This review article delves into the multifaceted relationship between climate change, air quality, and respiratory health, placing a special focus on the process of particle deposition in the lungs. ...We discuss the capability of climate change to intensify air pollution and alter particulate matter physicochemical properties such as size, dispersion, and chemical composition. These alterations play a significant role in influencing the deposition of particles in the lungs, leading to consequential respiratory health effects. The review paper provides a broad exploration of climate change's direct and indirect role in modifying particulate air pollution features and its interaction with other air pollutants, which may change the ability of particle deposition in the lungs. In conclusion, climate change may play an important role in regulating particle deposition in the lungs by changing physicochemistry of particulate air pollution, therefore, increasing the risk of respiratory disease development.
In this letter, the special role of hydrogen ions in hafnium doped silicon oxide resistive random access memory (RRAM) is presented. In addition to the more typical oxygen ion-dominated resistive ...switching, hydrogen ions were also observed to trigger a resistance transformation phenomenon, producing a tri-resistive device. Unlike a normal RRAM device, a hydrogen plasma-treated device is operated with a reversed voltage polarity, and the direction of hydrogen ion migration results in the chemical bonds breaking and repairing. By changing the voltage polarity and stop voltage, this tri-resistive behavior can be achieved. This particular hydrogen-induced switching behavior suggests a different RRAM switching mechanism and is finally explained by our model.
In this study, X-ray irradiation of metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) is performed. After the X-ray irradiation, the threshold voltage ...(<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">{V}_{\text {th}}{)} </tex-math></inline-formula> shift and ON-state current (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">{I}_{\text {on}}{)} </tex-math></inline-formula> variation are observed. However, after a recovery period, the degradation trend of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">{V}_{\text {th}} </tex-math></inline-formula> and that of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">{I}_{\text {on}} </tex-math></inline-formula> are in opposite directions. Such opposite degradations are demonstrated and explained in this study. As X-rays irradiate the devices, holes, and defects are generated in the GaN layer and Si3N4 layer, respectively. To prove the degradation mechanism induced by X-rays in MIS HEMT, the following characteristics are offered. The drain current (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">{I}_{d}{)} </tex-math></inline-formula> and the source current (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">{I}_{s}{)} </tex-math></inline-formula> under the X-ray irradiation are introduced to prove the hole generation. The two-step degradation of the gate current (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">{I}_{g}{)} </tex-math></inline-formula> after X-ray irradiation provides evidence of the formation of defect states. Moreover, the different degradation behaviors between Schottky-gate HEMT and MIS HEMT are compared and verification of the position of generation of defect states in the Si3N4 layer is given accordingly.
Whether nonobstetric surgery during gestation is associated with a higher risk of spontaneous abortion or adverse delivery outcomes is still unclear.
We performed a retrospective case-control study ...using a Longitudinal Health Insurance Database (LHID 2000) containing claim-data of 1 million randomly selected beneficiaries. We compared the incidences and estimated the adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) for spontaneous abortion, adverse delivery outcomes, cesarean delivery, and prolonged hospital stay to determine the risk of adverse outcomes in women who had nonobstetric surgery during gestation as compared to those who did not have any surgery during gestation.
After exclusion, we were left with 114,852 delivery and 3999 abortion cases in our study; and 462 (0.39%) of them had nonobstetric surgery under general or regional anesthesia during pregnancy. The leading surgeries were repair of cervical os (33.12%), appendectomy (17.32%), ovarian surgeries (13.64%), and fixation of fractured bone (8.01%).The risk of spontaneous abortion (4.23% vs. 2.43%, aOR:1.53; 95% CI: 1.01-2.31), antepartum hemorrhage (7.14% vs. 2.83%, aOR: 2.51; 95% CI: 1.74-3.61), pre-eclampsia/eclampsia (2.60% vs. 1.01%, aOR: 2.35; 95% CI: 1.30-4.23), gestational diabetes (2.38% vs. 0.69%, aOR: 3.12; 95% CI: 1.69-5.78), prematurity (9.06 vs. 4.90%, aOR: 3.31; 95% CI: 2.54-4.31), cesarean section (43.55% vs. 33.76%, aOR: 1.41; 95% CI: 1.17-1.71), and prolonged hospital stay (1.82% vs. 5.91%, aOR: 3.23; 95% CI: 2.16-4.83) were higher in those women who had nonobstetric surgery after adjusting for age and comorbidities.
