2018) in 477 participants from one urban and two rural communities in China.

Association between fresh fruit consumption and the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease-related hospitalization and death in Chinese adults: A prospective cohort study.

Background: Existing evidence suggests that fruit consumption is a significant influencing factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but this is unclear in the Chinese population. We examined the association of fresh fruit consumption with the risk of COPD-related hospitalization and death in a nationwide, population-based prospective cohort from China.

Methods: Between 2004 and 2008, the China Kadoorie Biobank recruited >0.

Household air pollution and risk of incident lung cancer in urban China: A prospective cohort study.

Household air pollution (HAP) is associated with the development of lung cancer, yet few studies investigated the exposure patterns and joint associations with tobacco smoking. In our study, we included 224 189 urban participants from China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB), 3288 of which diagnosed with lung cancer during the follow-up. Exposure to four HAP sources (solid fuels for cooking/heating/stove and environmental tobacco smoke exposure) was assessed at baseline.

Impact and Cost-Effectiveness of Biomedical Interventions on Adult Hepatitis B Elimination in China: A Mathematical Modelling Study.

Background: China has one of the highest hepatitis B virus (HBV) disease burdens worldwide and tracking progress toward the 2030 HBV elimination targets is essential. This study aimed to assess the impact of biomedical interventions (i.e.

Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease in relation to site-specific and multiple-site subclinical atherosclerosis.

Background & Aims: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and the newly proposed metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) were each associated with subclinical atherosclerosis. However, there is limited evidence on risk of atherosclerosis in individuals who meet the criteria for one but not the other. We aimed to investigate the associations of MAFLD or NAFLD status with site-specific and multiple-site atherosclerosis.

Cost-effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination: A systematic review.

Objective: The COVID-19 vaccination strategy has been widely used to protect population health worldwide. This study aims to summarize the cost-effectiveness evidence of economic evaluation of COVID-19 vaccination strategies to provide evidence supporting the usage of COVID-19 vaccination, especially where the supply of COVID-19 vaccine is limited.

Methods: A systematic literature review was performed by searching both English and Chinese databases, including PubMed, Embase, Science Direct, Web of Science, Medline, Scopus, and CNKI.

Long-Term Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter and Incidence of Esophageal Cancer: A Prospective Study of 0.5 Million Chinese Adults.

Background & Aims: Evidence is sparse and inconclusive on the association between long-term fine (≤2.5 μm) particulate matter (PM) exposure and esophageal cancer. We aimed to assess the association of PM with esophageal cancer risk and compared the esophageal cancer risk attributable to PM exposure and other established risk factors.

Multi-ancestry genome-wide study in >2.5 million individuals reveals heterogeneity in mechanistic pathways of type 2 diabetes and complications.

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a heterogeneous disease that develops through diverse pathophysiological processes. To characterise the genetic contribution to these processes across ancestry groups, we aggregate genome-wide association study (GWAS) data from 2,535,601 individuals (39.7% non-European ancestry), including 428,452 T2D cases.

Polypharmacy, chronic kidney disease, and mortality among older adults: A prospective study of National Health and nutrition examination survey, 1999-2018.

Introduction: Polypharmacy might contribute to a range of adverse outcomes, which could get worse in the elderly with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Evidence on polypharmacy, CKD, and mortality is scarce. We aimed to investigate the prospective association between polypharmacy, CKD and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in adults aged ≥65 years.

Development of a prediction model to identify undiagnosed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients in primary care settings in China.

Background: At present, a large number of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients are undiagnosed in China. Thus, this study aimed to develop a simple prediction model as a screening tool to identify patients at risk for COPD.

Methods: The study was based on the data of 22,943 subjects aged 30 to 79 years and enrolled in the second resurvey of China Kadoorie Biobank during 2012 and 2013 in China.

The impact of monthly air pollution exposure and its interaction with individual factors: Insight from a large cohort study of comprehensive hospitalizations in Guangzhou area.

Background: Although the association between short-term air pollution exposure and certain hospitalizations has been well documented, evidence on the effect of longer-term (e. g., monthly) air pollution on a comprehensive set of outcomes is still limited.

