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A chemically robust metal organic framework ZNU-2-Si with optimal pore chemistry and pore structure is reported for record C3H4 storage and C3H4/C3H6 separation by thermodynamic–kinetic synergism along with entropy–enthalpy balanced adsorption sites.

Autoimmune disease is a condition in which the body responds to the autoantigens and causes damage to its own tissues. We conducted this research to investigate whether interleukin-23R (IL-23R) gene polymorphisms (rs11209026 A/G) are related to the risk of several common autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and psoriasis. We screened articles about rs11209026 A/G for autoimmune disease by China Knowledge Infrastructure Project (CNKI), Web of Science as well as PubMed databases. The correlation strength was expressed by odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval, and the trial sequential analysis (TSA) proved the reliability of the results. Generally, 33 studies were contained. There was a significant correlation between rs11209026 A/G polymorphism and the susceptibility of human autoimmune diseases (OR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.65–0.94, p 0.05). In ethnic subgroup analysis, AA genotype could reduce the risk of AS in Caucasian people (OR = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.25–0.87, p

The efficient separation of acetylene (C2H2) from carbon dioxide (CO2) and CnH4 (n = 1 and 2) to manufacture high purity C2H2 and recover other light hydrocarbons is technologically important, while posing significant challenges. Herein, we reported a new TiF62− anion (TIFSIX) pillared metal-organic framework (MOF) ZNU-5 (ZNU = Zhejiang Normal University) with ultramicropores for highly selective C2H2 capture with low adsorption heat through gate opening based molecular sieving effect. ZNU-5 takes up a large amount of C2H2 (128.6 cm3/g) at 1.0 bar and 298 K but excludes CO2, CH4, and C2H4. Such high capacity has never been realized in MOFs with molecular sieving. The breakthrough experiments further confirmed the highly selective C2H2 separation performance from multi-component gas mixtures. 3.3, 2.8, and 2.2 mmol/g of C2H2 is captured at ZNU-5 from equimolar C2H2/CO2, C2H2/CO2/CH4, and C2H2/CO2/CH4/C2H4 mixtures, respectively. Furthermore, 2.6, 2.0, and 1.5 mmol/g of > 98% purity C2H2 can be recycled from the desorption process. Combining high working capacity, low adsorption heat, as well as good recyclability, ZNU-5 is promising for C2H2 purification.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To examine the associations of circadian characteristics (ie, chronotype and social jetlag) with insomnia symptoms and emotional and behavioral problems among school-age children. METHODS: A total of 620 primary school children (median(age) = 10.06, standard deviation = 1.16, 58.7% boys) were recruited and assessed by a set of parent-report questionnaires, including Children’s Sleep Habit Questionnaire for measuring sleep-wake patterns and insomnia symptoms (bedtime resistance, sleep onset delay, and night waking), Children’s Chronotype Questionnaire for assessing the child’s chronotype preference, and Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire for assessing emotional and behavioral problems. Linear regression models were applied to examine the associations of chronotype and social jetlag with insomnia symptoms and mental health outcomes, in which age, sex, family income, and average sleep duration were entered as covariates. RESULTS: Evening chronotype was significantly associated with bedtime resistance and sleep onset delay, while social jetlag was not related to insomnia symptoms. Evening chronotype was also significantly associated with externalizing symptoms after controlling for potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS: Evening chronotype, but not social jetlag, was the risk factor for insomnia symptoms, and evening chronotype was further associated with increased behavioral problems in school-age children. Our findings underscored the roles of circadian factors in relation to sleep and mental health problems in this young population. CITATION: Sun W, Kwok NTT, Chan NY, et al. Associations of circadian factors with insomnia symptoms and emotional and behavioral problems among school-age children. J Clin Sleep Med. 2021;17(10):2107–2114.

Stressed plants and polymer production can emit many unsaturated volatile organic esters (UVOEs). However, secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation of UVOEs remains unclear, especially under complex ambient conditions. In this study, we mainly investigated ethyl methacrylate (EM) ozonolysis. Results showed that a substantial increase in secondary H2SO4 particles promoted SOA formation with increasing SO2. An important reason was that the homogeneous nucleation of more H2SO4 at high SO2 level provided greater surface area and volume for SOA condensation. However, increased primary H2SO4 with seed acidity enhanced EM uptake but reduced SOA formation. This was ascribed to the fact that the ozonolysis of more adsorbed EM was hampered with the formation of surface H2SO4 at higher particle acidity. Moreover, the increase in secondary H2SO4 particle via homogeneous nucleation favored to the oligomerization of oxidation products, whereas the increasing of primary H2SO4 with acidity in the presence of seed tended to promote the functionalization conversion products. This study indicated that the role of increased H2SO4 to EM-derived SOA may not be the same under different ambient conditions, which helps to advance our understanding of the complicated roles of H2SO4 in the formation of EM-derived SOA.

