Drainage systems are important facilities for the maintenance of a city's normal operation. Whilst they directly affect the internal urban environment, they are also a key link between a city and the ...world outside. The traditional drainage mode of Chinese cities was challenged by modern technologies that changed the relationship between cities and nature. Tianjin had developed rapidly into an important port in northern China, from a basis constructed during its days as a treaty port. The old drainage system changed significantly due to urban expansion and the appearance of modern health facilities such as sewer pipes. This reduced the commercial flow of sewage and ditch mud as rural fertilizers, gradually weakening the connection between the city and the surrounding environment. However, although the creation of a modern drainage system improved the urban landscape and people's living conditions, it also affected the traditional urban wastewater disposal and sewage recycling. The resulting reduction in material exchange with the countryside caused metabolism rift, as discussed by Karl Marx. The ecological consequences and lasting influence of this change are worth our attention.
Osteoporosis (OP) is a systemic disease characterized by decreased bone mass and degeneration of bone microstructure. In recent years, more and more researches have focused on the close relationship ...between gut microbiota (GM) and the occurrence and progression of OP, and the regulation of probiotics and prebiotics on bone metabolism has gradually become a research hotspot. Based on the influence of brain-gut-bone axis on bone metabolism, this review expounds the potential mechanisms of probiotics and prebiotics on OP from next perspectives: regulation of intestinal metabolites, regulation of intestinal epithelial barrier function, involvement of neuromodulation, involvement of immune regulation and involvement of endocrine regulation, so as to provide a novel and promising idea for the prevention and treatment of OP in the future.
Metals can be strengthened by adding hard reinforcements, but such strategy usually compromises ductility and toughness. Natural nacre consists of hard and soft phases organized in a regular ...“brick-and-mortar” structure and exhibits a superior combination of mechanical strength and toughness, which is an attractive model for strengthening and toughening artificial composites, but such bioinspired metal matrix composite has yet to be made. Here we prepared nacre-like reduced graphene oxide (RGrO) reinforced Cu matrix composite based on a preform impregnation process, by which two-dimensional RGrO was used as “brick” and inserted into “□-and-mortar” ordered porous Cu preform (the symbol “□” means the absence of “brick”), followed by compacting. This process realized uniform dispersion and alignment of RGrO in Cu matrix simultaneously. The RGrO-and-Cu artificial nacres exhibited simultaneous enhancement on yield strength and ductility as well as increased modulus, attributed to RGrO strengthening, effective crack deflection and a possible combined failure mode of RGrO. The artificial nacres also showed significantly higher strengthening efficiency than other conventional Cu matrix composites, which might be related to the alignment of RGrO.
Highly efficient conductors are strongly desired because they can lead to higher working performance and less energy consumption in their wide range applications. However, the improvements on the ...electrical conductivities of conventional conductors are limited, such as purification and growing single crystal of metals. Here, by embedding graphene in metals (Cu, Al, and Ag), the trade‐off between carrier mobility and carrier density is surmount in graphene, and realize high electron mobility and high electron density simultaneously through elaborate interface design and morphology control. As a result, a maximum electrical conductivity three orders of magnitude higher than the highest on record (more than 3,000 times higher than that of Cu) is obtained in such embedded graphene. As a result, using the graphene as reinforcement, an electrical conductivity as high as ≈117% of the International Annealed Copper Standard and significantly higher than that of Ag is achieved in bulk graphene/Cu composites with an extremely low graphene volume fraction of only 0.008%. The results are of significance when enhancing efficiency and saving energy in electrical and electronic applications of metals, and also of interest for fundamental researches on electron behaviors in graphene.
Ultrahigh electrical conductivity ≈3000 times higher than that of Cu is realized in graphene embedded in metals. As a result, the corresponding graphene/Cu composites show an electrical conductivity significantly higher than that of Ag. Such graphene/metal interactions provide a unique platform to explore electron behaviors in graphene, and the results open up new opportunities for graphene's applications.
Background
Surgery is the preferred treatment option for the elderly patients with hip fractures. However, the choice of general anesthesia (GA) or regional anesthesia (RA) remains controversial. The ...quality of evidence has further improved with the advent of several high-quality randomized clinical trials (RCTs) in the last two years. The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes of two anesthetic techniques in elderly patients undergoing hip fracture surgeries.
Methods
Eligible studies were identified from PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, EMBASE and reference lists from January 2000 to June 2022 in this current systematic review and meta-analysis. The outcomes included the surgery-related outcomes (duration of surgery, duration of anesthesia, intraoperative blood loss and number of transfusions) and postoperative outcomes (30-day mortality, postoperative delirium,cardiovascular events and other complications).
Results
A total of 10 RCTs were included, and a total of 3594 patients were analyzed. RA was associated with shorter duration of surgery, shorter length of hospital stays and less intraoperative blood loss compared to GA. There were no significant differences between the two groups in the number of blood transfusions, duration of anesthesia, 30-day mortality or postoperative delirium.
Conclusions
Our pooled analysis identified no significant differences in terms of the safety between RA and GA, while RA reduces intraoperative blood loss, length of hospital stays and duration of surgery. These results suggest that RA appears to be preferable for the elderly patients with hip fractures.
