BACKGROUND: Prospective evidence on how offspring number influences morbidity and mortality remains limited. This study investigated the associations between number of offspring and morbidity and mortality risks among 0.5 million Chinese adults. METHODS: By using data from the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB; n = 512,723, an approximately 12-year follow-up), sex-stratified phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) analyses were conducted to investigate associations between offspring number (without vs . with offspring; more than one vs . one offspring) and risks of ICD10-coded morbidity and mortality. Sex-specific adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by Cox proportional-hazards models. RESULTS: Among 210,129 men and 302,284 women aged 30-79 years, 1,338,837 incident events were recorded. PheWAS results revealed that offspring number was associated with disease risks across multiple systems. Cox models showed that childless men ( vs . one offspring) had higher risks for nine of 36 diseases, while childless women for five of 37. Each additional offspring was associated with reduced risks of mental and behavioral disorders in men (aHR [95% CI] = 0.93 [0.87-0.98]) and both mental and behavioral disorders (aHR [95% CI] = 0.93 [0.89-0.97]) and breast cancer (aHR [95% CI] = 0.82 [0.78-0.86]) in women. However, each additional offspring was associated with a 4% increase in the risk of cholelithiasis and cholecystitis in women (aHR [95% CI] = 1.04 [1.02-1.07]). Among 282,630 patients, 44,533 deaths were documented. Childless patients had higher mortality risk in both men (aHR [95% CI] = 1.37 [1.28-1.47]) and women (aHR [95% CI] = 1.27 [1.15-1.41]). For men, each additional offspring reduced mortality by 4% (aHR [95% CI] = 0.96 [0.95-0.98]), while for women, the lowest risk was observed among those with three to four offspring ( Pnonlinear <0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Offspring number is closely linked to morbidity and mortality risks. Further research is warranted to verify our findings and clarify the underlying mechanisms involved.
Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; China/epidemiology* ; Morbidity ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Prospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Family Characteristics ; Mortality ; East Asian People

Tesla blood pumps demonstrate a reduced propensity for hemolysis and thrombosis compared with vane blood pumps. Considering the restricted driving force within the secondary flow channel of vane blood pumps, along with the low hydraulic efficiency of conventional Tesla blood pumps and their internal flow characteristics that significantly contribute to hemolysis and thrombosis, this study introduces a set of vanes atop the rotor of the Tesla blood pump. This forms a dual-fluid domain rotor, and an axial dual-outlet volute shell structure is adopted to realize the separation of the fluid domains. Through numerical simulations of the new structure, a comparative analysis was conducted in this study on the internal flow characteristics of double-outlet and single-outlet volute shells, and symmetric and asymmetric cross-sections of the same rotor. The results indicate that the flow field distribution is more uniform under the double-outlet volute shell structure, and overall energy dissipation is decreased. After implementing the double-outlet design, in the asymmetric cross-section, compared with the symmetric cross-section, the fluid velocity gradient and turbulent kinetic energy at the tongue of the septum are reduced, and the fluid velocity gradient at the convergence of the diffuser tube outlets are also decreased. The maximum scalar stress is lower, and the decline in head and efficiency is mitigated. Moreover, compared with the single-outlet volute shell, the hemolysis index in the asymmetric cross-section is reduced. In summary, this paper proposes a novel dual-outlet centrifugal disk blood pumps, which can provide a reference for the structural design and performance optimization of magnetically levitated centrifugal blood pumps.
Heart-Assist Devices ; Humans ; Equipment Design ; Hemolysis ; Computer Simulation

BACKGROUND: Previous evidence showed that ambient air pollution and cardiovascular mortality are related. However, there is a lack of evidence towards the modification effect of long-term lifestyle on the association between short-term ambient air pollution and death from cardiovascular events. METHOD: A total of 14,609 death from major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) were identified among the China Kadoorie Biobank participants from 2013 to 2018. Ambient air pollution exposure including particulate matter 2.5 (PM_2.5), SO₂, NO₂, CO, and O₃ from the same period were obtained from space-time model reconstructions based on remote sensing data. Case-crossover design and conditional logistic regression was applied to estimate the effect of short-term exposure to air pollutants on MACE mortality. RESULTS: We found MACE mortality was significantly associated with PM_2.5 (relative percent increase 2.91% per 10 µg/m³ increase, 95% CI 1.32-4.53), NO₂ (5.37% per 10 µg/m³ increase, 95% CI 1.56-9.33), SO₂ (6.82% per 10 µg/m³ increase, 95% CI 2.99-10.80), and CO (2.24% per 0.1 mg/m³ increase, 95% CI 1.02-3.48). Stratified analyses indicated that drinking was associated with elevated risk of MACE mortality with NO₂ and SO₂ exposure; physical inactivity was associated with higher risk of death from MACE when exposed to PM_2.5; and people who had balanced diet had lower risk of MACE mortality when exposed to CO and NO₂. CONCLUSIONS The study results showed that short-term exposure to ambient PM_2.5, NO₂, SO₂, and CO would aggravate the risk of cardiovascular mortality, yet healthy lifestyle conduct might mitigate such negative impact to some extent.
Humans ; Cardiovascular Diseases/epidemiology* ; China/epidemiology* ; Male ; Female ; Air Pollution/adverse effects* ; Middle Aged ; Air Pollutants/analysis* ; Particulate Matter/analysis* ; Environmental Exposure/adverse effects* ; Life Style ; Aged ; Adult ; Risk Factors ; Cross-Over Studies ; East Asian People

