AbstractObjectiveTo use the relation between cigarette consumption and cardiovascular disease to quantify the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke for light smoking (one to five ...cigarettes/day).DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis.Data sourcesMedline 1946 to May 2015, with manual searches of references.Eligibility criteria for selecting studiesProspective cohort studies with at least 50 events, reporting hazard ratios or relative risks (both hereafter referred to as relative risk) compared with never smokers or age specific incidence in relation to risk of coronary heart disease or stroke.Data extraction/synthesisMOOSE guidelines were followed. For each study, the relative risk was estimated for smoking one, five, or 20 cigarettes per day by using regression modelling between risk and cigarette consumption. Relative risks were adjusted for at least age and often additional confounders. The main measure was the excess relative risk for smoking one cigarette per day (RR1_per_day−1) expressed as a proportion of that for smoking 20 cigarettes per day (RR20_per_day−1), expected to be about 5% assuming a linear relation between risk and consumption (as seen with lung cancer). The relative risks for one, five, and 20 cigarettes per day were also pooled across all studies in a random effects meta-analysis. Separate analyses were done for each combination of sex and disorder.ResultsThe meta-analysis included 55 publications containing 141 cohort studies. Among men, the pooled relative risk for coronary heart disease was 1.48 for smoking one cigarette per day and 2.04 for 20 cigarettes per day, using all studies, but 1.74 and 2.27 among studies in which the relative risk had been adjusted for multiple confounders. Among women, the pooled relative risks were 1.57 and 2.84 for one and 20 cigarettes per day (or 2.19 and 3.95 using relative risks adjusted for multiple factors). Men who smoked one cigarette per day had 46% of the excess relative risk for smoking 20 cigarettes per day (53% using relative risks adjusted for multiple factors), and women had 31% of the excess risk (38% using relative risks adjusted for multiple factors). For stroke, the pooled relative risks for men were 1.25 and 1.64 for smoking one or 20 cigarettes per day (1.30 and 1.56 using relative risks adjusted for multiple factors). In women, the pooled relative risks were 1.31 and 2.16 for smoking one or 20 cigarettes per day (1.46 and 2.42 using relative risks adjusted for multiple factors). The excess risk for stroke associated with one cigarette per day (in relation to 20 cigarettes per day) was 41% for men and 34% for women (or 64% and 36% using relative risks adjusted for multiple factors). Relative risks were generally higher among women than men.ConclusionsSmoking only about one cigarette per day carries a risk of developing coronary heart disease and stroke much greater than expected: around half that for people who smoke 20 per day. No safe level of smoking exists for cardiovascular disease. Smokers should aim to quit instead of cutting down to significantly reduce their risk of these two common major disorders.
Lithium metal is the only anode material that can enable the Li−O2 battery to realize its high theoretical energy density (≈3500 Wh kg−1). However, the inherent uncontrolled dendrite growth and ...serious corrosion limitations of lithium metal anodes make it experience fast degradation and impede the practical application of Li−O2 batteries. Herein, a multifunctional complementary LiF/F‐doped carbon gradient protection layer on a lithium metal anode by one‐step in situ reaction of molten Li with poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) is developed. The abundant strong polar C‐F bonds in the upper carbon can not only act as Li+ capture site to pre‐uniform Li+ flux but also regulate the electron configuration of LiF to make Li+ quasi‐spontaneously diffuse from carbon to LiF surface, avoiding the strong Li+‐adhesion‐induced Li aggregation. For LiF, it can behave as fast Li+ conductor and homogenize the nucleation sites on lithium, as well as ensure firm connection with lithium. As a result, this well‐designed protection layer endows the Li metal anode with dendrite‐free plating/stripping and anticorrosion behavior both in ether‐based and carbonate ester‐based electrolytes. Even applied protected Li anodes in Li−O2 batteries, its superiority can still be maintained, making the cell achieve stable cycling performance (180 cycles).
A gradient LiF/F‐doped carbon protection layer with synergistic functions of homogenizing Li+ flux, fast Li+ diffusion ability, and low Li+ diffusion barrier is prepared by a one‐step in situ reaction to solve the challenges relating to unstable lithium anode in Li–O2 batteries, and, as a result, significantly boost the cycling stability of the Li–O2 batteries.
Researchers must find the particles that are most dangerous to health in each place so policies can reduce levels of those pollutants first, urge Xiangdong Li and colleagues. Researchers must find ...the particles that are most dangerous to health in each place so policies can reduce levels of those pollutants first, urge Xiangdong Li and colleagues.
Metastasis causes the vast majority of colorectal carcinoma (CRC)-related deaths. However, little is known about the specific traits and underlying mechanisms of metastasis-initiating cells in ...primary CRC. And whether or not circular RNAs (circRNAs) take part in this particular event remain not adequately stated yet.
A screening method based on Transwell assay was first applied to build CRC subgroups with different metastatic potential. High throughput RNA sequencing was used to find out novel metastatic drivers in CRC metastasis-initiating step. A series of in vitro and in vivo assays were further applied to elucidate the functions and underlying molecular mechanisms of circRNAs in CRC metastasis.
