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Objectives This study aimed to examine the association between statin exposure and dementia risk in individuals with hypercholesterolaemia using data from the NHIS-HEALS database between 2002 and 2015. Methods Subjects were classified into statin exposure and statin nonexposure groups according to medication possession ratio. Dementia was defined as those with primary diagnostic dementia codes such as F00-F03, G30, G31.1, G31.9 or G31.82. Cox proportional hazards regression models were adopted after stepwise adjustment for confounders to investigate the prospective association between statin exposure and dementia risk. Results During the follow-up period (median follow-up 11.7 years), 711 cases of dementia occurred, accounting for 11.5% of the total study population (statin exposure group, 8.2%; statin nonexposure group, 12.9%). Compared to the statin nonexposure group, fully adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) (95% confidence intervals [CIs]) for overall dementia in the statin exposure group were 0.63 (0.43-0.91) and 0.62 (0.50-0.78) in men and women, respectively. Compared to the statin nonexposure group, the HRs (95% CIs) for Alzheimer's disease and related dementia, vascular dementia and other types of dementia in the statin exposure group were 0.54 (0.32-0.91), 2.45 (0.69-8.68) and 0.59 (0.32-1.07), respectively, in men and 0.53 (0.38-0.73), 1.29 (0.42-3.96) and 0.70 (0.51-0.96), respectively, in women. Conclusions Hypercholesterolaemic individuals exposed to statin had a lower risk of overall dementia and Alzheimer's disease and related dementia in both sexes, and a lower risk of other types of dementia in women, than subjects who were not exposed to statins.

Global carbon cycling describes the movement of carbon through atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere; it lies at the heart of climate change and sustainability. In order to understand the global carbon cycle, students will require interdisciplinary knowledge. While standards documents in science education have long promoted interdisciplinary understanding, our current science education system is still oriented toward single-discipline-based learning. Furthermore, there is limited work on interdisciplinary assessment. This paper presents the validated Interdisciplinary Science Assessment of Carbon Cycling (ISACC), and reports empirical results of a study of high school and undergraduate students, including an analysis of the relationship between interdisciplinary items and disciplinary items. Many-faceted Rasch analysis produced detailed information about the relative difficulty of items and estimates of ability levels of students. One-way ANCOVA was used to analyze differences among three grade levels: high school, college freshman–sophomore, college junior–senior, with number of science courses as a covariate. Findings indicated significantly higher levels of interdisciplinary understanding among the Freshman–Sophomore group compared to high school students. There was no statistically significant difference between Freshman–Sophomore group and Junior–Senior group. Items assessing interdisciplinary understanding were more difficult than items assessing disciplinary understanding of global carbon cycling; however, interdisciplinary and disciplinary understanding were strongly correlated. This study highlights the importance of interdisciplinary understanding in learning carbon cycling and discusses its potential impacts on science curriculum and teaching practices. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach

In this study, the effects of solid tin dissolved in the α-magnesium matrix of magnesium-tin alloys on the characteristics of surface films of the alloys were investigated using immersion and electrochemical tests, which were performed in a sodium chloride solution. The macroscopic in-situ and anodic potentiostatic tests showed that the breakdown resistance of the surface films could be arranged in the following order: pure magnesium

Functional active packaging materials were successfully developed by incorporating antioxidant agents into corn-zein-laminated linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) film. The minimum effective concentrations of the active compounds (for example, thymol, carvacrol, eugenol) were determined and these compounds were then laminated into LLDPE films to develop corn-zein-laminated films with antioxidant agents. The release rate of antioxidant agents in gas and liquid media were determined along with the mechanical and water barrier properties of the films containing these compounds. Tensile strength and percentage elongation at break were reduced in the corn-zein-laminated LLDPE films when compared to typical LLDPE film. Furthermore, the ability of the corn-zein-laminated films to repel moisture decreased by approximately 12.2%, but was improved by incorporating hydrophobic antioxidant compounds in the corn-zein layer. Examination of release kinetics in the gas and liquid phases verified that antioxidants were effectively released from the films and inhibited oxidation during testing. Finally, the films were used for fresh ground beef packaging, and effectively inhibited lipid oxidation and had a positive effect on the color stability of beef patties during storage. These results indicate that the developed antioxidant films are a novel active packaging material that can be effectively implemented by the food industry to improve the quality and safety of foods. Practical Application: Zein protein, a by-product of corn processing industry, was laminated into plastic films in combination with natural phenolic compounds to develop antioxidant packaging films. The films demonstrated their efficient release patterns of antioxidant compounds, which are suitable for packaging applications and food protection.