Search

There is growing evidence that air pollution plays a role in TB, but few studies have comprehensively included the six common air pollutants. Our objectives were to investigate the association between short-term exposure to six common air pollutants and the risk of tuberculosis outpatient visits in Fuyang, China, during the period 2015-2020. We combined the two models to explore the effects of exposure to six air pollutants on the risk of tuberculosis outpatient visits, including Poisson generalized linear regression model and distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM). We performed stratified analyses for season, gender and age. We used the lag-specific relative risks and cumulative relative risk obtained by increasing pollutant concentration by per 10 units to evaluate the connection between six air pollutants and TB, PM2.5 (RR=1.0018, 95%CI: 1.0004-1.0032, delay of 12 days) and (RR=1.0169,95%CI: 1.0007-1.0333, lag 0-16 days), SO2 were 0.9549 (95%CI: 0.9389-0.9712, lag 0 days) and 0.8212 (95%CI: 0.7351-0.9173, 0-20 days lag). Stratified analyses showed that seasonal differences had a greater impact on TB, and male more likely to develop TB than female, older people more likely to develop TB than younger people. Exposure to O3, CO, PM10, PM2.5, and NO2 increases the risk of TB outpatient visits, except SO2 reduces the risk. Male and elderly people should be protected. We need to pay more attention to the impact of seasonal effects on TB.

Past research with North American participants has demonstrated a naturalness bias in the medical context: people prefer natural drugs to synthetic drugs under a variety of situations. Does such a bias exist in other countries (such as China) where cultural values and practices are quite different from those in the United States? We conducted 3 studies ( N = 1,927) to investigate the naturalness bias with drugs and vaccines across cultures with American, Canadian, and Chinese participants. In studies 1A and 1B, participants chose or rated drugs (natural v. synthetic) for a hypothetical medical issue. The drugs were presented as having identical effectiveness and side effect profiles. Study 2 focused on a different medical context, vaccines, and required participants to rate their likelihood of taking vaccines (made from either more natural or more synthetic ingredients) for a harmful virus. The naturalness bias occurred across cultures in studies 1A and 1B, although it was not significant among Chinese participants in study 1B. In study 2, Chinese participants showed a stronger naturalness bias than Americans did, and safety concerns mediated the effect. Perceived safety accounted for the naturalness bias among Americans and Canadians, but did so only among Chinese in study 2. Overall, the results suggest that the naturalness bias in drug and vaccine decision making occurs across cultures, but Chinese participants may be more sensitive to the medical context. Highlights The naturalness bias — preferring natural to synthetic drugs or vaccines — occurred across cultures (Americans, Canadians, and Chinese). Chinese participants showed a stronger naturalness bias than Americans did when the medical context was focused on vaccination, and safety concerns mediated this effect. The naturalness bias may influence medical decision making across cultures, but Chinese participants may be more sensitive to naturalness in a vaccine context.

Primary and secondary school teachers face increasing work stress, and more attention needs to be paid to their well-being. The present study was conducted to analyze the influence of work stress on the well-being of such teachers in China, and to explore the effects of family–work conflict and a self-transcendent meaning of life. A total of 562 primary and secondary school teachers completed questionnaires assessing work stress, family–work conflict, and a self-transcendent meaning of life (including grasping the meaning of failure and detachment from success or failure) as potential predictors of well-being. Work stress negatively predicted teachers’ well-being; family–work conflict mediated this relationship and a self-transcendent meaning of life moderated it. The results of this study can be used as a reference for education departments seeking to intervene to prevent teachers from developing well-being problems from the perspective of a self-transcendent meaning of life.

Ever since clozapine’s introduction, as a second-generation antipsychotic drug (SGA), it is thought to be one of the most...

