A three‐dimensional Ni foam deposited with graphene layers on surfaces is used as a conducting solid support to load MoSx catalysts for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution. The graphene sheets grown ...on Ni foams provide robust protection and efficiently increase the stability in acid. The superior performance of hydrogen evolution is attributed to the relatively high catalyst loading weight as well as its relatively low resistance.
Most of the state governments in United States (U.S.) issued lockdown or business restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, which created a unique opportunity to evaluate the air quality ...response to reduced economic activities. Data acquired from 28 long-term air quality stations across the U.S. revealed widespread but nonuniform reductions of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and carbon monoxide (CO) during the first phase of lockdown (March 15–April 25, 2020) relative to a pre-lockdown reference period and historical baselines established in 2017–2019. The reductions, up to 49% for NO2 and 37% for CO, are statistically significant at two thirds of the sites and tend to increase with local population density. Significant reductions of particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) only occurred in the Northeast and California/Nevada metropolises where NO2 declined the most, while the changes in ozone (O3) were mixed and relatively minor. These findings are consistent with lower transportation and utility demands that dominate NO2 and CO emissions, especially in major urban areas, due to the lockdown. This study provides an insight into potential public health benefits with more aggressive air quality management, which should be factored into strategies to reopen the U.S. and global economy.
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•The lockdown issued due to COVID-19 had nonuniformly impacted air quality in the US.•Consistent NO2 and CO declines corroborate with low transportation/utility demands.•Reductions in NO2 ranged 5–49% and tended to increase with local population density.•Significant PM reductions only occurred where NO2 declined the most.•The impact on O3 was mixed, generally within ±20%.
The remote hydrogen plasma is able to create abundant S‐vacancies on amorphous molybdenum sulfide (a‐MoSx) as active sites for hydrogen evolution. The results demonstrate that the plasma‐treated ...a‐MoSx exhibits superior performance and higher stability than Pt in a proton exchange membrane based electrolyzers measurement as a proof‐of‐concept of industrial application.
Rotating shift work is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study compared the CVD risk score in 129 male line workers aged 22–49 years on different shifts in a ...medium-sized metal production factory from 2017 to 2020. We classified workers into four groups: permanent day shift, weekly rotation involving five consecutive nights, weekly rotation involving 3–4 consecutive nights, and monthly rotation involving two consecutive nights. We used the Framingham Risk Score to estimate the 30-yr risks of general and hard CVD (CVD risk estimates). We investigated the differences in CVD risk estimates between different groups using linear mixed models. The average 30-yr Framingham CVD risk estimates of each group ranged from 17.5% to 31.2% for general CVD and from 10.5% to 20.5% for hard CVD. Workers on weekly rotations involving 3–5 consecutive nights had 5%–10% significantly higher CVD risk estimates than workers on the permanent day shift. Workers on weekly rotations also had 6%–8% higher BMI-based CVD risk estimates than those on the monthly rotation involving two consecutive nights. While 24-h shift rotations are unavoidable, our findings underscored the potential CVD risk among workers on weekly rotations involving more consecutive nights.
Personalized medical care focuses on prediction of disease risk and response to medications. To build the risk models, access to both large-scale genomic resources and human genetic studies is ...required. The Taiwan Biobank (TWB) has generated high-coverage, whole-genome sequencing data from 1492 individuals and genome-wide SNP data from 103,106 individuals of Han Chinese ancestry using custom SNP arrays. Principal components analysis of the genotyping data showed that the full range of Han Chinese genetic variation was found in the cohort. The arrays also include thousands of known functional variants, allowing for simultaneous ascertainment of Mendelian disease-causing mutations and variants that affect drug metabolism. We found that 21.2% of the population are mutation carriers of autosomal recessive diseases, 3.1% have mutations in cancer-predisposing genes, and 87.3% carry variants that affect drug response. We highlight how TWB data provide insight into both population history and disease burden, while showing how widespread genetic testing can be used to improve clinical care.
There is a global commitment to eliminating tuberculosis (TB). It is critical to detect and treat cases of latent TB infection (LTBI), the reservoir of new TB cases. Our study assesses trends in ...publication of LTBI-related research.
We used the keywords ("latent tuberculosis" OR "LTBI" OR "latent TB") to search the Web of Science for LTBI-related articles published 1995-2018, then classified the results into three research areas: laboratory sciences, clinical research, and public health. We calculated the proportions of LTBI-related articles in each area to three areas combined, the average rates of LTBI-related to all scientific and TB-related articles, and the average annual percent changes (AAPC) in rates for all countries and for the top 13 countries individually and combined publishing LTBI research.