Nonobstetric surgery during gestation were associated with a higher risk of spontaneous abortion, adverse delivery outcomes, cesarean section, and prolonged hospital stay.
Camphorquinone (CQ) is a popularly-used photosensitizer in composite resin restoration. In this study, the effects of CQ on cytotoxicity and inflammation-related genes and proteins expression of pulp ...cells were investigated. The role of reactive oxygen species (ROS), ATM/Chk2/p53 and hemeoxygenase-1 (HO-1) and MEK/ERK signaling was also evaluated. We found that ROS and free radicals may play important role in CQ toxicity. CQ (1 and 2 mM) decreased the viability of pulp cells to about 70% and 50% of control, respectively. CQ also induced G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of pulp cells. The expression of type I collagen, cdc2, cyclin B, and cdc25C was inhibited, while p21, HO-1 and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) were stimulated by CQ. CQ also activated ATM, Chk2, and p53 phosphorylation and GADD45α expression. Besides, exposure to CQ increased cellular ROS level and 8-isoprostane production. CQ also stimulated COX-2 expression and PGE2 production of pulp cells. The reduction of cell viability caused by CQ can be attenuated by N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD), but can be promoted by Zinc protoporphyin (ZnPP). CQ stimulated ERK1/2 phosphorylation, and U0126 prevented the CQ-induced COX-2 expression and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production. These results indicate that CQ may cause cytotoxicity, cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and PGE2 production of pulp cells. These events could be due to stimulation of ROS and 8-isoprostane production, ATM/Chk2/p53 signaling, HO-1, COX-2 and p21 expression, as well as the inhibition of cdc2, cdc25C and cyclin B1. These results are important for understanding the role of ROS in pathogenesis of pulp necrosis and pulpal inflammation after clinical composite resin filling.
Background
Cultivating staff's professional English has become an imperative and challenging issue in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) countries. English for medical professionals is also the ...common language around the world for publishing new medical knowledge or reports. Therefore, Medical English for Health Professionals (MEHP) is a crucial required professional training program in nursing education. Its purpose is to improve nursing students' professional English so that they can directly understand the clinical medical information related to patients, thereby reading the latest international medical knowledge and participating in research themselves.
Objective
The MEHP program is commonly conducted in a large‐scale class using the lecturing approach, which is a passive learning mode lacking opportunities for individual students to experience learning contexts and to receive advice and guidance from the teacher. To solve this problem, the present study proposed a motivation model‐based professional English gaming approach.
Method
To verify the effects of the proposed approach, a quasi‐experiment was conducted in an MEHP program of a university to explore the effects of the approach on nursing students' learning achievements. In addition, the higher and lower achievers' behavioural patterns, as well as their perceptions of the learning approach, were investigated.
Results and Conclusions
The results showed that the motivation model‐based digital gaming approach improved the students' professional English achievements in the “application” dimension as well as their positive perceptions of learning professional English more than the conventional learning approach. Moreover, when learning with the proposed approach, the higher achievers revealed more positive behavioural patterns than the lower achievers. The main contributions of the study are the proposal of a motivation model‐based digital gaming approach, and showing the effectiveness of the proposed approach in helping trainees gain a deeper understanding of professional English and facilitating their positive learning behaviours in a course for medical English.
Practitioner notes
What is already known about this topic
Scholars have indicated the importance of situating learners in authentic contexts.
Digital games can provide learning contexts for English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners.
Digital games have potential to motivate EFL learners to actively learn and practice English.
What this paper adds
A motivation model‐based digital gaming approach is proposed for professional English learning.
A digital game has been implemented for Medical English for Health Professionals (MEHP) based on the proposed approach.
