There is limited evidence of work-related transmission in the emerging coronaviral pandemic. We aimed to identify high-risk occupations for early coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) local ...transmission.
In this observational study, we extracted confirmed COVID-19 cases from governmental investigation reports in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. We followed each country/area for 40 days after its first locally transmitted case, and excluded all imported cases. We defined a possible work-related case as a worker with evidence of close contact with another confirmed case due to work, or an unknown contact history but likely to be infected in the working environment (e.g. an airport taxi driver). We calculated the case number for each occupation, and illustrated the temporal distribution of all possible work-related cases and healthcare worker (HCW) cases. The temporal distribution was further defined as early outbreak (the earliest 10 days of the following period) and late outbreak (11th to 40th days of the following period).
We identified 103 possible work-related cases (14.9%) among a total of 690 local transmissions. The five occupation groups with the most cases were healthcare workers (HCWs) (22%), drivers and transport workers (18%), services and sales workers (18%), cleaning and domestic workers (9%) and public safety workers (7%). Possible work-related transmission played a substantial role in early outbreak (47.7% of early cases). Occupations at risk varied from early outbreak (predominantly services and sales workers, drivers, construction laborers, and religious professionals) to late outbreak (predominantly HCWs, drivers, cleaning and domestic workers, police officers, and religious professionals).
Work-related transmission is considerable in early COVID-19 outbreaks, and the elevated risk of infection was not limited to HCW. Implementing preventive/surveillance strategies for high-risk working populations is warranted.
This work reveals the intrinsic carrier transport behavior of 2D organolead halide perovskites based on phase‐pure homologous (n = 1, 2, and 3) Ruddelsden–Popper perovskite (RPP) (BA)2(MA)n−1PbnI3n+1 ...single crystals. The 2D perovskite field effect transistors with high‐quality exfoliated 2D perovskite bulk crystals are fabricated, and characteristic output and transfer curves are measured from individual single‐crystal flakes with various n values under different temperatures. Unipolar n‐type transport dominated the electrical properties of all these 2D RPP single crystals. The transport behavior of the 2D organolead halide hybrid perovskites exhibits a strong dependence on the n value and the mobility substantially increases as the ratio of the number of inorganic perovskite slabs per organic spacer increases. By extracting the effect of contact resistances, the corrected mobility values for n = 1, 2, and 3 are 2 × 10−3, 8.3 × 10−2, and 1.25 cm2 V−1 s−1 at 77 K, respectively. Furthermore, by combining temperature‐dependent electrical transport and optical measurements, it is found that the origin of the carrier mobility dependence on the phase transition for 2D organolead halide perovskites is very different from that of their 3D counterparts. Our findings offer insight into fundamental carrier transport behavior of 2D organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites based on phase‐pure homologous single crystals.
2D organolead halide perovskite field effect transistors, which are fabricated based on phase‐pure homologous (n = 1, 2, and 3) Ruddelsden–Popper perovskite (BA)2(MA)n−1PbnI3n+1 single crystals are demonstrated. A strong dependence of carrier transport behavior of the 2D organolead halide hybrid perovskites on the n value is revealed.
In contrast to the 2D organic‐inorganic hybrid Ruddlesden–Popper halide perovskites (RPP), a new class of 2D all inorganic RPP (IRPP) has been recently proposed by substituting the organic spacers ...with an optimal inorganic alternative of cesium cations (Cs+). Nevertheless, the synthesis of high‐membered 2D IRPPs (n > 1) has been a very challenging task because the Cs+ need to act as both spacers and A‐site cations simultaneously. This work presents the successful synthesis of stable phase‐pure high‐membered 2D IRPPs of Csn+1PbnBr3n+1 nanosheets (NSs) with n = 3 and 4 by employing the strategy of using additional strong binding bidentate ligands. The structures of the 2D IRPPs (n = 3 and 4) NSs are confirmed by powder X‐ray diffraction and high‐resolution aberration‐corrected scanning transmission electron microscope measurements. These 2D IRPPs NSs exhibit a strong quantum confinement effect with tunable absorption and emission in the visible light range by varying their n values, attributed to their inherent 2D quantum‐well structure. The superior structural and optical stability of the phase‐pure high‐membered 2D IRPPs make them a promising candidate as photocatalysts in CO2 reduction reactions with outstanding photocatalytic performance and long‐term stability.
