Chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) are leading causes of morbidity worldwide. However, the spatial and temporal trends in prevalence and incidence of CRDs have not been estimated.
Based on data from ...the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017, we analyzed the prevalence and incidence trends of CRDs from 1990 to 2017 according to age, sex, region and disease pattern. Furthermore, the correlations between the incidence and the World Bank income levels, sociodemographic index (SDI), and human development index (HDI) levels were analyzed to assess the factors affecting incidence.
The total number of CRD cases increased by 39.5% from 1990 to 2017, nevertheless, the age-standardized prevalence rate (ASPR) and age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) showed decreasing trends. The ASIRs of CRD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumoconiosis, and asthma decreased, whereas the ASIR of interstitial lung disease and pulmonary sarcoidosis increased during the past 27 years. Significant differences between males and females in the incidence rates of pneumoconiosis, interstitial lung disease and pulmonary sarcoidosis were observed. Elderly people especially suffered from CRDs, except for asthma. For COPD, the ASIR decreased from low-SDI regions to high-SDI regions. The ASIR of interstitial lung disease and pulmonary sarcoidosis in the high-SDI region was highest and have increased mostly. The ASIRs for pneumoconiosis and asthma were inversely related to the HDI.
In 2017, CRDs were still the leading causes of morbidity worldwide. A large proportion of the disease burden was attributed to asthma and COPD. The incidence rates of all four types of CRDs varied greatly across the world. Statistically significant correlation was found between the ASIR and SDI/HDI.
•Antibiotics and ARGs in a STP and the effluent receiving river were characterized.•ARGs remained relatively stable along each sewage treatment process.•Correlations between ARGs and antibiotics were ...analyzed.•STPs were important point sources of ARGs to the natural water body.
The extensive use of antibiotics has caused the contamination of both antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment. In this study, the abundance and distribution of antibiotics and ARGs from a sewage treatment plant (STP) and its effluent-receiving river in Beijing China were characterized. Three classes of antibiotics including tetracycline, sulfonamide and quinolone were quantified by LC–MS/MS. In the secondary effluent they were detected at 195, 2001 and 3866ngL−1, respectively, which were higher than in the receiving river water. A total of 13 ARGs (6 tet genes: tetA, tetB, tetE, tetW, tetM and tetZ, 3 sulfonamide genes: sul1, sul2 and sul3, and 4 quinolone genes: gryA, parC, qnrC and qnrD) were determined by quantitative PCR. For all ARGs, sulfonamide resistance genes were present at relatively high concentrations in all samples, with the highest ARG concentration above 10−1. ARGs remained relatively stable along each sewage treatment process. The abundances of detected ARGs from the STP were also higher than its receiving river. Bivariate correlation analysis showed that relative tet gene copies (tetB/16S-rRNA and tetW/16S-rRNA) were strongly correlated with the concentrations of tetracycline residues (r2>0.8, p<0.05), while no significant correlations occurred between sulfonamides and sul genes. A negative correlation between the relative abundance of quinolone resistance gene (qnrC/16S-rRNA) and the concentrations of enrofloxacin (ENR) was also determined. The difference of ARGs levels in the raw influent and secondary effluent suggested that the STP treatment process may induce to increase the abundance of resistance genes. The results showed that the sewage was an important repository of the resistance genes, which need to be effectively treated before discharge into the natural water body.
Rechargeable aluminum-ion batteries (RAIBs) are regarded as the next generation of low-cost and high-capacity electrical energy storage systems. Compared to graphene-based cathodes, metal ...dichalcogenide cathodes can potentially provide RAIBs with higher capacities. However, metal dichalcogenides suffer from poor cycling performance, hindering the further development of high-capacity RAIBs. Thus, to further improve the performance of RAIBs, it is imperative to gain a deep understanding of the mechanisms behind the energy-storage and capacity-deterioration characteristics of these materials. In this work, we conducted detailed characterization to acquire a deep understanding of the energy storage mechanism of a CoSe2-based cathode. The characterization results revealed that energy storage involved incorporation of Al3+ into CoSe2 to generate AlmConSe2 (i.e., partial substitution of Co2+ by Al3+) and elemental Co, while capacity deterioration resulted from the dissolution of active cobalt species into the electrolyte and the pulverization of the CoSe2 phase. The understanding of the capacity-deterioration mechanism allowed us to design a two-step concept for a new type of RAIB composite cathode material. Thus, we employed a conductive wrapping layer of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) to protect CoSe2/carbon nanodice composites from cobalt dissolution and CoSe2 pulverization while also improving the conductivity of the materials. This novel design resulted in a CoSe2/carbon nanodice@rGO composite material with an outstanding cycling performance (after 500 cycles) of 143 mA h g−1 at 1000 mA g−1, which is one of the best performances for a metal-based RAIB cathode material reported to date. These findings are of great significance for the further development of high-capacity RAIBs.
