A novel hybrid material with excellent microwave absorption property has been designed by decorating reduced graphene oxide with Ba Tb
0.2
Eu
0.2
Fe
11.6
O
19
/PANI composite, and the effect of ...graphene content on microwave absorption property has been investigated. The microstructure of the composite is characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope and Raman spectroscopy. The mechanism of microwave absorption is discussed minutely. The result shows that the ternary nanocomposites demonstrate unexceptionable microwave absorption property due to its special nanostructures and synergistic effect among BaTb
0.2
Eu
0.2
Fe
11.6
O
19
, PANI and RGO. The minimum reflection loss can reach − 60.9 dB at 16.4 GHz with a thickness of only 1.95 mm, and the corresponding effective absorption bandwidth (below − 10 dB) is 4.2 GHz. BaTb
0.2
Eu
0.2
Fe
11.6
O
19
/PANI/RGO composite can be one of the most promising microwave absorption materials.
Aims/hypothesis
Obesity is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, yet little is known about how timing and cumulative exposure of obesity are related to disease risk. The aim of this study was to examine ...the associations between BMI trajectories, age of onset of obesity and obese-years (a product of degree and duration of obesity) over early adulthood and subsequent risk of type 2 diabetes.
Methods
Women aged 18–23 years at baseline (
n
= 11,192) enrolled in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH) in 1996 were followed up about every 3 years via surveys for up to 19 years. Self-reported weights were collected up to seven times. Incident type 2 diabetes was self-reported. A growth mixture model was used to identify distinct BMI trajectories over the early adult life course. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to examine the associations between trajectories and risk of diabetes.
Results
One hundred and sixty-two (1.5%) women were newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes during a mean of 16 years of follow-up. Six distinct BMI trajectories were identified, varying by different initial BMI and different slopes of increase. Initial BMI was positively associated with risk of diabetes. We also observed that age at onset of obesity was negatively associated with risk of diabetes (HR 0.87 95% CI 0.79, 0.96 per 1 year increment), and number of obese-years was positively associated with diabetes (
p
for trend <0.0001).
Conclusions/interpretation
Our data revealed the importance of timing of obesity, and cumulative exposure to obesity in the development of type 2 diabetes in young women, suggesting that preventing or delaying the onset of obesity and reducing cumulative exposure to obesity may substantially lower the risk of developing diabetes.
Strontium ferrite nanoparticles were prepared by a coprecipitation method, and reduced graphene oxide/strontium ferrite/polyaniline (R-GO/SF/PANI) ternary nanocomposites were prepared by in situ ...polymerization method. The morphology, structure, and magnetic properties of the ternary nanocomposites were investigated by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), TEM, Raman, and VSM. The microwave-absorbing properties of the composites were measured by a vector network analyzer. The XRD patterns show the single phase of strontium hexaferrite without other intermediate phases. TEM photographs reveal that strontium ferrite nanoparticles are uniformly dispersed on the surfaces of R-GO sheets. The R-GO/SF/PANI nanocomposite exhibited the best absorption property with the optimum matching thickness of 1.5 mm in the frequency of 2–18 GHz. The value of the maximum RL was −45.00 dB at 16.08 GHz with the 5.48-GHz bandwidth. The excellent absorption properties of R-GO/SF/PANI nanocomposites indicated their great potential as microwave-absorbing materials.
•4 accelerating and 4 decelerating water cycles are identified.•Vegetation change amplifies both accelerating and decelerating water cycles.•The effect of vegetation change depends on the degree of ...coverage.
The terrestrial water cycle describes the circulation of water worldwide from one store to another via repeated evapotranspiration (E) from land and precipitation (P) back to the surface. The cycle presents significant spatial variability, which is strongly affected by natural climate and anthropogenic influences. As one of the major anthropogenic influences, vegetation change unavoidably alters surface property and subsequent the terrestrial water cycle, while its contribution is yet difficult to isolate from the mixed influences. Here, we use satellite and in-situ datasets to identify the terrestrial water cycle dynamics in spatial detail and to evaluate the impact of vegetation change. Methodologically, the water cycle is identified by the indicator of difference between evapotranspiration and precipitation (E-P). Then the scalar form of the indicator’s trend (ΔE+ΔP) is used for evaluating the dynamics of water cycle, with the positive value means acceleration and negative means deceleration. Then, the contributions of climate and vegetation change are isolated by the trajectory-based method. Our results indicate that 4 accelerating and 4 decelerating water cycles can be identified, affecting 42.11% of global land. The major water cycle type is characterized by non-changing precipitation and increasing evapotranspiration (PNO-EIN), which covers 20.88% of globally land. Vegetation change amplifies both accelerating and decelerating water cycles. It tends to intensify the trend of the decelerating water cycles, while climate change weakens the trend. In the accelerating water cycles, both vegetation and climate change present positive effect to intensify the trend. The effect of plant cover change varies with the coverage. In particular, vegetation change intensifies the water cycle in moderately vegetated regions (0.1<NDVI<0.6), but weakens the cycle in sparsely or highly vegetated regions (NDVI<0.1 or 0.6<NDVI<0.8). In extremely vegetated regions (NDVI>0.85), the water cycle is accelerated because of the significant increase of precipitation. We conclude that vegetation change acts as an amplifier for both accelerating and decelerating terrestrial water cycles, depending on the degree of vegetation coverage.
