A reconfigurable graphene reflectarray is proposed for the generation of vortex radio waves at THz. First, a simple sectored circular reflective surface model with a plane wave at normal incidence is ...constructed to illustrate how vortex radio waves can be generated. Then, a graphene reflective cell is examined to demonstrate that the reflection coefficient can be controlled by changing the chemical potential and size of the graphene patch. Next, the sectored circular reflective surface is realized with the graphene reflective cells that are properly sized, arranged, and biased to satisfy the required reflection coefficients for various modes of vortex radio waves. Finally, the graphene reflectarray is excited with a horn antenna, showing from simulations that it can be dynamically reconfigured to generate the 0, ±1, and ±2 modes of vortex radio waves at 1.6 THz.
The aim of the present study was to identify the long-term major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in treated periodontitis patients in Taiwan.
From the National Health Insurance Research Database ...(2001-2010), adult patients (≥ 18 years) with treated periodontitis were identified. Comparison was made between patients with mild form and severe form of treated periodontitis after propensity score matching. The primary end point was the incidence of MACE.
A total of 32,504 adult patients with treated periodontitis were identified between 2001 and 2010. After propensity score matching, 27,146 patients were preserved for comparison, including 13,573 patients with mild form and 13,573 patients with severe form of treated periodontitis. During follow-up, 728 individuals in mild treated periodontitis group and 1,206 individuals in severe treated periodontitis group had at least 1 MACE event. After adjustment for gender, hyperlipidemia, hypertension and diabetes mellitus, severe treated periodontitis was associated with a mildly but significantly increased risk of MACE among older patients > 60 years of age (incidence rate ratio, 1.26; 95% confidence interval, 1.08-1.46). No association was found among younger patients ≤ 60 years of age.
Severe form of treated periodontitis was associated with an increased risk of MACE among older Taiwanese patients, but not among younger Taiwanese patients. We should put more efforts on the improvement of periodontal health to prevent further MACE.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background
Curcumin (diferuloylmethane) has chemopreventive and therapeutic properties against many types of tumors, both in vitro and in vivo. Previous reports have shown that curcumin exhibits ...anti‐invasive activities, but the mechanisms remain largely unclear.
Methods
In this study, both microRNA (miRNA) and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression profiles were used to characterize the anti‐metastasis mechanisms of curcumin in human non‐small cell lung cancer A549 cell line.
Results
Microarray analysis revealed that 36 miRNAs were differentially expressed between the curcumin‐treated and control groups. miR‐330‐5p exhibited maximum upregulation, while miR‐25‐5p exhibited maximum downregulation in the curcumin treatment group. mRNA expression profiles and functional analysis indicated that 226 differentially expressed mRNAs belonged to different functional categories. Significant pathway analysis showed that mitogen‐activated protein kinase, transforming growth factor‐β, and Wnt signaling pathways were significantly downregulated. At the same time, axon guidance, glioma, and ErbB tyrosine kinase receptor signaling pathways were significantly upregulated. We constructed a miRNA gene network that contributed to the curcumin inhibition of metastasis in lung cancer cells. let‐7a‐3p, miR‐1262, miR‐499a‐5p, miR‐1276, miR‐331‐5p, and miR‐330‐5p were identified as key microRNA regulators in the network. Finally, using miR‐330‐5p as an example, we confirmed the role of miR‐330‐5p in mediating the anti‐migration effect of curcumin, suggesting the importance of miRNAs in the regulation of curcumin biological activity.
Conclusion
Our findings provide new insights into the anti‐metastasis mechanism of curcumin in lung cancer.
In this paper, the balanced-to-balanced Gysel power divider is proposed with bandpass filtering response for the first time. The component is based on a ring structure and designed with an extended ...coupled-resonator circuit model. The characteristic impedances, electrical lengths, and isolation resistance are calculated analytically by our derived equations, according to the design specifications of the filtering power divider. The achievable bandwidth is from about 3% to 12%. As an example, a fabricated prototype occupies an area of 0.97 × 0.87 λg 2 , whose bandwidth is 8.4%. It has low differential-mode in-band insertion loss, good magnitude, and phase balances between two output ports, good isolation, and good suppression of common-mode noises and mode conventions. Based on stub-loaded sections, another prototype is realized for miniaturization, whose occupied area is reduced to 0.67 × 0.63 λg 2 . In comparison with the original prototype, the central insertion loss is increased by 0.13 dB, and the rejection band of common-mode and mode-conversion noises is narrowed by 21%.
