Objective:To investigate the genetic and evolutionary characteristics of hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genes of influenza B/Victoria (BV) virus in Xi′an city from 2019 to 2023.Methods:Twenty-five BV strains isolated from the Xi′an influenza surveillance network laboratory between 2019 and 2023 were collected. The HA and NA genes were sequenced using MiniSeq high-throughput sequencing platform. An evolutionary tree was constructed using bioinformatics software to analyze homology and mutation sites, and to predict N-glycosylation sites online. The antigenicity of the strains was analyzed through hemagglutination inhibition tests.Results:The BV influenza in Xi′an exhibited a distinct seasonal transmission pattern from 2019 to 2023, with peak prevalence occurring during the winter and spring seasons. The evolutionary analysis of the HA genes shows that the strains from Xi′an in 2019 belong to the V1A.3 branch, and the strains from 2021 to 2023 belong to the V1A.3a.2 branch. Analysis of antigenic sites showed that there were variations in 6 sites of 3 antigenic determinants in the HA proteins of the BV strains from 2021-2022 compared to 2019, and 2 sites of 1 antigenic determinant changed in the HA proteins in 2023 compared to 2021-2022. The evolutionary analysis of the NA genes indicates that the BV strains from Xi′an in 2019 belong to the A. 1.1 branch. By 2021 and 2022, it had evolved into the A. 1.2 clade, and by 2023, it had further evolved into the B clade and its derivatives, with no strains showing mutations associated with resistance to NA inhibitors. Antigenic analysis indicated that the majority of BV strains in Xi′an were similar to the strains included in the vaccine composition. Furthermore, glycosylation analysis showed that the potential N-glycosylation sites in the HA proteins of BV strains from 2021-2023 were reduced by one compared to those from 2019, and only a few strains from 2023 displayed alterations in the potential N-glycosylation sites of the NA proteins.Conclusions:The HA and NA genes of the BV strains from 2019 to 2023 are continuously mutating and evolving into new branches. Since 2021, V1A.3a.2 has become the dominant evolutionary branch of the HA genes, while the evolutionary branches of the NA genes from 2019 to 2023 have been continuously changing.

Background::Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and diameter, stiffness, and wave reflections, are independent and important clinical biomarkers and risk predictors for cardiovascular diseases. The purpose of the present study was to establish nationwide reference values of carotid properties for healthy Chinese adults and to explore potential clinical determinants.Methods::A total of 3053 healthy Han Chinese adults (1922 women) aged 18-79 years were enrolled at 28 collaborating tertiary centers throughout China between April 2021 and July 2022. The real-time tracking of common carotid artery walls was achieved by the radio frequency (RF) ultrasound system. The IMT, diameter, compliance coefficient, β stiffness, local pulse wave velocity (PWV), local systolic blood pressure, augmented pressure (AP), and augmentation index (AIx) were then automatically measured and reported. Data were stratified by age groups and sex. The relationships between age and carotid property parameters were analyzed by Jonckheere-Terpstra test and simple linear regressions. The major clinical determinants of carotid properties were identified by Pearson’s correlation, multiple linear regression, and analyses of covariance.Results::All the parameters of carotid properties demonstrated significantly age-related trajectories. Women showed thinner IMT, smaller carotid diameter, larger AP, and AIx than men. The β stiffness and PWV were significantly higher in men than women before forties, but the differences reversed after that. The increase rate of carotid IMT (5.5 μm/year in women and 5.8 μm/year in men) and diameter (0.03 mm/year in both men and women) were similar between men and women. For the stiffness and wave reflections, women showed significantly larger age-related variations than men as demonstrated by steeper regression slopes (all P for age by sex interaction <0.05). The blood pressures, body mass index (BMI), and triglyceride levels were identified as major clinical determinants of carotid properties with adjustment of age and sex. Conclusions::The age- and sex-specific reference values of carotid properties measured by RF ultrasound for healthy Chinese adults were established. The blood pressures, BMI, and triglyceride levels should be considered for clinical application of corresponding reference values.