Phase‐pure high‐membered 2D all inorganic Ruddlesden–Popper perovskites (IRPPs) of Csn+1PbnBr3n+1 nanosheets (NSs) with n = 3 and 4 are successfully synthesized and exhibit inherent 2D quantum‐well effect with tunable optical properties in the visible light range. The 2D IRPPs NSs exhibit outstanding photocatalytic CO2 reduction performance due to their superior structural and optical stability.
Accumulation and aggregation of amyloid-β (Aβ) in the brain is an initiating step in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The ε4 allele of apolipoprotein E (apoE) gene is the strongest ...genetic risk factor for late-onset AD. Although there is strong evidence showing that apoE4 enhances amyloid pathology, it is not clear what the critical stage(s) is during amyloid development in which apoE4 has the strongest impact. Using apoE inducible mouse models, we show that increased expression of astrocytic apoE4, but not apoE3, during the seeding stage of amyloid development enhanced amyloid deposition and neuritic dystrophy in amyloid model mice. ApoE4, but not apoE3, significantly increased brain Aβ half-life measured by in vivo microdialysis. Furthermore, apoE4 expression increased whereas apoE3 reduced amyloid-related gliosis in the mouse brains. Together, our results demonstrate that apoE4 has the greatest impact on amyloid during the seeding stage, likely by perturbing Aβ clearance and enhancing Aβ aggregation.
•ApoE4 drives amyloid pathology during the seeding stage•ApoE4 has minimal effect on amyloidosis during the plaque rapid growth period•ApoE isoforms differentially affect amyloid plaque-associated neuroinflammation•Strategies targeting apoE4 to reduce Aβ pathology should focus on early prevention
Liu et al. have developed cell-type-specific and inducible apoE mouse models and demonstrate that astrocytic apoE4 is a potent factor in promoting amyloidosis during the seeding stage, but not the rapid growth period, of amyloid development. ApoE4 impairs Aβ clearance and accelerates Aβ aggregation, leading to enhanced amyloid pathology and neuritic dystrophy.
Sample Adaptive Offset in the HEVC Standard Chih-Ming Fu; Alshina, E.; Alshin, A. ...
IEEE transactions on circuits and systems for video technology,
12/2012, Letnik:
22, Številka:
12
Journal Article
Recenzirano
This paper provides a technical overview of a newly added in-loop filtering technique, sample adaptive offset (SAO), in High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). The key idea of SAO is to reduce sample ...distortion by first classifying reconstructed samples into different categories, obtaining an offset for each category, and then adding the offset to each sample of the category. The offset of each category is properly calculated at the encoder and explicitly signaled to the decoder for reducing sample distortion effectively, while the classification of each sample is performed at both the encoder and the decoder for saving side information significantly. To achieve low latency of only one coding tree unit (CTU), a CTU-based syntax design is specified to adapt SAO parameters for each CTU. A CTU-based optimization algorithm can be used to derive SAO parameters of each CTU, and the SAO parameters of the CTU are inter leaved into the slice data. It is reported that SAO achieves on average 3.5% BD-rate reduction and up to 23.5% BD-rate reduction with less than 1% encoding time increase and about 2.5% decoding time increase under common test conditions of HEVC reference software version 8.0.
