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BACKGROUNDThe chronic kidney disease (CKD) public health burden is substantial and has not declined as expected with current interventions on disease treatments. A large number of clinical, biological, and behavioural risk factors have been associated with CKD. However, it is unclear which of them are causal.OBJECTIVETo systematically test whether previously reported risk factors for CKD are causally related to the disease in European and East Asian ancestries.DESIGNTwo-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) and non-linear MR analyses.PARTICIPANTS53,703 CKD cases and 960,624 controls of European ancestry from CKDGen, UK Biobank and HUNT, and 13,480 CKD cases and 238,118 controls of East Asian ancestry from Biobank Japan, China Kadoorie Biobank and Japan-Kidney-Biobank/ToMMo.MEASURESSystematic literature mining of PubMed studies identified 45 clinical risk factors and biomarkers with robustly associated genetic variants, including phenotypes related to blood pressure, diabetes, glucose, insulin, lipids, obesity, smoking, sleep disorders, nephrolithiasis, uric acid, coronary artery disease, bone mineral density, homocysteine, C-reactive protein, micro-nutrients and thyroid function, which were selected as exposures. The outcome was CKD (defined by clinical diagnosis or by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) < 60 ml/min/1.73m2).RESULTSEight risk factors showed evidence of causal effects on CKD in European ancestry, including body mass index (BMI), hypertension, systolic blood pressure, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoprotein A-I, lipoprotein A, type 2 diabetes (T2D) and nephrolithiasis. In East Asian ancestry, BMI, T2D and nephrolithiasis showed evidence of causal effects on CKD. Hypertension showed reliable evidence of a strong causal effect on CKD in Europeans but in contrast appeared to show a null effect in East Asians, suggesting the possibility of different causal risk factors in Europeans and East Asians. Although liability to T2D showed consistent effects on CKD, the effect of glycemic traits on CKD was weak, suggesting T2D may have glucose-independent mechanisms to influence CKD. Nonlinear MR indicated a threshold relationship between genetically predicted BMI and CKD, with increased risk at BMI above 25 kg/m2.LIMITATIONDue to the unbalanced distribution of data between ancestries, we could only test 17 of the 45 risk factors in East Asian participants.CONCLUSIONSEight CKD-associated risk factors showed evidence of causal effects on the disease in over 1.2 million European and East Asian ancestries. These risk factors were predominantly related to cardio-metabolic health, which supports the shared causal link between cardio-metabolic health and kidney function. This study provides evidence of potential intervention targets for primary prevention of CKD, which could help reduce the global burden of CKD and its cardio-metabolic co-morbidities.Research in contextEvidence before this studyChronic kidney disease (CKD) has a major effect on global health, both as a direct cause of morbidity and mortality, and as an important complication for cardio-metabolic diseases. However, even with the existing interventions, the burden of CKD has not declined as expected over the last 30 years. Existing epidemiological studies of CKD have mainly focused on disease treatment in patients from specific populations and estimated association rather than causality. A systematic assessment of the causal determinants of CKD in different populations is urgently needed, to help promote a shift from treatment of CKD patients to prevention of the disease in high-risk groups. The use of genetic data and the latest Mendelian randomization (MR) methodologies offers a cost-effective way to evaluate the potential intervention targets for prevention of CKD in high-risk groups.Added value of this studyIn this study, we systematically constructed a causal atlas of 45 risk factors on CKD in European and East Asian ancestries using MR. To maximise power of these analyses and accuracy of the findings, we collected and harmonised CKD genetic association data from six large-scale biobanks (in over 1.1 million Europeans and 250,000 East Asians). By applying a comprehensive MR framework, including linear two-sample MR, bidirectional MR, multivariable MR and non-linear MR approaches, we identified eight risk factors with reliable evidence of causal effects on CKD in European ancestry studies, including body mass index (BMI), hypertension, systolic blood pressure, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoprotein A-I, lipoprotein A, type 2 diabetes (T2D) and nephrolithiasis. In East Asian studies, BMI, T2D and nephrolithiasis also showed causal effects on CKD. Among other factors, hypertension showed reliable evidence of a strong causal effect on CKD in Europeans but in contrast appeared to show a null effect in East Asians. This MR finding together with previous literature evidence opens up the possibility that hypertension could play different causal roles on CKD across ancestries. For diabetes and glycemic phenotypes, our MR and sensitivity analyses suggested the causal role of liability of T2D on CKD but suggested weak effects of glycemic phenotypes on CKD. This aligns with the recent trial of SGLT2 inhibitors on kidney disease, which implies T2D may have glucose-independent mechanisms to influence CKD. For lipids phenotypes, we found good evidence to support the role of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol on CKD and further suggested the effects of two lipids targets: circulating CETP level and lipoprotein A concentration. For body weight, our study quantified a threshold relationship between BMI and CKD, with increased risk at BMI above 25 kg/m2. The causal relationship between nephrolithiasis and CKD were reported in previous studies, but our study confirmed the causal links between the two for the first time.Implication of all the available evidenceThis study makes a significant advance in comprehensively prioritising intervention targets for CKD in over 1.2 million participants. Our study presents causal evidence from both European and East Asian population samples, widening the generalisability of the causal atlas. Importantly, the prioritised risk factors are predominantly related to cardio-metabolic health, which supports the shared causal link between cardio-metabolic health and kidney function. Clinically, the high-quality evidence from this study highlights the value of exploring these causal factors in the general population and prioritizes drug targets and life-style interventions for CKD primary prevention, which could help reduce the global burden of CKD and its cardio-metabolic co-morbidities.

The effective removal of chlorine ion from the desulfurization slurry is of great significance to the stable operation of the desulfurization system. Modified fly ash hydrotalcites were prepared by alkali/acid-combined roasting and microwaving and used as an adsorbent for chlorine ion in desulfurized wastewater. The specific surface area and porosity of different adsorbents were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The impacts of pH, temperature, adsorbent dosage, and adsorption shaking time on adsorption performance were investigated. Results showed the alkali-combined roasting-modified fly ash hydrotalcite has the optimum removal effect on Cl-. The optimal adsorption performance was achieved when the pH was 8, the adsorption temperature was 60 °C, the mass concentration of adsorbent was 10 g/L, the adsorption shaking time was 180 min, and the removal percentage of Cl- was 68.1%. The adsorption isotherm was consistent with the Langmuir isotherm model, and the adsorption saturation was 694.4 mg/g, which belonged to monolayer adsorption.

Particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5) concentrations vary between countries with similar carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which can be partially explained by differences in air pollution control efficacy. However, no indicator of air pollution control efficacy has yet been developed. We aimed to develop such an indicator, and to evaluate its global and temporal distribution and its association with country-level health metrics. A novel indicator, ambient population-weighted average PM2.5 concentration per unit per capita CO2 emission ( P M 2.5 / C O 2 ), was developed to assess country-specific air pollution control efficacy (abbreviated as APCI). We estimated and mapped the global average distribution of APCI and its changes during 2000–2016 across 196 countries. Pearson correlation coefficients and Generalized Additive Mixed Model (GAMM) were used to evaluate the relationship between APCI and health metrics. APCI varied by country with an inverse association with economic development. APCI showed an almost stable trend globally from 2000 to 2016, with the low-income groups increased and several countries (China, India, Bangladesh) decreased. The Pearson correlation coefficients between APCI and life expectancy at birth (LE), infant-mortality rate (IMR), under-five year of age mortality rate (U5MR) and logarithm of per capita GDP (LPGDP) were −0.57, 0.65, 0.66, −0.59 respectively (all P values

Although the association between long-term exposure to PMWe collected data on annual all-cause mortality, PMOverall, every 10 µg/mThere was socioeconomic disparity in the PM

Background Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play an important regulatory role in various cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aimed to investigate the function of hsa_circ_0006942 (circ-ATP5H) in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated HCC and its underlying mechanism. Methods The levels of circ-ATP5H, miR-138-5p and tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced protein 3 (TNFAIP3) were determined using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) or Western blot assay. The copies of HBV DNA were examined using qRT-PCR. The levels of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) were detected via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Dual-luciferase reporter assay was used to analyze the interactions among circ-ATP5H, miR-138-5p and TNFAIP3. Results Circ-ATP5H and TNFAIP3 levels were increased, while miR-138-5p level was reduced in HBV-positive HCC tissues and cells. Knockdown of circ-ATP5H hindered HBV DNA replication and decreased HBsAg and HBeAg levels in HBV-infected cells. Circ-ATP5H silencing suppressed HBV replication and expression by regulating miR-138-5p. Moreover, miR-138-5p blocked HBV replication and expression via targeting TNFAIP3. Furthermore, circ-ATP5H up-regulated TNFAIP3 via absorbing miR-138-5p. Conclusion Circ-ATP5H promoted HBV replication and expression through modulating miR-138-5p/TNFAIP3 axis, suggesting a new biomarker for HBV-related HCC treatment.

Background: Ebstein’s anomaly is a malformation of the tricuspid valve and myopathy of the right ventricle. Surgery is now the main treatment for the defect. To summarize our surgical results and experience based on patients with Ebstein’s anomaly who were under 7 years of age and treated with different surgical treatments.Materials and Methods: From January 2010 to December 2019, 80 patients under 7 years old who were diagnosed of Ebstein’s anomaly and underwent different surgical treatments were consecutively enrolled and followed up in detail. Results: The median age of the 80 patients at the time of surgery was 3.63 years. Sixty-four (80.00%) patients underwent biventricular repair while 13 (16.25%) underwent 1.5-ventricle repair. With the median follow-up 27.50 months, the long-term survival of the total cohort, 1.5-ventricular repair and biventricular repair was 82.35%, 91.67% and 100%, respectively. The long-term freedom from reoperation rate was 97.50%, 92.31% and 98.44%, respectively. Mild, moderate and severe TR before surgery occurred in 6 (7.50%), 18 (22.50%) and 56 (70.00%), respectively. The early outcomes of 78 patients were 65 (83.33%), 11 (14.11%) and 2 (2.56%); the mid-term outcomes of 72 patients were 49 (68.06%), 19 (26.38%) and 4 (5.56%). Both early and long-term valve regurgitation were significantly decreased (p< 0.001) compared with preoperative condition. No more severe regurgitation occurred (p=0.404), though some early mild regurgitation became acceptable moderate regurgitation during long-term follow-up (p=0.036). Compared with Carpentier procedure, cone procedure had better long-term effect, while the effect of whole-valve technique needed more operation and long-term follow-up.Conclusion: The reoperation rate and mid-term mortality of surgical treatment for Ebstein’s anomaly were both low, tricuspid regurgitation was significantly improved during mid-term follow up. Cone procedure had the best mid-term effect among anatomic repair.

BackgroundPM2.5 concentrations vary between countries with similar CO2 emissions, possibly due to differences in air pollution control efficacy. However, no indicator of the level of air pollution control efficacy has yet been developed. We aimed to develop such an indicator, and to evaluate its global and temporal distribution and its association with country-level health metrics.MethodA novel indicator, ground level population-weighted average PM2.5 concentration per unit CO2 emission per capita (PM2.5/CO2, written as PC in abbreviation), was developed to assess country-specific air pollution control efficacy. We estimated and mapped the global average distribution of PC and PC changes during 2000–2016 across 196 countries. Pearson correlation coefficients and Generalized Additive Mixed Model (GAMM) were used to evaluate the relationship between PC and health metrics.ResultsPC varied by country with an inverse association with the economic development. PC showed an almost stable trend globally from 2000 to 2016 with the low income groups increased. The Pearson correlation coefficients between PC and life expectancy at birth (LE), Infant-mortality rate (IMR), Under-five mortality rate (U5MR) and logarithm of GDP per capita (LPGDP) were –0.566, 0.646, 0.659, –0.585 respectively (all P-values 2.5 or CO2, PC could explain more variation of LE, IMR and U5MR. The association between PC and health metrics was independent of GDP per capita.ConclusionsPC might be a good indicator for air pollution control efficacy and was related to important health indicators. Our findings provide a new way to interpret health inequity across the globe from the point of air pollution control efficacy.

Nitrogen is an indispensable nutrient for the growth of plants and animals. It is also one of the key elements controlling the structure and function of terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. The study of the nitrogen amount in the food chain system “crop-livestock-household” could safeguard human health and lay the foundation for food production. In this paper, we focused on Jiangsu Province county in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River as the research target area. The material flow analysis and mass balance method combined with field research were used to construct a food chain production-consumption nitrogen flow model, for analyzing quantitatively the nitrogen in the crop-livestock-household system. During 2000~2016, the total inputs of nitrogen in the food chain of Jiangsu Province area decreased from 3.38×106 t N yr-1 to 3.15×106 t N yr-1. The crop production subsystem has become the main nitrogen input source in the food chain (77.84%). This may be caused by the ever-increasing urbanization rate and the shrinkage of farmland.Compared with 2000, the amount of waste nitrogen produced by the “crop-livestock-household” system in 2016 decreased by 31.17%. During this period, the poultry breeding subsystem contributed dominantly to the total waste nitrogen, which was 36.84%, followed by the household consumption subsystem of 35.90%, and 27.25% from the crop production subsystem. The waste nitrogen is mainly recycled through returning to the field and as feed. The nitrogen circulation rate is low (18.46~21.85%). The main sources of environmental nitrogen load include chemical fertilizer application, manure, straw and kitchen waste. The waste nitrogen utilization may recycle effectively the resources, and conform to the concept of building a resource-saving and environment-friendly society. The measures are benefits for sustainable development in society.

