Frontline healthcare nurses devoted themselves to deal with the outbreak of COVID-19, saving many lives. However, they are under incredible unknown psychological pressures with a considerable risk of infection. In this study, a self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 593 frontline nurses in Wuhan City and non-Hubei provinces for psychological responses from March 1 to March 10, 2020. Compared with nurses outside Hubei Province, those working in Wuhan were more likely to feel physically and mentally exhausted. Their probable depression and anxiety were significantly higher than those of nurses outside Hubei province (31.2%, 18.3% vs. 13.8%, 5.9%). Correspondingly, the depressive symptoms were more often reported in the Wuhan group (70.8% vs. 41.4%). Although Wuhan received wishes, concerns, and abundant psychological and material resources from all of the world, the survey-based study found that frontline nurses in Wuhan still had higher depression and anxiety with less social support compared with nurses from non-Hubei provinces. Unexpectedly, only 4.0% of nurses have sought psychological assistance. These findings suggested that the short-term psychological impact of frontline nurses in Wuhan during the COVID-19 outbreak was extremely high compared with nurses outside Hubei Province. This research enlightened the efficient integration of psychological resources, the optimization of the nurse emergency psychological assistance system, and the mental health care of medical staff during the outbreak of epidemics.

Background Elderly patients receiving nasal feeding have weaker physiological function and placement of a nasogastric tube destroys the natural barrier of the cardia-esophageal sphincter. Pepsin in saliva may reflect gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). This study investigated pepsin levels in saliva of elderly patients with nasal feeding and analyzed the relevant factors. Methods This was a cross-sectional study. Patients admitted to the Chinese PLA General Hospital from April 2018 to October 2018 who received nasal feeding were included. One ml of saliva was collected from each patient during fasting in the morning and 1 hour after lunch for 3 consecutive days. Pepsin was quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The patients were divided into two groups (≥7.75 ug/ml or <7.75 ug/ml) based on the median pepsin. Baseline and clinical factors were compared. ResultsThe mean age of the patients was 91.09±4.91 years. There were statistical differences in diabetes and feeding methods between the two groups. There was a positive correlation between the morning and postprandial pepsin levels (r=0.442, P <0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that the risk factors for higher pepsin levels were diabetes (odds ratio (OR): 2.67; 95%CI: 1.225-5.819, P =0.013) and nasal feeding methods (OR: 2.475; 95%CI: 1.183-5.180, P =0.016). Conclusions For patients undergoing nasal feeding who are older than 80 years, the fasting and 1-hour postprandial pepsin concentration was consistent. Diabetes and feeding methods are risk factors for high pepsin levels, which may indicate GERD.

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The residues of progestins in milk are significant risk factors for teenage acne and may cause hormone-dependent cancers in consumers, so the determination of these residues in milk is very important. However, an immunoassay or immunoassay-like method capable of determining multiple progestins in milk has not been reported so far. The present study, for the first time, synthesized a type of magnetic molecularly imprinted microsphere that was capable of simultaneously recognizing five progestins. At the same time, an enzyme labeled conjugate was synthesized by coupling progesterone 3-(o-carboxymethyl)oxime with streptavidinated horseradish peroxidase. The above two reagents were used to develop a semi-homogeneous method for the simultaneous detection of the residues of the five progestins in milk. During the experiments, biotinylated horseradish peroxidase was used to amplify the signal, so the sensitivity to the five drugs (limits of detection 0.04–0.1 pg/mL) was increased 44–75-fold. In addition, the magnetic molecularly imprinted microsphere could be regenerated four times by using simple elution. Through general comparison of its detection spectrum, sensitivity, simplicity, and reusability, the present method exhibited better performance than the previous immunoassays for the detection of progestins, and so it could be used as a routine tool for the screening of progestins residues in milk.

Background. Elderly patients receiving nasal feeding have weaker physiological function, and placement of a nasogastric tube weakens the natural barrier of the cardia-esophageal sphincter; therefore, the risk of gastroesophageal reflux (GER) is higher. Many studies have shown that pepsin is extremely sensitive in predicting GERD, so this study intends to investigate the level of pepsin in saliva of elderly patients with nasal feeding and analyze its influencing factors. Methods. This was a cross-sectional study. Patients admitted to the Chinese PLA General Hospital from April 2018 to October 2018 who received nasal feeding were included. One ml of saliva was collected from each patient in while sitting during fasting in the morning and 1 hour after lunch for 3 consecutive days. Pepsin was quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The patients were predivided into two groups (≥7.75μg/ml or <7.75μg/ml) based on the median pepsin. Baseline and clinical factors were compared. Results. The mean age of the patients was 91.09 ± 4.91 years. There were statistical differences in diabetes and feeding methods between the two groups. There was a positive correlation between the morning and postprandial pepsin levels ( r = 0.442 , P < 0.001 ), and has no statistical difference ( P = 0.175 ). Multivariate analysis showed that the risk factors for higher pepsin levels were diabetes (odds ratio (OR): 2.67; 95% CI: 1.225-5.819, P = 0.013 ) and nasal feeding methods (OR: 2.475; 95% CI: 1.183-5.180, P=0.016). Conclusions. For patients undergoing nasal feeding who are older than 80 years, the fasting and 1-hour postprandial pepsin concentration were consistent. Diabetes and feeding methods are risk factors for high pepsin levels. For the elderly over 80 years old, age has no influence on pepsin concentration.