Pneumonia, the leading reason underlying childhood deaths, may be triggered or exacerbated by air pollution. To date, only a few studies have examined the association of air pollution with emergency ...department (ED) visits for pediatric pneumonia, with inconsistent results. Therefore, we aimed to elucidate the impact of short-term exposure to particulate matter (PM) and other air pollutants on the incidence of ED visits for pediatric pneumonia.
PM
, PM
, and other air pollutant levels were measured at 11 air quality-monitoring stations in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, between 2008 and 2014. Further, we extracted the medical records of non-trauma patients aged ≤17 years and who had visited an ED with the principal diagnosis of pneumonia. A time-stratified case-crossover study design was employed to determine the hazard effect of air pollution in a total of 4024 patients.
The single-pollutant model suggested that per interquartile range increment in PM
, PM
, nitrogen dioxide (NO
), and sulfur dioxide (SO
) on 3 days before the event increased the odds of pediatric pneumonia by 14.0% 95% confidence interval (CI), 5.1-23.8%, 10.9% (95% CI, 2.4-20.0%), 14.1% (95% CI, 5.0-24.1%), and 4.5% (95% CI, 0.8-8.4%), respectively. In two-pollutant models, PM
and NO
were significant after adjusting for PM
and SO
. Subgroup analyses showed that older children (aged ≥4 years) were more susceptible to PM
(interaction p = 0.024) and children were more susceptible to NO
during warm days (≥26.5 °C, interaction p = 0.011).
Short-term exposure to PM
and NO
possibly plays an important role in pediatric pneumonia in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Older children are more susceptible to PM
, and all children are more susceptible to NO
during warm days.
Power and electronic components that are self‐healable, deformable, transparent, and self‐powered are highly desirable for next‐generation energy/electronic/robotic applications. Here, an ...energy‐harvesting triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) that combines the above features is demonstrated, which can serve not only as a power source but also as self‐powered electronic skin. This is the first time that both of the triboelectric‐charged layer and electrode of the TENG are intrinsically and autonomously self‐healable at ambient conditions. Additionally, comparing with previous partially healable TENGs, its fast healing time (30 min, 100% efficiency at 900% strain), high transparency (88.6%), and inherent superstretchability (>900%) are much more favorable. It consists of a metal‐coordinated polymer as the triboelectrically charged layer and hydrogen‐bonded ionic gel as the electrode. Even after 500 cutting‐and‐healing cycles or under extreme 900%‐strain, the TENG retains its functionality. The generated electricity can be used directly or stored to power commercial electronics. The TENG is further used as self‐powered tactile‐sensing skin in diverse human–machine interfaces including smart glass, an epidermal controller, and phone panel. This TENG with merits including fast ambient‐condition self‐healing, high transparency, intrinsic stretchability, and energy‐extraction and actively‐sensing abilities, can meet wide application needs ranging from deformable/portable/transparent electronics, smart interfaces, to artificial skins.
The first entirely, intrinsically, and autonomously self‐healable, highly transparent, and superstretchable triboelectric nanogenerator is developed for not only energy sources but also self‐powered electronic skins. This unprecedented triboelectric nanogenerator with energy‐extracting and activity‐sensing abilities is timely and able to usher vast emerging fields including flexible/self‐powered electronics, smart interfaces, and prosthetic and robotic skins.
We synthesized and characterized methylammonium (MA) mixed tri‐halide tin perovskites (MASnIBr2−xClx) for carbon‐based mesoscopic solar cells free of lead and hole‐transporting layers. Varied ...SnCl2/SnBr2 ratios yielded tin perovskites with three halides (I, Br, and Cl) co‐crystallized inside the tin‐perovskite. When the SnCl2 proportion was ≥50 % (x≥1), phase separation occurred to give MASnI3−yBry and MASnCl3−zBrz in the stoichiometric proportions of their precursors, confirmed by XRD. A device with MASnIBr1.8Cl0.2 (SnCl2=10 %) showed the best photovoltaic performance: JSC=14.0 mA cm−2, VOC=380 mV, FF=0.573, and PCE=3.1 %, and long‐term stability. Electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) show superior charge recombination and dielectric relaxation properties for the MASnIBr1.8Cl0.2 cell. Transient PL decays showed the intrinsic problem of tin‐based perovskites with average lifetimes less than 100 ps.