To prevent the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, restrictions such as “lockdowns” were conducted globally, which led to a significant reduction in fossil fuel emissions, especially in urban areas. However, CO2 concentrations in urban areas are affected by many factors, such as weather, biological sinks and background CO2 fluctuations. Thus, it is difficult to directly observe the CO2 reductions from sparse ground observations. Here, we focus on urban ground transportation emissions, which were dramatically affected by the restrictions, to determine the reduction signals. We conducted six series of on-road CO2 observations in Beijing using mobile platforms before (BC), during (DC) and after (AC) the implementation of COVID-19 restrictions. To reduce the impacts of weather conditions and background fluctuations, we analyze vehicle trips with the most similar weather conditions possible and calculated the enhancement metric, which is the difference between the on-road CO2 concentration and the “urban background” CO2 concentration measured at the tower of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP), Chinese Academy of Sciences. The results showed that the DC CO2 enhancement was decreased by 41 (±1.3) parts per million (ppm) and 26 (±6.2) ppm compared to those for the BC and AC trips, respectively. Detailed analysis showed that, during COVID-19 restrictions, there was no difference between weekdays and weekends during working hours (09:00–17:00 local standard time; LST). The enhancements during rush hours (07:00–09:00 and 17:00–20:00 LST) were almost twice those during working hours, indicating that emissions during rush hours were much higher. For DC and BC, the enhancement reductions during rush hours were much larger than those during working hours. Our findings showed a clear CO2 concentration decrease during COVID-19 restrictions, which is consistent with the CO2 emissions reductions due to the pandemic. The enhancement method used in this study is an effective method to reduce the impacts of weather and background fluctuations. Low-cost sensors, which are inexpensive and convenient, could play an important role in further on-road and other urban observations.

Background: Overweight/obesity may impair executive function (EF). However, adolescent EF impairments across the weight spectrum were not well studied, with the moderating effect of negative emotions in the weight-EF association being limitedly investigated. We aimed to determine whether overall and abdominal weight spectrum associated with EF impairments and to identity whether negative emotions moderate the weight-EF link in adolescents. Methods: We applied a subsample of the SCHEDULE-A project. Adolescents (11-18 years) were recruited using a multi-stage cluster random sampling approach. Overall and abdominal weight were measured by body mass index z-score and waist-to-height ratio, respectively. We used the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) to evaluate adolescent EF in nature setting, and utilized the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21) to assess three types of negative emotional states (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress). Results: Of the 1 935 adolescents, 963 (49.8%) were male. We observed that abdominal, not overall, overweight was associated with the Global Executive Composite (GEC) impairment (OR = 1.59, 95% CI: 1.07-2.35), particularly for inhibit, emotion control, shift, working memory, and monitor domains. Furthermore, depression moderated the abdominal overweight-GEC association (P = 0.032 for interaction term), especially for emotional control, working memory, and initiate dimensions. Moreover, we also found abdominal thinness was associated with the Metacognition Index problem (OR = 1.33, 95% CI: 1.04-1.72), particularly for plan and monitor areas. Conclusions: Both abdominal overweight and thinness were associated with adolescent EF, and depression would be a modifiable target to improve EF in adolescents with abdominal overweight.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To compare the secular trends of sleep/wake patterns in school-aged children in Hong Kong and Shanghai, two major metropolitan cities in China with two different policies that school start time was delayed in Shanghai, but advanced in Hong Kong in 10 years’ time. METHODS: Participants were from two waves of cross-sectional school-based surveys of children aged 6 to 11 years. In Shanghai, 4,339 and 13,795 children participated in the 2005 and 2014 surveys, respectively. In Hong Kong, 6,231 and 4,585 children participated in the 2003 and 2012 surveys, respectively. Parents reported their children’s bedtime and wakeup time, and thus sleep duration, short sleep (≤ 9 hours) and weekend oversleep (difference in sleep duration between weekday and weekend > 2 hours) were determined. RESULTS: Hong Kong children had later bedtime and wakeup time and slept consistently less than their Shanghai counterparts at both survey time points. The shorter sleep duration was particularly marked during weekdays. Over the interval period, weekday sleep duration significantly decreased from 9.2 to 8.9 hours as wakeup time became earlier for Hong Kong children, but increased from 9.4 to 9.6 hours as wakeup time became later for children in Shanghai. Children from both cities slept longer on the weekends. Prevalence of weekend oversleep significantly increased in Hong Kong children, but no interval change was found in Shanghai children. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate subcultural differences in sleep/wake patterns in Shanghai and Hong Kong school-aged children. In particular, sleep duration had increased for Shanghai children, but decreased for Hong Kong children over 10 years. The benefits and barriers of delaying school start time for optimizing sleep health in school-aged children should be further explored. CITATION: Wang G, Zhang J, Lam SP, Li SX, Jiang Y, Sun W, Chan NY, Kong APS, Zhang Y, Li S, Li AM, Jiang F, Shen X, Wing YK. Ten-year secular trends in sleep/wake patterns in Shanghai and Hong Kong school-aged children: a tale of two cities. J Clin Sleep Med. 2019;15(10):1495–1502.