Objective: Conebeam CT (CBCT) was used to measure the palatine between the maxillary first and second molars. The proximal and distal palatal widths of the maxillary first and second molar and the palatal mucosal thickness and bone tissue thickness when microscrew implant anchorage nail were implanted at different angles provided a reference for the clinical selection of microscrew implant placement. Methods: The image data of 90 adult patients were selected as the research object, and the jaw bone was reconstructed by scanning. In maxillary palatine, selection of distances at 12 mm, 14 mm, 16 mm, and 18 mm from the palatal apex of maxillary first molar between the maxillary first and second molar were used as measurement, measured the proximal and distal palatal widths of maxillary first and second molar and the palatal mucosal thickness and bone tissue thickness when microscrew implant anchorage nails were implanted at 30 °, 45 °, 60 °, and 90 °. SPSS 26.0 software was used for one-way ANOVA and LSD pair comparison. Results: The larger the angle of the microscrew implant anchorage nail was, the smaller the proximal and distal medial widths between the maxillary first and second molar, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Compared with the 90° direction, the proximal and distal medial widths of the microscrew implant anchorage nail were larger in the 60° direction. The greater the angle of implantation, the smaller the mucosal thickness and the greater the bone tissue thickness, and the results showed a significant difference (P < 0.001). Compared with the direction of 30° and 45°, the mucosal thickness at the direction of 60° was smaller, and the bone tissue thickness was larger. The higher the position of the microscrew implant anchorage nail, the greater the width of the proximal and distal medial, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Compared with the positions 12 and 14 mm from the palatal tip, the proximal and distal medial widths of the microscrew implant anchorage nail were larger. The higher the implant position was, the greater the mucosal thickness and the smaller the bone tissue thickness. The results showed a significant difference (P < 0.001). Compared with the position of 18 mm from the palatal tip of the maxillary first molar, the mucosal thickness was smaller and the bone tissue thickness was larger. Conclusion It is most appropriate to implant microscrew implant anchorage nail at least 10 mm in length in the direction of 60° at the palatal apex 16 mm from the maxillary first molar in palatine between the first and second molar.

Objective:To estimate physical activity level in residents in Suzhou and explore the association between community environment and physical activity level in local residents.Methods:Through multistage stratified random sampling, residents aged 25-64 years in Suzhou were surveyed by face-to face interview in 2017. Physical activity levels were assessed by the international physical activity questionnaire-long version (IPAQ-L). Perceptions of community environment were assessed by Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale-Abbreviated (NEWS-A).Results:Among the local residents surveyed in Suzhou,the median of weekly total physical activity level was 3 610.42 MET-min/w. The level of occupational physical activity was higher than that of transportation, household and leisure-time related physical activity levels. After controlling for socio-demographic factors, public service access was negatively associated with the overall physical activity level ( OR=0.522,95% CI:0.329-0.830), land-use mix-diversity was negatively associated with the level of occupational physical activity level ( OR=0.701,95% CI: 0.492-0.999), infrastructure of walk and cycle ways was positively associated with occupational physical activity level ( OR=1.603,95% CI:1.004-2.559); traffic hazards were negatively associated with the transportation physical activity level ( OR=0.642,95% CI: 0.416-0.990); residential building density was positively associated with leisure-time physical activity level ( OR=1.001,95% CI: 1.000-1.002), and the perceptions level of community environment were positively associated with the occupational, transportation, household and overall physical activity levels ( OR=1.889,95% CI: 1.176-3.033; OR=1.671,95% CI: 1.120-2.495; OR=1.775,95% CI: 1.143-2.756; OR=1.593,95% CI: 1.079-2.350). Conclusion:Improving infrastructure of walk and cycle ways and beautifying community environment play an important role in increasing the physical activity level of the residents.

Objective:To explore the positive rates of 2019-nCoV nucleic acid at different time of courses of COVID-19.Methods:Patients with confirmed COVID-19 were enrolled in this study. Nasal and throat swabs were collected from different courses of disease. Real-time RT-PCR was used to detect 2019-nCoV nucleic acid.Results:From January 23 to February 20, 2020, a total of 120 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported in Xi’an, and 85 cases(70.83%) were positive in first detection. The COVID-19 cases included consistently nucleic acid positive and intermittently nucleic acid positive patients. 2019-nCoV nucleic acid could be detected in incubation period, and the longest observed duration of nucleic acid positive in this study was 26 days. The positive rate of 2019-nCoV nucleic acid was up to 84.21% on the 6th day, and the positive rate decreased as time passed during the course of COVID-19. Three patients (2.86%) were tested positive for 2019-nCoV nucleic acid again in nasal and throat swabs after discharge.Conclusions:The positive rate of 2019-nCoV nucleic acid was higher in the early stage of disease. 2019-nCoV nucleic acid can be detected in incubation period, and virus shedding may last for a long period.

