Objective The aim of this review was to systematically evaluate the associations of all-cause, cardiovascular and all-cancer mortality with primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) and early natural ...menopause (ENM).
Methods Electronic databases for relevant studies were searched up to February 28, 2015. POI and ENM were usually defined as spontaneous menopause before age 40 years and at age 40-44 years, respectively.
Results A total of nine articles were derived from seven prospective cohort studies. In all studies, age of menopause was self-reported. Our meta-analysis showed that POI women had a higher risk of death from all causes (pooled relative risk (RR) 1.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.10-1.77) and ischemic heart disease (IHD) (pooled RR 1.48, 95% CI 1.02-2.16) when compared with women at normal age at natural menopause (ANM). No significant association was detected from stroke and all-cancer mortality between POI women and normal ANM women. Only a slightly higher risk of death from IHD (pooled RR 1.09, 95% CI 1.00-1.18) was found when ENM women were compared with normal ANM women.
Conclusion The results of our study demonstrated that POI was associated with a higher risk of IHD and all-cause mortality; ENM was only associated with a slightly higher risk of IHD mortality.
Since 1960s, with the development of societal and related technologies, many advanced manufacturing systems (AMSs) and modes have been put forward, and they have attracted the attention of a large ...number of researchers in manufacturing, information and management fields. However, existing studies are mainly focused on the specific theoretical research of each AMS, and the horizontal comparison of the difference and evolution of these AMSs are not significant. Furthermore, most of the existing studies try to realize concrete technical implementation, and discussions on the relationship among these AMSs and social factors are relatively rare. Therefore, this paper aims to address this issue, and a brief overview of the development process of AMSs is first presented. Next, a tri-view model is established to analyze the evolution and socialization characteristics of AMSs. It is found that the sharing of manufacturing resources and capabilities, the value creation carriers, the value measuring criteria, the composition of the value chain and enterprise collaboration, and the user participation in manufacturing are all moving towards socialization. It is essential that the evolution and development of AMSs should also adapt this trend towards socialization in order to achieve better sharing of limited resources and efficient adding of value.
A major challenge of the 21st century is to achieve food supply security under a changing climate and roughly a doubling in food demand by 2050 compared to present, the majority of which needs to be ...met by the cereals wheat, rice, maize, and barley. Future harvests are expected to be especially threatened through increased frequency and severity of extreme events, such as heat waves and drought, that pose particular challenges to plant breeders and crop scientists. Process-based crop models developed for simulating interactions between genotype, environment, and management are widely applied to assess impacts of environmental change on crop yield potentials, phenology, water use, etc. During the last decades, crop simulation has become important for supporting plant breeding, in particular in designing ideotypes, i.e. ‘model plants’, for different crops and cultivation environments. In this review we (i) examine the main limitations of crop simulation modelling for supporting ideotype breeding, (ii) describe developments in cultivar traits in response to climate variations, and (iii) present examples of how crop simulation has supported evaluation and design of cereal cultivars for future conditions. An early success story for rice demonstrates the potential of crop simulation modelling for ideotype breeding. Combining conventional crop simulation with new breeding methods and genetic modelling holds promise to accelerate delivery of future cereal cultivars for different environments. Robustness of model-aided ideotype design can further be enhanced through continued improvements of simulation models to better capture effects of extremes and the use of multi-model ensembles.
The high incidence of myopia in children and adolescents has become an important public health issue. There is still a debate about the priority between genetic and environmental factors of myopia, ...which makes researchers realize that the related research on the prediction index of myopia natural process and the effective methods of prevention and control still lags behind the social demand. Therefore it needs innovative thinking and a deep understanding of the role of the changes of the times, reduce learning and screen time under low natural light and artificial lighting, at the same time increase daytime outdoor activities, so as to provide new strategies and actions for the prevention and control of myopia among children and adolescents in China.
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•A simple way to control the size of supported nanoparticles is demonstrated.•The difference between particle ripening with halide and non-halide counterions is explained.•Ligand ...exchange in impregnation solutions with halide counterions is demonstrated.
The control of particle size is desirable for scientific and practical reasons: beyond the practical goal of synthesizing catalysts at the optimal size, scientific studies investigating reactivity dependence on particle size should be conducted with nanoparticles of different, tight size distributions. In this paper we explore the mechanism of a relatively simple way to grow nanoparticle size from the very smallest sizes achievable by electrostatic adsorption, which is typically 1 – 1.5 nm, in attempts to achieve larger sizes with tight size distributions. This is done via the addition of various sodium salts to charge enhanced dry impregnation (CEDI) syntheses. Particle sizes were characterized with XRD and STEM imaging. TPR-MS and EXAFS were additionally employed to investigate ligand exchange in the impregnation solutions. The ripening effect of chloride and bromide is greater than nitrate and citrate. Moreover, the use of halides gives rise to ligand exchange in the metal precursor, resulting in multiple species which reduce at different temperatures and give much wider particle size distributions.