Tin in: Stable tin perovskites co‐crystalized with three different halide elements (I, Br, and Cl) were produced by the reaction of methylammonium (MA) iodide with SnCl2/SnBr2 mixtures at ratios equal to or less than 25/75. The best device made of a carbon‐based mesoscopic electrode and MASnIBr1.8Cl0.2 exhibited a PCE of 3.1 %.
Hyperkalemia is a critical condition, especially in intensive care units. So far, there have been no accurate and noninvasive methods for recognizing hyperkalemia events on ambulatory ...electrocardiogram monitors.
This study aimed to improve the accuracy of hyperkalemia predictions from ambulatory electrocardiogram (ECG) monitors using a personalized transfer learning method; this would be done by training a generic model and refining it with personal data.
This retrospective cohort study used open source data from the Waveform Database Matched Subset of the Medical Information Mart From Intensive Care III (MIMIC-III). We included patients with multiple serum potassium test results and matched ECG data from the MIMIC-III database. A 1D convolutional neural network-based deep learning model was first developed to predict hyperkalemia in a generic population. Once the model achieved a state-of-the-art performance, it was used in an active transfer learning process to perform patient-adaptive heartbeat classification tasks.
The results show that by acquiring data from each new patient, the personalized model can improve the accuracy of hyperkalemia detection significantly, from an average of 0.604 (SD 0.211) to 0.980 (SD 0.078), when compared with the generic model. Moreover, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve level improved from 0.729 (SD 0.240) to 0.945 (SD 0.094).
By using the deep transfer learning method, we were able to build a clinical standard model for hyperkalemia detection using ambulatory ECG monitors. These findings could potentially be extended to applications that continuously monitor one's ECGs for early alerts of hyperkalemia and help avoid unnecessary blood tests.
Herbal medicine, including traditional Chinese medicine, has been used for the prevention, treatment, and cure of disorders or diseases for centuries. In addition to being used directly as ...therapeutic agents, medicinal plants are also important sources for pharmacological drug research and development. With the increasing consumption of herbal products intended to promote better health, it is extremely important to assure the safety and quality of herbal preparations. However, under current regulation surveillance, herbal preparations may not meet expectations in safety, quality, and efficacy. The challenge is how to assure the safety and quality of herbal products for consumers. It is the responsibility of producers to minimize hazardous contamination and additives during cultivation, harvesting, handling, processing, storage, and distribution. This article reviews the current safety obstacles that have been involved in traditional Chinese herbal medicine preparations with examples of popular herbs. Approaches to improve the safety of traditional Chinese medicine are proposed.
Abstract
Background
Global asthma-related mortality tallies at around 2.5 million annually. Although asthma may be triggered or exacerbated by particulate matter (PM) exposure, studies investigating ...the relationship of PM and its components with emergency department (ED) visits for pediatric asthma are limited. This study aimed to estimate the impact of short-term exposure to PM constituents on ED visits for pediatric asthma.
Methods
We retrospectively evaluated non-trauma patients aged younger than 17 years who visited the ED with a primary diagnosis of asthma. Further, measurements of PM with aerodynamic diameter of < 10 μm (PM
10
), PM with aerodynamic diameter of < 10 μm (PM
2.5
), and four PM
2.5
components (i.e., nitrate (NO
3−
), sulfate (SO
4
2−
), organic carbon (OC), and elemental carbon (EC)) were collected between 2007 and 2010 from southern particulate matter supersites. These included one core station and two satellite stations in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. A time-stratified case-crossover study was conducted to analyze the hazard effect of PM.
Results
Overall, 1597 patients were enrolled in our study. In the single-pollutant model, the estimated risk increase for pediatric asthma incidence on lag 3 were 14.7% 95% confidence interval (CI), 3.2–27.4%, 13.5% (95% CI, 3.3–24.6%), 14.8% (95% CI, 2.5–28.6%), and 19.8% (95% CI, 7.6–33.3%) per interquartile range increments in PM
2.5
, PM
10
, nitrate, and OC, respectively. In the two-pollutant models, OC remained significant after adjusting for PM
2.5
, PM
10
, and nitrate. During subgroup analysis, children were more vulnerable to PM
2.5
and OC during cold days (< 26 °C, interaction
p
= 0.008 and 0.012, respectively).
Conclusions
Both PM
2.5
concentrations and its chemical constituents OC and nitrate are associated with ED visits for pediatric asthma. Among PM
2.5
constituents, OC was most closely related to ED visits for pediatric asthma, and children are more vulnerable to PM
2.5
and OC during cold days.
