By utilizing Optum Life Sciences Claims Data, we constructed Real World Data (RWD) cohorts comprising over 3 million patients and simulated a clinical trial observational study design to evaluate ...over 200 FDA-approved drugs with COVID-19 repurposing potential, and identified a dozen candidates exhibiting significant reduction in the odds of severe COVID-19 outcomes such as death, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, hospitalization and pneumonia. Notably, certain drug combinations demonstrated effects comparable to those of COVID-19 vaccines. Furthermore, our study revealed a novel finding: a quantitative linear relationship between COVID-19 outcomes and overall patient health risks. This discovery enabled a more precise estimation of drug efficacy using the risk adjustment. The top performing drugs identified include emtricitabine, tenofovir, folic acid, progesterone, estradiol, epinephrine, disulfiram, nitazoxanide and some drug combinations including aspirin-celecoxib.
The relatively low density of functional groups of graphene oxide (GO) and the difficulty to completely recover after adsorption limit its application in uranium (U(VI)) removal from aqueous ...solution. Inspired by a special chemical property, polydopamine (PDA) was first used as a surface modifying agent for GO, and then the as-formed GO@PDA cross-linked with chitosan (CS) to assemble a three-dimensional (3D) porous GO@PDA/CS aerogel for U(VI) adsorption. Morphology and structure of the aerogel were characterized by TEM, SEM, FTIR, XPS, XRD, Raman, and TGA. The results show that compared to GO/CS, the GO@PDA/CS aerogel possesses a more homogeneous and well-organized 3D porous structure as well as the enhanced active sites, which are beneficial for U(VI) removal. According to batch experiments, the adsorption rate of the GO@PDA/CS aerogel was very fast, and the adsorption equilibrium could be reached in 15 min at pH = 6.0. Its maximum adsorption capacity for U(VI) is as high as 415.9 mg g–1 at 298 K calculated from the Langmuir model. In addition, the as-prepared GO@PDA/CS aerogel exhibits satisfactory thermal and mechanical stability and could be recycled six times without an apparent decrease in removal efficiency.
Device-to-device (D2D) communication, which enables direct communication between nearby mobile devices, is an attractive add-on component to improve spectrum efficiency and user experience by reusing ...licensed cellular spectrum in 5G system. In this paper, we propose to enable D2D communication in unlicensed spectrum (D2D-U) as an underlay of the uplink LTE network for further booming the network capacity. A sensing-based protocol is designed to support the unlicensed channel access for both LTE and D2D users. We further investigate the subchannel allocation problem to maximize the sum rate of LTE and D2D users while considering their interference to the existing Wi-Fi systems. Specifically, we formulate the subchannel allocation as a many-to-many matching problem with externalities, and develop an iterative user-subchannel swap algorithm. Analytical and simulation results show that the proposed D2D-U scheme can significantly improve the system sum rate.
This paper proposes formulations and a hybrid meta‐heuristic algorithm to solve the on‐line vehicle routing problem (VRP) for minimizing costs related to economics and emissions. The on‐line VRP ...considers real‐time demands. Vehicle emissions are affected by travel speed and vehicle load. A hybrid meta‐heuristic algorithm GA‐Tabu is designed to solve the on‐line VRP and a solution framework using DynaTAIWAN simulation is implemented. The numerical results show CO2 can be reduced by combining the emission factors into the objective function. Also, the route updates for on‐line demands are analyzed and the performance measures of the on‐line VRP are investigated by using various on‐line demands.
The unique TiO2–C/MnO2 core–double-shell nanowires are synthesized for the first time using as anode materials for lithium ion batteries (LIBs). They combine both advantages from TiO2 such as ...excellent cycle stability and MnO2 with high capacity (1230 mA h g–1). The additional C interlayer intends to improve the electrical conductivity. The self-supported nanowire arrays grown directly on current-collecting substrates greatly simplify the fabrication processing of electrodes without applying binder and conductive additives. Each nanowire is anchored to the current collector, leading to fast charge transfer. The unique one-dimensional core–double-shell nanowires exhibit enhanced electrochemical performance with a higher discharge/charge capacity, superior rate capability, and longer cycling lifetime.
Soil samples from an Alfisols with long-term (> 12 years) contrasting tillage intensities (i.e., no-till versus plow-till) were first divided into three distinct dry aggregate-size classes (i.e., ...mega-, macro-, and microaggregates) and then incubated with
13
C-labeled wheat residue at three input levels of balanced nutrients supply under controlled laboratory conditions. Across all the treatments, from 55.1 to 83.4% of total straw-C was mineralized within the incubation period. The microaggregates significantly increased the straw-C mineralization rate by 3.6 and 3.1 mg C g
−1
straw-C day
−1
compared to the mega- and macroaggregates respectively, mainly due to the higher microbial biomass. The high input of balanced nutrients enhanced the straw-C mineralization. Moreover, the microbial C-use efficiency (CUE) of straw residue in the microaggregates was 25.1% and 7.3% higher than that in the mega- and macroaggregates, respectively. Legacy effect of the long-term no-till increased microbial CUE, mainly by reducing the C-nutrient stoichiometric imbalance. In contrast, straw addition to the microaggregates resulted in the lowest positive priming effect (PE) of SOC compared to that added to the mega- and macroaggregates. Both the nutrient input and no-till treatments positively contributed to the decrease in positive PE. The negative correlation between the microbial CUE of the straw residue and the positive PE was reported for the first time, and the inputs of straw residue and high-level nutrients to the microaggregates from the no-till treatment increased CUE but decreased positive PE.
