To date, few studies have investigated the causal relationship between mortality and long-term exposure to a low level of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations.
We studied 242,320 registered ...deaths in Queensland between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2013, with satellite-retrieved annual average PM2.5 concentrations to each postcode. A variant of difference-in-differences (DID) approach was used to investigate the association of long-term PM2.5 exposure with total mortality and cause-specific (cardiovascular, respiratory, and non-accidental) mortality. We observed 217,510 non-accidental deaths, 133,661 cardiovascular deaths, and 30,748 respiratory deaths in Queensland during the study period. The annual average PM2.5 concentrations ranged from 1.6 to 9.0 μg/m3, which were well below the current World Health Organization (WHO) annual standard (10 μg/m3). Long-term exposure to PM2.5 was associated with increased total mortality and cause-specific mortality. For each 1 μg/m3 increase in annual PM2.5, we found a 2.02% (95% CI 1.41%-2.63%; p < 0.01) increase in total mortality. Higher effect estimates were observed in Brisbane than those in Queensland for all types of mortality. A major limitation of our study is that the DID design is under the assumption that no predictors other than seasonal temperature exhibit different spatial-temporal variations in relation to PM2.5 exposure. However, if this assumption is violated (e.g., socioeconomic status SES and outdoor physical activities), the DID design is still subject to confounding.
Long-term exposure to PM2.5 was associated with total, non-accidental, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality in Queensland, Australia, where PM2.5 levels were measured well below the WHO air quality standard.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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Hierarchical porous carbon with sheet-like structure is derived from biomass by using activation method.The obtained carbon materials display excellent electrochemical ...performance.The facile strategy provides a promising route to design advanced anodes for sodium ion batteries.
The electrochemical performance of sodium ion battery was improved by using peanut skin derived hierarchical porous carbon as an anode. By the utilization of the structure/composition of the peanut skin, hierarchical porous carbons with high surface area and sheet-like structure are successfully achieved through combined carbonization and activation with or without hydrothermal pretreatment. Tested against sodium, peanut skin derived carbon exhibits good rate capability and cycling stability, delivering a high initial charge capacity of 431mAhg⿿1 at 0.1Ag⿿1, retaining a reversible capacity of 47mAhg⿿1 at 10Ag⿿1, and showing a capacity retention of 83⿿86% after 200 cycles. The reason that peanut skin derived carbon works so well is that it uniquely combines highly accessible surface area and nanopores, dilated intergraphene spacing, and intrinsically open sheet-like structure, which are capable of reversibly accumulating sodium ions through surface adsorption and sodium intercalation.
Volatilities of crude oil price have important impacts on the steady and sustainable development of world real economy. Thus it is of great academic and practical significance to model and measure ...the volatility and risk of crude oil markets accurately. This paper aims to measure the Value-at-Risk (VaR) and Expected Shortfall (ES) of a portfolio consists of four crude oil assets by using GARCH-type models, extreme value theory (EVT) and vine copulas. The backtesting results show that the combination of GARCH-type-EVT models and vine copula methods can produce accurate risk measures of the oil portfolio. Mixed R-vine copula is more flexible and superior to other vine copulas. Different GARCH-type models, which can depict the long-memory and/or leverage effect of oil price volatilities, however offer similar marginal distributions of the oil returns.
•VaR and ES of a portfolio consists of various oil assets are calculated.•Marginal distribution of oil assets are modeled by GARCH-type models and extreme value theory.•Complicated dependences among oil assets are modeled by various R-vine copulas.
Nitrogen and oxygen codoped hierarchical porous carbons have been synthesized by using a direct carbonization/activation procedure of biomass algae - Enteromorpha. The proposed procedure allowed us ...to produce carbons with high surface area (up to 2073 m super(2) g super(-1)), sponge-like 3D interconnected structure, combined macro/meso/micropores, and rich N (0.64-0.85 at%) and O (11.36-12.24 at%) doping. The application of the produced carbons in supercapacitors based on an ionic liquid electrolyte showed a high specific capacitance of 201 F g super(-1) (10.7 mu F cm super(-2)) at 1 A g super(-1) and 20 degree C, a capacitance retention ratio of 61% at 100 A g super(-1) and a capacitance loss of 9% after 10 000 cycles. The devices were able to deliver an energy density of 24 or 35 W h kg super(-1) (on an active mass normalized basis) at an extremely high power density of 60 kW kg super(-1) at 20 or 60 degree C. The application of the produced carbons in a lithium-ion battery anode based on the LiPF sub(6) electrolyte exhibited a high specific capacity of 1347-1709 mA h g super(-1), a good initial coulombic efficiency of 61-64%, and a good cyclability up to 500 cycles. We believe that this simple precursor-synthesis route offers excellent potential for facile large-scale material production for supercapacitors and lithium ion batteries.
Although SIRT7 is a member of sirtuin family proteins that are described as NAD(+)-dependent class III histone deacetylases, the intrinsic enzymatic activity of this sirtuin protein remains to be ...investigated and the cellular function of SIRT7 remains to be explored. Here we report that SIRT7 is an NAD(+)-dependent histone desuccinylase. We show that SIRT7 is recruited to DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in a PARP1-dependent manner and catalyses desuccinylation of H3K122 therein, thereby promoting chromatin condensation and DSB repair. We demonstrate that depletion of SIRT7 impairs chromatin compaction during DNA-damage response and sensitizes cells to genotoxic stresses. Our study indicates SIRT7 is a histone desuccinylase, providing a molecular basis for the understanding of epigenetic regulation by this sirtuin protein. Our experiments reveal that SIRT7-catalysed H3K122 desuccinylation is critically implemented in DNA-damage response and cell survival, providing a mechanistic insight into the cellular function of SIRT7.