Exianliumi is a newly developed pesticide for controlling diseases caused by microbes or meloidogynes during plant vegetable and reproductive stages. To date, little is known about the environmental behavior and fate of its residues in soil. To explore its potential environmental risks to crop production and food safety, three typical Chinese agricultural soils were examined by analyzing adsorption, mobility leaching, and degraded metabolites of exianliumi in soils. Exianliumi inclined to bind more to Heilongjiang soil (HLJS), followed by Nanjing soil (NJS) and Jiangxi soil (JXS). Soil thin-layer chromatography and column leaching tests showed a weak migration in HLJS and strong mobility in JXS. Under the same condition, exianliumi rapidly decayed in NJS, followed by HLJS and JXS. The differential degradative capacity for exianliumi in the soils was related to chemical, physical and biological interactions basically through organic matter content, temperature, soil moisture and microorganisms. The half-normal, normal and pareto effect plots demonstrated that temperature, microorganisms and soil moisture dominantly influenced the degradation of exianliumi. We further characterized metabolites of exianliumi catabolized in NJS using High Resolution Liquid Chromatography-Quadrupole-Time of Flight-Mass Spectrometer/Mass Spectrometer (HRLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS). Eight degradation products and three conjugates of exianliumi were detected and the possible degradative pathways were highlighted. This is the first report about exianliumi degradation in soils with multi-pathways, which provides the basic data for environmental risk assessment of crop production and food security.

Objective: To revise and explore the application of the student teacher professional identity scale in pre-service kindergarten teachers (STPIS-PK). Methods: 450 preservice kindergarten teachers were surveyed by the student teacher professional identity scale. Results: 1) The EFA supported that teacher professional identity consisted of four subscales: professional values, professional willingness, professional efficiency and professional volition. Also the CFA confirmed the hypothesized four-factor model (x2 = 133.277, x2/df = 2.777, CFI = 0.939, TLI = 0.901, RMSEA = 0.047). The Criteria-related validity was remarkable; 2) The internal consistency of teacher professional identity scale was 0.801 and the four subscales were from 0.628 to 0.789. For two weeks, the test-retest reliability was from 0.616 to 0.786. Conclusion: In sum, this study generated evidence that the STPIS-PK developed in the study is a psychometrically sound and valid instruments to measure pre-service kindergarten teachers’ professional identity.

Hypoxic‑ischemia stress causes severe brain injury, leading to death and disability worldwide. Although it has been reported that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is an essential step in the progression of hypoxia or ischemia‑induced brain injury, the underlying molecular mechanisms are and have not yet been fully elucidated. Accumulating evidence has indicated that both nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) play an important role in the development of cerebral ischemic injury. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effect of the association between NO signaling and the cystathionine β‑synthase (CBS)/H2S system on ER stress in a cell model of cerebral hypoxia‑ischemia injury. We found that oxygen‑glucose deprivation (OGD) markedly increased the NO level and neuronal NO synthase (nNOS) activity. 3‑Bromo‑7‑nitroindazole (3‑Br‑7‑NI), a relatively selective nNOS inhibitor, abolished the OGD‑induced inhibition of cell viability and the increased expression of ER stress‑related proteins, including glucose‑regulated protein 78 (GRP78), C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) and cleaved caspase‑12 in PC12 cells, indicating the contribution of excessive nNOS/NO signaling to OGD‑induced ER stress. Furthermore, we found that OGD increased the phosphorylated AMP‑activated protein kinase (p‑AMPK)/AMPK ratio, and the AMPK activator, 5‑aminoimidazole‑4‑carboxamide‑1‑β‑D‑ribofuranoside (AICAR), attenuated the effects on OGD‑induced ER stress, suggesting that OGD‑induced NO overproduction results in AMPK activation in PC12 cells. We also found that OGD induced the downregulation of the CBS/H2S system, as indicated by the decreased H2S level in the culture supernatant and CBS activity in PC12 cells. In addition, we found that treatment with NaHS (a H2S donor) or S‑adenosyl‑L‑methionine (SAM, a CBS agonist) mitigated OGD‑induced ER stress, as well as the NO level, nNOS activity and AMPK phosphorylation in PC12 cells. On the whole, these results suggest that the inhibition of the CBS/H2S system, which facilitated excessive nNOS/NO/AMPK activation, contributes to OGD‑induced ER stress.