Emissions of the inhalable particle (dp < 10 μm, PM10) and their harmful compositions from combustion sources have high potential on health risk with nearly no regulation. This study investigates the ...particle size distribution (PSD), as well as the removal mechanism of PM10 and fine particle (FP)-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the flue gas of a hazardous waste thermal treatment system. It has ultralow regulated emission and becomes a candidate of power generation module. A series of the advanced scrubbers, cyclonic demister, and baghouse was equipped for multi-pollutant control. The moderate or intense low oxygen dilution (MILD) combustion effectively inhibited the PM2.5 generation by volumetric oxidation. Advanced scrubbers removed PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 by 85.24, 68.68, and 97.60%, respectively, which achieved by local supersaturation, heterogeneous condensation of water vapor, and the growth of fine PM. Moreover, the scrubbers effectively scavenged the course PM10 containing the high-molecular-weight PAH homologs onto the water phase but promoted the condensation and absorption of the lighter homologs onto the fine particle surface (dp ∼5.3 μm). The size window (dp = 0.3–1.0 μm) of the minimum efficiency reporting value of a BH filtration led to the peak of FP-PAH mass and BaP equivalent (BaPeq) toxicity at dp = 0.1–0.4 and 0.1–0.8 μm, respectively. Consequently, the synergy of MILD combustion and the SCB-CYC-BH system effectively inhibited the PM2.5, PM10, PM2.5-PAHs, and FP-PAH levels from a waste thermal treatment process and further mitigated the potential health risk.
Display omitted
•The MILD combustion contributed to decreasing the mass concentration of PM2.5 within PM10.•The advanced scrubbing process enhanced the PAH absorption capacity in fine particles.•HMW-PAHs with high toxicity were gradually removed by the air pollution control system.•The respiratory risk of inhalable PAHs with various particle sizes were initially characterized.•The escaped UFP-PAHs mainly deposited in the alveolar region.
A four-way microstrip power divider is designed with bandpass filtering response. The synthesized inline filter has a generalized Chebyshev response, where frequency-dependent couplings are utilized. ...All of the critical parameters, including the characteristic impedances and electrical lengths, can be determined by our derived closed-form formulas. By extending the inline filter, the configuration of four-way power divider is obtained. Then, three isolation resistors are properly selected according to the even-/odd-mode analysis. The proposed four-way filtering power divider has low in-band insertion loss and high frequency selectivity. It can provide the in-band return loss and isolation between outputs better than 16.7 and 17.5 dB, respectively .
Carvedilol (Cav), a nonselective β-blocker with α1 adrenoceptor blocking effect, has been used as a standard therapy for coronary artery disease. This study investigated the effects of Cav on exosome ...expression and function, ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) expression, and cholesterol efflux that are relevant to the process of atherosclerosis. Human monocytic (THP-1) cell line and human hepatic (Huh-7) cells were treated with Cav, and cholesterol efflux was measured. Exosomes from cell culture medium or mice serum were isolated using glycan-coated recognition beads. Low-density lipoprotein receptor knockout (
) mice were fed with high-fat diet and treated with Cav. Cav accentuated cholesterol efflux and enhanced the expressions of ABCA1 protein and mRNA in both THP-1 and Huh-7 cells. In addition, Cav increased expression and function of exosomal ABCA1 in THP-1 macrophage exosomes. The mechanisms were associated with inhibition of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and protein kinase B (Akt). In hypercholesterolemic
mice, Cav enhanced serum exosomal ABCA1 expression and suppressed atherosclerosis by inhibiting lipid deposition and macrophage accumulation. Cav halts atherosclerosis by enhancing cholesterol efflux and increasing ABCA1 expression in macrophages and in exosomes, possibly through NF-κB and Akt signaling, which provides mechanistic insights regarding the beneficial effects of Cav on atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
In this paper, self-shielded quad-mode substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) bandpass filters (BPFs) are proposed by using a novel method of mixed-mode cavity, which is achieved by adding a metal ...patch to the middle substrate layer in a SIW cavity. The mixed-mode cavity can support two pairs of degenerate dual modes, i.e., SIW-cavity modes and strip-patch modes. Characteristics of the proposed mixed-mode SIW cavity are analyzed in detail for filters' design. For the demonstration, an unbalanced quad-mode filter structure is proposed and analyzed, which can realize single- and dual-band filtering responses. Then, a balanced quad-mode filter structure is proposed and analyzed on the basis of unbalanced quad-mode filter and its odd symmetry of the four resonant modes. The balanced filter can also realize single- and dual-band filtering responses with common-mode inherently at passbands under differential-mode operation. Finally, two unbalanced and two balanced quad-mode filters with single- and dual-band responses are designed, fabricated and measured. The measured results agree well with the designed ones, which verifies the proposed method. The proposed mixed-mode SIW filters have the merits of high selectivity, compact size and high shielding from nearby circuits.