Osteoporosis is a systemic metabolic bone disease characterized by the descending bone mass and destruction of bone microstructure, which tends to result in the increased bone fragility and ...associated fractures, as well as high disability rate and mortality. The relation between gut microbiota and bone metabolism has gradually become a research hotspot, and it has been verified that gut microbiota is closely associated with reduction of bone mass and incidence of osteoporosis recently. As a novel “organ transplantation” technique, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) mainly refers to the transplantation of gut microbiota from healthy donors to recipients with gut microbiota imbalance, so that the gut microbiota in recipients can be reshaped and play a normal function, and further prevent or treat the diseases related to gut microbiota disorder. Herein, based on the gut–bone axis and proven regulatory effects of gut microbiota on osteoporosis, this review expounds relevant basic researches and clinical practice of FMT on osteoporosis, thus demonstrating the potentials of FMT as a therapeutic option for osteoporosis and further providing certain reference for the future researches.
A double cropping system has been commercially adopted in southern China, where there is abundant sunshine and heat resources. In this viticulture system, the first growing season normally starts as ...a summer cropping cycle; then, the vine is pruned and forced, resulting in a second crop in winter. Due to climate differences between the summer and winter growing seasons, grape ripening progression and flavonoid metabolism vary greatly. Here, the metabolites and transcriptome of flavonoid pathways were analyzed in grapes grown under two growing seasons at different stages. Notably, the winter cropping cycle strongly increased flavonoid levels by several times in comparison to summer grapes, while the summer season took a major toll on anthocyanin and flavonol accumulation, since the winter cropping greatly triggered the expression of upstream genes in the flavonoid pathway in a coordinated expression pattern. Moreover, the ratio of
(flavonoid 3'5'-hydroxylase) to
'
(flavonoid 3'-hydroxylase) transcript levels correlated remarkably well with the ratio of 3'5'-substituted to 3'-substituted flavonoids, which was presumed to control the flux of intermediates into different flavonoid branches. On the other hand, the phenological phase also varied greatly in the two crops. Compared to summer cropping, winter growing season accelerated the duration from budburst to veraison, therefore advancing the onset of ripening, but also prolonging the duration of ripening progression due to the purposes to harvest high-quality grapes. The differential expression pattern of hormone-related genes between the two cropping cycles might explain this phenomenon.
Background
With the increasing evidence provided by recent high-quality studies, the intravenous iron appears to be a reliable therapy for blood administration in geriatric patients with hip ...fractures. Here, this systematic review and meta-analysis were aimed to assess the effectiveness and safety of intravenous iron in geriatric patients sustaining hip fractures.
Methods
Potential pertinent literatures evaluating the effects of intravenous iron in the geriatric patients undergoing hip fractures were identified from Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, and Scopus. We performed a pairwise meta-analysis using fixed- and random-effects models, and the pooling of data was carried out by using RevMan 5.1.
Results
Four randomized controlled trials and four observational studies conform to inclusion criteria. The results of meta-analysis showed that intravenous iron reduced transfusion rates compared to the control group, yet the result did not reach statistical significance. The intravenous iron was related to lower transfusion volumes, shorter length of stay, and a reduced risk of nosocomial infections. And there was no significant difference in terms of the mortality and other complications between the treatment group and the control group.
Conclusion
Current evidence suggests that intravenous iron reduces the transfusion volume, length of hospital stay, and risk of nosocomial infections. It takes about 7 days for intravenous iron to elevate hemoglobin by 1 g/dl and about 1 month for 2 g/dl. The safety profile of intravenous iron is also reassuring, and additional high-quality studies are needed.
Osteoporosis (OP) is a systemic bone disease characterized by the decreased bone mass and destruction of bone microstructure, which tends to result in the enhanced bone fragility and related ...fractures, as well as high disability rate and mortality. Exercise is one of the most common, reliable and cost-effective interventions for the prevention and treatment of OP currently, and numerous studies have revealed the close association between gut microbiota (GM) and bone metabolism recently. Moreover, exercise can alter the structure, composition and abundance of GM, and further influence the body health via GM and its metabolites, and the changes of GM also depend on the choice of exercise modes. Herein, combined with relevant studies and based on the inseparable relationship between exercise intervention-GM-OP, this review is aimed to discuss the moderating effects and potential mechanisms of exercise intervention on GM and bone metabolism, as well as the interaction between them.
There is limited evidence on the associations of unintended pregnancy with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This study aimed to examine this relationship and the modification of pre-conceptional and ...prenatal folic acid supplements. Six thousand and five toddlers aged 16 to 30 months from seven cities of six provinces in China were eligible for participation. Information on unintended pregnancy and folic acid supplements was obtained via questionnaires from caregivers of toddlers. The diagnosis of ASD was based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) and the Chinese version of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). Of the 6005 toddlers in the study (3337 boys and 2668 girls), 71 (1.18%) received the diagnosis of ASD. Generalized linear models with a logit link function showed unintended pregnancy was positively associated with ASD (odds ratios OR = 1.69, 95% confidence interval CI, 1.05-2.79). Stratified estimates indicated that the association remained stable among toddlers of mothers without pre-conceptional and prenatal folic acid supplements (OR = 2.75, 95% CI, 1.04-7.27; n = 1243, 20.70%). Unintended pregnancy was associated with higher odds of ASD in 16-30 months of toddlers, and the association was consistent among toddlers of mothers without prenatal folic acid supplements. Our findings emphasize the need to raise awareness of the risk of unintended pregnancy and the benefits of folic acid supplements among Chinese women.
PDF