Identifying patients at high risk of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) helps improve clinical outcome.
To establish a model for predicting DKD.
The derivation cohort was from a meta-analysis. The ...validation cohort was from a Chinese cohort.
Cohort studies that reported risk factors of DKD with their corresponding risk ratios (RRs) in patients with type 2 diabetes were selected. All patients had estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m
and urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) <30 mg/g at baseline.
Risk factors and their corresponding RRs were extracted. Only risk factors with statistical significance were included in our DKD risk prediction model.
Twenty cohorts including 41,271 patients with type 2 diabetes were included in our meta-analysis. Age, BMI, smoking, diabetic retinopathy, hemoglobin A
, systolic blood pressure, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, UACR, and eGFR were statistically significant. All these risk factors were included in the model except eGFR because of the significant heterogeneity among studies. All risk factors were scored according to their weightings, and the highest score was 37.0. The model was validated in an external cohort with a median follow-up of 2.9 years. A cutoff value of 16 was selected with a sensitivity of 0.847 and a specificity of 0.677.
There was huge heterogeneity among studies involving eGFR. More evidence is needed to power it as a risk factor of DKD.
The DKD risk prediction model consisting of nine risk factors established in this study is a simple tool for detecting patients at high risk of DKD.
Exosomes are small extracellular vesicles that are secreted by almost all types of cells and exist in almost all extracellular spaces. As an important mediator of intercellular communication, ...exosomes encapsulate the miRNA, lncRNA, cirRNA, mRNA, cytokine, enzyme, lipid, and other components from the cytoplasm into its closed single membrane structure and transfer them to recipient units in an autocrine, paracrine, or endocrine manner. Hypoxia is a state of low oxygen tension and is involved in many pathological processes. Hypoxia influences the size, quantity, and expression of exosome cargos. Exosomes derived from hypoxic tumor cells transfer genetics, proteins, and lipids to the recipient units to exert pleiotropic effects. Different donor cells produce different cargo contents, target different recipient units and lead to different biological effects. Hypoxic exosomes derived from tumor cells uptaken by normoxic tumor cells lead to promoted proliferation, migration, and invasion; uptaken by extracellular space or liver lead to promoted metastasis; uptaken by endothelial cells lead to promoted angiogenesis; uptaken by immune cells lead to promoted macrophage polarization and changed tumor immune microenvironment. In addition to various types of tumors, hypoxic exosomes also participate in the development of diseases in the cardiovascular system, neuron system, respiratory system, hematology system, endocrine system, urinary system, reproduction system, and skeletomuscular system. Understanding the special characteristics of hypoxic exosomes provide new insight into elaborating the pathogenesis of hypoxia related disease. This review summarizes hypoxia induced cargo changes and the biological effects of hypoxic exosomes in tumors and non-malignant diseases in different systems.
Increasing evidence has shown that macrophage pyroptosis in different tissues participates in chronic aseptic inflammation and is related to tissue fibrosis. Our last studies also revealed the vital ...role of synovial fibroblast pyroptosis in the onset and development of knee osteoarthritis (KOA). In this study, we aimed to investigate whether synovial macrophage pyroptosis did occur and whether this form of cell death should be related to synovitis and fibrosis of KOA. In the synovial tissue of KOA model rats, we observed a decrease of caspase1, NLRP3, ASC, and GSDMD caused by macrophage depletion in both the mRNA and protein expressions. Besides, rats treated with the specific caspase1 inhibitor Ac-YVAD-CMK showed less inflammatory reaction and fibrosis, not only in the expression of proinflammatory factors IL-1β, IL-18, and HMGB1 and fibrosis markers TGF-β, PLOD2, COL1A1, and TIMP1 but also in the observation of HE staining, Sirius Red staining, and the transverse diameters of the right knees. Subsequently, we established an LPS+ATP-induced model in macrophages mimicking the inflammatory environment of KOA and inducing macrophage pyroptosis. Macrophages transfected with caspase1 siRNA showed reduced cell death; meanwhile, the relative expression of pyroptosis-related proteins were also downregulated. In addition, the level of fibrotic markers in synovial fibroblasts were significantly decreased after coculture with siRNA GSDMD-transfected macrophages. To conclude, synovial macrophage pyroptosis may occur in the pathological processes of KOA and inhibition of synovial macrophage pyroptosis alleviates synovitis and fibrosis in KOA model rats.