Introduction Although depression has shown a strong familial aggregation tendency, there are some moderators between parental and offspring’s depression. Meanwhile, it is known that evening chronotype is a risk factor for depression. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the moderating role of chronotype in the relationship between maternal and adolescent depressive symptoms in a clinical sample. Methods Seventy-five adolescents who visited a sleep or psychiatric clinic with a major complaint of sleep disturbance or emotional problems agreed to participate, 51 adolescents and at least one biological parent who completed questionnaires were included in the current analysis (17 male adolescents, aged 9-17 yrs). Adolescent’s chronotype were measured by the reduced Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (rMEQ). Depressive symptoms in adolescents and parents were assessed by the Depression Self-Rating Scale for Children (DSRSC) and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), respectively. General linear models were applied to examine the interaction between parental depression and adolescent’s chronotype on adolescent’s depression, in which age and gender were entered as covariates. Results Mothers of adolescents with clinical depression (DSRSC>15, n=38) also reported more depressive symptoms (PHQ-9: 4.81±4.37 vs. 2.69±2.46, t=-2.14, p=0.039). But father’s depressive symptoms were not related with adolescent’s depression. In the current clinical sample, the prevalence of evening chronotype in adolescents was up to 45.1% (n=23). Adolescents with either non-evening or evening chronotype reported comparable level of depressive symptoms (DSRSC: 20.37±6.26 vs. 19.00±8.42, t=0.66, p=0.513). There was a significant interaction between maternal depressive symptoms and chronotype on offspring’s depressive symptoms (F=4.05, p=0.044). Specifically, maternal depressive symptoms were associated with offspring’s depressive symptoms only in adolescents with evening chronotype. Conclusion Our study suggested that adolescents with evening chronotype might be at an elevated risk of the transgenerational transmission of depression. Hence, our findings supported the need to consider circadian factors and maternal depression in identifying at-risk adolescents. Support (If Any) This work was supported by the Shanghai Sailing Program awarded to Dr. Wanqi Sun (Shanghai Science and Technology Committee, 19YF1442200).

To prevent the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, restrictions such as lockdown, were conducted globally, which led to significant reduction in fossil fuel emissions, especially in urban regions. However, CO2 concentrations in urban regions are affected by many factors, such as weather and background CO2 fluctuations. Thus, it is difficult to directly observe the reductions in CO2 concentrations with sparse ground observations. Here, we focus on urban ground transportation emissions, which were dramatically affected by the prohibitions, to determine the reduction signals. We conducted six on-road CO2 observations in Beijing using mobile platforms before (BC), during (DC) and after COVID-19 prohibitions (AC). To reduce the weather and background impacts, we chose trips with the most similar weather as possible and calculated the enhancement, which mean the difference in the CO2 concentration between on-road and the background level measured at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IAP) tower. The results showed that DC CO2 enhancement decreased by 41 parts per million (ppm) and 26 ppm compared to those during BC and AC, respectively, after eliminating the fluctuations in CO2 concentrations on polluted days. Detailed analysis showed that, during COVID, there was no difference between weekdays and weekends. The enhancements during rush hours were almost twice those during working hours, indicating that emissions during rush hours were much higher. Compared with DC and BC, the reductions in the enhancements during rush hours were much larger than those during working hours. Our findings showed a clear decrease during COVID, which are consistent with the CO2 concentration and emissions reductions due to the pandemic. The enhancement way used in this study is an effective method to reduce the impacts of weather and background fluctuation and should be regularly and more frequently conducted in future work.

Stressed plants and polymer production can emit many unsaturated volatile organic esters (UVOEs). However, secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation of UVOEs remain unclear, especially under complex ambient conditions. In this study, we mainly investigated ethyl methacrylate (EM) ozonolysis. Results showed that a substantial increase in secondary H2SO4 particles promoted SOA formation with increasing SO2. An important reason was that the homogeneous nucleation of more H2SO4 at high SO2 level provided greater surface area and volume for SOA condensation. However, increased primary H2SO4 with seed acidity enhanced EM uptake, but reduced SOA formation. This was ascribed to the fact that the ozonolysis of more adsorbed EM was hampered with the formation of surface H2SO4 at higher particle acidity. Moreover, the increase in secondary H2SO4 particle via homogeneous nucleation favored to the oligomerization of oxidation products, whereas the increasing of primary H2SO4 with acidity in the presence of seed tended to promote the functionalization conversion products. This study indicated that the role of increased H2SO4 to EM-derived SOA maybe not the same under different ambient conditions, which helps to advance our understanding of the complicated roles of H2SO4 in the formation of EM-derived SOA.

BACKGROUND Wearable devices have been widely used in clinical studies to study daily activity patterns, but the analysis remains a major obstacle for researchers. OBJECTIVE This study proposes a novel method to characterize sleep-activity rhythms using actigraphy and further use it to describe early childhood daily rhythm formation and examine its association with physical development. METHODS We developed a machine learning–based Penalized Multiband Learning (PML) algorithm to sequentially infer dominant periodicities based on the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm and further characterize daily rhythms. We implemented and applied the algorithm to Actiwatch data collected from a cohort of 262 healthy infants at ages 6, 12, 18, and 24 months, with 159, 101, 111, and 141 participants at each time point, respectively. Autocorrelation analysis and Fisher test in harmonic analysis with Bonferroni correction were applied for comparison with the PML. The association between activity rhythm features and early childhood motor development, assessed using the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-Second Edition (PDMS-2), was studied through linear regression analysis. RESULTS The PML results showed that 1-day periodicity was most dominant at 6 and 12 months, whereas one-day, one-third–day, and half-day periodicities were most dominant at 18 and 24 months. These periodicities were all significant in the Fisher test, with one-fourth–day periodicity also significant at 12 months. Autocorrelation effectively detected 1-day periodicity but not the other periodicities. At 6 months, PDMS-2 was associated with the assessment seasons. At 12 months, PDMS-2 was associated with the assessment seasons and FFT signals at one-third–day periodicity (PP=.04), respectively. In particular, the subcategories of stationary, locomotion, and gross motor were associated with the FFT signals at one-third–day periodicity (P CONCLUSIONS The proposed PML algorithm can effectively conduct circadian rhythm analysis using time-series wearable device data. The application of the method effectively characterized sleep-wake rhythm development and identified the association between daily rhythm formation and motor development during early childhood.