Immune microenvironment plays a critical role in lung cancer control versus progression and metastasis. In this investigation, we explored the effect of tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte subpopulations on lung cancer biology by studying in vitro cocultures, in vivo mouse models, and human lung cancer tissue. Lymphocyte conditioned media (CM) induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and migration in both primary human lung cancer cells and cell lines. Correspondingly, major accumulation of Th9 and Th17 cells was detected in human lung cancer tissue and correlated with poor survival. Coculturing lung cancer cells with Th9/Th17 cells or exposing them to the respective CM induced EMT in cancer cells and modulated the expression profile of genes implicated in EMT and metastasis. These features were reproduced by the signatory cytokines IL-9 and IL-17, with gene regulatory profiles evoked by these cytokines partly overlapping and partly complementary. Coinjection of Th9/Th17 cells with tumor cells in WT, Rag1-/-, Il9r-/-, and Il17ra-/- mice altered tumor growth and metastasis. Accordingly, inhibition of IL-9 or IL-17 cytokines by neutralizing antibodies decreased EMT and slowed lung cancer progression and metastasis. In conclusion, Th9 and Th17 lymphocytes induce lung cancer cell EMT, thereby promoting migration and metastatic spreading and offering potentially novel therapeutic strategies.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) act as a crucial part in many human diseases, particularly in cancers. circRNA HIPK3 (circHIPK3) is a special circRNA that may participate in the oncogenesis of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), even though its latent regulatory mechanism is not very clear. Here, we studied the roles of circHIPK3 in NSCLC. qRT-PCR assay was applied to study the expression of circHIPK3 in NSCLC. The influence of circHIPK3 on NSCLC was estimated by silencing circHIPK3 and miR-107 mock transfection and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) overexpression, and the correlation between circHIPK3, miR-107, and BDNF was evaluated by dual-luciferase reporter assay. The results showed that circHIPK3 expression was upregulated in NSCLC cells. circHIPK3 knockdown inhibited the migration and proliferation of NSCLC cells by promoting the expression of miR-107. circHIPK3 could be used as a miR-107 sponge to promote BDNF cell proliferation. The dual-luciferase reporter assay proved that miR-107 was the target of circHIPK3, and miR-107 had an interaction with the 3′untranslated region of BDNF. miR-107 overexpression inhibited BDNF-mediated NSCLC cell proliferation. These results indicate that circHIPK3 promotes tumor progression through a new circHIPK3/miR-107/BDNF axis, which offers potential markers and medical treatment for NSCLC.

The effect of electrostatic spraying on the formation of CO2 hydrate was experimentally studied. The effects of voltage (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 KV) and initial temperature (285.15, 282.15, 279.15 K) on the morphology, phase equilibrium temperature, induction time, rapid growth time, gas consumption, water to hydrate conversion and gas uptake rate of CO2 hydrate were analyzed. The CO2 hydrate primarily took the wall of the vessel as the nucleation site and grew from wall to the center of the reactor. The main morphological structure of CO2 hydrate were white filaments stacked in arcs, branches, and clusters. Low voltage-high initial temperature and high voltage-low initial temperature were conducive to improving the phase equilibrium temperature of CO2 hydrate. The application of voltage would prolong the induction time and shorten the rapid growth time of CO2 hydrate, and the effect would be more apparent with the increase of voltage. Lowering the initial temperature would shorten the induction time, 23 min was observed at 1.0 KV and the initial temperature of 279.15 K. The gas consumption and water to hydrate conversion change with voltage were in an order of 1.0 > 0>2.0 > 1.5>0.5 KV at the same temperature. Only 1.0 KV could enhance CO2 gas consumption, water to hydrate conversion and gas consumption rate.

Over the past years, transition metal sulfides, with remarkable redox reversibility, favorable electrical conductivity and superb theoretical capacity, have received considerable attention on the development of electrode materials that are capable of efficient and reversible storage of sodium ions. In this work, three-dimensional (3D) nanoflower-like V3S4 was applied into sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) as anode, which was successfully synthesized via a facile solvothermal process with post-calcination treatment. The electrochemical measurements demonstrate that the as-prepared V3S4 delivers a high reversible capacity of 499 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at 0.1 A g−1. Furthermore, even at a high current density of 5 A g−1, the V3S4 also exhibits an outstanding specific capacity of 299 mAh g−1 and a capacity retention rate of 58% compared with the capacity at 0.1 A g−1, which are superior to those of most vanadium sulfides for SIBs reported previously. Remarkably, the ultrahigh sodium-ion storage performance of V3S4 should be ascribed to the unique nanoflower-like structure assembled by ultrathin nanosheets, which not only provides a large specific surface area, but also offers an adequate cushion to suppress the volume expansion during the sodiation-desodiation processes. More importantly, operando Raman spectra, ex-situ X-ray diffraction and ex-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were employed to demonstrate the evolution of the structure and chemical valence of V3S4, revealing that the high capacity of V3S4 results from the cooperation of Na+ intercalation and conversion reaction. The findings of this study provide a better understanding on the sodium storage mechanism of V3S4.

Fresh e-commerce cannot be separated from cold chain logistics as a guarantee when supplying fresh agricultural products in different places. On the one hand, the high cost of cold chain logistics requires the cold chain logistic enterprises to price their services provided by cold chain logistic enterprises. On the other hand, it requires fresh e-commerce to reprice their products considering cold chain logistic cost. Whether the pricing strategies of both are proper affects the income of both sides, and also affects the consumers’ willingness to pay. Based on Steinberg game model and benefit equilibrium analysis, a three-stage pricing model with third-party cold chain logistic enterprise as leader, fresh e-commerce company as follower and consumer as secondary follower is established. Through the analysis of cooperative game and non-cooperative game, the optimal pricing and the best income of the cold chain logistic enterprises and the fresh e-commerce enterprises in the process of using cold chain logistics are obtained. Taking two different types of fresh products as an example, this paper simulates two kinds of fresh products based on pricing model, compares the two strategies of cooperative game and non-cooperative game, probes into the change of profit between fresh e-commerce and cold chain enterprises in different price ranges and selects pricing strategy.