We studied the high-order harmonic generation (HHG) from 2D solid materials in circularly and bichromatic circularly polarized laser fields numerically by simulating the dynamics of single-active-electron processes in 2D periodic potentials. Contrary to the absence of HHG in the atomic case, circular HHGs below the bandgap with different helicities are produced from intraband transitions in solids with C4 symmetry driven by circularly polarized lasers. Harmonics above the bandgap are elliptically polarized due to the interband transitions. High-order elliptically polarized harmonics can be generated efficiently by both co-rotating and counter-rotating bicircular mid-infrared lasers. The cutoff energy, ellipticity, phase, and intensity of the harmonics can be tuned by the control of the relative phase difference between the 1ω and 2ω fields in bicircularly polarized lasers, which can be utilized as an ultrafast optical tool to image the structure of solids.

In this paper a new type of approach was introduced which aim on the experimental class content choice of the electronic information class. Take advantage the genetic algorithm (GA), and combine the evaluation marking system. We can make choice more adaptable and intelligence. The experiment date show the algorithm is effectively.

We herein report a simple and effective method to fabricate superhydrophobic coatings by grafting polystyrene (PS) onto the vinyltriethoxysilane modified hollow silica nanoparticles (HSNs) using free radical polymerization. The resulting products were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy, confirming that the PS successfully grafted onto the vinyl-modified HSNs via a covalent bond. The morphological structure of HSN film, investigated by SEM, showed a characteristic rough structure. Surface wetting properties of the HSN films were evaluated by measuring the water contact angle and the sliding angle using a contact angle goniometer, which were measured to be 158° and 6°, respectively. Moreover, the classic and the modified Cassie–Baxter relations were applied on the HSN films to verify the superhydrophobic performance.

We systematically studied the geometrical structures, relative stabilities, electronic properties and chemical hardness of Au n Cd (n =1–12) clusters based on the framework of the density functional theory using relativistic all-electron methods. Low-lying energy structures include two-dimensional and three-dimensional geometries. Especially, all the lowest-energy structures of Au n Cd (n =1 −12) clusters are inclined to be planar geometries with slight distortion, in which the dopant Cd atom has higher coordination at n =2–6, but lower coordination at n =7–12. The fragmentation energies, second-order difference of energies, the highest occupied–lowest unoccupied molecular orbital gaps and chemical hardness of Au n Cd and Au n+1 exhibit a pronounced even–odd alternations phenomenon in the reverse order This result indicates that the geometrical, electronic and chemical stabilities of Au n Cd with even number of valence electrons are higher than those of the neighbouring Au n Cd with odd number of valence electrons and corresponding Au n+1 with odd number of valence electrons. Additionally, 4d valence electrons orbital of impurity Cd atom in Au n Cd hardly joins in the orbital interactions compared with 5d valence electrons of corresponding Au atom in Au n+1. Au–Cd bonds of Au n Cd clusters are weaker and have more obviously ionic-like characteristics than the corresponding Au–Au bonds of Au n+1.

The copolymer of styrene and bisphenol A diglycidyl ether monoacrylate (PS-co-AADGEBA) was synthesized by three steps from raw materials, and then it was used to fabricate a superhydrophobic surface via a phase separation method. In particular the superhydrophobic surface not only exhibits superhydrophobicity towards water and corrosive liquids, including acidic and basic solutions, but also shows good transparency, improved robustness and excellent aging resistance. Furthermore, the PS-co-AADGEBA was also successfully grafted onto the surface of amino-functionalized hollow silica nanospheres (HSNs-NH2), then a (PS-co-AADGEBA)-g-(HSNs-NH2) nanocomposite superhydrophobic surface was prepared. The obtained surfaces are promising materials for numerous potential application fields, including electronics, biomedical, martial and defense-related areas.