BackgroundWearable devices have been widely used in clinical studies to study daily activity patterns, but the analysis remains the major obstacle for researchers.Study ObjectiveThis study proposed a novel method to characterize sleep-activity rhythms using actigraphy and further used it to describe early childhood daily rhythm formation and examine its association with physical development.MethodsWe developed a machine learning-based Penalized Multi-band Learning (PML) algorithm to sequentially infer dominant periodicities based on Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and further characterize daily rhythms. We implemented and applied the algorithm to Actiwatch data collected from a 262 healthy infant cohort at 6-, 12-, 18-, and 24-month old, with 159, 101, 111, and 141 subjects participating at each time point respectively. Autocorrelation analysis and Fisher’s test for harmonic analysis with Bonferroni correction were applied to compare with PML. The association between activity rhythm features and early childhood motor development, assessed by Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-Second Edition (PDMS-2), was studied through linear regression.ResultsPML results showed that 1-day periodicity is most dominant at 6 and 12 months, whereas 1-day, 1/3-day, and 1/2-day periodicities are most dominant at 18 and 24 months. These periodicities are all significant in Fisher’s test, with 1/4-day periodicity also significant at 12 months. Autocorrelation effectively detected 1-day periodicity but not others. At 6 months, PDMS-2 is associated with assessment seasons. At 12 months, PDMS-2 is associated with seasons and FFT signals at 1/3-day periodicity (PP=.04). In particular, subcategories of stationary, locomotion, and gross motor are associated with FFT signals at 1/3-day periodicity (PConclusionsThe proposed PML algorithm can effectively conduct circadian rhythm analysis using time-series wearable device data. Application of the method effectively characterized sleep-wake rhythm development and identified the association between daily rhythm formation and motor development during early childhood.

To examine the prevalence and correlates of nighttime awakenings and to explore the association between sleep and cognitive development in a community sample of infants and toddlers.A total of 590 healthy infants (aged 2-11 months) and 512 toddlers (aged 12-30 months) from 8 provinces of China were assessed for their sleep and cognitive development. Data on sleep duration and nighttime awakenings were collected through the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire. Cognitive development was assessed by trained pediatricians using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development.Prevalence of no nighttime awakening, and nighttime awakening(s) for 1×/night, 2×/night, and ≥ 3×/night was 6.8%, 20.2%, 33.2%, and 39.3% in infants, and was 25.8%, 34.6%, 23.8%, and 15.8% in toddlers, respectively. Nighttime awakenings were generally associated with younger age, lower maternal education level, and being currently breastfed. In addition, nighttime awakenings were associated with being boys in toddlers. After controlling for potential confounders, infants with nighttime awakenings for 2×/night were found to have significantly higher Mental Development Index (MDI) score, as compared to those without and those with more frequent nighttime awakenings. However, toddlers with nighttime awakenings for ≥ 3×/night had significantly lower MDI, as compared to those with fewer nighttime awakenings. Total sleep duration was not associated with any developmental indices in both infants and toddlers.Frequent nighttime awakenings are associated with poor cognitive functions in toddlers. Meanwhile, a nonlinear association between nighttime awakenings and cognitive performance was found among infants. The findings provide a developmental context for the effect of sleep on cognitive abilities in young children. Further longitudinal studies and interventional studies on the effects of parent-based sleep-focused intervention on cognitive abilities among young children are warranted.

Background Wearable devices have been widely used in clinical studies to study daily activity patterns, but the analysis remains a major obstacle for researchers. Objective This study proposes a novel method to characterize sleep-activity rhythms using actigraphy and further use it to describe early childhood daily rhythm formation and examine its association with physical development. Methods We developed a machine learning–based Penalized Multiband Learning (PML) algorithm to sequentially infer dominant periodicities based on the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm and further characterize daily rhythms. We implemented and applied the algorithm to Actiwatch data collected from a cohort of 262 healthy infants at ages 6, 12, 18, and 24 months, with 159, 101, 111, and 141 participants at each time point, respectively. Autocorrelation analysis and Fisher test in harmonic analysis with Bonferroni correction were applied for comparison with the PML. The association between activity rhythm features and early childhood motor development, assessed using the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-Second Edition (PDMS-2), was studied through linear regression analysis. Results The PML results showed that 1-day periodicity was most dominant at 6 and 12 months, whereas one-day, one-third–day, and half-day periodicities were most dominant at 18 and 24 months. These periodicities were all significant in the Fisher test, with one-fourth–day periodicity also significant at 12 months. Autocorrelation effectively detected 1-day periodicity but not the other periodicities. At 6 months, PDMS-2 was associated with the assessment seasons. At 12 months, PDMS-2 was associated with the assessment seasons and FFT signals at one-third–day periodicity (P Conclusions The proposed PML algorithm can effectively conduct circadian rhythm analysis using time-series wearable device data. The application of the method effectively characterized sleep-wake rhythm development and identified the association between daily rhythm formation and motor development during early childhood.

