Relationship between occupational stress and job burnout among rural-to-urban migrant workers in Dongguan, China: a cross-sectional study

Objectives: In China, there have been an increasing number of migrant workers from rural to urban areas, and migrant workers have the highest incidence of occupational diseases. However, few studies have examined the impact of occupational stress on job burnout in these migrant workers. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between occupational stress and job burnout among migrant workers. Design: This study used a cross-sectional survey. Setting: This investigation was conducted in Dongguan city, Guangdong Province, China. Participants: 3806 migrant workers, aged 18–60 years, were randomly selected using multistage sampling procedures. Primary and secondary outcome measures: Multistage sampling procedures were used to examine demographic characteristics, behaviour customs and jobrelated data. Hierarchical linear regression and logistic regression models were constructed to explore the relationship between occupational stress and burnout. Results: Demographics, behaviour customs and jobrelated characteristics significantly affected on burnout. After adjusting for the control variable, a high level of emotional exhaustion was associated with high role overload, high role insufficiency, high role boundary, high physical environment, high psychological strain, high physical strain, low role ambiguity, low responsibility and low vocational strain. A high level of depersonalisation was associated with high role overload, high role ambiguity, high role boundary, high interpersonal strain, high recreation, low physical environment and low social support. A low level of personal accomplishment was associated with high role boundary, high role insufficiency, low responsibility, low social support, low physical environment, low self-care and low interpersonal strain. Compared to the personal resources, the job strain and personal strain were more likely to explain the burnout of rural-to-urban migrant workers in our study. Conclusions: The migrant workers have increased job burnouts in relation to occupational stress. Relieving occupational stress and maintaining an appropriate quantity and quality of work could be important measures for preventing job burnout among these workers

Case report: Prenatal diagnosis in the fetus of a couple with both thalassemia and deafness genes

Background: Prenatal diagnosis and genetic counseling play an important role in preventing and controlling birth defects. No reports were found of prenatal diagnosis of couples carrying both the thalassemia and deafness genes. In this study, we presented the prenatal screening and diagnosis of a couple with both thalassemia and deafness genes, contributing to better genetic counseling.Case Report: A couple visited our hospital for a routine prenatal examination. As required by the policy in our region, they underwent screening and genetic diagnosis for thalassemia. Meanwhile, they did not accept the recommendation to test for spinal muscular atrophy and deafness genes. The female was confirmed to be a Hb Quong Sze (Hb QS) carrier (αQSα/αα, βN/βN), and the male had Hb H disease combined with β-thalassemia (--SEA/αCSα, βCDs41-42 (-TTCT)/βN). A prenatal diagnosis of the fetus revealed a Hb CS heterozygote. Subsequent complementary testing showed that the male was a double heterozygote of the GJB2 gene c.299_300delAT combined with c.109G>A, and Sanger sequencing confirmed that the female was a carrier of c.508_511dup in the GJB2. Fortunately, the chorionic villi results indicated that the fetus was only a carrier of deafness.Conclusion: Since both partners carried thalassemia and deafness genes, the couple required prenatal diagnosis for the respective mutations. Expanded carrier screening (ECS) is a more advanced technology that can detect multiple disease genes simultaneously

Helicobacter pylori-targeted AI-driven vaccines: a paradigm shift in gastric cancer prevention

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), a globally prevalent pathogen Group I carcinogen, presents a formidable challenge in gastric cancer prevention due to its increasing antimicrobial resistance and strain diversity. This comprehensive review critically analyzes the limitations of conventional antibiotic-based therapies and explores cutting-edge approaches to combat H. pylori infections and associated gastric carcinogenesis. We emphasize the pressing need for innovative therapeutic strategies, with a particular focus on precision medicine and tailored vaccine development. Despite promising advancements in enhancing host immunity, current Helicobacter pylori vaccine clinical trials have yet to achieve long-term efficacy or gain approval regulatory approval. We propose a paradigm-shifting approach leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to design precision-targeted, multiepitope vaccines tailored to multiple H. pylori subtypes. This AI-driven strategy has the potential to revolutionize antigen selection and optimize vaccine efficacy, addressing the critical need for personalized interventions in H. pylori eradication efforts. By leveraging AI in vaccine design, we propose a revolutionary approach to precision therapy that could significantly reduce H. pylori -associated gastric cancer burden

Unveiling the molecular landscape of δ-thalassemia and δ-globin variants in southern China: novel mutations, gene spectrum, and implications for thalassemia diagnosis

