Studies on the associations between ambient temperature and asthma hospitalizations are limited, and the results are controversial. We aimed to assess the short-term effects of ambient temperature on ...the risk of asthma hospitalizations and quantify the hospitalization burdens of asthma attributable to non-optimal temperature in adults in Beijing, China.
We collected daily asthma hospitalizations, meteorological factors and air quality data in Beijing from 2012 to 2015. We applied a time-stratified case-crossover design and fitted a distributed lag non-linear model with a conditional quasi-Poisson regression to explore the association between ambient temperature and adult asthma hospitalizations. The effect modifications of these associations by gender and age were assessed by stratified analyses. We also computed the attributable fractions and numbers with 95% empirical confidence intervals (eCI) of asthma hospitalizations due to extreme and moderate temperatures.
From 2012 to 2015, we identified a total of 18,500 hospitalizations for asthma among adult residents in Beijing, China. Compared with the optimal temperature (22 °C), the cumulative relative risk (CRR) over lag 0-30 days was 2.32 with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 1.57-3.42 for extreme cold corresponding to the 2.5th percentile (- 6.5 °C) of temperature distribution and 2.04 (95% CI 1.52-2.74) for extreme heat corresponding to the 97.5th percentile (29 °C) of temperature distribution. 29.1% (95% eCI 17.5-38.0%) of adult asthma hospitalizations was attributable to non-optimum temperatures. Moderate cold temperatures yielded most of the burdens, with an attributable fraction of 20.3% (95% eCI 9.1-28.7%). The temperature-related risks of asthma hospitalizations were more prominent in females and younger people (19-64 years old).
There was a U-shaped association between ambient temperature and the risk of adult asthma hospitalizations in Beijing, China. Females and younger patients were more vulnerable to the effects of non-optimum temperatures. Most of the burden was attributable to moderate cold. Our findings may uncover the potential impact of climate changes on asthma exacerbations.
This systematic review sought to determine the effects of Mitochondrial division inhibitor-1 (Mdivi-1) on neural mitochondrial dysfunction and neural mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in ...ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury after ischemic stroke. Pubmed, Web of Science, and EMBASE databases were searched through July 2021. The studies published in English language that mentioned the effects of Mdivi-1 on neural mitochondrial dysfunction and neural mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in I/R-induced brain injury were included. The CAMARADES checklist (for
studies) and the TOXRTOOL checklist (for
studies) were used for study quality evaluation. Twelve studies were included (median CAMARADES score = 6; TOXRTOOL scores ranging from 16 to 18). All studies investigated neural mitochondrial functions, providing that Mdivi-1 attenuated the mitochondrial membrane potential dissipation, ATP depletion, and complexes I-V abnormalities; enhanced mitochondrial biogenesis, as well as inactivated mitochondrial fission and mitophagy in I/R-induced brain injury. Ten studies analyzed neural mitochondria-mediated apoptosis, showing that Mdivi-1 decreased the levels of mitochondria-mediated proapoptotic factors (AIF, Bax, cytochrome
, caspase-9, and caspase-3) and enhanced the level of antiapoptotic factor (Bcl-2) against I/R-induced brain injury. The findings suggest that Mdivi-1 can protect neural mitochondrial functions, thereby attenuating neural mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in I/R-induced brain injury. Our review supports Mdivi-1 as a potential therapeutic compound to reduce brain damage in ischemic stroke (PROSPERO protocol registration ID: CRD42020205808).
https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42020205808.
•Wake interference between two tandem offshore floating VAWTs is investigated.•Effect of platform pitch motion on power and wake of floating turbine array is evaluated.•Parametric analysis of effects ...of varied pitch characteristics is performed.•Mechanism of pitch motion alleviating negative effect of wake interference is revealed.•Provide a basic reference for designing offshore floating wind farms.