We studied the electronic and magnetic properties of ZnO nanosheet with intrinsic defects using the first-principles method based on the density functional theory. The ZnO nanosheet with VO does not exhibit magnetism. However, the ZnO nanosheet with a single VZn has the magnetic ground state and the calculated total magnetic moment is 1.60 μB that mainly originates from the unpaired O 2p electrons. Formation energy calculation directly indicates that the V Zn 0 plays a critical role of the magnetism. Furthermore, the ground magnetic coupling between the Zn vacancies is ferromagnetic.

Although human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27 gene is the major susceptible gene associated with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), it has been recognized that non-HLA-B27 genes also play key roles in the development of AS. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the exon region of the programmed cell death 1 (PDCD-1) gene is associated with the susceptibility or the thoracolumbar kyphosis severity of AS in a Chinese Han population.A total of 255 AS patients between January 2008 and October 2012 were recruited in this study. Two hundred and three healthy patients were recruited as normal controls. According to the severity of thoracolumbar kyphosis, the AS patients were further divided into group A (patients with kyphosis70°, n = 135) and group B (patients with kyphosis ≥70°, n = 120). One exon polymorphism, rs2227982 (C/T) of PDCD-1 gene, was selected for analysis. Genotyping was performed by TaqMan probe assays in all the subjects.There were significant differences of genotype distributions of rs2227982 between AS patients and normal controls. The frequency of the T allele was significantly higher in AS patients when compared with normal controls. The frequency of the T allele in group B was significantly higher than that in group A. Carriage of the TT genotype increased the risk of severe thoracolumbar kyphosis 1.9-fold in AS patients.Our study confirms a significant association between the SNP rs2227982 of PDCD-1 gene and the susceptibility of AS in a Chinese Han population. Moreover, the TT genotype is suggested to be associated with the severity of thoracolumbar kyphosis secondary to AS.

A comparative study between all-electron relativistic (AER) calculation and all-electron (AE) calculation on the H2 molecule adsorption onto small gold clusters has been performed. Compared with the corresponding Au n H2 cluster obtained by AE method, the Au n H2 cluster obtained by AER method has much shorter Au–H bond-length, much longer H–H distance, larger binding energy and adsorption energy, higher vertical ionization potentials (VIP), greater charge transfer, higher vibrational frequency of Au–H mode and lower vibrational frequency of H–H mode. The delocalization of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) for Au n H2 cluster obtained by AER method is obvious. All these characteristics suggest that the scalar relativistic effect might strengthen the Au–H bond and weaken the H–H bond. It is believed that the scalar relativistic effect is favourable to the H2 molecule adsorption onto small gold cluster and the reactivity enhancement of H2 molecule. It may be one of the reasons why the dissociative adsorptions take place in some Au n H2 clusters. With increasing size of Au n H2 clusters, the influence of scalar relativistic effect becomes more significant. Some further studies focused on the influence of scalar relativistic effect on the adsorption behaviour of other small molecules onto gold clusters are necessary in the future.

Integral cross-section and stereodynamics study of the reaction \({\rm O}\left( {^1{\rm D}} \right)+{\rm H}_2 \left( {\boldsymbol{v}\,=\,0,\boldsymbol{j}\,=\,0} \right)\to {\rm OH}+{\rm H}\) is undertaken using the quasiclassical trajectory (QCT) method for the collision energy is in the large length of 1.3 to 43 kcal/mol using Dobbyn and Knowles (DK) surface, and the obtained results are compared with those available from earlier available calculated results on the BR surface. The integral cross sections obtained from the quasiclassical trajectory method are in good agreement with those of Chebyshev wave packet method for collision energies above 0.2 eV. We also investigated the vector correlations and polarized dependent differential cross sections (PDDCS) at different collision energies. It is demonstrated that the alignment and state distribution significantly decrease with increase in the collision energy.