A circRNA consisting of exon 8-11 of LONP2, termed as circLONP2, was upregulated in metastasis-initiating CRC subgroups. Aberrant higher expression of circLONP2 was observed in primary CRC tissues with established metastasis, and along the invasive margin in metastatic site. High expression of circLONP2 predicted unfavorable overall survival. Functional studies revealed that circLONP2 could enhance the invasiveness of CRC cells in vitro, and targeting circLONP2 through anti-sense oligonucleotide (ASO) dramatically reduced the penetrance of metastasis to foreign organs in vivo. Mechanically, circLONP2 directly interacted with and promoted the processing of primary microRNA-17 (pri-miR-17), through recruiting DiGeorge syndrome critical region gene 8 (DGCR8) and Drosha complex in DDX1-dependent manner. Meanwhile, upregulated mature miR-17-5p could be assembled into exosomes and internalized by neighboring cells to enhance their aggressiveness.
Our data indicate that circLONP2 acts as key metastasis-initiating molecule during CRC progression through modulating the intracellular maturation and intercellular transfer of miR-17, resulting in dissemination of metastasis-initiating ability in primary site and acceleration of metastasis formation in foreign organs. circLONP2 could serve as an effective prognostic predictor and/or novel anti-metastasis therapeutic target in CRC treatment.
The lithium (Li)–air battery has an ultrahigh theoretical specific energy, however, even in pure oxygen (O2), the vulnerability of conventional organic electrolytes and carbon cathodes towards ...reaction intermediates, especially O2−, and corrosive oxidation and crack/pulverization of Li metal anode lead to poor cycling stability of the Li‐air battery. Even worse, the water and/or CO2 in air bring parasitic reactions and safety issues. Therefore, applying such systems in open‐air environment is challenging. Herein, contrary to previous assertions, we have found that CO2 can improve the stability of both anode and electrolyte, and a high‐performance rechargeable Li–O2/CO2 battery is developed. The CO2 not only facilitates the in situ formation of a passivated protective Li2CO3 film on the Li anode, but also restrains side reactions involving electrolyte and cathode by capturing O2−. Moreover, the Pd/CNT catalyst in the cathode can extend the battery lifespan by effectively tuning the product morphology and catalyzing the decomposition of Li2CO3. The Li–O2/CO2 battery achieves a full discharge capacity of 6628 mAh g−1 and a long life of 715 cycles, which is even better than those of pure Li–O2 batteries.
CO2 can do: CO2 makes Li–O2 batteries more stable. On the anode side, CO2 can facilitate the formation of a protective and self‐healing Li2CO3 film, which can expel the H2O and aggressive intermediates during cycling. The cathode and electrolyte are also protected because the O2− intermediate is captured by CO2 to prevent the formation of 1O2.
Artificial intelligence has been rapidly developed in the past years. The present paper aims to investigate the potential application of artificial intelligence in the preschool children's education. ...First, the critical technologies of artificial intelligence are reviewed and related to the preschool children's education. Then, the demand for artificial intelligence in preschool children's education is analyzed for children-centered learning activities, respecting children, and learning in accordance with children's development. Finally, some possible applications of artificial intelligence in preschool education are discussed.
Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) pollution and soil trace metal (TM) contamination are binary environmental issues harming ecosystems and human health, especially in the developing China with ...rapid urbanization and industrialization. Since PMs contain TMs, the air-soil nexus should be investigated synthetically. Although the PMs and airborne TMs are mainly emitted from urban or industrial areas, they can reach the rural and remote mountain areas owing to the ability of long-range transport. After dry or wet deposition, they will participate in the terrestrial biogeochemical cycles of TMs in various soil-plant systems, including urban soil-greening trees, agricultural soil-food crops, and mountain soil-natural forest systems. Besides the well-known root uptake, the pathway of leaf deposition and foliar absorption contribute significantly to the plant TM accumulation. Moreover, the aerosols can also exert climatic effects by absorption and scattering of solar radiation and by the cloud condensation nuclei activity, thereby indirectly impact plant growth and probably crop TM accumulation through photosynthesis, and then threat health. In particular, this systematic review summarizes the interactions of PMs-TMs in soil-plant systems including the deposition, transfer, accumulation, toxicity, and mechanisms among them. Finally, current knowledge gaps and prospective are proposed for future research agendas. These analyses would be conducive to improving urban air quality and managing the agricultural and ecological risks of airborne metals.
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•Atmospheric dry and wet deposition input metals into soil-plant system.•Urban tree leaves remove atmospheric particulates and trace metals.•Foliar absorption of some airborne metals more than crop root uptake.•Aerosols impact solar radiation for plant photosynthesis and crop production.•Long-range atmospheric transport of trace metals impact mountain ecosystems.
In this paper, we first construct a cognitive neural network and use the knowledge representation learning technique for knowledge complementation and relation extraction to semantically match ...head-tail entity pairs with relations and accurately model the semantic relationships between entities and relations. Then, the vectors of each entity are mapped onto the hyperplane of a given relation by the cognitive mapping translation model, and vector translation operations are performed on the hyperplane. Finally, this paper’s translation model is compared with other models to compare the semantic representation translation, task processing function, and model complexity of each model so as to verify the superiority of this paper’s model for minority culture outreach translation. The results show that this paper’s method increases 3.4 and 1.2 BLEU values on average in the four translation tasks compared to the Imagination model and VAG model, respectively. When the number of iterations is 40, the MRR value of this paper’s model is 0.345, which is at least 0.1-0.5 more than the other models, thus indicating that this paper’s model has a better performance in outreach translation.