The proportion of LTBI-related articles increased over time in all research areas, with the highest AAPC in laboratory (38.2%/yr), followed by public health (22.9%/yr) and clinical (15.1%/yr). South Africa (rate ratio RR = 8.28, 95% CI 5.68 to 12.08) and India (RR = 2.53, 95% CI 1.74 to 3.69) had higher RRs of overall TB-related articles to all articles, but did not outperform the average of the top 13 countries in the RRs of LTBI-related articles to TB-related articles. Italy (RR = 1.95, 95% CI 1.45 to 2.63), Canada (RR = 1.73, 95% CI 1.28 to 2.34), and Spain (RR = 1.53, 95% CI 1.13 to 2.07) had higher RRs of LTBI-related articles to TB-related articles.
High TB burden countries (TB incidence > 100 per 100,000 population) published more overall TB-related research, whereas low TB burden countries showed greater focus on LTBI. Given the potential benefits, high TB burden countries should consider increasing their emphasis on LTBI-related research.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Summary Background The potential for a global epidemic of asbestos-related diseases is a growing concern. Our aim was to assess the ecological association between national death rates from diseases ...associated with asbestos and historical consumption of asbestos. Methods We calculated, for all countries with data, yearly age-adjusted mortality rates by sex (deaths per million population per year) for each disease associated with asbestos (pleural, peritoneal, and all mesothelioma, and asbestosis) in 2000–04 and mean per head asbestos consumption (kg per person per year) in 1960–69. We regressed death rates for the specified diseases against historical asbestos consumption, weighted by the size of sex-specific national populations. Findings Historical asbestos consumption was a significant predictor of death for all mesothelioma in both sexes (adjusted R2 =0·74, p<0·0001, 2·4-fold 95% CI 2·0–2·9 mortality increase was predicted per unit consumption increase for men; 0·58, p<0·0001, and 1·6-fold 1·4–1·9 mortality increase was predicted for women); for pleural mesothelioma in men (0·29, p=0·0015, 1·8-fold 1·3–2·5); for peritoneal mesothelioma in both sexes (0·54, p<0·0001, 2·2-fold 1·6–2·9 for men, 0·35, p=0·0008, and 1·4-fold for women 1·2–1·6); and for asbestosis in men (0·79, p<0·0001, 2·7-fold 2·2–3·4). Linear regression lines consistently had intercepts near zero. Interpretation Within the constraints of an ecological study, clear and plausible associations were shown between deaths from the studied diseases and historical asbestos consumption, especially for all mesothelioma in both sexes and asbestosis in men. Our data strongly support the recommendation that all countries should move towards eliminating use of asbestos.
Long working hours are recognized as a risk factor for cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases (CCVD). We investigated the relationship between working hours and different CCVD severity ...outcomes-death, disability, and illness-across industries in Taiwan from 2006 to 2016. We applied a generalized additive mixed model to estimate the association between working hours and the rate of each severity outcome, adjusted for salary, unemployment rate, time, and a random intercept. Industry-average working hours were significantly associated with each outcome level of overwork-related CCVD, especially when monthly working hours increased from 169 (relative risk RR = 1.46, 95% confidence interval CI 1.002-2.12) to 187 (RR = 5.73, 95% CI 3.61-9.08). Although RR trends declined after monthly working hours exceeded 187, excess risks remained statistically significant. Each 1-hour increase in working hours had a stronger effect on the RR increase in death and disability than on illness. Variations in CCVD risks existed across industries, with the highest risk in transportation and information. Reducing working hours is essential to preventing overwork-related CCVD, especially the more severe outcomes. We recommend further research to address possible underreporting of less severe cases, and to explore actions to narrow the gaps in risk across industries.
Failure to thrive (FTT) impairs the expected normal physical growth of children. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of cyproheptadine hydrochloride on growth parameters in prepubertal children ...with FTT. The medical records of prepubertal children who were newly diagnosed with FTT at China Medical University Hospital between 2007 and 2016 were retrospectively examined. The patients were divided into two groups depending on whether they had (T-group) or had not (NT-group) received cyproheptadine hydrochloride (0.3 mg/kg daily) for at least 14 days. The mean length of the treatment period was 97.22 days (range: 14-532 days). Weight, height, and body mass index were adjusted for age using the median values in the growth charts for Taiwanese boys and girls as the reference. A total of 788 patients aged 3-11 years were enrolled, 50 in the T-group and 738 in the NT-group. No statistically significant difference in the median age-adjusted weight value was noted between the T-group and NT-group during the follow up period. In the T-group, age-adjusted weight and body mass index were inversely associated with age (P <0.001, P <0.001) and positively associated with medication duration (P = 0.026, P = 0.04). Our findings underscore the positive association between cyproheptadine hydrochloride treatment and weight gain among prepubertal children. Further prospective clinical studies with a. longer and consistent treatment course is warranted.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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