An experiment has been conducted to examine the effectiveness of the approach and to analyse learners' behaviours using the proposed approach.
Implications for practice and/or policy
The motivation model‐based digital gaming approach has great potential in improving learners' professional achievements.
The motivation model‐based digital gaming approach can promote learners' positive behavioural patterns.
It is recommended to apply the approach to other professional English courses for EFL learners.
Two types of porous polybenzimidazole (PBI) membranes with symmetric and asymmetric morphologies were fabricated by the template-leaching method and characterized by scanning electron microscope ...(SEM). Their physicochemical properties were compared in terms of acid-doping level, proton conductivity, mechanical strength, and oxidative stability. The durability of fuel cell operation is one of the most challenging for the PBI based membrane electrode assembly (MEA) used in high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs). In the present work, we carried out a long-term steady-state fuel cell test to compare the effect of membrane structure on the cell voltage degradation. It has also been demonstrated that the asymmetrically porous PBI could bring some notable improvements on the durability of fuel cell operation, the fuel crossover problem, and the phosphoric acid leakage.
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•Two types of Porous PBI membranes were fabricated via template-leaching process.•Porous PBI membranes showed power densities high to 835 mW/cm2 measured at 160 °C.•Asymmetrically porous PBI as PEM showed a relatively improved FC durability.
The RAS-ERK pathway is known to play a pivotal role in differentiation, proliferation and tumour progression. Here, we show that Erk downregulates Forkhead box O 3a (FOXO3a) by directly interacting ...with and phosphorylating FOXO3a at Ser 294, Ser 344 and Ser 425, which consequently promotes cell proliferation and tumorigenesis. The ERK-phosphorylated FOXO3a degrades via an MDM2-mediated ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. However, the non-phosphorylated FOXO3a mutant is resistant to the interaction and degradation by murine double minute 2 (MDM2), thereby resulting in a strong inhibition of cell proliferation and tumorigenicity. Taken together, our study elucidates a novel pathway in cell growth and tumorigenesis through negative regulation of FOXO3a by RAS-ERK and MDM2.
Purifying selection during dengue viral infection has been suggested as the driving force of viral evolution and the higher complexity of the intra-host quasi-species is thought to offer an adaptive ...advantage for arboviruses as they cycle between arthropod and vertebrate hosts. However, very few studies have been performed to investigate the viral genetic changes within (intra-host) and between (inter-host) humans in a spatio-temporal scale. Viruses of different serotypes from various countries imported to Taiwan cause annual outbreaks. During 2001-2003, two consecutive outbreaks were caused by dengue virus serotype 2 (DENV-2) and resulted in a larger-scale epidemic with more severe dengue cases in the following year. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the viruses from both events were similar and related to the 2001 DENV-2 isolate from the Philippines. We comprehensively analyzed viral sequences from representative dengue patients and identified three consensus genetic variants, group Ia, Ib and II, with different spatio-temporal population dynamics. The phylodynamic analysis suggested group Ib variants, characterized by lower genetic diversity, transmission rate, and intra-host variant numbers, might play the role of maintenance variants. The residential locations among the patients infected by group Ib variants were in the outer rim of case clusters throughout the 2001-2003 period whereas group Ia and II variants were located in the centers of case clusters, suggesting that group Ib viruses might serve as "sheltered overwintering" variants in an undefined ecological niche. Further deep sequencing of the viral envelope (E) gene directly from individual patient serum samples confirmed the emergence of variants belonging to three quasi-species (group Ia, Ib, and II) and the ancestral role of the viral variants in the latter phase of the 2001 outbreak contributed to the later, larger-scale epidemic beginning in 2002. These findings enhanced our understanding of increasing epidemic severity over time in the same epidemic area. It also highlights the importance of combining phylodynamic and deep sequencing analysis as surveillance tools for detecting dynamic changes in viral variants, particularly searching for and monitoring any specific viral subpopulation. Such subpopulations might have selection advantages in both fitness and transmissibility leading to increased epidemic severity.
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