Whether ambient temperature exposure contributes to death from asthma remains unknown to date. We therefore conducted a case-crossover study in China to quantitatively evaluate the association and ...burden of ambient temperature exposure on asthma mortality.
Using data from the National Mortality Surveillance System in China, we conducted a time-stratified case-crossover study of 15 888 individuals who lived in Hubei and Jiangsu province, China and died from asthma as the underlying cause in 2015–2019. Individual-level exposures to air temperature and apparent temperature on the date of death and 21 days prior were assessed based on each subject's residential address. Distributed lag nonlinear models based on conditional logistic regression were used to quantify exposure-response associations and calculate fraction and number of deaths attributable to non-optimum ambient temperatures.
We observed a reverse J-shaped association between air temperature and risk of asthma mortality, with a minimum mortality temperature of 21.3 °C. Non-optimum ambient temperature is responsible for substantial excess mortality from asthma. In total, 26.3% of asthma mortality were attributable to non-optimum temperatures, with moderate cold, moderate hot, extreme cold and extreme hot responsible for 21.7%, 2.4%, 2.1% and 0.9% of asthma mortality, respectively. The total attributable fraction and number was significantly higher among adults aged less than 80 years in hot temperature.
Exposure to non-optimum ambient temperature, especially moderate cold temperature, was responsible for substantial excess mortality from asthma. These findings have important implications for planning of public-health interventions to minimize the adverse respiratory damage from non-optimum ambient temperature.
•We observed a reverse J-shaped relation of air temperature with asthma mortality.•A minimum temperature of asthma mortality was 21.3 °C.•Non-optimum temperature is responsible for substantial excess mortality from asthma.•Total attributable fraction and number was higher in the adults aged <80 years.
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•Higher ambient temperature was associated with a reduction in semen quality in South China.•The lag 70–90 day exposure was associated with a reduction in sperm count and ...morphology.•The lag 10–14 day exposure was associated with a reduction in sperm motility.•We did not observe adverse effects of cold exposure on semen quality in South China.
Potential adverse effects of non-optimum temperatures on human semen quality have drawn much concern worldwide; however, the exposure–response relationship remains less understood.
To quantitatively assess the association between exposure to ambient temperature and semen quality in South China, and to identify potential critical exposure windows.
We conducted a longitudinal study to investigate 11,050 volunteers who lived in Guangdong province, China and intended to donate sperm in the Guangdong provincial human sperm bank during 2016–2021. Exposure to ambient temperature during 0–90 days before semen collection was assessed by extracting daily temperatures from a validated grid dataset at each subject’s residential address. Linear mixed models and linear regression models were used to perform exposure–response analyses.
During the study period, the 11,050 subjects underwent 44,564 semen analyses. Each 5 °C increase of lag 0–90 day exposure to ambient temperature was approximately linearly associated with a 3.11 (95 % confidence interval CI: 2.08, 4.14) × 106/ml, 9.31 (4.83, 13.80) × 106, 1.27 % (0.91 %, 1.62 %), 8.20 (5.33, 11.08) × 106, 1.37 % (1.01 %, 1.74 %), 8.29 (5.52, 11.06) × 106, 0.67 % (0.28 %, 1.05 %), and 4.50 (2.20, 6.80) × 106 reduction in sperm concentration, total sperm number, total motility, total motile sperm number, progressive motility, total progressive sperm number, normal forms, and total normal form sperm number, respectively (all p < 0.001), which was not significantly modified by age (all p for effect modification > 0.05). We identified a critical exposure period of 10–14 days before semen collection for sperm motility, and 70–90 days before semen collection for sperm count and morphology.
Our study provides consistent evidence that higher ambient temperature was significantly associated with a reduction in semen quality in South China. The findings highlight the needs to reduce high temperature exposures during 3 months before ejaculation to maintain better semen quality.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) hospitalization has been linked with ambient air pollution. However, the evidence on respiratory health benefits from air pollution control policy in ...China is limited.
To investigate benefits from the Three-Year Action Plan to Win the Battle for a Blue Sky (TYAP) for tackling COPD hospitalization due to ambient air pollution.
