The prevalence of diabetes in China is among the highest in the world. For this reason, findings from the 2016 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study were used to calculate the burden of hyperglycaemia ...and diabetes in China.
Following the general analytical strategy used in GBD 2016, diabetes prevalence and mortality were analyzed by age and gender. Trends in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to diabetes were assessed in 33 province-level administrative units from 1990 to 2016, and similar data were provided for chronic kidney disease (CKD) related to diabetes and, as an overall summarizing measure, for hyperglycaemia expressed as high fasting plasma glucose (HFPG).
From 1990 to 2016, all-age prevalence of diabetes rose from 3.7% to 6.6%, and all-age diabetes and diabetes-related CKD mortality rates increased by 63.5% and 33.3%, respectively, with both rates increasing more rapidly in diabetes patients aged 15–49 years than in any other age groups. In 2016, HFPG became China's sixth leading cause of DALYs, and the attributable DALYs burden was 1802.3/100,000 population. Although the number of diabetes DALYs increased by 95% from 1990 to 2016, age-standardized diabetes DALYs rates increased by only 2.3%. Also, from 1990 to 2016, rates of age-standardized DALYs due to diabetes decreased in 14 provinces, but increased in 19 provinces. High BMI Scores and diets low in whole grains, nuts and seeds were the most important risk factors for diabetes in 2016.
Diabetes and hyperglycaemia constitute a huge health burden in China. The substantial increase in diabetes-related burden represents an ongoing challenge, given the rapidly ageing Chinese population. Thus, a targeted control and preventative strategy needs to be developed at risk factor level to reduce this burden.
The c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway represents one subgroup of MAP kinases that are activated primarily by cytokines and exposure to environmental stress. Autophagy is a protein-degradation ...system characterized by the formation of double-membrane vacuoles termed autophagosomes. Autophagy-related gene beclin 1 plays a key role in autophagosome formation. However, the relationships between activation of JNK pathway, autophagy induction and Beclin 1 expression remain elusive. In this study, we used human cancer cell lines CNE2 and Hep3B to investigate the role of JNK-mediated Beclin 1 expression in ceramide-induced autophagic cell death. Ceramide-treated cells exhibited the characteristics of autophagy (that is, acidic vesicular organelle formation and the LC3-II generation). JNK was activated in these two cell lines exposed to ceramide and the phosphorylation of c-Jun also increased. In the meantime, we found that ceramide upregulated Beclin 1 expression in cancer cells. The upregulation of Beclin 1 expression could be blocked by SP600125 (a specific inhibitor of JNK) or a small interfering RNA (siRNA) directed against JNK1/2 or c-Jun. Chromatin immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter analysis revealed that c-Jun was involved in the regulation of beclin 1 transcription in response to ceramide treatment. In addition, inhibition of JNK activity by SP600125 could inhibit autophagy induction by ceramide. Furthermore, Beclin 1 knockdown by siRNA also inhibited ceramide-mediated autophagic cell death. JNK-mediated Beclin 1 expression was also observed in topotecan-induced autophagy. These data suggest that activation of JNK pathway can mediate Beclin 1 expression, which plays a key role in autophagic cell death in cancer cells.
A 56‐day feeding trial was carried out to investigate the effect of dietary glutamate (Glu) supplementation on growth performance, digestive enzyme activities and intestinal antioxidant capacity of ...grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella). A total of 540 grass carp with average initial weight of 370 ± 3.8 g were fed three diets supplemented with 0, 8 and 16 g kg⁻¹ Glu. The per cent weight gain, specific growth rate, feed conversion ratio, and protein and lipid productive value were significantly improved by dietary Glu supplementation. Feed intake, condition factor, visceral somatic index and perivisceral fat ratio were not significantly different between dietary groups. Hepatosomatic index, intestinal somatic index, intestine length index, intestine protein content, trypsin activity in hepatopancreas and intestine, lipase activity in proximal and mid‐intestine (MI) and hepatopancreas, alkaline phosphatase and gamma‐glutamyl transpeptidase activities in intestine, creatine kinase activities in the mid‐ and distal intestine, intestinal folds height in the proximal and MI were significantly increased with increased Glu. Malondialdehyde and protein carbonyl contents in the intestine decreased with increased Glu. Superoxide anion and hydroxyl radical scavenging ability, glutathione reducase, catalase and total superoxide dismutase activities, and glutathione content in the intestine were increased with increased Glu. These results suggested that dietary Glu supplementation increased intestinal antioxidant capacity, digestive and absorptive ability and improved fish growth.
Numerous observational and modeling studies have addressed the impact of soil moisture on subsequent precipitation (primarily its initiation), yet consensus remains elusive. Here we quantify the ...relationship between soil moisture and precipitation amplification over the U.S. Southern Great Plains. Warm season (June–September) days for the 2002–2011 period (with ~1220 total days) are partitioned into three dynamic regimes based on daily water vapor convergence, among which afternoon precipitation event days are identified based on simple criteria. We find that antecedent soil moisture conditions are negatively correlated with subsequent afternoon precipitation magnitude for low dynamic regimes, but this correlation becomes positive for high dynamic regimes. In contrast, this correlation is markedly reduced in magnitude and becomes insignificant when all regime days are considered. These results are also confirmed by analyzing the precipitation histogram and diurnal cycle. Furthermore, different pathways are provided for precipitation amplification for low and high dynamic regimes.