Metal–organic framework (MOF)-supported metal nanoparticle (MNP) composites, especially those with encapsulation structures (MNPs@MOF), hold significant promise for versatile applications. Massive ...efforts have been devoted towards the preparation of these composites; however, the poor stability of MOFs and their homogeneous growth in solution make these synthetic strategies complex and tedious; this greatly hampers their practical application. Herein, a general mechanochemistry-assisted encapsulation approach was developed to entrap MNPs in MOF matrices. In this approach, metal precursor-supported MNP hybrids were
in situ
sacrificed to form MNPs@MOF composites
via
simple ball milling, and the MNPs were encapsulated in the MOF matrices in the solid state during the sacrificial process. This method completely avoids the homogeneous growth of MOFs; furthermore, this approach proceeds with trace amounts of solvents and does not require stabilizing agents; this enables a clean and sustainable synthesis. By this facile approach, many interesting MNPs@MOF composites were prepared. All the composites showed good crystalline structures, and no obvious damages to the MOF were observed. Moreover, in these structures, small MNPs were well encapsulated in the MOF matrices and mainly distributed near the surface of the MOFs, resulting in high catalytic activity and selectivity for the hydrogenation of olefins. Moreover, the MNPs@MOF composites can be easily synthesized on a gram-scale (8 g of Pd@ZIF-8); this achievement would advance their practical application.
As code search is a frequent developer activity in software development practices, improving the performance of code search is a critical task. In the text retrieval based search techniques employed ...in the code search, the term mismatch problem is a critical language issue for retrieval effectiveness. By reformulating the queries, query expansion provides effective ways to solve the term mismatch problem. In this paper, we propose Query Expansion based on Crowd Knowledge (QECK), a novel technique to improve the performance of code search algorithms. QECK identifies software-specific expansion words from the high quality pseudo relevance feedback question and answer pairs on Stack Overflow to automatically generate the expansion queries. Furthermore, we incorporate QECK in the classic Rocchio's model, and propose QECK based code search method QECKRocchio. We conduct three experiments to evaluate our QECK technique and investigate QECKRocchio in a large-scale corpus containing real-world code snippets and a question and answer pair collection. The results show that QECK improves the performance of three code search algorithms by up to 64 percent in Precision, and 35 percent in NDCG. Meanwhile, compared with the state-of-the-art query expansion method, the improvement of QECK Rocchio is 22 percent in Precision, and 16 percent in NDCG.
Using the density functional theory (DFT) method, we investigated the adsorption of NO on the undoped and Ce-doped LaCoO3 (011) surface. According to our calculations, the best adsorption site is not ...changed after Ce doping. When the NO molecule is adsorbed on the perfect LaO-terminated LaCoO3 (011) surface, the most stable adsorption site is hollow-top, which corresponds to the hollow-NO configuration in our study. After the substitution of La with Ce, the adsorption energy of hollow-NO configuration is increased. For the perfect CoO2-terminated LaCoO3 (011) surface, it is found that Co-NO configuration is the preferential adsorption structure. Its adsorption energy can also be enhanced after Ce doping. When NO molecule is adsorbed on the undoped and Ce-doped LaO-terminated LaCoO3 (011) surface with hollow-NO configuration, it serves as the acceptor and electrons transfer from the surface to it in the adsorption process. On the contrary, for the Co-NO configuration of undoped and Ce-doped CoO2-terminated LaCoO3 (011) surface, NO molecule becomes the donor and loses electrons to the surface.
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