We conducted a time-stratified case-crossover study of 138,015 COPD hospitalizations aged ≥ 60 years in Guangdong province, China during 2016–2019 to investigate respiratory health benefits from TYAP. Inverse distance weighting method was used to assess daily individual-level exposures to ambient air pollutants including particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 µm (PM2.5), particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤ 10 µm (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone (O3). Conditional logistic regression model was applied to analyze the associations between ambient air pollutants and COPD hospitalization.
TYAP can modify the associations. Each 10 μg/m3 increase of exposure to PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 and 1 mg/m3 increase of exposure to CO were significantly associated with 2.5%, 2.0%, 3.0%, and 14.4% increase in odds of COPD hospitalization before TYAP, respectively; while 1.0%, 0.9%, 1.5%, and 5.8% increase in odds during TYAP. We found prominent declines in health burden of COPD hospitalizations due to air pollution among the elderly after TYAP implication when compared with that before TYAP.
Reduced levels of ambient air pollutants by TYAP can effectively lower the risk for COPD hospitalization among the elderly, which provides evidence on the respiratory health benefits from consistent and effective air pollution control policy.
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•Air pollutant exposures at individual level are assessed.•TYAP can modify the association between air pollution and COPD hospitalization.•The risk of for COPD hospitalization became weak or absent during the TYAP.•Prominent decline in COPD hospitalization due to pollutants after TYAP implication.•Respiratory health benefits from consistent air pollution control policy.
Exposure to residential greenness has been associated with benefits on certain reproductive health outcomes. However, its potential benefits on semen quality remain unknown.
To quantitatively explore ...the association between exposure to residential greenness and semen quality.
We investigated 9142 sperm donation volunteers who underwent 38,682 semen examinations at Guangdong provincial human sperm bank in China during 2016–2019. Exposure to residential greenness was assessed using mean daily Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) at each subject’s residential address with a 400 m buffer during 0–90 days before each semen collection. Multivariate linear mixed models and linear regression models were used to assess the association between exposure to residential greenness and semen quality.
An interquartile range increase in exposure to residential greenness was significantly associated with a 0.034 (95% confidence interval CI: 0.005, 0.063) ml, 4.06 (95% CI: 0.76, 7.37) × 106, and 0.32% (95% CI: 0.22%, 0.41%) increase in semen volume, total sperm number, and normal forms, respectively; similar trends were observed across quartiles of exposure to residential greenness (all p-values for liner trend <0.05 except for semen volume). The association of greenness exposure with semen volume and total sperm number was stronger in subjects 18–25 years, while the association with normal forms was stronger in subjects 26 years or older. The association for sperm concentration, total sperm number, and normal forms were stronger in cool season, while the association for semen volume was stronger in warm season.
We found that exposure to residential greenness was significantly associated with higher semen quality. Further studies are warranted to determine the causality of the association and its underlying mechanisms.
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•First study investigating the association between residential greenness and semen quality.•Our findings suggest that residential greenness exposure may improve semen quality.•The association of residential greenness with semen quality varies across age and season.
The apextrin C-terminal (ApeC) domain is a class of newly discovered protein domains with an origin dating back to prokaryotes. ApeC-containing proteins (ACPs) have been found in various marine and ...aquatic invertebrates, but their functions and the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. Early studies suggested that amphioxus ACP1 and ACP2 bind to bacterial cell walls and have a role in immunity. Here we identified another two amphioxus ACPs (ACP3 and ACP5), which belong to the same phylogenetic clade with ACP1/2, but show distinct expression patterns and sequence divergence (40-50% sequence identities). Both ACP3 and ACP5 were mainly expressed in the intestine and hepatic cecum, and could be up-regulated after bacterial challenge. Both prokaryotic-expressed recombinant ACP3 and ACP5 could bind with several species of bacteria and yeasts, showing agglutinating activity but no microbicidal activity. ELISA assays suggested that their ApeC domains could interact with peptidoglycan (PGN), but not with lipoteichoic acid (LTA), lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and zymosan A. Furthermore, they can only bind to Lys-type PGN from
, but not to DAP-type PGN from
and not to moieties of PGN such as MDPs, NAMs and NAGs. This recognition spectrum is different from that of ACP1/2. We also found that when expressed in mammalian cells, ACP3 could interact with TRAF6
a conserved non-ApeC region, which inhibited the ubiquitination of TRAF6 and hence suppressed downstream NF-κB activation. This work helped define a novel subfamily of ACPs, which have conserved structures, and have related yet diversified molecular functions. Its members have dual roles, with ApeC as a lectin and a conserved unknown region as a signal transduction regulator. These findings expand our understanding of the ACP functions and may guide future research on the role of ACPs in different animal clades.