The wake interference within the offshore wind farms, especially with the tandem arrangement scenario, affects the designed total power output. Also, the six degrees of freedom motions of the platforms not only can change the aerodynamics of the offshore floating wind turbines, but also may influence the wake interference between them. In the present study, the effect of the platform pitch motion on the wake interference between two tandem offshore floating vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) is characterized using the improved delayed detached-eddy simulation (IDDES). First, the power performance of the downstream turbine (VAWT Ⅱ) at different separation distances, 2D ≤ LS ≤ 10D, and tip speed ratios, 0.4 ≤ TSRⅡ ≤ 1.5, are analyzed, assuming that the upstream turbine (VAWT Ⅰ) is bottom-fixed and operates at an optimal TSRⅠ of 1.2. Then, the effects of the pitch amplitude, 5° ≤ APⅠ ≤ 15°, and pitch period, 2TⅠ ≤ TPⅠ ≤ 8TⅠ, on the wake interference are characterized by assuming that the platform pitch motion of VAWT Ⅰ follows a prescribed simple harmonic law. The results show that locating VAWT Ⅱ in the medium wake region of VAWT Ⅰ, e.g., LS = 6D, can appropriately balance the power performance and space cost of the bottom-fixed turbine array. Also, the platform pitch motion can reduce the mean velocity deficit in the core wake region of VAWT Ⅰ. The mean wake deficit reduction increases the averaged power coefficient of VAWT Ⅱ, e.g., up to 22.67% when LS = 6D, TSRⅡ = 1.2, APⅠ = 15°, and TPⅠ = 4TⅠ. In addition, relatively larger pitch amplitudes and smaller pitch periods will further alleviate the negative effect of the wake interference. This study may serve as a reference for designing offshore floating wind farms.
Peptides acquire target affinity based on the combination of residues in their sequences and the conformation formed by their flexible folding, an ability that makes them very attractive biomaterials ...in therapeutic, diagnostic, and assay fields. With the development of computer technology, computer-aided design and screening of affinity peptides has become a more efficient and faster method. This review summarizes successful cases of computer-aided design and screening of affinity peptide ligands in recent years and lists the computer programs and online servers used in the process. In particular, the characteristics of different design and screening methods are summarized and categorized to help researchers choose between different methods. In addition, experimentally validated sequences are listed, and their applications are described, providing directions for the future development and application of computational peptide screening and design.
Abstract This paper introduces structure and characteristics of viscoelastic damper and analyses the effect of temperature on its performance. Elastic damper is a kind of damping device which mainly ...relies on the hysteretic energy dissipation characteristic of viscoelastic material to realize the purpose of structural shock absorption. It is widely used in vibration control of mechanical equipment and building structures. However, in the application and research of viscoelastic dampers, it is found that temperature has a significant effect on their performance. This paper first introduces the basic concept of viscoelastic dampers, and points out that there are few papers discussing the effect of temperature on viscoelastic dampers in recent years. In the second part of this paper, the structural composition and characteristics of viscoelastic dampers and viscoelastic materials are introduced. After that, this paper introduces the influence of temperature on the performance of viscoelastic damper from various aspects, and then focuses on the analysis of the influence of temperature on the energy dissipation performance of the damper.
Bone marrow engraftment of the hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) involves homing to the vasculatures and lodgment to their niches. How HSPCs transmigrate from the vasculature to the ...niches is unclear. Here, we show that loss of diaphanous-related formin mDia2 leads to impaired engraftment of long-term hematopoietic stem cells and loss of competitive HSPC repopulation. These defects are likely due to the compromised trans-endothelial migration of HSPCs since their homing to the bone marrow vasculatures remained intact. Mechanistically, loss of mDia2 disrupts HSPC polarization and induced cytoplasmic accumulation of MAL, which deregulates the activity of serum response factor (SRF). We further reveal that beta2 integrins are transcriptional targets of SRF. Knockout of beta2 integrins in HSPCs phenocopies mDia2 deficient mice. Overexpression of SRF or beta2 integrins rescues HSPC engraftment defects associated with mDia2 deficiency. Our findings show that mDia2-SRF-beta2 integrin signaling is critical for HSPC lodgment to the niches.
