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Background: Sex differences in the pathogenesis of hypertension exist. While gut microbiota (GM) has been associated with hypertension, it is unclear whether there are sex-linked differences in the association between GM and hypertension. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate the sex differences in associations between GM characterized by shotgun sequencing, GM-derived short-chain fatty acids, and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure in 241 Hong Kong Chinese (113 men and 128 women; mean age, 54±6 years). Results: The hypertensive group was associated with GM alterations; however, significant differences in β-diversity and GM composition in hypertensive versus normotensive groups were only observed in women and not in men under various statistical models adjusting for the following covariates: age, sex, body mass index, sodium intake estimated by spot urine analysis, blood glucose, triglycerides, low- and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, smoking, menopause, and fatty liver status. Specifically, Ruminococcus gnavus , Clostridium bolteae , and Bacteroides ovatus were significantly more abundant in the hypertensive women, whereas Dorea formicigenerans was more abundant in the normotensive women. No bacterial species were found to be significantly associated with hypertension in men. Furthermore, total plasma short-chain fatty acids and propionic acid were independent predictors of systolic and diastolic blood pressure in women but not men. Conclusions: GM dysregulation was strongly associated with 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure in women but not men, which may be mediated through propionic acid. Our work suggests that sex differences may be an important consideration while assessing the role of GM in the development and treatment of hypertension.

Recent literature has been debating the performance of high-technology zones (HTZs) in developing countries. This paper contributes to this debate by examining how national HTZs in China affect all...

Introduction: The study aimed to assess the level of standard first aid knowledge among Hong Kong undergraduates and identify the associated factors, and to examine their attitudes, training preferences and obstacles in first aid training. Methods: This cross-sectional study employed a structured online questionnaire covering demographic data, first aid knowledge assessment and attitude evaluation. Participants were recruited by convenience sampling from August to October 2020. Inclusion criteria included full-time undergraduates studying for the first degree in Hong Kong and receiving primary and secondary education in Hong Kong. To contrast undergraduates studying medical and non-medical degrees, a set ratio of 1:1 was employed, and estimated proportions were weighted according to the ratio of medical and non-medical undergraduates in the population. Unweighted data were used in logistic regressions. Results: Among 385 respondents, the weighted proportion of good knowledge of standard first aid was 15.2% (95% confidence interval (CI): 11.6%–18.8%) and that of good attitudes towards standard first aid was 71.3% (95% CI: 66.8%–75.8%). Holding valid or expired standard first aid certificates (valid: odds ratio (OR) = 9.897, p Conclusion: The proportion of undergraduates in Hong Kong with good first aid knowledge was unsatisfactory, but the counterpart with a good attitude was encouraging. Standard first aid training should be proactively provided to all the local undergraduates, regardless of their enrollment in medical- or non-medical-related degrees.

High maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE

In this research, an economical and eco-friendly ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) with compressive strength of more than 120 MPa was prepared with the dosage of sewage sludge ash (SSA) at 8 wt%. The results indicate that the addition of SSA has an adverse influence on the workability of UHPC samples due to its special morphology. Furthermore, the microstructure and phase assemblage of SSA-based UHPC were determined and the results show that SSA inhibits the early hydration of cement clinker, while promotes the precipitation of additional hydration products at later curing ages due to its pozzolanic reaction. The pore structure analysis of SSA-based UHPC determined by mercury intrusion porosimetry indicates that the addition of SSA increases the cumulative pore volume, while decreases the large pore volume of UHPC. Economic and environmental analysis indicates that using SSA-based UHPC greatly reduces the unit cost and the impacts on the environment.

The influence of gate voltage in the off state (Vg,off) on the stability of the transfer curve of an organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) based on interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) is studied i...