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•Glycerol/dodecanol emulsions were prepared using amphiphilic silica particles.•The particles contained a combination of alkyl and sulfonic acid surface groups.•The droplet size was ...reduced until a concentration of 1wt.% of silica particles.•Ostwald ripening and flocculation were the main destabilization mechanisms.•The particles catalyzed the etherification of glycerol with dodecanol at 150°C.
A key challenge in biomass conversion is how to achieve valuable molecules with optimal reactivity in the presence of immiscible reactants. This issue is usually tackled using either organic solvents or surfactants to promote emulsification, making industrial processes expensive and not environmentally friendly. As an alternative, Pickering emulsions using solid particles with tailored designed surface properties can promote phase contact within intrinsically biphasic systems. Here we show that amphiphilic silica nanoparticles bearing a proper combination of alkyl and strong acidic surface groups can generate stable Pickering emulsions of the glycerol/dodecanol system in the temperature range of 35–130°C. We also show that such particles can perform as Pickering Interfacial Catalysts for the acid-catalyzed etherification of glycerol with dodecanol at 150°C. Our findings shed light on some key parameters governing emulsion stability and catalytic activity of Pickering interfacial catalytic systems. This understanding is critical to pave the way toward technological solutions for biomass upgrading able to promote eco-efficient reactions between immiscible organic reagents with neither use of solvents nor surfactants.
Abstract
A simple patch antenna with enhanced isolation and without extra structure is devised. The isolation is enhanced by 5 dB by loading two shorting pins, and the working frequency is not ...changed at 3.45 GHz. Radiation pattern is little changed after loading two shorting pins. There is no additional structure between the two antennas. Isolation is strengthened through the structure of the antenna itself.
Pickering emulsions combining surface-active and catalytic properties offer a promising platform for conducting interfacial reactions between immiscible reagents. Despite the significant progress in ...the design of Pickering interfacial catalysts for a broad panel of reactions, the dynamics of Pickering emulsions under reaction conditions is still poorly understood. Herein, using benzene hydroxylation with aqueous H2O2 as a model system, we explored the dynamics of benzene/water Pickering emulsions during reaction by dissipative particle dynamics. Our study points out that the surface wettability of the silica nanoparticles is affected to a higher extent by the degree of polymer grafting rather than an increase of the chain length of hydrophobic polymer moieties. A remarkable decline of the oil-in-water (O/W) interfacial tension was observed when increasing the yield of the reaction product (phenol), affecting the emulsion stability. However, phenol did not alter to an important extent the distribution of immiscible reagents around the nanoparticles sitting at the benzene/water interface. A synergistic effect between phenol and silica nanoparticles on the O/W interfacial tension of the biphasic system could be ascertained.
A key demand in biomass conversion is how to achieve high reactivity with immiscible reagents with the use of neither cosolvents nor additives. Pickering interfacial catalysis encompassing the design ...of amphiphilic catalysts behaving concomitantly as emulsifiers offers an elegant solution. In this study, we prepared a systematic series of amphiphilic Aquivion–carbon composites by the hydrothermal carbonization of guar gum with Aquivion perfluorosulfonic superacid. By tuning the Aquivion–carbon composition, materials with tunable hydrophilic-lipophilic properties could be prepared, showing high versatility for conducting biphasic reactions without stirring. In particular, an optimal formulation based on 5:1 Aquivion–carbon could be developed, showing high activity in the transesterification reaction of glyceryl trioleate with methanol at 100 °C with good reusability due to the genesis of stable Pickering emulsions.
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