Sarcopenia, a newly recognized geriatric syndrome, is characterized by age-related decline of skeletal muscle plus low muscle strength and/or physical performance. Previous studies have confirmed the ...association of sarcopenia and adverse health outcomes, such as falls, disability, hospital admission, long term care placement, poorer quality of life, and mortality, which denotes the importance of sarcopenia in the health care for older people. Despite the clinical significance of sarcopenia, the operational definition of sarcopenia and standardized intervention programs are still lacking. It is generally agreed by the different working groups for sarcopenia in the world that sarcopenia should be defined through a combined approach of muscle mass and muscle quality, however, selecting appropriate diagnostic cutoff values for all the measurements in Asian populations is challenging. Asia is a rapidly aging region with a huge population, so the impact of sarcopenia to this region is estimated to be huge as well. Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) aimed to promote sarcopenia research in Asia, and we collected the best available evidences of sarcopenia researches from Asian countries to establish the consensus for sarcopenia diagnosis. AWGS has agreed with the previous reports that sarcopenia should be described as low muscle mass plus low muscle strength and/or low physical performance, and we also recommend outcome indicators for further researches, as well as the conditions that sarcopenia should be assessed. In addition to sarcopenia screening for community-dwelling older people, AWGS recommends sarcopenia assessment in certain clinical conditions and healthcare settings to facilitate implementing sarcopenia in clinical practice. Moreover, we also recommend cutoff values for muscle mass measurements (7.0 kg/m(2) for men and 5.4 kg/m(2) for women by using dual X-ray absorptiometry, and 7.0 kg/m(2) for men and 5.7 kg/m(2) for women by using bioimpedance analysis), handgrip strength (<26 kg for men and <18 kg for women), and usual gait speed (<0.8 m/s). However, a number of challenges remained to be solved in the future. Asia is made up of a great number of ethnicities. The majority of currently available studies have been published from eastern Asia, therefore, more studies of sarcopenia in south, southeastern, and western Asia should be promoted. On the other hand, most Asian studies have been conducted in a cross-sectional design and few longitudinal studies have not necessarily collected the commonly used outcome indicators as other reports from Western countries. Nevertheless, the AWGS consensus report is believed to promote more Asian sarcopenia research, and most important of all, to focus on sarcopenia intervention studies and the implementation of sarcopenia in clinical practice to improve health care outcomes of older people in the communities and the healthcare settings in Asia.
The cultural and creative industries (CCIs) are increasingly regarded as a means to cure economic stagnation and boost sustainable development; thus, they have become the focus of cultural, social, ...and economic policies. This study adopts a city governance perspective to explore topics that should be considered in CCIs development. We combine entropy weight and grey relational analysis into an evaluation indicator system that considers ambiguity and complexity. The results reveal the cities in the eastern region and offshore islands took more advantage of investment in cultural resources than cities in the western region. It indicates that local governments understand that the economic benefits of culture are not limited to certain CCIs but extend to the overall economy. Through stimulus policies, communities have been built and effectively revitalized regional economies. The developed method prioritizes the provision of cultural and creative resources to effectively improve resource–generating capacity of a city. This study provides suggestions for decision makers in cultural and creative sectors to help them overcome the gap in resource allocation between urban and rural areas.
PDF