The utilization rate of cold chain logistics in China is far lower than that in developed countries. The reasons are its high cost and low social willingness to pay. However, there is little research on the willingness of Chinese consumers to pay for cold chain logistics. Here, based on the theory of planned behavior, according to the survey data of 711 consumers in 9 cities, the improved CVM estimation method and double hurdle model are used to analyze factors influencing Chinese consumer willingness to pay for cold chain logistics and the degree of the premium payment willingness. The results show that the household income and education level of consumers, government supervision of cold chain logistics and support subsidies are the most significant impacts. Family monthly income of 15,000 yuan and bachelor degree is the dividing line of consumers’ willingness from weak to strong; the maximum premium payment of consumers is 41.7% of the original price. Therefore, with the increase of income and education level in China, consumers will more and more accept to pay the cost of cold-chain logistics, and the premium of payment will be relatively high. At the same time, the government should further improve industry standards, strengthen supervision and subsidies, and ultimately increase the utilization rate of cold chain logistics in China.

Background The association between temperature and mortality has been widely reported. However, it remains largely unclear whether inflammation-related diseases, caused by excessive or inappropriate inflammatory reaction, may be affected by ambient temperature, particularly in low-income areas. Objectives To explore the association between ambient temperature and clinical visits for inflammation-related diseases in rural villages in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, during 2012─2015. Methods Daily data on inflammation-related diseases and weather conditions were collected from 258 villages in Haiyuan (161 villages) and Yanchi (97 villages) counties during 2012─2015. A Quasi-Poisson regression with distributed lag non-linear model was used to examine the association between temperature and clinical visits for inflammation-related diseases. Stratified analyses were performed by types of diseases including arthritis, gastroenteritis, and gynecological inflammations. Results During the study period, there were 724,788 and 288,965 clinical visits for inflammation-related diseases in Haiyuan and Yanchi, respectively. Both exposure to low (RR: 2.045, 95% CI: 1.690, 2.474) and high temperatures (RR: 1.244, 95% CI: 1.107, 1.399) were associated with increased risk of total inflammation-related visits in Haiyuan county. Low temperatures were associated with increased risks of all types of inflammation-related diseases in Yanchi county (RR: 4.344, 95% CI: 2.887, 6.535), while high temperatures only affected gastroenteritis (RR: 1.274, 95% CI: 1.040, 1.561). Moderate temperatures explained approximately 26% and 33% of clinical visits due to inflammation-related diseases in Haiyuan and Yanchi, respectively, with the burden attributable to cold exposure higher than hot exposure. The reference temperature values ranged from 17 to 19 in Haiyuan, and 12 to 14 in Yanchi for all types of clinical visits. Conclusions Our findings add additional evidence for the adverse effect of suboptimal ambient temperature and provide useful information for public health programs targeting people living in rural villages.

The SO

The purpose of the study is to compare the effects of nesiritide on the discharge time and pleural effusion in children with total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC), and to provide a more reasonable clinical method for these children. Forty-four who children underwent cavopulmonary connection between January 2016 and 2017 were retrospectively collected, and 5 children were excluded from analysis due to postoperative thrombosis or second Fontan surgery due to high pulmonary hypertension. Thirteen children received nesiritide (3–11 days) plus conventional treatment as the nesiritide group, continuous infusion of nesiritide with the dose of 0.01 ug kg−1 min−1. Twenty-six children with the conventional treatment as the conventional treatment group. The length of stay in hospital and the retention time of chest drainage tube were compared between two groups. There were no significant differences in the time of cardiopulmonary bypass, postoperative ventilation time, ICU time, and vasoactive inotropic drug scores in the two groups. There were no hospital deaths in two groups. The median hospital stay was 20 days in the nesiritide group (11–56 days, means 25 days), and the median length of hospital stay was 28 days in the routine treatment group (9–95 days, means 34 days). There is no statistically significant difference between two groups with regard to the length of stay in hospital (P = 0.281). Regarding the thoracic drainage duration, the median was 17 days (9–55 days, means 22 days) in the nesiritide group and 23 days in the conventional treatment group (7–91 days, means 31 days) (P = 0.294). All the patients had no severe complications such as excessive fluid load, intractable hypotension, and liver or kidney injury. Nesiritide is safe in children who underwent cavopulmonary connection surgery. Compared with the conventional treatment group, postoperative nesiritide is not associated with improved early clinical outcomes after TCPC surgery.

Nutrient discharge into peri-urban streams and reservoirs constitutes a significant pressure on environmental management, but quantitative assessment of non-point source pollution under climate variability in fast changing peri-urban watersheds is challenging. Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to simulate water budget and nutrient loads for landscape patterns representing a 30-year progression of urbanization in a peri-urban watershed near Tianjin metropolis, China. A suite of landscape pattern indices was related to nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) loads under dry and wet climate using CANOCO redundancy analysis. The calibrated SWAT model was adequate to simulate runoff and nutrient loads for this peri-urban watershed, with Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient (NSE) and coefficient of determination (R2) > 0.70 and percentage bias (PBIAS) between −7 and +18 for calibration and validation periods. With the progression of urbanization, forest remained the main “sink” landscape while cultivated and urban lands remained the main “source” landscapes with the role of orchard and grassland being uncertain and changing with time. Compared to 1984, the landscape use pattern in 2013 increased nutrient discharge by 10%. Nutrient loads modelled under wet climate were 3–4 times higher than that under dry climate for the same landscape pattern. Results indicate that climate change could impose a far greater impact on runoff and nutrient discharge in a peri-urban watershed than landscape pattern change.

Background The association between temperature and cardio-respiratory disease in urban areas has been widely reported but there is limited information from populations living in rural areas that may be disproportionately affected by climate change. Objectives To quantify the associations between daily temperature and clinical visits due to cardiovascular and/or respiratory disease in rural villages in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China over 2012–2015. Methods Daily data on clinical visits and weather conditions were collated from 203 villages. A quasi-Poisson regression with distributed lag non-linear model was used to examine the associations between daily temperature and clinical visits up to 28 days, after controlling for potential confounders. Results Over three years, 158,733 and 1,272,212 clinical visits were recorded for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, respectively. Both low and high temperatures were associated with an increased risk of clinical visits for cardiovascular-related conditions, whereas only low temperatures were associated with increased clinical visits related to respiratory illness. The cold effect on cardiovascular visits appeared at the lag 6th day and persisted until the 22nd day, resulting in a cumulative relative risk (RR) 1.55 (95% CI: 1.26–1.92), compared with the minimum-clinical visit temperature. The cold effect on respiratory visits appeared immediately and lasted over the lag 0–28 days, with a cumulative RR 2.96 (2.74–3.21). Suboptimal temperature accounted for approximately 13% and 26% of clinic visits due to cardiovascular and respiratory disorders, respectively, with the majority of cases attributable to moderate – rather than extreme – cold temperature. Conclusions In rural settings, sub-optimal temperatures explained nearly one quarter of all clinical visits due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Although extreme cold temperature had a stronger, more immediate, prolonged effect on respiratory disease than for cardiovascular disease, moderately cold temperatures accounted for most of the overall burden of clinical visits.