Objective:To assess the effectiveness of a 6-month Ba Duan Jin exercise program in improving the balance of community-dwelling older adults.Methods:A two arms, parallel-group, cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in 1 028 community residents aged 60-80 years in 40 communities in 5 provinces of China. Participants in the intervention group (20 communities, 523 people) received Ba Duan Jin exercise 5 days/week, 1 hour/day for 6 months, and three times of falls prevention health education, and the control group (20 communities, 505 people) received falls prevention health education same as the intervention group. The Berg balance scale (BBS) score was the leading outcome indicator, and the secondary outcome indicators included the length of time of standing on one foot (with eyes open and closed), standing in a tandem stance (with eyes open and closed), the closed circle test, and the timed up to test.Results:A total of 1 028 participants were included in the final analysis, including 731 women (71.11%) and 297 men (28.89%), and the age was (69.87±5.67) years. After the 3-month intervention, compared with the baseline data, the BBS score of the intervention group was significantly higher than the control group by 3.05 (95% CI: 2.23-3.88) points ( P<0.001). After the 6-month intervention, compared with the baseline data, the BBS score of the intervention group was significantly higher than the control group by 4.70 (95% CI: 4.03-5.37) points ( P<0.001). Ba Duan Jin showed significant improvement ( P<0.05) in all secondary outcomes after 6 months of exercise in the intervention group compared with the control group. Conclusions:This study showed that Ba Duan Jin exercise can improve balance in community-dwelling older adults aged 60-80. The longer the exercise time, the better the improvement.

Objective:To describe the distribution of lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] levels in non-arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) population in China and explore its influencing factors.Methods:This study was based on a nested case-control study in the CKB study measured plasma biomarkers. Lp(a) levels was measured using a polyclonal antibody-based turbidimetric assay certified by the reference laboratory and ≥75.0 nmol/L defined as high Lp(a). Multiple logistic regression model was used to examine the factors related to Lp(a) levels.Results:Among the 5 870 non-ASCVD population included in the analysis, Lp(a) levels showed a right-skewed distribution, with a M ( Q1, Q3) of 17.5 (8.8, 43.5) nmol/L. The multiple logistic regression analysis found that female was associated with high Lp(a) ( OR=1.23, 95% CI: 1.05-1.43). The risk of increased Lp(a) levels in subjects with abdominal obesity was significantly reduced ( OR=0.68, 95% CI: 0.52-0.89). As TC, LDL-C, apolipoprotein A1(Apo A1), and apolipoprotein B(Apo B) levels increased, the risk of high Lp(a) increased, with OR (95% CI) for each elevated group was 2.40 (1.76-3.24), 2.68 (1.36-4.93), 1.29 (1.03-1.61), and 1.65 (1.27-2.13), respectively. The risk of high Lp(a) was reduced in the HDL-C lowering group with an OR (95% CI) of 0.76 (0.61-0.94). In contrast, an increase in TG levels and the ratio of Apo A1/Apo B(Apo A1/B) was negatively correlated with the risk of high Lp(a), with OR (95% CI) of 0.73 (0.60-0.89) for elevated triglyceride group, and OR (95% CI) of 0.60 (0.50-0.72) for the Apo A1/B ratio increase group (linear trend test P≤0.001 except for Apo A1). However, no correlation was found between Lp(a) levels and lifestyle factors such as diet, smoking, and physical activity. Conclusions:Lp(a) levels were associated with sex and abdominal obesity, but less with lifestyle behaviors.

Under the background of high-intensity fattening,probiotics have gradually become wide-ly used feed additives.It can inhibit the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria,maintain the microeco-logical balance in the digestive tract,and improve the host immune function.In order to screen lac-tic acid bacteria strains with potential probiotic effects,23 acid-producing strains were isolated from rumen fluid of healthy Duolang sheep by CaCO3-MRS solid medium.Safe strains were re-screened through primary screening and hemolysis tests.Acid tolerance tests and bile salt tests were used to screen the strains that were relatively adapted to the rumen environment.The survival rate of the strain M2 was 93.80％under pH3.0 and 59.72％under bile salt concentration of 0.30％and the survival rate is higher than other strains under high temperature conditions.Subsequently,morphological observation,molecular biological identification,testing of pathogen antagonism,antibiotic tolerance analysis,growth characteristics detection and other methods were used to fur-ther explore the characteristics of the strain.The results showed that the strain to be tested was Gram-positive bacillus.After 16S rRNA gene sequence comparison,the strain was identified as Lactobac illus salivus,which could be used as a candidate strain to develop probiotics.The research results laid a foundation for its application in Duolang sheep breeding.