Transportation energy demand has a significant impact on worldwide energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Accurate transportation energy demand predictions can help policymakers develop and ...implement successful energy policies and strategies. In this study, a novel approach to predict transportation energy demand using the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) based on the Improved Red Fox Optimizer (IRFO) has been suggested. The proposed method utilizes the ANN model to solve the complex nonlinear relationships between transportation energy demand and its effective parameters including Gross Domestic Product (GDP), population, and vehicle numbers. Also, the IRFO algorithm was utilized to modify the ANN model's parameters to improve the prediction accuracy. The experimental findings demonstrate the ANN-IRFO model performs better than the other method in terms of accuracy and effectiveness. It predicts the growth of GDP, population, and vehicles number by 5.5 %, 4.8 %, and 4.2 %, respectively. The findings demonstrate that the suggested method can provide accurate forecasts for transportation energy demand, which can help decision-makers to make informed decisions and policies regarding energy management and sustainability.
mDia formin proteins regulate the dynamics and organization of the cytoskeleton through their linear actin nucleation and polymerization activities. We previously showed that mDia1 deficiency leads ...to aberrant innate immune activation and induces myelodysplasia in a mouse model, and mDia2 regulates enucleation and cytokinesis of erythroblasts and the engraftment of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). However, whether and how mDia formins interplay and regulate hematopoiesis under physiological and stress conditions remains unknown. Here, we found that both mDia1 and mDia2 are required for HSPC regeneration under stress, such as serial plating, aging, and reconstitution after myeloid ablation. We showed that mDia1 and mDia2 form hetero-oligomers through the interactions between mDia1 GBD-DID and mDia2 DAD domains. Double knockout of mDia1 and mDia2 in hematopoietic cells synergistically impaired the filamentous actin network and serum response factor-involved transcriptional signaling, which led to declined HSPCs, severe anemia, and significant mortality in neonates and newborn mice. Our data demonstrate the potential roles of mDia hetero-oligomerization and their non-rodent functions in the regulation of HSPCs activity and orchestration of hematopoiesis.
Risk factors affecting the prognosis of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in adults were investigated. The aim was to identify new predictors for ARDS patient prognosis, including those with ...clinical, pathophysiological, and atypical immunodeficiency.
ARDS patients were retrospectively included. The patients were grouped and analysed according to different oxygenation index grades and prognosis, and factors influencing prognosis and survival were examined. Adolescent patients, patients with typical immunodeficiency and patients who died within 24 h after being diagnosed with ARDS were excluded. The predictive value for mortality was determined by Cox proportional hazard analysis.
In total, 201 patients who fulfilled the Berlin definition of ARDS were included. The severity of critical illness on the day of enrolment, as measured by the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score (P = 0.016), Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score (P = 0.027), and PaO
/FiO
(P = 0.000), worsened from mild to severe ARDS cases. Compared with survivors, non-survivors were significantly older and had higher APACHE II and SOFA scores. Moreover, significantly lower lymphocyte/neutrophil ratios and leukocyte counts were found among non-survivors than survivors (P = 0.008, P = 0.012). A moderate positive correlation between the lymphocyte/neutrophil and PaO
/FiO
ratios (P = 0.023) was observed. In predicting 100-day survival in patients with ARDS, the area under the curve (AUC) for the lymphocyte/neutrophil ratio was significantly higher than those for the PaO
/FiO
ratio alone, body mass index (BMI) alone, and the lymphocyte count alone (P = 0.0062, 0.0001, and 0.0154). Age (per log
years), BMI < 24, SOFA score, leukocyte count, and the lymphocyte/neutrophil ratio were independent predictors of 28-day mortality in ARDS patients. Additionally, ARDS patients with a lymphocyte/neutrophil ratio < 0.0537 had increased 28-day mortality rates (P = 0.0283). Old age affected both 28-day and 100-day mortality rates (P = 0.0064,0.0057).
Age (per log
years), BMI < 24, SOFA score, lymphocytes, and the lymphocyte/neutrophil ratio were independent predictors of 100-day mortality in patients with ARDS. The lymphocyte/neutrophil ratio may represent a potential molecular marker to evaluate atypical immunosuppression or impairment in patients with ARDS.
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