Background/Aims: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) as the primary cause of end-stage kidney disease is a common complication of diabetes. However, the initiating molecular events triggering DN are unknown. Recently, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to play important roles in DN. Methods: The expression level of lncRNA 1500026H17Rik (150Rik for short) was measured by qRT-PCR (quantitative real-time PCR). Cell proliferation ability was detected by 5-Ethynyl-2’-deoxyuridine (EdU). The relationship between 150Rik and microRNA 451 (miR-451) was examined by luciferase assay and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay. Finally, the effect of 150Rik on cell proliferation through the miR-451/insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R)/mitogen-activated protein kinases (p38MAPK) pathway was detected by EdU, flow cytometry analysis, western blot. Results: We found that 150Rik, an evolutionarily conserved lncRNA, was significantly upregulated in renal tissue of db/db DN mice and in mesangial cells (MCs) cultured under a high glucose condition. Further, overexpression or knockdown of 150Rik was found to regulate cell proliferation in MCs. Moreover, 150Rik was found to interact with miR-451 in both a direct and argonaute-2 (Ago2)-dependent manner. Results also revealed that overexpression of 150Rik inhibited cell proliferation through the miR-451/IGF1R/p38MAPK pathway in MCs under the high glucose condition, while knockdown of 150Rik increased cell proliferation via the miR-451/IGF1R/p38MAPK pathway. Conclusion: Taken together, these results provide new insight into the association between 150Rik and the miR-451/IGF1R/p38MAPK signaling pathway during DN progression.

Photocatalytic oxidation has been widely used in sulfur oxidation due to its mild reaction conditions. In order to improve the efficiency of removing sulfur from coal, especially the organic sulfur, TiO2, SiO2 and modified SiO2 were used as photocatalysts under UV lamp irradiation in the presence of 1-carboxymethyl-3-methylimidazole bisulfite ([HO2MMim][HSO4]) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The results show that the photocatalysts played important roles in coal desulfurization. The desulfurization rate of [HO2MMim][HSO4]–H2O2 (1:10) treatment on coal was only 16.89%, while after adding TiO2, e.g. [HO2MMim][HSO4]–H2O2-TiO2 (1:10:4), it increases to 38.46% and the removing rate of organic sulfur approached 20.17% under normal temperature and pressure on a basis of photocatalysis. According to FTIR and XPS measurements, it is found that the catalytic oxidation can be accelerated in the presence of photocatalysts under ultraviolet irradiation, and the thiophene conversion can be enhanced significantly. Generally, TiO2 is more efficient in organic sulfur removal than SiO2 during photocatalytic oxidation. The results of quantum chemistry calculation indicates that thiophene sulfone could be produced much easier than the thiophene ring-cleaved reaction when thiophene was oxidized in the presence of hydroxyl radicals. In addition, compared to the traditional methods, the photocatalytic desulfurization only show a slight reduction of combustion heat value according to TG-DSC-DDSC measurements.

No evidence is available on whether cardiovascular mortality is affected by the ambient temperatures in Yinchuan, which is located in the northwestern region of China, with a typical continental semi-humid semi-arid climate. Daily data on cardiovascular mortality and meteorological factors was collected from Yinchuan city for the period of 2010-2015. A distributed lag non-linear model with quasi-Poisson link was used to assess the association between daily temperatures and cardiovascular deaths, after controlling for seasonality, day of the week, atmospheric pressure, humidity, sunshine duration, and wind speed. The relationship between ambient temperature and cardiovascular mortality was non-linear, with a U-shaped exposure-response curve. For all cardiovascular mortality, the effects of high temperatures appeared at lag 2-5 days, with the largest hot effect at lag 3 day (RR 1.082, 95% CI 1.021-1.146), while the effects of cold temperatures were insignificant. Both cold and high temperatures have more serious influence on the elderly (age ≥ 65) and males than the youth and females, respectively. The study has shown that both cold and high temperatures affect cardiovascular mortality. The findings may be helpful to identify the susceptible subgroups of cardiovascular mortality induced by temperatures, and to provide useful information for establishing public health programs that would better protect local population health from ambient temperatures.

On the whole, the main basis for strengthening the quality of network service is the construction of network system, reasonable arrangement of network and adjustment of information resources. In order to enhance the quality of network services, we should minimize the problems. In order to improve the quality of network, we should study more new network technologies and make up for network loopholes in time. In this study, in order to solve the efficiency problem brought by mass candidate services to quality-aware service selection, a service selection strategy based on feature matching algorithm is proposed. Based on statistical method, a probability matrix describing the mapping relationship between quality demand pattern and quality-oriented service pattern is established, and the service selection algorithm is improved by using the probability matrix. A series of experiments on artificial simulated data sets generated from real service data sets prove the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.

Among the various types of renewable energy, solar photovoltaic has elicited the most attention because of its low pollution, abundant reserve, and endless supply. Solar photovoltaic technology generates both positive and negative effects on the environment. The environmental loss of 0.00666 yuan/kWh from solar photovoltaic technology is lower than that from coal-fired power generation (0.05216 yuan/kWh). The negative effects of solar photovoltaic system production include wastewater and waste gas pollutions, the representatives of which contain fluorine, chromium with wastewater and hydrogen fluoride, and silicon tetrachloride gas. Solar panels are also a source of light pollution. Improper disposal of solar cells that have reached the end of their service life harms the environment through the stench they produce and the damage they cause to the soil. So, the positive and negative effects of green energy photovoltaic power generation technology on the environment should be considered.

In this study, ordered mesoporous inter-filled silicon carbide/silica composites containing ethylenediamine (EDA-SiC/SiO2) were fabricated by nanocasting and cold-pressing. The as-prepared composites exhibited enhanced microwave absorption. By multi-technique approach utilization, it was demonstrated that EDA acted as a carbon source during pyrolysis progress. The EDA-SiC/SiO2 fabricated at 1300 °C exhibited a minimum reflection loss (RL) of −53.0 dB at 10.1 GHz, and effective absorption bandwidth (RL

Background The strong craving to smoke is a core factor of smoking abstinence that precipitates relapse. Insula plays critical roles in maintaining nicotine dependence, especially in the interoceptive awareness of craving. Despite evidence indicating a link between insula and abstinence-induced craving, less is known about the neural basis of abstinence-induced craving from the circuit level of insula. Methods The present study examined the effects of 12 h of abstinence from smoking on the resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) of anterior (AI) and posterior insula in young smokers using a within-subject design. Thirty-three young male smokers underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning on two separate sessions: (1) smoking satiety and (2) abstinence (after ≥12 h of smoking deprivation), in counterbalanced order. Multiple regression analysis was applied to investigate the possible relationships between the RSFC changes of insula (abstinence minus satiety) and the abstinence-induced craving changes. Results Smoking abstinence state (versus satiety) was associated with increased RSFC between right AI and right medial orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), ventromedial prefrontal cortex as well as anterior cingulate cortex. The abstinence-induced RSFC changes between right AI and right lateral OFC was significantly correlated with the craving changes. Conclusions These findings improve the understanding of the effects of short-term smoking abstinence on insula circuit connectivity and may contribute new insights into the neural basis of abstinence-induced craving to smoke.