Objective:To explore the relationships among workplace bullying,resilience and work perform-ance in nurses,employing a moderation and matching analysis perspective.Methods:A total of 3 026 nurses from 4 tertiary hospitals in Shandong Province were recruited.The Negative Acts Questionnaire Revised,Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10item,and Work Performance Scale were used to evaluate workplace bullying,psychological re-silience and work performance.Moderation analysis and response surface analysis were used to investigate the rela-tionships among workplace bullying,psychological resilience and work performance in nurses.Results:The results of the moderation effect analysis indicated that psychological resilience could moderate the negative relationship be-tween workplace bullying and work performance(β=0.07,95％CI:0.03-0.10).Response surface analysis re-vealed that compared to nurses with low bullying-low resilience,nurses with high bullying-high resilience showed higher work performance(Z-hat difference=2.06;95％CI=0.48-3.58).Nurses with high bullying-low resili-ence exhibited lower work performance compared to those with low bullying-high resilience(Z-hat difference=-8.31;95％CI=-12.06--5.68).Conclusion:Psychological resilience plays a moderating role in the negative effects of workplace bullying on job performance of nurses,and there are relative differences in work performance between individuals with different levels of workplace bullying and psychological resilience.

Objective:To develop the rehabilitation needs questionnaire for stroke patients, so as to provide a tool for medical staff to implement continuous rehabilitation services.Methods:Based on the conceptual framework of the International Classification of Function, Disability and Health, and on the basis of literature review and qualitative research, the questionnaire items were preliminatively established after two rounds of Delphi expert consultation, and 130 stroke patients admitted to the Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation of the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from April to December 2021 were selected to test the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. And 200 stroke patients were selected for confirmatory factor analysis to form a formal scale.Results:Exploratory factor analysis extracted a total of 4 common factors: physiological function rehabilitation needs, social rehabilitation environmental support needs, emotional/psychological support needs, rehabilitation knowledge/information needs. After project analysis and 3 exploratory factor analysis, a final questionnaire containing 16 items was formed.The Cronbach α of the questionnaire was 0.935, with a broken half reliability of 0.824. The fitting index of confirmatory factor analysis was within the standard range. The χ2/ df was 2.979, the incremental fitting index was 0.907, the comparative fitting index was 0.906, and the root mean square error of approximation was 0.100. Conclusions:The reliability and validity of the rehabilitation needs questionnaire for stroke patients are good, which can preliminarily assess the rehabilitation needs of stroke patients.

Humans ; Consensus ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/therapy* ; Neuroendocrine Tumors/therapy*

{L-End}Objective To analyze sound pressure level and spectrum characteristics of noise from various equipment in noise-related worksites in wooden furniture enterprises in Zhongshan City. {L-End}Methods A total of 107 wooden furniture enterprises with equipment sound pressure levels ≥85.0 dB(A) were selected as the research subjects using the judgment sampling method. Individual noise meters were used to detect the sound level and spectrum of equipment in noise-related worksites. Cluster analysis was used to analyze the noise spectrum characteristics of each noise equipment. {L-End}Results The incidence of sound pressure level exceeding the national standard of occupational exposure limits for noise in workplace among the research subjects was 60.4% (365/604). The equipment with the highest sound pressure level was the sliding table saw (rough shape cutting position) at 101.4 dB(A), while the lowest was the sanding machine (grinding position) at 85.0 dB(A). The clustering analysis results showed that the noise spectrum characteristics of nail guns, sliding table saw, edge banders, spray guns, and drilling machines were similar, with the highest sound pressure level of 4 000.0 Hz, mainly concentrating in the high-frequency. The noise spectrum characteristics of punching machines, sanding machine, lathes, and engraving machines were similar, with the highest sound pressure level ranging from 500.0 to 1 000.0 Hz, mainly concentrating in the mid-frequency. The noise spectrum characteristics of drilling machines, planers, hot press machines, and mortise and tenon machines were similar, with the highest sound pressure level ranging from 500.0 to 1 000.0 Hz, mainly concentrating in the mid- and high-frequency. The sound pressure level of the mixer reached its peak at 8 000.0 Hz, demonstrating a wide frequency domain characteristic of sound pressure level with the presence of low-, mid- and high-frequencies. {L-End}Conclusion The noise-exposed hazards of wooden furniture enterprises are relatively serious, and the spectral characteristics of the equipment with noise are distinct. It is recommended to implement targeted noise reduction measures and personal hearing protection based on the specific spectrum characteristics of equipment noise.