Physical activity, screen viewing, sleep, and homework among children have been independently linked to health outcomes. However, few studies have assessed the independent associations between time spent in daily activities and children’s physical and mental health. This study describes time spent in four activities among primary school students in Shanghai, and examines the relationship between daily time-use patterns and obesity and mental health. The representative sample consists of 17,318 children aged 6–11 years in Shanghai. Time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activities (MVPA), screen viewing, sleep, and homework was measured by validated questionnaires. Logistic regressions were performed. We also fitted generalized additive models (GAM) and performed two-objective optimization to minimize the probability of poor mental health and obesity. In 2014, 33.7% of children spent ˂1 hour/day on MVPA, 15.6% spent ≥ 2 hours/day on screen viewing, 12.4% spent ˂ 9 hours/day on sleep, and 27.2% spent ≥ 2 hours/day on homework. The optimization results suggest that considering the 24-hour time limit, children face trade-offs when allocating time. A priority should be given to the duration of sleep and MVPA. Screen exposure should be minimized to save more time for sleep and other beneficial activities.

The world-wide lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in year 2020 led to economic slowdown and large reduction of fossil fuel CO2 emissions, but it is unclear how much it would reduce atmospheric CO2 concentration, and whether it can be observed. We estimated that a 7.9% reduction in emissions for 4 months would result in a 0.25 ppm decrease in the Northern Hemisphere CO2, an increment that is within the capability of current CO2 analyzers, but is a few times smaller than natural CO2 variabilities caused by weather and the biosphere such as El Nino. We used a state-of-the-art atmospheric transport model to simulate CO2, driven by a new daily fossil fuel emissions dataset and hourly biospheric fluxes from a carbon cycle model forced with observed climate variability. Our results show a 0.13 ppm decrease in atmospheric column CO2 anomaly averaged over 50S-50N for the period February-April 2020 relative to a 10-year climatology. A similar decrease was observed by the carbon satellite GOSAT3. Using model sensitivity experiments, we further found that COVID, the biosphere and weather contributed 54%, 23%, and 23% respectively. This seemingly small change stands out as the largest sub-annual anomaly in the last 10 years. Measurements from global ground stations were analyzed. At city scale, on-road CO2 enhancement measured in Beijing shows reduction of 20-30 ppm, consistent with drastically reduced traffic during the lockdown. The ability of our current carbon monitoring systems in detecting the small and short-lasting COVID signal on the background of fossil fuel CO2 accumulated over the last two centuries is encouraging. The COVID-19 pandemic is an unintended experiment whose impact suggests that to keep atmospheric CO2 at a climate-safe level will require sustained effort of similar magnitude and improved accuracy and expanded spatiotemporal coverage of our monitoring systems.

Previous studies have suggested that infant rapid weight change can be associated with an increased weight later in life. However, the weight change trajectory in early life over time and which childhood lifestyle behaviors may modify the risk of rapid weight change have not been characterized. Using our ongoing birth cohort study, we have addressed these issues. Nine follow-up time points (birth, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, and 48 months) were used to calculate the change between two adjacent weight-for-age z-scores (WAZ-change), and then WAZ-change trajectories were defined via group-based trajectory modeling. The solitary, independent and combined effects of WAZ-change trajectories and each lifestyle factor (eating behaviors, physical activity, media exposure time and total sleep duration) on childhood adiposity measures at age 4 years were determined using multivariate regression analysis. Overall, 84 (38%) children had a steady growth trajectory from birth to 4 years, while the other 137 (62%) children had an early infancy rapid growth trajectory, particularly in the first three months. Compared to children with steady growth, children with early infancy rapid growth had a significantly higher body mass index, waist circumference, and subcutaneous fat. Moreover, weight change trajectory and three eating behaviors (i.e. food responsiveness, satiety responsiveness and food fussiness), not only had independent effects, but also combined (synergistic) effects on the majority of adiposity measures. Our results extend the current literature and provide a potentially valuable model to aid clinicians and health professionals in designing early-life interventions targeting specific populations, specific ages and specific lifestyle behaviors to prevent childhood overweight/obesity.

A closo-dodecaborate [B12H12]2- functionalized metal organic framework (MOF), BSF-3, constructed by the self-assembly of the Cu(II) cation, 1,4-di(pyridin-4-yl)benzene linker and cluster [B12H12]2- pillar was investigated for the adsorption separation of light hydrocarbons. The activated MOF exhibited efficient uptake of CO2 and C2–C3 hydrocarbons with high separation selectivity of C3H8 (138), C2H2 (205), C2H4 (23), C2H6 (13) and CO2 (9) over CH4, outperforming many popular MOFs. The practical gas separation ability for C2H2/CH4, CO2/CH4 and C3H8/C2H6/CH4 was confirmed by mixed gas breakthrough experiments with no capacity loss after 7 cycles, indicating its potential for purification of methane from natural gas and pyrolysis gas. The gas bonding sites within the framework were further studied by modelling studies, which indicated that the anionic [B12H12]2- pillar contributed the most to capturing hydrocarbon molecules by multiple B-Hδ-···Hδ+-C interactions.