Although the activation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the striatum had been found in smoking cue induced craving task, whether and how the functional interactions and white matter integrity between these brain regions contribute to craving processing during smoking cue exposure remains unknown. Twenty-five young male smokers and 26 age- and gender-matched nonsmokers participated in the smoking cue-reactivity task. Craving related brain activation was extracted and psychophysiological interactions (PPI) analysis was used to specify the PFC-efferent pathways contributed to smoking cue-induced craving. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and probabilistic tractography was used to explore whether the fiber connectivity strength facilitated functional coupling of the circuit with the smoking cue-induced craving. The PPI analysis revealed the negative functional coupling of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the caudate during smoking cue induced craving task, which positively correlated with the craving score. Neither significant activation nor functional connectivity in smoking cue exposure task was detected in nonsmokers. DTI analyses revealed that fiber tract integrity negatively correlated with functional coupling in the DLPFC-caudate pathway and activation of the caudate induced by smoking cue in smokers. Moreover, the relationship between the fiber connectivity integrity of the left DLPFC-caudate and smoking cue induced caudate activation can be fully mediated by functional coupling strength of this circuit in smokers. The present study highlighted the left DLPFC-caudate pathway in smoking cue-induced craving in smokers, which may reflect top-down prefrontal modulation of striatal reward processing in smoking cue induced craving processing. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4644-4656, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Dendritic cells (DCs) as professional antigen presenting cells, are important in the initiation of the primary immune response. The present study compared the morphology, phenotypes and function between monocyte-derived human DCs produced from a conventional culturing system containing granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and IL-4 (IL-4-DC) and DCs generated by the stimulation of GM-CSF and interferon (IFN)-α (IFN-DC). When compared with IL-4-DC in morphology, IFN-DC contained more organelles, including endoplasmic reticulum and myelin figures, whereas mature (m)IL-4-DC contained more vacuoles in the cells. The spikes of IFN-DC were shorter and thicker. The expression of phenotypes between immature IFN-DC and IL-4-DC were diverse. Following maturation with tumor necrosis factor-α, IFN-DC and IL-4-DC upregulated the expression of cluster of differentiation (CD) 11c and CD83. Conversely, immature IFN-DC and IL-4-DC secreted few inflammatory cytokines including interleukin (IL)-18, IL-23, IL-12p70, IL-1β and anti-inflammatory IL-10. Following maturation, large amounts of the cytokines were secreted by these two DCs and mIFN-DC secreted more cytokines compared with mIL-4-DC in general. Furthermore, immature IFN-DC and IL-4-DC loaded with cytomegalovirus (CMV)-pp65 protein were unable to induce the priming of T cells, as evaluated by the intracellular staining with IFN-γ. Notably, mature DCs exhibited the ability to present CMV-pp65 protein and activate T cells. The mIFN-DC activated a greater proportion of autologous CD4+ T cells (0.91 vs. 0.31%, P

Pyruvate kinase M2 isoform (PKM2) catalyzes the last step of glycolysis and plays an important role in tumor cell proliferation. Recent studies have reported that PKM2 also regulates apoptosis. However, the mechanisms underlying such a role of PKM2 remain elusive. Here we show that PKM2 translocates to mitochondria under oxidative stress. In the mitochondria, PKM2 interacts with and phosphorylates Bcl2 at threonine (T) 69. This phosphorylation prevents the binding of Cul3-based E3 ligase to Bcl2 and subsequent degradation of Bcl2. A chaperone protein, HSP90α1, is required for this function of PKM2. HSP90α1's ATPase activity launches a conformational change of PKM2 and facilitates interaction between PKM2 and Bcl2. Replacement of wild-type Bcl2 with phosphorylation-deficient Bcl2 T69A mutant sensitizes glioma cells to oxidative stress-induced apoptosis and impairs brain tumor formation in an orthotopic xenograft model. Notably, a peptide that is composed of the amino acid residues from 389 to 405 of PKM2, through which PKM2 binds to Bcl2, disrupts PKM2-Bcl2 interaction, promotes Bcl2 degradation and impairs brain tumor growth. In addition, levels of Bcl2 T69 phosphorylation, conformation-altered PKM2 and Bcl2 protein correlate with one another in specimens of human glioblastoma patients. Moreover, levels of Bcl2 T69 phosphorylation and conformation-altered PKM2 correlate with both grades and prognosis of glioma malignancy. Our findings uncover a novel mechanism through which mitochondrial PKM2 phosphorylates Bcl2 and inhibits apoptosis directly, highlight the essential role of PKM2 in ROS adaptation of cancer cells, and implicate HSP90-PKM2-Bcl2 axis as a potential target for therapeutic intervention in glioblastoma.

Structural modification of starch using efficient α-amylases to improve its properties is an established method in the starch industry. In our previous research, the novel maltogenic α-amylase CoMA that catalyzes multi-molecular reactions has been identified. In this study, the impact of CoMA on the structure and retrogradation properties of potato starch was evaluated. CoMA cleaves internal starch chains to change the proportion of amylose and amylopectin in starch. Following treatment, visible pores and microporous on the surface of starch granules were observed from SEM analysis. CoMA modification led to increased insoluble blue complex formation and hydrolysis to shorten the outer chains, which was found to reduce the development rate of starch according to network interactions from the dynamic rheological analysis. Furthermore, maltose accumulation with water competition was also deduced to be involved in the inhibition of retrogradation. Its activities in the cleavage of internal starch granules, shortening of outer chains of starch, and maltose formation make CoMA a powerful agent for the inhibition of starch retrogradation with a very low effective dose of 0.5 mg/kg, which may find potential applications in the starch processing industry.

Content-based image retrieval can quickly find images associated with query instance from large-scale medical image databases, which can provide effective aided diagnosis information for doctors, and is beneficial to improve the accuracy of diagnosis. Deep supervised hashing not only has the ability to extract rich features from deep neural networks but also can make full use of supervised information to improve retrieval accuracy. It is also more efficient and memory-saving due to reducing the dimension of the feature vectors by the hash mapping. Therefore, it has attracted much attention. In the paper, a novel end-to-end supervised deep hashing method is proposed, where feature extraction and binary code learning are carried out by joint optimization. The semantic similarity is maintained by label information and the neighborhood structures are preserved by graph regularization. Moreover, the discrete constrained objective function is optimized directly without relaxation. Experiments have been conducted on the pulmonary nodule image dataset and the results demonstrate the proposed method can yield better retrieval performance by comparing with the state-of-the-art hashing methods.