Objective: To investigate the effect of caffeine citrate administering at different time on outcome and neurodevelopment of premature infants. Methods: A total of 113 preterm infants with gestational age less than 32 weeks and birth weight less than 1 500 g who were hospitalized and treated in the neonatal intensive care unit from January 2018 to June 2018 were enrolled.According to the time when caffeine citrate treatment was started, they were divided into early treatment group(≤1 days) with 53 infants and late treatment group(1 to 10 days) with 60 infants.A retrospective analysis was performed for their clinical data.The perinatal conditions, treatment process and clinical outcomes of the two groups were compared and the neurological development was followed up at 12 months old. Results: Compared with the late treatment group, the early treatment group had a significantly shorter durations of mechanical ventilation time, oxygen therapy time, hospitalization days and a significantly lower incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, patent ductus arteriosusand intraventricular hemorrhage or periventricular leukomalacia, and there were significant differences between two groups(P<0.05, respectively). The neonatal behavioral neurological assessment score in the early treatment group was higher than that in the late treatment group at 40 weeks of gestational age, and there was significant difference between two groups(P<0.05). The mental developmental index at 3 months of corrected age, the mental developmental index and psychomotor developmental index at 12 months were significantly better in the early treatment group than those in the late treatment group, and there were significant differences between two groups(P<0.05, respectively). Conclusion Early use of caffeine citrate can improve the outcome of premature infants and improve the prognosis of nervous system.

Objective:To investigate the mortality and causes of death in neonates from different medical institutions in Henan province.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on the death cases of 62 different medical institutions in 18 cities of Henan province in 2018, in order to compare the differences of neonatal mortality, age of death and the causes of death between maternal and child health care hospitals and general hospitals.Results:(1) A total of 80 780 newborns were admitted to 62 hospitals and 311 neonates died with a mortality rate of 3.85‰.A total of 33 339 newborns were admitted to 24 maternal and child health care hospitals, and 102 neonates died with a mortality rate of 3.06‰.Among them, 54 cases(52.9%) were premature infants and 48 cases(47.1%)were full-term infants.A total of 47 441 newborns were admitted to 38 general hospitals, and 209 neonates died with a mortality rate of 4.41‰.Among them, 111 cases(53.1%) were premature infants and 98 cases (46.9%) were full-term infants.Neonatal mortality in general hospitals was higher than that in maternal and child health care hospitals( P<0.05). (2) Neonatal death mainly occurred within one week after birth, especially within the first day.There were 67 cases of death(65.7%) in 24 maternal and child health care hospitals within the first day, including 34 cases (50.7%) of full-term infants and 33 cases (49.3%)of premature infants.And there were 87 cases of death(41.6%) in 38 general hospitals within the first day, including 50 cases (57.5%) of premature infants and 37 cases (42.5%) of full-term infants.Neonatal mortality within the first day after birth in maternal and child health care hospitals was higher than that in general hospitals( P<0.05). (3) The leading causes of neonatal death were non-infectious pulmonary diseases(128 cases, 41.2%), followed by birth asphyxia(73 cases, 23.5%) and infection(51 cases, 16.4%), but the causes of death in sequence varies from maternal and child health care hospitals and general hospitals.(4) For early death (within one week after birth) in both general hospitals and maternal and child health care hospitals, the main causes were birth asphyxia for full-term neonates, and pulmonary diseases(mainly respiratory distress syndrome)and birth asphyxia for premature infants.For late-stage death (2-4 weeks after birth) of neonates, infection was the leading cause in both term and preterm infants in general hospitals.For maternal and child health hospitals, the main causes of death for full-term infants were infection, and pulmonary diseases (mainly pulmonary hemorrhage and respiratory distress syndrome) for premature infants. Conclusion:There are some differences between maternal and child health care hospitals and general hospitals in neonatal mortality, mortality within the first day after birth, and causes of death.Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the corresponding software and hardware constructions for newborns in different medical institutions to further reduce the neonatal mortality rate.

Objective:To explore the associations between perceived built environment attributes and adults’ leisure-time physical activity in four cities of China.Methods:Multistage cluster random sampling method was used to select adults aged 25 to 64 in Hangzhou, Suzhou, Chengdu, and Qingdao. Data were collected from June 2017 to July 2018. The perception of the urban built environment was assessed by the neighborhood environment walkability scale-abbreviated (NEWS-A), and the physical activity was assessed by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Generalized linear mixed models were used to explore the relationship between the perceived built environment and leisure-time physical activities.Results:A total of 3 789 participants were included in the analysis. After adjusting for potential confounders, better access to public services ( OR=1.34, 95% CI: 1.02-1.75) and higher aesthetic quality ( OR=1.37, 95% CI: 1.09-1.73) were positively associated with the possibility of engaging in leisure-time physical activity in the past week. Similarly, these two attributes were positively associated with leisure-time walking. Higher scores on the perception of street connectivity were positively associated with leisure-time walking [ exp( β)=1.09, 95% CI: 1.00-1.19]. Higher residential density [ exp( β)=1.000 4, 95% CI:1.000 0-1.000 8], better access to physical activity destinations[ exp( β)=1.09, 95% CI: 1.00-1.19], and better aesthetics [ exp( β)=1.11, 95% CI:1.00-1.22] were associated with higher leisure-time physical activity. Similarly, these three attributes were positively associated with the possibility of meeting the WHO recommendations. Conclusion:Changing some urban built environment attributes may increase leisure-time physical activity.