People experience multiple co-occurring exposures to environmental pollutants, but analyses of multiple exposures have rarely been reported.
We used latent class analysis to estimate co-exposures to ...multiple polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and tested the associations of latent classes to body mass index.
We analyzed National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2013–2014 data. The sample included 2354 people aged 6–80 years. Measures included seven urinary PAH metabolites, BMI, and demographic and behavioral covariates. People were classified into mutually exclusive latent classes characterized by unique profiles of multiple PAH exposures. These classes were used as categorical independent variables in weighted multiple regression models with BMI as the dependent measure. Models were analyzed overall and by age groups (6–19, 20–59, and 60 and over.) We compared results using latent classes to results using a summed PAH exposure measure.
Five latent classes were identified. Two of these classes were significantly associated with higher BMI overall (p < .0001) and for the two youngest age groups. One of these classes was characterized by high multiple exposures across all PAHs, and one by moderate exposures but relatively high naphthalene and phenanthrene. The summed PAH score was associated with higher BMI only for the youngest age group.
Persons experience multiple co-exposures to PAHs that are related to BMI and obesity across age groups. Latent class analysis provides information on higher order interactions among multiple chemicals that a summed score does not. Future work may apply this approach to other outcomes or types of co-exposures.
•Latent class analysis identified patterns of multiple co-occurring exposures to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.•Five latent classes were identified characterized by unique exposure profiles.•Two classes representing multiple co-exposures were associated with higher body mass index in children and adults.•Latent class analysis provides a possible method for the study of multiple co-occurring environmental exposures.
Polypyrrole (PPy)/cobalt (Co) nanocomposites were successfully prepared by an in-situ polymerization of pyrrole in the presence of synthesized Co nanoparticles. Characterization of the product was ...accomplished by XRD, TEM, FT-IR, VSM, and vector network analyzer techniques. XRD analysis revealed that characteristic diffraction peaks of polypyrrole and Co appeared at the same time in nanocomposites. FT-IR analysis indicated a successful conjugation of Co particles with polypyrrole. TEM confirmed the formation of a core-shell structure with a wide particle size distribution. Magnetization measurements showed that polypyrrole coating decreased the saturation magnetization of Co significantly. With the increase of the matching thickness, the absorption peak varied towards low frequency direction. When the matching thickness was 3.0mm, the value of the maximum reflection loss (RL) was −20.0dB at 13.8GHz with the 7.2GHz bandwidth.
•The influence of PPy on the structure of Co is discussed.•The influence of PPy on the magnetic properties of Co is discussed.•The influence of PPy on the absorption property of Co is discussed.•PPy/Co possessed the excellent absorption property.
Introduction
Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are a relatively new class of antidiabetic drugs. Emerging findings from laboratory studies indicate that SGLT2 inhibitors can improve ...liver function and suppress the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that initiation of SGLT2 inhibitors improves HCC prognosis in a human population.
Methods
We used National Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)—Medicare linked data in the United States to evaluate the role of SGLT2 inhibitor initiation on the survival of HCC patients. 3,185 HCC patients newly diagnosed between 2014 and 2017 aged 66 years or older with pre-existing type 2 diabetes were included and followed to the end of 2019. Information on SGLT2 inhibitor initiation was extracted from the Medicare Part D file.
Results
SGLT2 inhibitor initiation was associated with significantly lower mortality risk after adjusting for potential confounders (HR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.54–0.86) with stronger association for longer duration of use (HR = 0.60, 95% CI = 0.41–0.88). Further, we found that SGLT2 inhibitor initiation was associated with a lower risk mortality risk ranging from 14% to 60% regardless of patient demographic variables, tumor characteristics, and cancer treatments.
Conclusion
Our large SEER-Medicare linked data study indicates that SGLT2 inhibitor initiation was associated with improved overall survival of HCC patients with pre-existing type 2 diabetes compared with no SGLT2 inhibitor use. Further studies are needed to confirm our findings and elucidate the possible mechanisms behind the association.