A graphene oxide (GO) film is functionalized with metal (Au) and metal‐oxide (MoOx) nanoparticles (NPs) as a hole‐extraction layer for high‐performance inverted planar‐heterojunction perovskite solar ...cells (PSCs). These NPs can increase the work function of GO, which is confirmed with X‐ray photoelectron spectra, Kelvin probe force microscopy, and ultraviolet photoelectron spectra measurements. The down‐shifts of work functions lead to a decreased level of potential energy and hence increased Voc of the PSC devices. Although the GO‐AuNP film shows rapid hole extraction and increased Voc, a Jsc improvement is not observed because of localization of the extracted holes inside the AuNP that leads to rapid charge recombination, which is confirmed with transient photoelectric measurements. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the GO‐AuNP device attains 14.6%, which is comparable with that of the GO‐based device (14.4%). In contrast, the rapid hole extraction from perovskite to the GO‐MoOx layer does not cause trapping of holes and delocalization of holes in the GO film accelerates rapid charge transfer to the indium tin oxide substrate; charge recombination in the perovskite/GO‐MoOx interface is hence significantly retarded. The GO‐MoOx device consequently shows significantly enhanced Voc and Jsc, for which its device performance attains PCE of 16.7% with great reproducibility and enduring stability.
Two functional graphene oxide (GO) films are fabricated by coating gold nanoparticles and molybdenum oxide nanoparticles (GO‐MoOx) on the GO sheets to serve as p‐contact electrode for inverted planar perovskite solar cells. The GO‐MoOx device forms delocalized holes to retard charge recombination and atains power conversion efficiency of 16.7%.
PHY906, is a decoction of a mixture of the four herbs Scutellaria baicalensis Geori, Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch, Paeonia lactiflora Pall, and Ziziphus jujuba Mill. A combination of these four herbs ...has been in continuous use in traditional Chinese medicine for over 1800 years for treating a variety of gastrointestinal distress such as diarrhea, cramps, nausea, vomiting etc.
Preclinical and clinical studies to find PHY906 enhances the therapeutic indices of a broad spectrum of anticancer agents.
Using various mouse tumor xenograft and allograft models, PHY906 has been shown to enhance the chemotherapeutic efficacy of a variety of anticancer agents in various cancers. The PHY906 clinical program consists of five trials in three different types of cancers in both the United States and Taiwan. To date, approximately 150 subjects have received PHY906 in combination with chemotherapy in these five clinical studies.
Preclinical studies have shown that PHY906 enhances the therapeutic indices of a broad spectrum of anticancer agents. These findings have been examined in clinical studies for colorectal, liver, and pancreatic cancers when PHY906 is used as an adjuvant to chemotherapy and the results were promising; i.e. PHY906 could reduce chemotherapy-induced toxicities and/or increase chemotherapeutic efficacy. Furthermore, PHY906 did not affect the pharmacokinetics of the chemotherapeutic agents used. Some information has been obtained regarding the mechanism of action of PHY906 in preclinical studies. A comprehensive platform, PhytomicsQC that integrates chemical and biological fingerprints together with a novel biostatistical methodology has been developed to assess the quality of different batches of PHY906.
Over a ten-year period, the multiplex technology “PhytomicsQC” has been used to show batch-to-batch consistency of PHY906 production. Advanced clinical trials are ongoing to demonstrate the effectiveness of PHY906 as adjuvant therapy for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.
Depression is a multigenetic or multifactorial syndrome. The central neuron system (CNS)-orientated, single target, and conventional antidepressants are insufficient and far from ideal. Traditional ...Chinese Medicine (TCM) has historically been used to treat depression up till today, particularly in Asia. Its holistic, multidrug, multitarget nature fits well with the therapeutic idea of systems medicine in depression treatment. Over the past two decades, although efforts have been made to understand TCM herbal antidepressants at the molecular level, many fundamental questions regarding their mechanisms of action remain to be addressed at the systems level in order to better understand the complicated herbal formulations in depression treatment. In this
, we review and discuss the mechanisms of action of herbal antidepressants and their acting targets in the pathological systems in the brain, such as monoamine neurotransmissions, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, neurotropic factor brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) cascade, and glutamate transmission. Some herbal molecules, constituents, and formulas are highlighted as examples to discuss their mechanisms of action and future directions for comprehensive researches at the systems level. Furthermore, we discuss pharmacological approaches to integrate the mechanism of action from the molecular level into the systems level for understanding of systems pharmacology of TCM formulations. Integration of the studies at the molecular level into the systems level not only represents a trend in TCM study but also promotes our understanding of the system-wide mechanism of action of herbal antidepressant formulations.
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