Objective: To investigate the death status and cause of death of newborns in critical care centers at different levels in Henan province. Methods: Retrospective analysis was performed on the death cases at 85 critical neonatal treatment centers in 18 cities of Henan province from January to December 2018, and the similarities and differences in neonatal mortality, age of death and causes of death among cities and county-level critical neonatal care centers were compared. Results: (1) A total of 99 832 neonates were admitted to 85 hospitals, and 318 neonates died, with a mortality rate of 3.19‰.A total of 42 066 neonates were admitted to 21 municipal hospitals, and 194 neonates died, with a mortality rate of 4.6‰.Among them, 109 cases (56.2%) were premature infants (14 cases were of 28 weeks, 70 cases were of 28-34 weeks, 25 cases were of >34-37 weeks), and 85 cases (43.8%) were full-term infants.A total of 57 766 neonates were admitted to 64 county-level hospitals, with 124 deaths and a mortality rate of 2.1‰.Among them, 67 cases (54.0%) were full-term infants, 57 cases (46.0%) were premature infants (9 cases were of 28 weeks, 34 cases were of 28-34 weeks and 14 cases were of >34-37 weeks). The mortality rates at muni-cipal hospital were higher than those at the county-level hospitals, and the difference was statistically significant (χ²=46.589, P<0.05). (2) Neonatal death mainly occurred within 1 week after birth, especially within 1 day after birth.There were 81 deaths (41.8%) in 21 municipal hospitals within 1 day, including 50 premature infants (61.7%) and 31 full-term infants (38.3%). There were 75 deaths (60.5%) in 64 county-level hospitals within 1 day, including 34 premature infants (45.3%) and 41 full-term infants (54.7%). The mortality rate in county-level hospitals was higher than that in the municipal hospital within 1 day, and the difference was statistically significant(χ²=10.621, P< 0.05). (3)The top 5 causes of neonatal death in the municipal and the county-level hospitals were pulmonary diseases (130 cases, 40.8%), birth asphyxia (74 cases, 23.3%), infection (50 cases, 15.7%), congenital malformation (24 cases, 7.5%), and very-early premature/very-low birth weight infants (12 cases, 4.1%). (4)For early (within 1 week after birth) death of full-term infants, the main causes of death in municipal hospitals were lung diseases (mainly neonatal respiratory distress syndrome/acute respiratory distress syndrome), birth asphyxia, infection, congenital malformation.The leading causes of death at county-level hospitals were birth asphyxia, pulmonary diseases and infection.For premature infants who died within 1 week, the main causes of death at the municipal and the county-level hospitals were pulmonary diseases and birth asphyxia.For late-stage (2-4 weeks after birth) death of neonates, whether full-term infants or premature infants, the main cause of death in municipal and county-level hospitals was infection. Conclusions There are differences in neonatal mortality, mortality within 1 day after birth and the first cause of death at critical neonatal treatment centers at municipal and county-level hospitals.For the early-stage(within 1 week) neonates, the main causes of death in municipal and county-level hospitals are lung diseases (mainly neonatal respiratory distress syndrome/acute respiratory distress syndrome), birth asphyxia and infection.For the late-stage neonates, infection is the main cause of death in the municipal and the county-level hospitals.It is necessary to improve the neonatal care ability of critical neonatal treatment centers at different levels separately in order to reduce neonatal mortality.

With the accelerated urbanization process, there are growing interests in the potential impact of neighborhood built-environment on residents’ physical activity and dietary habits. In this paper, we introduced the concept of the built environment and the ways to assess the built-environment related to physical activity and dietary habits. We reviewed papers on the association of the built-environment with physical activity and dietary habits. Improvement of the built-environment is expected to reduce the health burden caused by insufficient physical activity and unhealthy dietary habits. As this field is still at its initial stage, there are many questions to be explored. We then discussed the challenges for this field and made some suggestions for future study.