The spread of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections worldwide has raised concerns about the prevention and control of SARS-CoV-2. Devices that rapidly inactivate viruses can reduce the chance of infection through aerosols and contact transmission. This in vitro study demonstrated that irradiation with a deep ultraviolet light-emitting diode (DUV-LED) of 280 ± 5 nm wavelength rapidly inactivates SARS-CoV-2 obtained from a COVID-19 patient. Development of devices equipped with DUV-LED is expected to prevent virus invasion through the air and after touching contaminated objects.

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Background: Hypouricemia, conventionally defined as a serum uric acid level of ≤2 mg/dl, is considered a biochemical disorder with no clinical significance. However, individuals with renal hypouricemia have a high risk of urolithiasis and exercise-induced acute kidney injury, both of which are risk factors for reduced kidney function. Methods: To test the hypothesis that individuals with hypouricemia would be at a higher risk of reduced kidney function, we conducted a population-based cross-sectional study using data from the Specific Health Checkups and Guidance System in Japan. Logistic analysis was used to examine the relationship between hypouricemia and reduced kidney function, defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 ml/min/1.73 m². Results: Among 90,710 men (mean age, 63.8 years) and 136,935 women (63.7 years), 193 (0.2%) and 540 (0.4%) were identified as having hypouricemia, respectively. The prevalence of hypouricemia decreased with age in women (p for trend <0.001), but not in men (p for trend = 0.24). Hypouricemia was associated with reduced kidney function in men (odds ratio, 1.83; 95% confidence interval, 1.23-2.74), but not in women (0.61; 0.43-0.86), relative to the reference category (i.e., serum uric acid levels of 4.1-5.0 mg/dl) after adjusting for age, drinking, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, obesity, and history of renal failure. Sensitivity analyses stratified by diabetic status yielded similar results. Conclusions: This study is the first to provide evidence that hypouricemia is associated with reduced kidney function in men. Further research will be needed to determine the long-term prognosis of individuals with hypouricemia.

BackgroundAlthough lifestyle factors such as cigarette smoking, excessive drinking, obesity, low or no exercise, and unhealthy dietary habits have each been associated with inadequate sleep, little is known about their combined effect. The aim of this study was to quantify the overall impact of lifestyle-related factors on non-restorative sleep in the general Japanese population.Methods and FindingsA cross-sectional study of 243,767 participants (men, 39.8%) was performed using the Specific Health Check and Guidance System in Japan. A healthy lifestyle score was calculated by adding up the number of low-risk lifestyle factors for each participant. Low risk was defined as (1) not smoking, (2) body mass index<25 kg/m2, (3) moderate or less alcohol consumption, (4) regular exercise, and (5) better eating patterns. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between the score and the prevalence of non-restorative sleep, which was determined from questionnaire responses. Among 97,062 men (mean age, 63.9 years) and 146,705 women (mean age, 63.7 years), 18,678 (19.2%) and 38,539 (26.3%) reported non-restorative sleep, respectively. The prevalence of non-restorative sleep decreased with age for both sexes. Compared to participants with a healthy lifestyle score of 5 (most healthy), those with a score of 0 (least healthy) had a higher prevalence of non-restorative sleep (odds ratio, 1.59 [95% confidence interval, 1.29–1.97] for men and 2.88 [1.74–4.76] for women), independently of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease. The main limitation of the study was the cross-sectional design, which limited causal inferences for the identified associations.ConclusionsA combination of several unhealthy lifestyle factors was associated with non-restorative sleep among the general Japanese population. Further studies are needed to establish whether general lifestyle modification improves restorative sleep.

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