Fibrillogenesis of human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) is a pathological hallmark of type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and the inhibition of hIAPP fibrillogenesis is an important strategy for the prevention and treatment of T2DM. In this study, the inhibitory effects of brazilin on the fibrillization and cytotoxicity of hIAPP were examined using the thioflavin T fluorescence (ThT) assay, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, cytotoxicity assays, and molecular dynamics simulations. Both the ThT and TEM results have shown that brazilin inhibits hIAPP fibrillogenesis in a dose-dependent manner. CD studies revealed that brazilin delays the conformational transition of hIAPP from its initial α-helical to the β-sheet form. As a result, brazilin greatly alleviates hIAPP-induced cytotoxicity. Moreover, we also found that brazilin disassembles preexisting hIAPP fibrils, and alleviates the cytotoxicity of hIAPP aggregates. The results of free energy decomposition studies calculated using molecular mechanics-Poisson–Boltzmann surface area analysis revealed that hydrophobic interactions contribute more than 75% of the free energy of binding in the brazilin–hIAPP complex, while electrostatic interactions (i.e., hydrogen bonds) play a secondary role (

Study objectives To examine trajectories of poor sleep quality from late pregnancy to 36 months postpartum, baseline indicators, and association with prospective maternal mood disturbances. Methods A cohort of 262 nonclinical women was followed at late pregnancy, 42 days, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months postpartum. Sleep quality was measured with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index at all time points, and mood disturbances were assessed at late pregnancy and 36 months postpartum. Results The rate of poor sleep quality followed an inverted U-shaped curve. Women reporting poor sleep quality at late pregnancy held a consistently higher risk of poor sleep quality at postpartum points. Three sleep trajectories were distinguished, namely, the stable-low (29.4%), the decreasing-mild (56.5%), and the stable-high (14.1%). Poor sleep quality, depression, and anxiety at baseline were linked to trajectory groups with poorer sleep quality. Adjusting for covariates, the trajectory of the poorer sleep quality group demonstrated increased mood disturbances at 36 months postpartum. Replicating the analyses in women without baseline symptoms of depression and anxiety above clinical cutoffs obtained similar results. Conclusions Women are vulnerable to poor sleep quality from late pregnancy to postpartum years, but follow distinct trajectories. Poor sleep quality, depression, and anxiety at late pregnancy help us to anticipate the sleep trajectories. Trajectories of poor sleep quality indicate increased mood disturbances at 36 months postpartum. A flexible suite of interventions targeting both poor sleep quality and mood disturbances should be implemented and tailored to women in the prenatal and postpartum periods.

Methoxyphenols, lignin pyrolysis products, are major biomass combustion components and are considered potential tracers for wood smoke emissions. Their atmospheric reactivity, however, has not been well characterized. Guaiacol, creosol, and syringol are three typical methoxyphenols generated in relatively high concentrations in fresh wood smoke. In this study, the gas-phase reactions of NO3 radicals with these methoxyphenols were investigated using a laboratory-built vacuum ultraviolet photoionization gas time-of-flight mass spectrometer (VUV-GTOFMS) and off-line GC-MS. By combining experimental and theoretical methods, 4-nitroguaiacol, 6-nitroguaiacol, and 4,6-dinitroguaiacol were determined as the primary degradation products for guaiacol; similarly, 6-nitrocreosol and 3-nitrosyringol were identified for creosol and syringol, respectively. Using the relative rate method, rate constants at 298 K and 1 atm for the gas-phase reactions of guaiacol, creosol, and syringol with NO3 radicals were measured to be 3.2 × 10−12, 2.4 × 10−13, and 4.0 × 10−13 cm3 molecule−1 s−1, respectively. At a typical tropospheric concentration of NO3 radicals (5 × 108 molecule cm−3), atmospheric lifetimes for guaiacol, creosol, and syringol toward NO3 radicals were 0.2, 2.3, and 1.4 h, respectively. These results indicate that the reaction with NO3 radicals can be a major sink for methoxyphenols at night.

To clarify whether the blocking reaction sites problem has a significant impact on heterogeneous reactions, experiments contrasting the order of pyrene (PY) particles' exposure to N2O5–O3 or O3–N2O5 in a heterogeneous process were conducted. Additionally, PY particles were exposed to N2O5 (∼8 ppm) in the presence of O3 (2.5–30 ppm) in a reaction chamber at ambient pressure and room temperature. Our results show that the phenomenon of blocking reaction sites may be ubiquitous on the surfaces of atmospheric aerosol particles, and the N2O5-initiated ionic electrophilic nitration may be promoted by NO3 radical-initiated heterogeneous reactions on the aerosol particle surface. We also found that the operative reaction mechanism strongly depends on the concentrations of the nitric oxides in the atmosphere. Our results provide an explanation as to why 2-nitropyrene (2-NPY), one of the most ubiquitous nitro-polyaromatic hydrocarbon pollutants that exists in both the gas and particle phases, was not observed in previous experiments on the heterogeneous reactions of PY and N2O5/NO3/NO2.

In this study, we report on the development of a lamp-based vacuum ultraviolet photoionization mass spectrometer (VUV-PIMS) in our laboratory; it is composed of a radio-frequency-powered VUV lamp, a VUV photoionizer, an ion-migration lens assembly, and a reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer. By utilizing the novel photoionizer consisting of a photoionization cavity and a VUV light baffle, the baselines of the mass spectra decreased from 263.6 ± 15.7 counts to 4.1 ± 1.8 counts. A detection limit (2σ) of 3 pptv was achieved for benzene after an acquisition time of 10 s. To examine its potential for real-time monitoring applications of samples, the developed VUV-PIMS was employed for the continuous measurement of urban air for 6 days in Beijing, China. Strong signals of trace-level volatile organic compounds, such as benzene and its alkylated derivatives, were observed in the mass spectra. These initial experimental results reveal that the instrument can be used for the online monitoring of trace-level species in the atmosphere.