Metformin has been suggested to reduce thyroid cancer incidence and to improve thyroid cancer prognosis. We aimed to evaluate the associations between metformin and thyroid cancer incidence and ...prognosis (metastasis/recurrence/progression-free survival). Cochrane Library, PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, and U.S. National Library of Medicine Clinical Trials were searched through the end of December 2021. Data were collected from original observational studies or clinical trials on the incidence or prognosis of thyroid carcinoma outcomes in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with and without metformin use. Risk of bias in non-randomized studies of interventions (ROBINS-I) tool and Grading of Recommendations, and Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) approach were used to evaluate the risk of bias and quality of the body of evidence, respectively. In general, 4 studies were related to the thyroid cancer incidence, including 1,705,123 participants metformin users and non-users and yielding a total of 3,238 thyroid cancer events; 3 studies reported the prognosis of thyroid carcinoma based on a total of 4,972 individuals with primary thyroid carcinoma and comorbid type 2 diabetes, and the number of thyroid cancer prognosis cases ranged from 3 to 79. The overall risk of bias of the included studies ranged from moderate to serious. In the random-effects model, the summary relative risk (SRR) for thyroid cancer incidence was 0.743 (95% CI: 0.453-1.220; I.sup.2 = 88.7%, low certainty) comparing metformin users to non-users; and SRR for the prognosis of thyroid cancer was 0.504 (95% CI: 0.178-1.430; I.sup.2 = 57.5%, low certainty). Non-statistically significant negative associations between metformin use and incidence and prognosis of thyroid cancer were found in the current analysis, although the quantity and quality of the evidence were limited. Futher investigation is needed to evaluate the clinical benefits of metformin on thyroid cancer prevention and treatments.
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Timely and accurate estimation of winter wheat yield at a regional scale is crucial for national food policy and security assessments. Near-infrared reflectance is not sensitive to ...the leaf area index (LAI) and biomass of winter wheat at medium to high canopy cover (CC), and most of the vegetation indices displayed saturation phenomenon. However, LAI and biomass at medium to high CC can be efficiently estimated using imaging data from radar with stronger penetration, such as RADARSAT-2. This study had the following three objectives: (i) to combine vegetation indices based on our previous studies for estimating CC and biomass for winter wheat using HJ-1A/B and RADARSAT-2 imaging data; (ii) to combine HJ-1A/B and RADARSAT-2 imaging data with the AquaCrop model using the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to estimate winter wheat yield; and (iii) to compare the results from the assimilation of HJ-1A/B+RADARSAT-2 imaging data, HJ-1A/B imaging data, and RADARSAT-2 imaging data into the AquaCrop model using the PSO algorithm. Remote sensing data and concurrent LAI, biomass, and yield of sample fields were acquired in Yangling District, Shaanxi, China, during the 2014 winter wheat growing season. The PSO optimization algorithm was used to integrate the AquaCrop model and remote sensing data for yield estimation. The modified triangular vegetation index 2 (MTVI2)×radar vegetation index (RVI) and the enhanced vegetation index (EVI)×RVI had good relationships with CC and biomass, respectively. The results indicated that the predicted and measured yield (R2=0.31 and RMSE=0.94ton/ha) had agreement when the estimated CC from the HJ-1A/B and RADARSAT-2 data was used as the dynamic input variable for the AquaCrop model. When the estimated biomass from the HJ-1A/B and RADARSAT-2 data was used as the dynamic input variable for the AquaCrop model, the predicted yield showed agreement with the measured yield (R2=0.42 and RMSE=0.81ton/ha). These results show that using the biomass as the dynamic input variable provides a better yield estimation than using the CC as the dynamic variable. The predicted biomass and yield were more accurately estimated by combining the HJ-1A/B and RADARSAT-2 data with the AquaCrop model than by combining the only HJ-1A/B or RADARSAT-2 data with the AquaCrop model using the PSO algorithm. The results indicated that the PSO-based assimilation method could be used to estimate the winter wheat yield from the spot to the regional scale.
A novel kind of ternary nanocomposites, BaTiO3 and NiFe2O4 nanoparticles deposited on reduced graphene oxide nanosheets, was prepared via a three-step method. The phase structure, morphology, ...chemical composition, and magnetic properties were analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique, field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) while the microwave absorption performance was investigated by vector network analyzer (VNA). The results showed the sample with 30 wt% reduced graphene oxide exhibits the most remarkable microwave absorption properties. The optimal reflection loss can reach −51.1 dB at 9.52 GHz with a coating layer thickness of only 2.9 mm and a broad bandwidth (RL < −10 dB) of 3.12 GHz.
Display omitted
•A novel kind of ternary nanocomposites was prepared.•The formation mechanism of ternary nanocomposites was discussed.•The ternary nanocomposites possessed excellent microwave absorption properties.
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