Objectivesδ-thalassemia and δ-globin variants are rare hemoglobinopathies. However, co-inheritance of β-thalassemia and δ-globin gene mutations may affect the diagnosis of β-thalassemia carriers when based on the elevated Hb A2. This study aimed to identify and characterize δ-thalassemia and δ-globin variants in Southern China.MethodsNinety samples with suspected δ-globin gene mutations from 15,642 participants were selected for further molecular analysis based on their Hb A2 level (≦1.8%) and hematological parameters. Additionally, 37 samples with suspected δ-globin gene mutations were sent from other hospital to our laboratory for identification. GAP-PCR and PCR-reverse dot blot (PCR-RDB) were used to detect common α- and β-thalassemia in the Chinese population, and Sanger sequencing was used to identify δ-globin gene mutations.ResultsAmong 15,642 samples examined, samples with δ-globin gene mutations were identified in 127 (0.81%) cases with as many as 28 different genotypes, including 81 (0.52%) cases of δ-thalassemia and 46 (0.29%) cases of δ-globin variants. The most prevalent δ-thalassemia and δ-globin variants of this study were HBD:c.−127T>C (75.3%, 61/81) and Hb A2-Melbourne (54.3%, 25/46). Most of the samples were heterozygous (87.4%, 111/127), and only two cases of homozygous were detected. There were three double heterozygotes and 11 cases of combined α/β-globin mutations. Notably, we also identified eight cases of novel mutations in the δ-globin gene. In both heterozygous and homozygous cases, δ-globin mutations maintained hematological parameters within normal ranges, while their co-occurrence with α- or β-thalassemia manifested as a thalassemia phenotype characterized by significantly reduced MCV and MCH values.ConclusionThe study reveals that δ-globin gene mutations are prevalence in the South China and necessitates integration of δ-globin screening into existing thalassemia prevention protocols

Direct van der Waals Epitaxy of Crack-Free AlN Thin Film on Epitaxial WS2

Van der Waals epitaxy (vdWE) has drawn continuous attention, as it is unlimited by lattice-mismatch between epitaxial layers and substrates. Previous reports on the vdWE of III-nitride thin film were mainly based on two-dimensional (2D) materials by plasma pretreatment or pre-doping of other hexagonal materials. However, it is still a huge challenge for single-crystalline thin film on 2D materials without any other extra treatment or interlayer. Here, we grew high-quality single-crystalline AlN thin film on sapphire substrate with an intrinsic WS2 overlayer (WS2/sapphire) by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition, which had surface roughness and defect density similar to that grown on conventional sapphire substrates. Moreover, an AlGaN-based deep ultraviolet light emitting diode structure on WS2/sapphire was demonstrated. The electroluminescence (EL) performance exhibited strong emissions with a single peak at 283 nm. The wavelength of the single peak only showed a faint peak-position shift with increasing current to 80 mA, which further indicated the high quality and low stress of the AlN thin film. This work provides a promising solution for further deep-ultraviolet (DUV) light emitting electrodes (LEDs) development on 2D materials, as well as other unconventional substrates

Experimental study on unloading creep of sandstone under temperature-seepage coupling conditions

Environmental factors (such as temperature and water) and their coupling effects will change the unloading creep properties of surrounding rock after tunnel excavation, threatening the stability of surrounding rock and the safety maintenance of construction sites. To analyze the effects of temperature, seepage flow, and their coupling on the creep characteristics of sandstone unloading, the triaxial unloading creep test was carried out on the sandstone specimen (φ50 mm×100 mm) by using the self-designed temperature control system and the improved pore water conduction specimen sealing device. The results show that during the creep time of 300 min after unloading the confining stress, the axial compression and radial expansion creep speed increase gradually and then slow down. The strain is mainly radial creep. The decrease in temperature leads to the increase in axial creep deformation and the decrease in radial creep deformation of the dry and saturated specimens. With the increase in seepage water pressure, the axial strain reduces, and the seepage water pressure suppresses the axial creep deformation, while the radial strain increases significantly, and the expansion phenomenon is obvious. Seepage water pressure promotes radial creep deformation. With the increase of seepage water pressure, the axial unloading creep rate decreases and the radial unloading creep rate increases. Under the coupling effect of temperature and seepage, the creep rate curve of unloading is divided into the attenuation stage and the stable stage, and the deformation in the attenuation stage is dominant. The radial creep rate is higher than the axial creep rate, and the fluctuation amplitude of the radial creep rate is small, which reaches stability fast. This study can provide scientific information for the stability evaluation of surrounding rock in deep underground engineering

Cortical and Subcortical Structural Plasticity Associated with the Glioma Volumes in Patients with Cerebral Gliomas Revealed by Surface-Based Morphometry