Abstract
Near infrared energy remains untapped toward the maneuvering of entire solar spectrum harvesting for fulfilling the nuts and bolts of solar hydrogen production. We report the use of Au@Cu
7
...S
4
yolk@shell nanocrystals as dual-plasmonic photocatalysts to achieve remarkable hydrogen production under visible and near infrared illumination. Ultrafast spectroscopic data reveal the prevalence of long-lived charge separation states for Au@Cu
7
S
4
under both visible and near infrared excitation. Combined with the advantageous features of yolk@shell nanostructures, Au@Cu
7
S
4
achieves a peak quantum yield of 9.4% at 500 nm and a record-breaking quantum yield of 7.3% at 2200 nm for hydrogen production in the absence of additional co-catalysts. The design of a sustainable visible- and near infrared-responsive photocatalytic system is expected to inspire further widespread applications in solar fuel generation. In this work, the feasibility of exploiting the localized surface plasmon resonance property of self-doped, nonstoichiometric semiconductor nanocrystals for the realization of wide-spectrum-driven photocatalysis is highlighted.
Potent, cell-permeable, and subtype-selective sialyltransferase inhibitors represent an attractive family of substances that can potentially be used for the clinical treatment of cancer metastasis. ...These substances operate by specifically inhibiting sialyltransferase-mediated hypersialylation of cell surface glycoproteins or glycolipids, which then blocks the sialic acid recognition pathway and leads to deterioration of cell motility and invasion. A vast amount of evidence for the in vitro and in vivo effects of sialyltransferase inhibition or knockdown on tumor progression and tumor cell metastasis or colonization has been accumulated over the past decades. In this regard, this review comprehensively discusses the results of studies that have led to the recent discovery and development of sialyltransferase inhibitors, their potential biomedical applications in the treatment of cancer metastasis, and their current limitations and future opportunities.
Various injectants are available for the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome. This systematic review and network meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of different injection ...therapies in alleviating the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. Various databases were searched for relevant studies from inception until May 10, 2023. Eligible studies were identified using the patient (P), intervention (I), comparison (C), and outcomes (O) model, which involved (P) participants with carpal tunnel syndrome, (I) an intervention based on injection therapy, (C) the use of placebo or another injectant as a control treatment, and (O) the measurement of clinical and electrodiagnostic outcomes of interest. A total of 18 studies were included in the analysis. The network meta-analysis revealed that platelet-rich plasma is effective in the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome in terms of symptom and pain relief and functional improvement in both the short and long term, whereas steroids are effective only in the short term. Additionally, injections of dextrose solution may offer long-term pain relief as well as short- and long-term symptom alleviation and functional improvement. The study findings suggest that platelet-rich plasma should be used as the first-line treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome, with dextrose and steroids serving as alternative treatment options.
ChatGPT may act as a research assistant to help organize the direction of thinking and summarize research findings. However, few studies have examined the quality, similarity (abstracts being similar ...to the original one), and accuracy of the abstracts generated by ChatGPT when researchers provide full-text basic research papers.
We aimed to assess the applicability of an artificial intelligence (AI) model in generating abstracts for basic preclinical research.
We selected 30 basic research papers from Nature, Genome Biology, and Biological Psychiatry. Excluding abstracts, we inputted the full text into ChatPDF, an application of a language model based on ChatGPT, and we prompted it to generate abstracts with the same style as used in the original papers. A total of 8 experts were invited to evaluate the quality of these abstracts (based on a Likert scale of 0-10) and identify which abstracts were generated by ChatPDF, using a blind approach. These abstracts were also evaluated for their similarity to the original abstracts and the accuracy of the AI content.
The quality of ChatGPT-generated abstracts was lower than that of the actual abstracts (10-point Likert scale: mean 4.72, SD 2.09 vs mean 8.09, SD 1.03; P<.001). The difference in quality was significant in the unstructured format (mean difference -4.33; 95% CI -4.79 to -3.86; P<.001) but minimal in the 4-subheading structured format (mean difference -2.33; 95% CI -2.79 to -1.86). Among the 30 ChatGPT-generated abstracts, 3 showed wrong conclusions, and 10 were identified as AI content. The mean percentage of similarity between the original and the generated abstracts was not high (2.10%-4.40%). The blinded reviewers achieved a 93% (224/240) accuracy rate in guessing which abstracts were written using ChatGPT.
Using ChatGPT to generate a scientific abstract may not lead to issues of similarity when using real full texts written by humans. However, the quality of the ChatGPT-generated abstracts was suboptimal, and their accuracy was not 100%.
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