The last quarter century witnessed significant population growth, aging, and major changes in epidemiologic trends, which may have shaped the state of chronic kidney disease (CKD) epidemiology. Here, we used the Global Burden of Disease study data and methodologies to describe the change in burden of CKD from 1990 to 2016 involving incidence, prevalence, death, and disability-adjusted-life-years (DALYs). Globally, the incidence of CKD increased by 89% to 21,328,972 (uncertainty interval 19,100,079- 23,599,380), prevalence increased by 87% to 275,929,799 (uncertainty interval 252,442,316-300,414,224), death due to CKD increased by 98% to 1,186,561 (uncertainty interval 1,150,743-1,236,564), and DALYs increased by 62% to 35,032,384 (uncertainty interval 32,622,073-37,954,350). Measures of burden varied substantially by level of development and geography. Decomposition analyses showed that the increase in CKD DALYs was driven by population growth and aging. Globally and in most Global Burden of Disease study regions, age-standardized DALY rates decreased, except in High-income North America, Central Latin America, Oceania, Southern Sub-Saharan Africa, and Central Asia, where the increased burden of CKD due to diabetes and to a lesser extent CKD due to hypertension and other causes outpaced burden expected by demographic expansion. More of the CKD burden (63%) was in low and lower-middle-income countries. There was an inverse relationship between age-standardized CKD DALY rate and health care access and quality of care. Frontier analyses showed significant opportunities for improvement at all levels of the development spectrum. Thus, the global toll of CKD is significant, rising, and unevenly distributed; it is primarily driven by demographic expansion and in some regions a significant tide of diabetes. Opportunities exist to reduce CKD burden at all levels of development.

This analysis of Global Burden of Disease 2016 study data and methodologies describes the change in burden of chronic kidney disease at the US state level from 2002 to 2016.

In this work, a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) humidity sensor based on chitosan/polypyrrole (CS/PPy) composite film was prepared by a facile physical modification method. The as-synthesized CS/PPy composite was characterized...

Recombinant human-like collagen (RHLC) was blended with fibroin to prepare a novel biocompatible film as a scaffold material for hepatic tissue engineering applications. Solution blending was used to incorporate RHLC with silk fibroin to enhance the blend films biocompatibility and hydrophilicity while maintaining elasticity. FTIR and XRD analysis indicated that hydrogen bonds had formed between fibroin and RHLC, while SEM microscopy data confirmed that homogeneous microstructures were still retained after the introduction of RHLC with fibroin. Contact angle measurements indicated that the hydrophilicity of the fibroin/RHLC films was greater after RHLC was added. The elongation at break in the wet state was not markedly changed after blending the recombinant human-like collagen, which implied that flexibility was maintained. The proliferation and viability of the cell cultures on fibroin/RHLC films were significantly enhanced compared to pure fibroin films or tissue culture plates.

Triply amplified electrochemical biosensors have attracted particular attention in the detection of low-abundance biomarkers. The universal construction routes for nonenzymatic triply amplified and even multiply amplified biosensors are extremely desirable but remain challenging. Here, we proposed a "stretch-stowage-growth" strategy to tunably fabricate a nonenzymatic triply amplified or multiply amplified electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunosensor for ultrasensitive determining pseudorabies virus (PrV) antibody. Based on the matrix role of gold nanoparticle-graphene nanosheet (Au-GN) hybrids, carrier role of silicon nanoparticles (SNPs) and bridge role of "biotin-streptavidin-biotin" (B-SA-B) structure, the establishment processes were defined as "stretch", "stowage", and "growth", respectively. Relying on the interaction of antigen-antibody and of B-SA, the "Au-GN/PrV (Ag)/PrV antibody (Ab1)/biotinylated IgG (B-Ab2)/SA/biotinylated Ru(bpy)3(2+)-encapsulated SNPs (B-Ru@SNPs)" triply amplified biosensor could be fabricated and exhibited better analytical performance not only toward monoclonal PrV antibody with a linear detection range from 50 ng mL(-1) to 1 pg mL(-1) and a detection limit of 0.40 pg mL(-1), but also toward actual serum samples when compared with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and fluorometry. Furthermore, multiply amplified biosensors could be conveniently fabricated by controllably repeating the combination of B-Ru@SNPs and SA to form the B-SA-B structure. After it was repeated three times, the multiply amplified biosensor stretched to the maximum of signal amplification and achieved a luminescence quantum efficiency about 23.1-fold higher than the triply amplified biosensor. The tunable biosensor exhibits good stability, acceptable reproducibility and accuracy, suggesting its potential applications in clinical diagnostics.

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary calcium ( Ca ) or phosphorus ( P ) deficiency on bone development and related Ca or P metabolic utilization parameters of broilers. A total of 504 one-day-old Arbor Acres male broilers were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatments with 7 replicates of 18 birds per replicate in a completely randomized design. A 2 (Ca levels: 1.00 and 0.35%) × 2 (nonphytate P [ NPP ] levels: 0.45 and 0.23%) factorial arrangement of treatments was adopted in the 21-day trial. The 4 treatments were the Ca- and P-adequate diet (1.00% Ca + 0.45% NPP), the Ca-deficient diet (0.35% Ca + 0.45% NPP), the P-deficient diet (1.00% Ca + 0.23% NPP), and the Ca- and P-deficient diet (0.35% Ca + 0.23% NPP). The greatest impact on tibia bone mineral density, bone breaking strength, and ash content was in the P-deficient diets, especially in broilers fed with the Ca-adequate diet, whereas adequate P and reduced Ca reduced ( P < 0.05) these parameters compared with adequate Ca and P, but not to the same level as P deficiency. Furthermore, dietary Ca or P deficiency, especially adequate Ca and P deficiency decreased ( P < 0.05) serum P, 25-hydroxyvitamin D 3 ( 25-OHD 3 ) contents, and tibia ash Ca and P contents but increased ( P < 0.05) the serum Ca content and tibia alkaline phosphatase ( ALP ) activity compared with adequate Ca and P. The results from this study indicated that the bone development and Ca or P metabolic utilization parameters of broilers were the most sensitive ones to dietary P deficiency, followed by dietary Ca deficiency or Ca and P deficiencies. Dietary P deficiency impaired the bone development by increasing serum Ca content and tibia ALP activity but decreasing serum P, 25-OHD 3 contents, and tibia ash Ca and P contents of broilers. Dietary Ca deficiency impaired bone development by increasing serum Ca content, tibia ALP activity, and tibia ash P content but decreasing serum P, 25-OHD 3 contents, and tibia ash Ca content of broilers.

Cases of brucellosis were diagnosed in 3-month-old twins and their mother. An epidemiologic survey suggested that raw sheep or goat meat might be the source of Brucella melitensis infection. This finding implies that the increasing threat of brucellosis might affect low-risk persons in urban settings in China.

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