Pirimiphos-methyl (PMM) is a widely used organophosphorus pesticide that can be released into the atmosphere in gas and condensed phases. It possesses a PS bond and an N,N-dialkyl group adjacent to pyrimidine, which are common functional groups for pesticides. Currently, the reaction mechanisms of O3 with these functional groups are poorly understood. In this study, the mechanisms and possible degradation products for O3-initiated atmospheric oxidation of PMM were investigated using the Density Functional Theory (DFT) method. The results show that H abstraction from the alpha carbon of the N,N-diethyl group and its subsequent reactions (hydroxylation, N-dealkylation, and carbonylation reactions), as well as the transformation of the PS bond to the PO oxone form, are the most favorable reaction pathways for PMM and O3. The Gibbs free energy (ΔG) indicates that the subsequent reactions tend to take place more spontaneously once the initial reaction occurs. In addition, theoretical calculations indicate that water can serve as an effective catalyst in the N-dealkylation reaction process. Water-assisted reactions lead to the activation energy decreasing by 20.2 kcal mol(-1) compared with direct reactions, and thus may represent a dominant reaction pathway for the N-dealkylation process in the atmosphere. These theoretical results provide new insights into O3-initiated degradation of PMM and its analogues.

It is complex to assign the products obtained from the gas-phase reactions of PAHs with NO3/NO2 and N2O5. For this purpose, theoretical calculations are performed. Results show that 2-nitrofluoranthene and 2-nitropyrene are the dominant products for reactions of fluoranthene and pyrene with NO3/NO2, while 3-nitrofluoranthene and 1-nitropyrene are the major nitration products of N2O5. S(N)2 reaction mechanisms are elucidated and homolytic mechanisms are calculated for the first time. Rate constants for reactions of fluoranthene and pyrene with N2O5 are deduced for the first time, which are 2.50 x 10(-27) and 2.16 x 10(-24) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1), respectively at 298 K. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Objective. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between dietary patterns and precocious puberty among Shanghai children.Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted among Shanghai children by multistage stratified cluster random sampling in June 2014. Diet was assessed using a simplified food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Height, weight, and Tanner stages of breast development, pubic hair growth, and testicular volume were carefully measured. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify dietary patterns, and logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between dietary patterns and precocious puberty.Results. Three distinct dietary patterns, “traditional diet,” “unhealthy diet,” and “protein diet,” were established. Neither the “traditional diet” pattern nor the “protein diet” pattern showed any association with precocious puberty, taking gender, BMI, and adjustment factors into consideration. The “unhealthy diet” pattern was significantly positively associated with precocious puberty in both boys (OR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.02–1.51) and girls (OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.10–1.56). The relationship remained positive only for girls (OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.04–1.49) after adjustment for age and BMI but statistically nonsignificant after further adjustment for socioeconomic factors in both boys and girls.Conclusions. Dietary patterns were found to be related to precocious puberty among Shanghai children.

Caesarean section (CS) may increase the risk of asthma and allergic diseases in children, but previous studies could not preclude the potential confounding effect of underlying medical indications for CS. We aim to assess the association between CS itself (without indications) and risks of asthma and allergic rhinitis in children. The 2014 Shanghai Children’s Health, Education and Lifestyle Evaluation was a large population-based survey with cluster random probability sampling in 26 primary schools in Shanghai, China, in 2014. The mode of delivery and child history of asthma and allergic rhinitis were reported by parents. We included 12639 children in our analysis. CS without medical indication was associated with an increased risk of childhood asthma. CS without medical indication and CS for fetal complications were associated with increased risks of childhood allergic rhinitis, respectively. In children fed by exclusive breastfeeding or mixed feeding in the first four months after birth, these risks were not significant. In contrast, in children fed by exclusive formula milk, CS was highly significantly associated with childhood asthma and allergic rhinitis. In conclusion, CS without medical indication was associated with increased risks of both childhood asthma and allergic rhinitis. Breastfeeding in early infancy may attenuate these risks.

Sleep and circadian rhythmicity both play an important role in human’s cognitive functioning, yet the way in which early development of sleep and circadian rhythm affects cognitive processes and social learning in infants remains less understood. We examined the association of sleep and circadian activity rhythm (CAR) with face and emotional information processing in 12-month old infants. Face processing was measured by eye tracking, whereby infants’ scanning patterns and pupil dilations were calculated when they were presented with neutral, pleasant and unpleasant faces. Infants with better sleep quality (i.e., less waking after sleep onset) and lower sleep-wake pattern variability (i.e., higher inter-daily stability) exhibited a higher eyes over mouth fixation ratio (EMR). Infants with longer total sleep time showed larger pupil diameter changes in response to emotional facial expressions, more closely resembling the responses of adults. Our findings suggest the role of sleep and circadian rhythm in waking cognition and have implications for understanding the early development of social learning in young children.