Natural and/or man-made disasters have caused serious problems in transportation systems due to their unpredictable and destructive characteristics. Under disasters, transportation infrastructure ...plays an important role in emergency management; however, this infrastructure is also vulnerable because of disasters. One way to describe the vulnerable is through resilience. Resilience refers to the ability to recover from a disruption under unexpected conditions, such as natural and/or man-made disasters. How to enhance resilience of transportation infrastructure under disasters is an important issue when facing natural or man-made disasters. This study aims to measure and optimize transportation resilience under disasters. An optimization model for resilience under the constraints of budget and traversal time is proposed. One special feature is that preparedness and recovery activities are implicitly considered and incorporated within the optimization model. The mathematical model provides a good connection between preparedness/recovery activities and network-level resilience. In order to illustrate the proposed model, a real city network and assumptions on activities of emergency management are used in a series of numerical experiments. Traffic conditions before and after disasters are evaluated by the simulation-assignment model, DynaTAIWAN. Experiments and results illustrate advantages for network-level transportation resilience assessment and also prioritize preparedness and recovery activities under budget constraints.
An in situ electrodeposition method is described to fabricate the CdS or/and CdSe quantum dot (QD) sensitized hierarchical TiO2 sphere (HTS) electrodes for solar cell application. Intensity modulated ...photocurrent spectroscopy (IMPS), intensity modulated photovoltage spectroscopy (IMVS) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements are performed to investigate the electron transport and recombination of quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) based on HTS/CdS, HTS/CdSe, and HTS/CdS/CdSe photoelectrodes. This dynamic study reveals that the CdSe/CdS cosensitized solar cell performs ultrafast electron transport and high electron collection efficiency (98%). As a consequence, a power conversion efficiency as high as 4.81% (J SC = 18.23 mA cm–2, V OC = 489 mV, FF = 0.54) for HTS/CdS/CdSe photoelectrode based QDSSC is observed under one sun AM 1.5 G illumination (100 mW cm–2).
The ongoing outbreak of viral pneumonia in China and across the world is associated with a new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2
. This outbreak has been tentatively associated with a seafood market in Wuhan, ...China, where the sale of wild animals may be the source of zoonotic infection
. Although bats are probable reservoir hosts for SARS-CoV-2, the identity of any intermediate host that may have facilitated transfer to humans is unknown. Here we report the identification of SARS-CoV-2-related coronaviruses in Malayan pangolins (Manis javanica) seized in anti-smuggling operations in southern China. Metagenomic sequencing identified pangolin-associated coronaviruses that belong to two sub-lineages of SARS-CoV-2-related coronaviruses, including one that exhibits strong similarity in the receptor-binding domain to SARS-CoV-2. The discovery of multiple lineages of pangolin coronavirus and their similarity to SARS-CoV-2 suggests that pangolins should be considered as possible hosts in the emergence of new coronaviruses and should be removed from wet markets to prevent zoonotic transmission.
Scope
Among patients with diabetes, who have modified nutritional behavior and a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), the influence of ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) on CVD remains unknown. The ...study aims to evaluate the association between UPF intake and the risk of CVD among individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and further examine the potential biological pathways linking the association.
Methods and results
This study includes 5405 participants with T2D who provided at least one 24‐h dietary recall from the UK Biobank study. In the fully adjusted models, a 10% increase in the proportion of UPFs is associated with higher hazards of overall CVD (hazard ratio HR: 1.10; 95% confidence interval CI: 1.04, 1.15), coronary heart disease (HR: 1.10; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.16), heart failure (HR: 1.14; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.25), but not stroke (HR: 1.01; 95% CI: 0.90, 1.12). Cystatin C, high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL‐C), apolipoprotein A, C‐reactive protein, and body mass index collectively explain 26.9% (12.8%, 48.5%) of the association between UPF intake and the risk of overall CVD.
Conclusion
Higher UPF intakes are associated with increased hazards of CVD among individuals with T2D, and the association is partly mediated through worsening biomarkers of renal function, lipid metabolism, inflammation, and body weight.
In this prospective cohort study of individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D), higher ultraprocessed food (UPF) intakes are associated with increased risks of overall cardiovascular disease (CVD), coronary heart disease, and heart failure. The higher risk of overall CVD associated with higher UPF consumption possibly goes through pathways that include renal function, lipid metabolism, inflammation, and body weight. Our study supports the need to stress the importance of decreasing UPF intake in dietary guidelines for T2D patients.
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