Objectives: To report, the authors’ experience with percutaneous transhepatic biliary stone removal, focusing on the technical aspects and overall performance, as well as reviewing few challenging cases. Material and Methods: All cases of percutaneous transhepatic biliary stone removal from 2015 to 2022 were retrieved, including intrahepatic locations. Cases with negative initial cholangiogram suggestive of stone passage were excluded from the study. The demographic data, procedural indications and details, stone characteristics, fluoroscopic images, success rate, and complications were retrospectively evaluated by two experienced observers. Results: The final study included 67 patients (mean age = 76.8). Majority of indications were altered gastric anatomy and failed endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. The mean largest stone size was 9 mm and most cases had multiple stones. Balloon sphincteroplasty was performed in all cases and mechanical lithotripsy in 24%. Fourteen cases required repeated trials, and they were mostly staged, depending on technical factors and patient condition. Recurrent pyogenic cholangitis (RPC) usually required repeated trials, and two separate sites of catheterization were made in the same lobe for one challenging case. Complete stone retrieval was not achieved in 9% (six out of 67) of cases: failure of mechanical lithotripsy (n = 2); failure of balloon occlusion technique (n = 1); refluxed stone (n = 1); and multiplicity of intrahepatic stones (n = 2). Three minor complications were encountered, including sepsis and self-controlled hemobilia. No major complications. Conclusion: Percutaneous extrahepatic biliary stone removal is a safe and technically feasible procedure after a failed endoscopic approach or altered biliary tract anatomy. Cases of RPC or previous Whipple’s operation could be technically challenging. Careful pre-procedural planning and anatomical review are crucial.

We demonstrate the preparation of uniformly distributed poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) nanowire (NW) networks on a variety of substrates. We studied changes in the optical, electronic, and morpholog...

Background Dietary phosphate restriction improves survival in cats with chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, feeding a phosphate-restricted diet may disrupt calcium homeostasis leading to hypercalcemia in some cats. Objectives To identify risk factors associated with increasing plasma total calcium (tCa) concentration after transition to a phosphate-restricted diet and to explore its role in CKD-mineral and bone disorder (CKD-MBD) in cats. Animals Seventy-one geriatric (≥9 years) euthyroid client-owned cats with International Renal Interest Society (IRIS) stage 2 to 3 azotemic CKD. Methods Retrospective cross-sectional cohort study. Changes in plasma tCa concentration in the first 200 days of diet transition were assessed using linear regression. Binary logistic regressions were performed to identify risk factors for increasing calcium concentration. Changes in clinicopathological variables associated with CKD-MBD over time were explored using linear mixed model and generalized linear mixed model analyses. Results Lower baseline plasma potassium (odds ratio [OR] = 1.19 per 0.1 mmol/L decrease; P = .003) and phosphate (OR = 1.15 per 0.1 mmol/L decrease; P = .01) concentrations remained independent risk factors for increasing plasma tCa concentration. Plasma creatinine (β = .069 ± .029 mg/dL; P = .02), symmetric dimethylarginine (β = .64 ± .29 μg/dL; P = .03), phosphate (β = .129 ± .062 mg/dL; P = .04), and ln[FGF23] (β = .103 ± .035 pg/mL; P = .004) concentrations had significantly increased rates of change in cats with increasing plasma tCa concentration over time. Conclusion and clinical importance Lower plasma potassium or phosphate concentrations or both at the time of transition of cats with CKD to a phosphate-restricted diet are independently associated with increased risk of an increase in plasma tCa concentration. Increasing plasma tCa concentration is associated with progression of CKD.