The third-order nonlinear optical properties of two dmit organometallic complexes, [(CH3)4N] [Au(C3S5)2] (MeAu) and [(CH3)4N][Ni(C3S5)2] (Me Ni) in acetone solutions, were characterized using a short pulse Z-scan technique at 1064 nm wavelength. Self-defocusing effects were found in both samples and stronger saturable absorption was observed in MeNi solution comparing with that of MeAu. The origins were analyzed for the differences between the results. Two figures of merit W and T were also calculated to evaluate the suitability of two materials for all-optical integrated devices. The results of W=22.84 and T≈0 of MeAu make it an excellent candidate for the all-optical applications.

To investigate the association between receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappaB ligand (RANKL) gene polymorphisms and the susceptibility to ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in a Chinese Han population.Three hundred and fifty-two AS patients and 299 age- and gender-matched controls were recruited in this study. Peripheral blood samples were collected from all the subjects and the genomic DNA was then extracted. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the RANKL gene (rs2277438, rs7984870 and rs9533156) were genotyped using the TaqMan assay. The frequencies of alleles and genotypes were compared between AS patients and normal controls.The distributions of genotype frequencies in rs2277438 were significantly different between AS patients and normal controls (P0.05). The frequency of G allele of SNP rs2277438 in AS patients was significantly higher than that in normal controls (P0.05). The frequencies of genotypes with G allele (GG and AG) were significantly higher in AS patients when compared with normal controls (OR = 1.573, 95 % CI 1.151-2.150, P0.05). Neither the genotype frequencies nor the allele frequencies of rs7984870 and rs9533156 were found to be significantly different between AS patients and normal controls (P0.05).The current study demonstrated that SNP rs2277438 of the RANKL gene was associated with the susceptibility of AS in a Chinese Han population. Genotypes with G allele (GG and AG) were identified as the risk factors for the occurrence of AS.

InGaN thin films with near entire indium composition range have been successfully grown on GaN/sapphire (0001) by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). X-ray absorption fine structure have been used to study the local structure of some typical In x Ga 1-x N alloys with high indium (In) composition of x=0.78 and 0.86. A detailed analysis of the extended x-ray absorption fine structure of In K-edge by using the IFEFFIT program, and the chemical bonds of In-N are obtained. The x-ray absorption near-edge structure of In K- and L-edge and N K-edge are investigated, and the electronic structure of In x Ga 1-x N are determined with these high In content In x Ga 1-x N ternary compounds. The calculated XANES spectra of N K-edge, based on first principle method, are consistent with the observed spectra. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/telkomnika.v11i2.2050

Background Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory rheumatic disease. Osteoporosis is a common feature of AS, with a prevalence of 19% to 62%. Previous studies have indicated the increase of osteoclast activity responsible for the development of osteoporosis in AS. However, to our best knowledge, the osteogenic activities of osteoblasts in AS has never been addressed before. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts derived from the vertebral body and lamina in AS patients and to compare the differences of osteoblast activities between AS and age-matched controls.

The Cd(II) ion in the title complex, [Cd(SCN)(2)[SC(NH(2))(2)](2)](infinity), is situated at a centre of symmetry, and is bound to two N atoms belonging to thiocyanate groups and to four S atoms of bridging thiourea ligands. The structure consists of infinite chains of slightly distorted edge-shared Cd-centred octahedra. The bridging S atoms of two thiourea ligands comprise the common edge. Some thermal properties are described.

The title complex, [MnHg(SCN)4(CH4N2O)3]n, consists of slightly distorted octahedral MnN3O3 and tetrahedral HgS4 units. The Mn(II) atom is coordinated by the O atoms of three urea molecules and by the N atoms of three SCN- ions; Hg(II) is coordinated by four S atoms from SCN- ions. Each pair of Mn(II) and Hg(II) atoms is connected by an -SCN- bridge, forming infinite two-dimensional -Mn-NCS-Hg- networks.