Plain Language Summary
Numerous studies have addressed the effect of soil moisture on subsequent rainfall, yet consensus remains elusive. While the impact of precipitation on soil moisture is intuitive, the effect of antecedent soil moisture on precipitation is not fully understood. Here we address the relationship between morning soil moisture and afternoon rainfall accumulations over the Southern Great Plains during warm season (June‐September) days for the 2002‐2011 period. Days are partitioned into different dynamic regimes based on daily water vapor convergence, among which afternoon rainfall event days are identified based on simple criteria. We find that antecedent soil moisture is negatively correlated with afternoon rainfall accumulation for low dynamic regimes (with low water vapor convergence), but this correlation becomes positive for high dynamic regimes. However, this correlation is much smaller and insignificant when all regime days are considered. Different pathways are provided for precipitation amplification for low and high dynamic regimes.
Key Points
Relationship between morning soil moisture and subsequent convective precipitation is modulated by dynamic regimes
Precipitation is amplified over drier (wetter) soils when convergence is limited (enhanced)
Different pathways are provided for precipitation amplification for weak and strong dynamic regimes
Based on a content analysis of 533 Chinese listed companies, this study examines how corporate environmental performance affects not only the level of detail of a company's environmental disclosures, ...but also what information is disclosed. The results show that (1) both poor and good performers have more disclosure than the median (i.e., “mixed”) performers, which provides empirical evidence to support a nonlinear relationship between corporate environmental performance and environmental disclosure; (2) poor performers disclose more soft information on environmental performance than good performers, and good performers disclose more solid information; and (3) although poor performers increase disclosure after being exposed as environmental violators, they avoid disclosing negative environmental information, such as the violation and the associated penalties. This study provides additional evidence for a nonlinear relationship between environmental performance and disclosure in emerging markets, and suggests environmental disclosure may not be a valid signal to differentiate good performers from poor performers in contemporary China.
•Both poor and good performers have more disclosure than the mixed performers.•Good performers disclose more solid information.•Poor performers avoid disclosing negative environmental information.
Deformation twinning plays a vital role in accommodating plastic deformation of hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) metals, but its mechanisms are still unsettled under high strain rate shock compression. ...Here we investigate deformation twinning in shock-compressed Mg as a typical hcp metal with in situ, ultrafast synchrotron x-ray diffraction. Extension twinning occurs upon shock compression along ⟨112over ¯0⟩ and ⟨101over ¯0⟩, but only upon release for loading along ⟨0001⟩. Such deformation mechanisms are a result of the polarity of deformation twinning, which depends on directionality and relative magnitude of resolved shear stress and may be common for Mg and its alloys in a wide range of strain rates.
A model is presented where the properties of ultrafine-grained (UFG) materials are explained in terms of the influence of high-angle boundaries on the rates at which dislocations are stored and ...recovered at the boundaries. The model reproduces the experimental observations that UFG materials reach a steady state where the deformation resistance is independent of strain, that the strain rate sensitivity of flow stress is relatively high and that the steady-state flow stress increases inversely with the square root of grain size. The model results are compared to experimental data for UFG Cu and nanostructured Ni.
Iron selenide superconductors exhibit a number of unique characteristics that are helpful for understanding the mechanism of superconductivity in high-Tc iron-based superconductors more generally. ...However, in the case of AxFe2Se2 (A = K, Rb, Cs), the presence of an intergrown antiferromagnetic insulating phase makes the study of the underlying physics problematic. Moreover, FeSe-based systems intercalated with alkali metal ions, NH3 molecules or organic molecules are extremely sensitive to air, which prevents the further investigation of their physical properties. It is therefore desirable to find a stable and easily accessible FeSe-based superconductor to study its physical properties in detail. Here, we report the synthesis of an air-stable material, (Li0.8Fe0.2)OHFeSe, which remains superconducting at temperatures up to ~40 K, by means of a novel hydrothermal method. The crystal structure is unambiguously determined by a combination of X-ray and neutron powder diffraction and nuclear magnetic resonance. Moreover, antiferromagnetic order is shown to coexist with superconductivity. This synthetic route opens a path for exploring superconductivity in other related systems, and confirms the appeal of iron selenides as a platform for understanding superconductivity in iron pnictides more broadly.
Vanadium dioxide (VO
2
), with a reversible phase transition near ambient temperature, has been found to be a promising candidate for energy-saving smart windows. However, its use is constrained by ...its low visible transmission (
T
lum
) and high transition temperature (
τ
c
). In this paper, by codoping tungsten (W) and magnesium (Mg) in VO
2
, a good combination of low
τ
c
(∼35 °C) and high
T
lum
(81.3%) was achieved. The
τ
c
declines with decreasing Mg doping level in Mg/W-codoped samples, which is the opposite effect of doping with only Mg, suggesting a synergistic effect of the two dopants arising from the e
−
and h
+
carrier neutralization. In addition, the band gap of Mg/W-codoped VO
2
was gradually widened; this is attributed to the depressed absorption, which enhanced the
T
lum
.
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