Partial anomalous pulmonary venous drainage (PAPVD) is a common congenital heart disease. If the insertion of an anomalous pulmonary vein (PV) is high into the superior vena cava (SVC), the traditional 1-patch or 2-patch surgical repair might be challenging. Unlike patch procedures, the cavoatrial anastomosis technique (Warden procedure) theoretically reduces complications such as sinus node dysfunction and venous obstruction. We investigate outcomes of the Warden procedure (WP) at a single institution. A total of 67 patients (42 males and 25 females) with PAPVD who underwent the WP between January 2011 and December 2018 were consecutively enrolled. The median age was 2.8 years (3–61 years old). 52 cases were younger than 18 years old. perioperative and follow-up clinical data were collected. In addition, we selected possible risk factors (a total of 18 risk factors) of SVC stenosis or obstruction. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to confirm the independent risk factors. The average Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) time was 132.3 ± 46.3 min, and the aortic cross-clamp time was 85.2 ± 35.7 min. One patient died postoperatively in hospital. The mean follow-up time of the remaining patients (n = 66) was 15.8 ± 14.5 months (3–64 months). No abnormal cardiac function or sinus node dysfunction cases were identified during the follow-up. Of the survival patients, no venous obstruction was presented before the discharge. Numbers of patients identified with mild PV and SVC stenosis were 1 (1.5%) and 7 (10.6%, 4 of them turned negative eventually) at discharge. At the last follow-up, no PV obstruction was identified, whereas, 4 cases (6%) had SVC obstruction. Numbers of PV and SVC stenosis cases were 3 (4.5%) and 8 (12%). Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that only the diameter of SVC less than 10 mm was an independent risk factor for SVC stenosis or obstruction at the last follow-up. Warden procedure can effectively treat PAPVD (anomalous drainages into SVC), with satisfactory early and mid-term postoperative results. Different modifications of the Warden procedure may be selected according to the anatomic characteristics. The diameter of SVC less than 10 mm predicts SVC stenosis or obstruction after Warden procedure.

IL-17-producing CD8+ (Tc17) cells are enriched in active lesions of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), suggesting a role in the pathogenesis of autoimmunity. Here we show that amelioration of MS by dimethyl fumarate (DMF), a mechanistically elusive drug, associates with suppression of Tc17 cells. DMF treatment results in reduced frequency of Tc17, contrary to Th17 cells, and in a decreased ratio of the regulators RORC-to-TBX21, along with a shift towards cytotoxic T lymphocyte gene expression signature in CD8+ T cells from MS patients. Mechanistically, DMF potentiates the PI3K-AKT-FOXO1-T-BET pathway, thereby limiting IL-17 and RORγt expression as well as STAT5-signaling in a glutathione-dependent manner. This results in chromatin remodeling at the Il17 locus. Consequently, T-BET-deficiency in mice or inhibition of PI3K-AKT, STAT5 or reactive oxygen species prevents DMF-mediated Tc17 suppression. Overall, our data disclose a DMF-AKT-T-BET driven immune modulation and suggest putative therapy targets in MS and beyond., Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) is a therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS) with undetermined mechanism of action. Here the authors find that clinical response to DMF associates with decrease in IL-17-producing CD8+ T cells (Tc17), delineate molecular pathways involved, and show that DMF suppresses Tc17 pathogenicity in a mouse model of MS.

The number of men who have sex with men (MSM) living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in China has increased rapidly and thus immediate highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) after diagnosis was implemented as a strategy to reduce the HIV transmission.MSM who were diagnosed with HIV and received HAART between 2013 to 2015 in Xi'an were divided into three groups (350, 200-350, and200 cell/μL) according to their baseline CD4+ T cell count. The time of follow-up was calculated from the first date of receiving HAART to December 31, 2016. The CD4+ T cell count was detected with 1 week before or after HAART. The plasma viral loads were tested after 1, 2, and 3 years of treatment.Of 1442 subjects who received HAART, 690 (47.9%) cases were in350 cell/μL group, whereas 400 (27.7%) cases and 352 (24.4%) cases were in the 200-350 cell/μL group and200 cell/μL group, respectively. After 1 year of treatment, the viral suppression rate in the200 cell/μL group was 91.1%, which was significantly lower than the other two groups. The logistic regression results show that the350 cell/μL group and 200-350 cell/μL group predicted higher viral suppression rates.Baseline CD4+ T cell count more than 350 cell/μL can improve viral suppression among MSM living with HIV. Furthermore, to reduce the transmission risk, the treatment compliance of people living with HIV with high CD4+ T cell levels should be improved, and their diagnosis to the treatment time should be decreased.

In this paper, reduced graphenoxide/attapulgite (rGO/APT)-supported nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) composites (rGO/APT-nZVI) were synthesized to remove acid red 18 (AR18) and other organic dyes from aqueous solutions. The structure of synthetic rGO/APT-nZVI composite was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the removal properties of rGO/APT-nZVI on AR18 were investigated. The factors of various experimental parameters (ratio, pH, initial concentration, temperature, and time) impacting on removal of AR18 were studied as well. Comparison experiment of different materials showed that 93.5% of AR18 was removed using rGO/APT-nZVI, while only 7.9% and 64.8% of AR18 were removed using rGO/APT-nZVI after reacting for 30 min with an initial AR18 concentration of 100 mg L−1, respectively. Moreover, kinetic and thermodynamic analyses were used to study the reduction process, and possible mechanism of AR18 removal was discussed. The results show that the rGO/APT-nZVI composites can effectively degrade AR18 over a wide range of pH and keep degradation activity in a long storage. In addition, the superior behaviors for other organic dyes removal highlight the great potential as an efficient adsorbent for water pollution.

Dissertação apresentada à Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ciências da Cultura

To improve the performance of laser triangulation method for the silicon melt level detection, firstly, a voting mechanism based laser line coordinates calculation method is proposed in this paper. We take the vote according to the vertical coordinates of the laser spots, which are composed of the laser line affected by liquid surface fluctuation in the liquid level measurement image, to estimate the actual coordinate of the laser line. Secondly, A parallel cost-reference particle filter method is used to filter the coordinates, and a linear conversion is used to obtain the true value of the liquid level. Finally, the experimental results for the measurement data of the liquid level show that the proposed method can avoid the occurrence of impulse noise, and improve the robustness of the liquid level system effectively. Moreover, the proposed filter method is introduced to correct the liquid level measurement data.