Long-term exposure to ambient PM, active commuting, and farming activity and cardiovascular disease risk in adults in China: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Increased physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, but outdoor physical activity can be accompanied by increased inhalation of fine particulate matter (PM). The extent to which long-term exposure to PM can offset the cardiovascular benefits of physical activity is unknown. We aimed to evaluate whether the associations between active commuting or farming activity and incident risks of cerebrovascular disease and ischaemic heart disease were consistent between populations with different ambient PM exposures.

Long-term ambient air pollution exposure and cardio-respiratory disease in China: findings from a prospective cohort study.

Background: Existing evidence on long-term ambient air pollution (AAP) exposure and risk of cardio-respiratory diseases in China is mainly on mortality, and based on area average concentrations from fixed-site monitors for individual exposures. Substantial uncertainty persists, therefore, about the shape and strength of the relationship when assessed using more personalised individual exposure data. We aimed to examine the relationships between AAP exposure and risk of cardio-respiratory diseases using predicted local levels of AAP.

Association of healthy lifestyle with incident cardiovascular diseases among hypertensive and normotensive Chinese adults.

Background: Whether lifestyle improvement benefits in reducing cardiovascular diseases (CVD) events extend to hypertensive patients and whether these benefits differ between hypertensive and normotensive individuals is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the associations of an overall healthy lifestyle with the subsequent development of CVD among participants with hypertension and normotension.

Methods: Using data from the Suzhou subcohort of the China Kadoorie Biobank study of 51,929 participants, this study defined five healthy lifestyle factors as nonsmoking or quitting for reasons other than illness; nonexcessive alcohol intake; relatively higher physical activity level; a relatively healthy diet; and having a standard waist circumference and body mass index.

The risk of injuries during work and its association with precipitation: New insight from a sentinel-based surveillance and a case-crossover design.

Background: Injuries during work are often exogenous and can be easily influenced by environmental factors, especially weather conditions. Precipitation, a crucial weather factor, has been linked to unintentional injuries, yet evidence of its effect on work-related injuries is limited. Therefore, we aimed to clarify the impact of precipitation on injuries during work as well as its variation across numerous vulnerability features.

Heterogeneity in the diagnosis and prognosis of ischemic stroke subtypes: 9-year follow-up of 22,000 cases in Chinese adults.

Background: Reliable classification of ischemic stroke (IS) etiological subtypes is required in research and clinical practice, but the predictive properties of these subtypes in population studies with incomplete investigations are poorly understood.

Aims: To compare the prognosis of etiologically classified IS subtypes and use machine learning (ML) to classify incompletely investigated IS cases.

Methods: In a 9-year follow-up of a prospective study of 512,726 Chinese adults, 22,216 incident IS cases, confirmed by clinical adjudication of medical records, were assigned subtypes using a modified Causative Classification System for Ischemic Stroke (CCS) (large artery atherosclerosis (LAA), small artery occlusion (SAO), cardioaortic embolism (CE), or undetermined etiology) and classified by CCS as "evident," "probable," or "possible" IS cases.

A psychometric evaluation of Chinese chronic hepatitis B virus infection-related stigma scale using classical test theory and item response theory.

Purpose: To validate the hepatitis B virus infection-related stigma scale (HBVISS) using Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory in a sample of Chinese chronic HBV carriers.

Methods: Feasibility, internal consistency reliability, split-half reliability and construct validity were evaluated using a cross-sectional validation study ( = 1,058) in Classical Test Theory. Content validity was assessed by COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) criteria.

Electronic Health Record-Based Absolute Risk Prediction Model for Esophageal Cancer in the Chinese Population: Model Development and External Validation.

Background: China has the largest burden of esophageal cancer (EC). Prediction models can be used to identify high-risk individuals for intensive lifestyle interventions and endoscopy screening. However, the current prediction models are limited by small sample size and a lack of external validation, and none of them can be embedded into the booming electronic health records (EHRs) in China.

Implementation and evaluation of crowdsourcing in global health education.

Background: Current global health course is most set as elective course taught in traditional teacher-taught model with low credit and short term. Innovate teaching models are required. Crowdsourcing characterized by high flexibility and strong application-orientation holds its potential to enhance global health education.