Understanding climate–yield relationships and the impacts of recent climate trends on crop productivity on a large scale is an important step in predicting regional agricultural production. In this ...study we investigated climate–crop relationships, recent trends in seasonal climate (maximum and minimum temperatures, diurnal temperature range and precipitation) and their impacts on the yields of major crops (i.e. rice, wheat, maize and soybean) at provincial scales throughout China over the last few decades. We found that major crop yields were significantly related to growing season climate in the main production regions of China, and that growing season temperature had a generally significant warming trend. Due to the trends in growing season climate, total rice production in China was estimated to have increased by 3.2 × 10⁵ t decade⁻¹ during the period 1951–2002; total production of wheat, maize and soybean changed by –1.2 × 10⁵, –21.2 × 10⁵ and 0.7 × 10⁵ t decade⁻¹, respectively, during 1979–2002. The warming trend increased rice yield in northeast China and soybean in north and northeast China; however, it decreased maize yield in 7 provinces (autonomous region or municipality) and wheat yield in 3 provinces. Our analysis presents the general response patterns of regional agricultural productivity to seasonal climate variability and change over the last few decades. Crop response mechanisms to local seasonal climate change (and variability) need further investigation to better understand the patterns and predict future consequences of climate change and variability on regional agricultural production.
Purpose: This review examined (a) the current evidence from studies on teleaudiology applications for rehabilitation of adults with hearing impairment with hearing aids and (b) whether it is ...sufficient to support the translation into routine clinical practice. Method: A search strategy and eligibility criteria were utilized to include articles specifically related to hearing aid fitting and follow-up procedures that are involved in consultations for the rehabilitation of adults, where the service was provided by the clinician by teleaudiology. A search using key words and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) was conducted on the main electronic databases that index health-related studies. The included studies were assessed using validated evaluation tools for methodological quality, level of evidence, and grade recommendations for application into practice. Results: Fourteen studies were identified as being within the scope of this review. The evaluation tools showed that none of these studies demonstrated either a strong methodological quality or high level of evidence. Analysis of evidence identified 19 activities, which were classified into service outcomes categories of feasibility, barriers, efficiency, quality, and effectiveness. Recommendations could be made regarding the (a) feasibility, (b) barriers, and (c) efficiency of teleaudiology for the rehabilitation of hearing loss with hearing aids. Conclusion: This review provides up-to-date evidence for teleaudiology hearing aid services in new and experienced hearing aid users in different practice settings. Findings direct future research priorities to strengthen evidence-based practice. There is a need for further studies of many aspects of teleaudiology services for rehabilitation with hearing aids to support their implementation into clinical practice.
Polypyrrole (PPy)/CuBi2O4 nanosheets (NSs) were prepared by an in situ polymerization process and the NS-modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) for electrochemical determination of benzoic acid was ...studied. The structure, morphology, and functional groups of the PPy/CuBi2O4-NSs were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution TEM, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The obtained NSs contain a tetragonal CuBi2O4 phase, and nanoscale PPy particles attach to the surface of the NSs. The electrochemical responses of the PPy/CuBi2O4-NS-modified GCE in 0.1 M KCl solution with benzoic acid were investigated by the cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. An irreversible CV peak is located at −0.84 V on the PPy/CuBi2O4-NS-modified GCE in 2 mM benzoic acid and 0.1 M KCl solution. The intensities of the CV peaks show linear variation with increasing the scan rate and concentration of benzoic acid. The linear range is 0.001−2 mM with a detection limit of 0.52 μM. The PPy/CuBi2O4-NS-modified GCE shows high stability and reproducibility. The prepared PPy/CuBi2O4-NSs have great promise in the electrochemical detection of benzoic acid.
The complexity of risks posed by climate change and possible adaptations for crop production has called for integrated assessment and modelling (IAM) approaches linking biophysical and economic ...models. This paper attempts to provide an overview of the present state of crop modelling to assess climate change risks to food production and to which extent crop models comply with IAM demands. Considerable progress has been made in modelling effects of climate variables, where crop models best satisfy IAM demands. Demands are partly satisfied for simulating commonly required assessment variables. However, progress on the number of simulated crops, uncertainty propagation related to model parameters and structure, adaptations and scaling are less advanced and lagging behind IAM demands. The limitations are considered substantial and apply to a different extent to all crop models. Overcoming these limitations will require joint efforts, and consideration of novel modelling approaches.
•Extreme events and future climate uncertainty represent risk for food production.•Crop models are largely able to simulate crop response to climate factors.•Adaptations are best evaluated in integrated assessment models (IAM).•Key limitations for crop models in IAM are low data availability and integration.•Cross-scale nature of IAM suggests novel modelling approaches are needed.
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