Background Although the association between long-term exposure to PM2.5 and mortality has been evaluated intensively, little is known about the socioeconomic disparity in the association. Methods We collected data on annual all-cause mortality, PM2.5 concentration, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of 2640 counties from the two most recent Chinese censuses in 2000 and 2010. We applied the difference-in-differences (DID) method to estimate PM2.5-mortality association for counties at different quartiles of literacy rate, college rate, urbanization rate and GDP per capita, respectively. Results Overall, every 10 µg/m3 increase in annual average PM2.5 was associated with 3.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.0–5.0) increase of all-cause mortality. The stratified analysis suggested higher health impact of exposure in counties with lower socioeconomic status. For counties of the lowest quartile (Q1) of literacy rate, college rate, urbanization rate and GDP per capita, the effect estimates were 6.0% (95% CI: 4.2–7.7), 4.4% (95% CI: 2.8–6.0), 3.5% (95% CI: 2.0–5.1) and 4.9% (95% CI: 2.7–7.1), respectively. There was strong evidence for elevated risk in mortality associated with PM2.5 of all socioeconomic factors in the lowest quartile (Q1) compared with the highest quartile counties (Q4) (p-value for difference Conclusions There was socioeconomic disparity in the PM2.5-mortality association in China. Dwellers living in less developed counties are more vulnerable to long-term exposure to ambient PM2.5 than those living in developed counties.

Cigarette smoking during young adult may result in serious health issues in later life. Hence, it is extremely necessary to study the smoking neurophysiological mechanisms in this critical transitional period. However, few studies revealed the electrophysiological mechanisms of cognitive processing biases in young adult smokers. In present study, nineteen young smokers with 12 h abstinent and 19 matched nonsmokers were recruited. By employing event-related potentials (ERP) measurements during a smoking cue induced craving task, electrophysiological brain responses were compared between the young adult smokers and nonsmokers. The Slow Positive Wave (SPW) amplitude of smoking-related cues was enhanced in young adult smokers compared with nonsmokers. In addition, increased P300/SPW component of smoking-related cues relative to neutral cues were found in young adult smokers. Meanwhile, a positive correlation between Cigarette Per Day (CPD) and the amplitude of ERPs wave (P300/SPW) at anterior (Fz), central (Cz) were observed in young adult smokers. Our findings provided direct electrophysiological evidence for the cognitive processing bias of smoking cue and may shed new insights into the smoking behavior in young adult smokers.

The insula has been implicated in cognitive control and craving, all of which are critical to the clinical manifestations of nicotine dependence. However, little evidence exists about the abnormalities in resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) of the insula in young smokers, which might improve our understanding of the neural mechanisms of nicotine dependence. Due to the structural and functional heterogeneity of the insula, the RSFC patterns of both left and right anterior (AI) and posterior insula (PI) were investigated in young smokers and non-smokers. Meanwhile, the relationship was assessed between the neuroimaging findings and clinical information (pack-years, FTND, and craving) as well as cognitive control deficits measured by Stroop task performance. Compared with non-smokers, young smokers showed reduced RSFC between right AI and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), amygdala, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and dorsal striatum. Additionally, left AI showed reduced RSFC with ACC. Both left and right PI network differences were not observed between two groups. Moreover, in young smokers, FTND and incongruent errors in the Stroop task were negatively correlated with the RSFC between AI and ACC. Craving scores showed a significantly negative relationship with the RSFC strength between right AI and left VMPFC. These results provide a more thorough network-level understanding the role of insula in cigarette smoking. The findings provide new insights into the roles of AI-ACC circuit in cognitive control deficits and right AI-VMPFC circuit relevant to the craving of nicotine dependence for young smokers.

Fe-SiC/SiO2 monolithic composites with ordered inter-filled structure and high crystallinity were successfully prepared by nanocasting and cold-pressing at 1200 °C, using polycarbosilane as a precursor and ordered mesoporous silica SBA-15 as a template. In the composites, SiC particles can be endowed with high crystallinity by a trace of Fe-doping and incorporated into nanochannels of the SBA-15 to form the ordered rodlike arrays. Their high-temperature microwave absorbing properties were investigated from 25 to 500 °C in X-band (8.2–12.4 GHz), in which SiC particles acted as electromagnetic (EM) wave absorbers and SiO2 as EM wave transparent matrix. Both of the complex permittivity and dielectric loss gradually enhanced with the rising temperatures. A minimum reflection loss (RL) value of −32 dB and a broader absorption band (RL

In the present work, seven 1-allyl-3-methylimizodalium carboxylate ionic liquids (ILs), including 1-allyl-3-methylimizodalium formate [Amim][HCOO], acetate [Amim][CH 3 COO], propionate [Amim][CH 3 CH 2 COO], butyrate [Amim][CH 3 (CH 2 ) 2 COO], glycollate [Amim][HOCH 2 COO], lactate [Amim][CH 3 CHOHCOO]) and benzoate [Amim][C 6 H 5 COO], have been synthesized and characterized. Density ( ρ ) and conductivity ( σ ) have been determined experimentally for these ILs at 298.15 K and atmospheric pressure. Then molar volume ( V m ), standard entropy ( S °), lattice energy ( U POT ) and molar conductivity ( Λ ) of the ILs have been derived from the density and conductivity data. Ionicity of the ILs has been estimated using the Walden plot. Meanwhile, how anionic structure of the ILs affects the volumetric and conductivity properties of 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium carboxylate ILs has been discussed from the analysis of structure–property relationship.

Phenylboronic acid and folate grafted chitosan hydrochloride (FHCSPBA) was synthesized and confirmed by FTIR and 1H NMR. Glucose and pH dually responsive micelles were obtained through self-assembly of the amphiphilic polymers. The prepared FHCSPBA micelles displayed good biocompatibility and sustained drug release of the model drug doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX). The cumulative drug release from the polymeric micelles showed obvious pH and glucose dependence and was accelerated by slightly decreasing the medium pH or increasing the glucose concentration. In vitro antitumor efficiency was evaluated by incubating the DOX loaded micelles with 4T1 breast cancer cells, and the results showed that folate-targeted micelles had higher antitumor activity than the non-targeted ones. Cellular uptake demonstrated by confocal microscopy indicated that free DOX was internalized in the nuclei of 4T1 cells, while the DOX loaded micelles were internalized in the cytoplasm. The cellular uptake of the micelles was enhanced by folate, with stronger fluorescence intensity in the cytoplasm, due to active FR-mediated endocytosis. These folate-conjugated glucose and pH dually responsive micelles may be a potential antitumor drug delivery system for cancer chemotherapy.