OBJECTIVE To identify antimicrobial susceptibility patterns for aerobic bacteria isolated from reptilian samples and, from those patterns, identify antimicrobials that could be considered for empirical treatment of reptiles with suspected bacterial infections. SAMPLES 129 bacterial isolates from 61 of 127 samples from 96 reptiles. PROCEDURES Medical records of reptiles (chelonian, crocodilian, lizard, and snake) presented to the zoological medical service of a veterinary teaching hospital between January 2005 and December 2016 were reviewed for submissions of patient samples for aerobic bacterial culture and susceptibility testing. Sample type, presence or absence of bacterial growth, and antimicrobial susceptibilities of isolated bacteria were recorded. The isolation frequency and the antimicrobial susceptibilities of bacterial genera and species were tabulated. RESULTS Pseudomonas spp and Enterococcus spp were the most frequently isolated gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, respectively. Isolates of gram-negative bacteria frequently had susceptibility to amikacin (86%), gentamicin (95%), tobramycin (92%), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (83%), and gram-positive bacteria frequently had susceptibility to ampicillin (83%), chloramphenicol (92%), doxycycline (100%), and gentamicin (100%). Isolates of gram-positive bacteria were consistently resistant to ceftazidime. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Aerobic bacterial culture and antimicrobial susceptibility results for reptilian samples in this population indicated that aminoglycosides and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole or ampicillin and doxycycline could be considered as options for the empirical treatment of reptiles with infections caused by gram-negative or gram-positive bacteria, respectively.

Telematics collects the key operating parameters of a vehicle, e.g., vehicle speed and GPS locations, etc. that will be wirelessly transmitted to a cloud platform for making big data analysis and providing big-data-enabled services, e.g., fleet management. However, the high cost of the data transmission and storage makes it hard to collect the vehicle operating data in a high sampling frequency; as a result, limiting the performance of data analysis and the quality of the related services. To balance the cost of the data collection and the quality of data-enabled services, this paper proposes a sampling strategy that can adaptively determine the sampling locations under the constraint of a pre-specified fixed sample size or sampling rate with the aim of best reconstructing the original sensing data (original signals). The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated using a real telematics data application of estimating the vehicle kinetic energy consumption.

Pak Kan Tang, Intern in Small Animal Medicine at the University College Dublin, invites Companion readers to consider a Rottweiler with bilateral hyphema, which he saw as an intern at Highcroft Veterinary Referrals.

Assembling soft matters such as polymers into ordered structures remains as a challenge because of their intrinsic flexibility that can easily lead to entanglements and disordered bundles. This work demonstrates that macroscopic P3HT fibers (∼several cm) can be formed via DC electric field induced assembly of pre-aggregated high-aspect ratio P3HT nanowhiskers in solution. The P3HT fibers assemble along the local electric field directions including curved electric field lines. The impacts of DC electric field strength, solvent polarity, and nanowire microstructure types on the assembly process are studied, leading to a proposed assembly mechanism. This method provides a general way of electrokinetically assembling flexible molecules such as conjugated polymers by utilizing their secondary 1D nanoaggregates as the building blocks. The assembled macroscopic fibers remain high crystallinity and do not dissociate back into nanowires after the electric field is removed, offering intriguing opportunities for a variety of optoelectronic applications.

Conversion of CO2 into value-added chemicals and fuels provides a direct solution to reduce excessive CO2 in the atmosphere. Herein, a novel catalytic reaction system is presented by coupling the dehydrogenation of glucose with the hydrogenation of a CO2 -derived salt, ammonium carbonate, in an ethanol-water mixture. For the first time, the hydrogenation of CO2 to formate by glucose has been achieved under ambient conditions. Under the optimal reaction conditions, the highest yield of formate reached approximately 46 %. We find that the apparent pH value in the ethanol-water mixture plays a central role in determining the performance of the hydrogen-transfer reaction. Based on the 13 C NMR and ESI-MS results, a possible pathway of the coupled glucose dehydrogenation and CO2 hydrogenation reactions was proposed.

The chemical doping reaction of P3HT with F4-TCNQ was studied by optical absorption spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and Kelvin probe force microscopy. We demonstrate that P3HT aggregation preferentially occurs before the actual charge transfer step takes place, emphasizing the impact of morphology on the chemical doping reaction of conjugated polymers at the molecular level.

A key question in development economics is why developing countries as a collective group experience so much growth volatility. This paper introduces a new technique to measure medium-term macroeconomic volatility that is defined by the trend-growth volatility of output. It shows that medium-term volatility, $$\sigma _{\mathrm{MT}}^2 $$ , can be derived by subtracting the average short-term volatility, $$\left( {1/n} \right) \sum _j^n \sigma _{Sj}^2 $$ , from the total variance of output growth, $$\sigma _{\mathrm{LT}}^2 $$ . Applying this new measure to the World Bank’s output data reveals an inverted-U shaped relationship between medium-term volatility and economic development, indicating that economic development is likely to increase trend-growth volatility for emerging low-income countries.