Postlesional plasticity has been identified in patients with cerebral gliomas by inducing a large functional reshaping of brain networks. Although numerous non-invasive functional neuroimaging methods have extensively investigated the mechanisms of this functional redistribution in patients with cerebral gliomas, little effort has been made to investigate the structural plasticity of cortical and subcortical structures associated with the glioma volume. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether the contralateral cortical and subcortical structures are able to actively reorganize by themselves in these patients. The compensation mechanism following contralateral cortical and subcortical structural plasticity is considered. We adopted the surface-based morphometry to investigate the difference of cortical and subcortical gray matter (GM) volumes in a cohort of 14 healthy controls and 13 patients with left-hemisphere cerebral gliomas [including 1 patients with World Health Organization (WHO I), 8 WHO II, and 4 WHO III]. The glioma volume ranges from 5.1633 to 208.165 cm2. Compared to healthy controls, we found significantly increased GM volume of the right cuneus and the left thalamus, as well as a trend toward enlargement in the right globus pallidus in patients with cerebral gliomas. Moreover, the GM volumes of these regions were positively correlated with the glioma volumes of the patients. These results provide evidence of cortical and subcortical enlargement, suggesting the usefulness of surface-based morphometry to investigate the structural plasticity. Moreover, the structural plasticity might be acted as the compensation mechanism to better fulfill its functions in patients with cerebral gliomas as the gliomas get larger

High-quality genome assembly and comparative genomic profiling of yellowhorn (Xanthoceras sorbifolia) revealed environmental adaptation footprints and seed oil contents variations

Yellowhorn (Xanthoceras sorbifolia) is a species of deciduous tree that is native to Northern and Central China, including Loess Plateau. The yellowhorn tree is a hardy plant, tolerating a wide range of growing conditions, and is often grown for ornamental purposes in parks, gardens, and other landscaped areas. The seeds of yellowhorn are edible and contain rich oil and fatty acid contents, making it an ideal plant for oil production. However, the mechanism of its ability to adapt to extreme environments and the genetic basis of oil synthesis remains to be elucidated. In this study, we reported a high-quality and near gap-less yellowhorn genome assembly, containing the highest genome continuity with a contig N50 of 32.5 Mb. Comparative genomics analysis showed that 1,237 and 231 gene families under expansion and the yellowhorn-specific gene family NB-ARC were enriched in photosynthesis and root cap development, which may contribute to the environmental adaption and abiotic stress resistance of yellowhorn. A 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase (KAT) gene (Xso_LG02_00600) was identified under positive selection, which may be associated with variations of seed oil content among different yellowhorn cultivars. This study provided insights into environmental adaptation and seed oil content variations of yellowhorn to accelerate its genetic improvement

Comparative genomic profiling of CBFs pan-gene family in five yellowhorn cultivars and functional identification of Xg11_CBF11

C-repeat binding factor (CBF) transcription factors can activate the expression of a series of cold regulation-related genes, thereby improving the cold resistance of plants. However, no detailed information is known about the biological functions of CBF proteins in yellowhorn (Xanthoceras sorbifolium). In this study, a total of 59 CBF gene family members were identified in five yellowhorn cultivars (WF18, Zhongshi 4, Jinguanxipei 2021, Zhong Guan NO.2, and XsoG11), revealing their intraspecific structural and functional diversity, with 8 core genes present in all cultivars. Phylogenetic and motif analyses highlighted conserved features and species-specific adaptations. Gene duplication events revealed that tandem duplicates are major factors involved in the expansion of this gene family in yellowhorn. Expression profiling under stress conditions demonstrated the involvement of these genes in stress responses. Of particular interest was Xg11_CBF11, which showed strong induction by low-temperature stress. Overexpression of Xg11_CBF11 in Arabidopsis thaliana was performed to validate its cold resistance function. The wild-type and T2 transgenic A. thaliana plants were subjected to low-temperature stress at 4°C for 0, 24, and 48 h, and physiological indexes related to antioxidant enzyme activity, photosynthesis, and cell membrane permeability were determined by comparative test. The results were as follows: the POD and SOD activities of transgenic lines were significantly higher than those of wild-type lines, indicating Xg11_CBF11 improved the adaptability of A. thaliana to low-temperature; The increase of relative conductivity and malondialdehyde, the decrease of chlorophyll content in transgenic lines were smaller than those of wild-type lines, indicating Xg11_CBF11 enhanced the resistance of A. thaliana to low-temperature stress. These results implied that Xg11_CBF11 has a positive regulatory effect on A. thaliana ‘s response to low-temperature stress