Summary Sophorolipids (SLs) are biosurfactants with widespread applications. The yield and purity of SLs are two important factors to be considered during their commercial large‐scale production. Notably, SL accumulation causes an increase in viscosity, decrease in dissolved oxygen and product inhibition in the fermentation medium. This inhibits the further production and purification of SLs. This describes the development of a novel integrated system for SL production using Candida albicans O‐13‐1. Semicontinuous fermentation was performed using a novel bioreactor with dual ventilation pipes and dual sieve‐plates (DVDSB). SLs were separated and recovered using a newly designed two‐stage separation system. After SL recovery, the fermentation broth containing residual glucose and oleic acid was recycled back into the bioreactor. This novel approach considerably alleviated the problem of product inhibition and accelerated the rate of substrate utilization. Production of SLs achieved was 477 g l−1, while their productivity was 1.59 g l−1 h−1. Purity of SLs improved by 23.3%, from 60% to 74%, using DVDSB with the separation system. The conversion rate of carbon source increased from 0.5 g g−1 (in the batch fermentation) to 0.6 g g−1. These results indicated that the integrated system could improve the efficiency of production and purity of SLs.

In order to understand the seasonal levels, formation mechanism and atmospheric chemical behaviours of water-soluble ions of PM10 in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region, aerosol samples were collected from January 2nd to December 28th, 2017 at a WMO/GAW regional background station in Lin’an. The concentrations of PM mass and nine water-soluble inorganic ions were obtained. The annual average concentration of PM10 was 59.9±33.9 μg m−3, lower than those reported in previous studies, indicating air quality of YRD region was improved. Nine water-soluble inorganic ions was accounted for 30.2-45.1% of the total PM mass, while ammonium (NH4+), sulfate (SO42+), as well as nitrate (NO3-) were the major ions which contributed 86.3% to total ions. The NO3- concentration was lowest in summer but highest in winter, suggesting it was likely influenced by thermodynamics. The levels of SO42- in spring and winter were related to photochemical reaction and regional transportation. Except for the SNA, Ca2+ was highest in four seasons likely due to sand storm and road fugitive dust. The annual mean ratio of [NO3-]/[SO42-] was nearly to 1, indicating mobile and stationary sources were equally important in Lin’an. The mean nitrogen oxidation ratio (NOR) and sulfur oxidation ratio (SOR) were 0.22±0.13 and 0.41±0.13, respectively, suggesting secondary formation was significant in the atmosphere at the background station of YRD region.

Chlorpyrifos is a typical chlorinated organophosphorus pesticide. The heterogeneous reaction of chlorpyrifos particles with NO3 radicals was investigated using a vacuum ultraviolet photoionization aerosol time-of-flight mass spectrometer (VUV-ATOFMS) and a real-time atmospheric gas analysis mass spectrometer. Chlorpyrifos oxon, 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol, O,O-diethyl O-hydrogen phosphorothioate, O,O-diethyl ester thiophosphoric acid, diethyl hydrogen phosphate and a phosphinyl disulfide compound were identified as the main degradation products. The heterogeneous reaction pathways were proposed and their kinetic processes were investigated via a mixed-phase relative rate method. The observed effective rate constant is 3.4 +/- 0.2 x 10(-12) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1). (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Urumqi is located in the arid area of Northwest China. Through field investigation, the author finds that the energy consumption of high-star hotels in Urumqi is large in off-season tourism, but the occupancy rate is low, which causes a lot of energy waste. According to the data analysis of law of indoor activity in each area of high star hotel in Urumqi, this paper puts forward that through building buffer space, according to the different function of building, different treatment should be carried out for different use frequency of building space. According to different use temperature requirements, the use space can be arranged from the inside to the outside in order to form a gradient space, and dividing the various areas of the hotel into heating space, transition space and temperature damping space can achieve the purpose of energy saving effectively.

Doping has been used to enhance the ionization efficiency of analytes in atmospheric pressure photoionization, which is based on charge exchange. Compounds with excellent ionization efficiencies are usually chosen as dopants. In this paper, we report a new phenomenon observed in low-pressure photoionization: Protonation enhancement by dichloromethane (CH2Cl2) doping. CH2Cl2 is not a common dopant due to its high ionization energy (11.33 eV). The low-pressure photoionization source was built using a krypton VUV lamp that emits photons with energies of 10.0 and 10.6 eV and was operated at 500-1000 Pa. Protonation of water, methanol, ethanol, and acetaldehyde was respectively enhanced by 481.7 +/- 122.4, 197.8 +/- 18.8, 87.3 +/- 7.8, and 93.5 +/- 35.5 times after doping 291 ppmv CH2Cl2, meanwhile CH2Cl2 almost does not generate noticeable ions itself. This phenomenon has not been documented in the literature. A new protonation process involving in ion-pair and H-bond formations was proposed to expound the phenomenon. The observed phenomenon opens a new prospect for the improvement of the detection efficiency of VUV photoionization., Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, and under submission

On-spot monitoring of threat agents needs high sensitive instrument. In this study, a low-pressure photoionization mass spectrometer (LPPI-MS) was employed to detect trace amounts of vapor-phase explosives and chemical warfare agent mimetics under ambient conditions. Under 10-s detection time, the limits of detection of 2,4-dinitrotoluene, nitrotoluene, nitrobenzene, and dimethyl methyl phosphonate were 30, 0.5, 4, and 1 parts per trillion by volume, respectively. As compared to those obtained previously with PI mass spectrometric techniques, an improvement of 3–4 orders of magnitude was achieved. This study indicates that LPPI-MS will open new opportunities for the sensitive detection of explosives and chemical warfare agents.