Mineral derangements are a common consequence of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Despite the well-established role of phosphorus in the pathophysiology of CKD, the implications of calcium disturbances associated with CKD remain equivocal. Calcium plays an essential role in numerous physiological functions in the body and is a fundamental structural component of bone. An understanding of calcium metabolism is required to understand the potential adverse clinical implications and outcomes secondary to the (mal)adaptation of calcium-regulating hormones in CKD. The first part of this two-part review covers the physiology of calcium homeostasis (kidneys, intestines and bones) and details the intimate relationships between calcium-regulating hormones (parathyroid hormone, calcitriol, fibroblast growth factor 23, α-Klotho and calcitonin) and the role of the calcium-sensing receptor.

This paper explores whether conducting scientific and technical (S&T) research reduces the volatility of output growth. The paper finds robust evidence that output volatility is significantly lowered by a country's production of S&T publications. The results show that the effect of S&T publications on output volatility is particularly strong in middle-income, OECD and other high-income countries. However, for East-Asian, low-income and sub-Saharan African countries the effect is either weak or absent. These results provide strong evidence that not only OECD and other high-income countries are actively engaged in S&T research, emerging developing countries are also conducting S&T research, which is effective in reducing output volatility. The results are robust to adding a host of control variables, various subsamples and different estimation techniques.

Building detection from high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image is an essential issue for many SAR applications in urban areas. In this letter, we propose a novel bottom-up/top-down hybrid algorithm for model-based building detection from single very high resolution (VHR) SAR image. First, the building model is generated and described by a set of extraction criteria, which restrict the spatial layout of a building and its primitive features. Specifically, the rectangles of different intensity levels are extracted from the SAR image as primitive features. Then the bottom-up stage proposes building candidates composed by extracted rectangles, and the top-down step predicts building candidates composed by weak features omitted in the primitive extraction. After that, all candidates are verified through false alarm detection. Under this framework, the detection performances can be greatly improved especially in dense built-up areas. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by experimental results obtained from real VHR SAR images.

The demand for bio-jet fuels to reduce carbon emissions is increasing substantially in the aviation sector, while the scarcity of high-density jet fuel components limits the use of bio-jet fuels in high-performance aircrafts compared with conventional jet fuels. Herein, we report a novel biphasic tandem catalytic process (biTCP) for synthesizing cycloalkanes from renewable terpenoid biomass, such as 1,8-cineole. Multistep tandem reactions, including C–O ring opening by hydrolysis, dehydration, and hydrogenation, were carried out in the “one-pot” biTCP. 1,8-Cineole was efficiently converted to p-menthane at high yields (>99%) in the biTCP under mild reaction conditions. The catalytic reaction mechanism is discussed.

In this paper, a data-driven power transformer anomaly detection method is presented. For transformers with multiple working states and nonlinearity of data, adaptive kernel fuzzy C-means clustering (KFCM) algorithm is used to cluster sample data, each class corresponds to a working state. Then, the kernel principal component analysis (KPCA) is used to obtain projection matrices and anomaly detection limits of various classes. A method for online update of sample data is designed in this paper. Finally, the measured data of the power transformer is used for experiment, and the results are compared with the results obtained by using the conventional KPCA algorithm. The experimental results prove the correctness and effectiveness of the method in this paper.

We present cross-country evidence that a country’s macroeconomic volatility, measured either by the standard deviation of output growth or the occurrence of trend-growth breaks, is significantly affected by the country’s historical variables. In particular, countries with longer histories of state-level political institutions experience less macroeconomic volatility in post-war periods. Robustness checks reveal that the effect of this historical variable on volatility remains significant and substantial after controlling for a host of structural variables investigated in previous studies. We also find that the state history variable is more important in countries with a higher level of macroeconomic volatility.