A high-temperature latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) system was analyzed for applications to concentrated solar power (CSP) plants (utilizing steam at ∼610 °C) for large-scale electricity ...generation. Magnesium chloride was selected as the phase change material (PCM) for the latent heat storage because of its high melting point (714 °C). Because the thermal conductivities of most salt materials are very low, usually less than 1 W/m K, graphite foam was applied as an additive to considerably enhance the overall thermal conductivity of the resulting graphite foam–PCM combination in the LHTES system. The heat transfer performance and the exergy efficiency in the graphite foam–MgCl2 LHTES system were considered for the design and optimization of the storage system. Three-dimensional (3-D) heat transfer simulations were conducted for the storage system using commercial software COMSOL. Three groups of analyses were performed for an LHTES system: using PCM alone without graphite foam, using average material properties for graphite foam–PCM combination, and using anisotropic thermal conductivity and temperature-dependent material properties for graphite foam–PCM. Results presented show that the graphite foam can help to significantly improve the heat transfer performance as well as the exergy efficiency in the LHTES system. They also show the effects of the anisotropic thermal conductivity and indicate capital cost savings for a CSP electric power plant by reducing the number of heat transfer fluid (HTF) pipes in the LHTES tank by a factor of eight.
•High temperature LHTES system was studied with MgCl2 as PCM.•Graphite foam enhances the effective thermal conductivity of foam–MgCl2 combination.•Heat transfer and exergy analysis were conducted for the graphite foam–PCM system.•Graphite foam improves the thermal performance and exergy efficiency of the system.•Graphite foam helps to remarkably reduce the number of pipes in the storage system.
Stroke is the second leading cause of global death and is characterized by high rates of mortality and disability. Oxidative stress is accompanied by other pathological processes that together lead ...to secondary brain damage in stroke. As the major component of the brain, glial cells play an important role in normal brain development and pathological injury processes. Multiple connections exist in the pathophysiological changes of reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism and glia cell activation. Astrocytes and microglia are rapidly activated after stroke, generating large amounts of ROS
mitochondrial and NADPH oxidase pathways, causing oxidative damage to the glial cells themselves and neurons. Meanwhile, ROS cause alterations in glial cell morphology and function, and mediate their role in pathological processes, such as neuroinflammation, excitotoxicity, and blood-brain barrier damage. In contrast, glial cells protect the Central Nervous System (CNS) from oxidative damage by synthesizing antioxidants and regulating the Nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway, among others. Although numerous previous studies have focused on the immune function of glial cells, little attention has been paid to the role of glial cells in oxidative stress. In this paper, we discuss the adverse consequences of ROS production and oxidative-antioxidant imbalance after stroke. In addition, we further describe the biological role of glial cells in oxidative stress after stroke, and we describe potential therapeutic tools based on glia cells.
Purpose
This study aimed to investigate death anxiety in advanced cancer patients and identify associated factors in the context of Chinese culture.
Methods
Participants (
N
= 270) with advanced ...cancer in a tertiary cancer hospital completed anonymous questionnaire surveys. Measures included the Chinese version of a Likert-type Templer-Death Anxiety Scale, Rosenberg’s Self-esteem Scale, Medical Coping Modes Questionnaire, the Social Support Rating Scale, and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Data were analyzed in SPSS using descriptive statistics, Student’s
t
test, Pearson correlation test, and linear regression.
Results
Respondents returned 252 (93.33%) of the 270 questionnaires. The total CL-TDAS score was 39.56 ± 10.20. The top three items were “I fear dying a painful death” (3.59 ± 1.41), “I often think about how shortly life really is” (3.11 ± 1.33), and “1 am not particularly afraid of getting cancer” (3.09 ± 1.35). Associated factors of death anxiety (
R
2
= .333,
F
= 15.756,
p
< .001) were the medical coping mode (resignation, confronce), self-esteem, the participants’ adult children, the patient-primary caregivers’ relationship, resilience, and the level of activity of daily living.
Conclusions
Our results demonstrate high levels of death anxiety in advanced cancer patients. Generally, patients with adult children, high self-esteem and resilience had low death anxiety. Conversely, patients with low levels of activity of daily living and high coping mode (resignation, confrontation) reported high death anxiety. We determined that associated factors contributed to reduce death anxiety. Social interventions are recommended to improve the end-of-life transition for patients and caregivers.
In this paper, we present a novel broadband bandpass filter based on spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) in the microwave frequency band. The proposed bandpass filter includes three parts: (1) ...coplanar waveguide (CPW); (2) matching transition; and (3) coupled structure that is an asymmetric coupled filter constructed by five grooved strips. The proposed bandpass filter realizes excellent low loss performance from 7 to 10 GHz, in which its insertion loss is around 1.5 dB in the same frequency band. Meanwhile, this filter has a good band stop characteristic from 3 to 7 GHz. A simple but accurate transmission line model was proposed to evaluate the proposed broadband SSPPs filter. The measured data, simulated results and the results obtained from the transmission line model have shown a very good agreement. The proposed planar broadband filter plays an important role for filtering surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) waves in plasmonic circuits and systems.
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