Purpose of Review
The prevalence of diabetes mellitus and its chronic complications are increasing to epidemic proportions. This will unfortunately result in massive increases in diabetic distal ...symmetrical polyneuropathy (DPN) and its troublesome sequelae, including disabling neuropathic pain (painful-DPN), which affects around 25% of patients with diabetes. Why these patients develop neuropathic pain, while others with a similar degree of neuropathy do not, is not clearly understood. This review will look at recent advances that may shed some light on the differences between painful and painless-DPN.
Recent Findings
Gender, clinical pain phenotyping, serum biomarkers, brain imaging, genetics, and skin biopsy findings have been reported to differentiate painful- from painless-DPN.
Summary
Painful-DPN seems to be associated with female gender and small fiber dysfunction. Moreover, recent brain imaging studies have found neuropathic pain signatures within the central nervous system; however, whether this is the cause or effect of the pain is yet to be determined. Further research is urgently required to develop our understanding of the pathogenesis of pain in DPN in order to develop new and effective mechanistic treatments for painful-DPN.
Persistent organic pollutants (POP) are environmental contaminants transported over long distances to the Arctic where they biomagnify in marine mammals subsistence hunted by Inuit and may therefore ...affect human health. Marine mammals in east Greenland are known to have the highest POP concentrations in the circumpolar Arctic area. Due to high intake of marine mammals, east Greenlandic Inuit likewise have the highest POP body burdens across the Arctic. This cross-sectional study aims to investigate the levels of POP and metals in Inuit with a high intake of top predatory species including killer whales and polar bears. Study participants include 37 men and 21 women from Kulusuk, Tasiilaq and Ittoqqortoormiit during year 2013–2015. Lipophilic POP (11 organochlorine-pesticides, 14 polychlorinated-biphenyls (PCB), 10 polybrominated diphenyl ethers), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PFUA) and cotinine were determined in plasma. Fifteen perfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS) were measured in serum and urine and the renal clearance was estimated. Finally the concentration of 10 metals were measured in whole blood. The median age was 38 years, Ittoqqortoormiit Inuit being the oldest. The smoking rate was around 70%, and Kulusuk participants had the lowest PFUA concentrations. Significant municipality differences were observed for lipophilic POP, serum PFAS, mercury, arsenic and selenium with highest concentrations in Ittoqqortoormiit Inuit. Males had higher blood concentrations of PFAS and lead. The estimated PFAS renal clearance and ratio of urine to serum were significantly higher for females, suggesting a sex difference in excretion via the kidney, maybe partly because men had higher serum PFAS concentrations. We observed that Inuit with intake of >200 g polar bear per week had significantly higher levels of PCB, PFAS, arsenic and selenium. In summary, the level of blood POP and heavy metals seems to relate to sex and the frequency intake of meat from marine mammals.
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•Inuit living at three east Greenlandic municipalities participated in this study.•Persistent organic pollutants (POP) and metals were measured in blood.•The POP and metal levels differed among the municipalities and sex.•Marine mammals' intake associated with higher blood level of POP and heavy metals.•Female Inuit had higher perfluoroalkylated substances urinary excretion than males.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a common acidic gas that contributes in some serious environmental, economic, and health problems, such as the global warming, pipeline corrosion, and reducing the efficiency ...of natural gas combustion. In this study, a functionalized TFC membrane based on the polyethersulfone (PES) support layer and the Pebax selective layer incorporated with the POP-NH2 nanostructures was fabricated to separate the CO2 from CH4 and N2 molecules. The fabricated POP-NH2 nanoparticles and membranes were characterized using different analytical techniques. Modeling calculations were also performed based on the density functional theory (DFT) calculations to understand the interaction between the gases and the POP-NH2 nanostructure. Also, the constant-volume method was utilized to evaluate the performance of the fabricated membranes at various feed pressures and POP-NH2 loading percentages. The functionalized membrane has shown high affinity toward the CO2 molecules and consequently high permeability, compared to the other two gases. The CO2 permeability of 392.2 Barrer and CO2/N2 selectivity of 108.94 (all at 10 bar) were the most prominent results obtained in this study. Also, this high affinity toward the CO2 molecules was also confirmed based on the DFT modeling, as the highest adsorption energy was related to the POP-NH2-CO2 complex.
•POP-NH2 nanostructures were successfully incorporated into the Pebax selective layer.•The CO2 permeability of 392.2 Barrer and CO2/N2 selectivity of 108.94 were obtained.•DFT calculations were successfully performed to evaluate the interaction behavior.•The highest adsorption energy was related to the POP-NH2-CO2 complex.
From BTS to Squid Game, Hallyu 3.0 signifies a new global milestone as the Korean wave continues to forge ahead. Given the substantial influence of the media in shaping public perceptions of societal ...issues, this study conducts a comparative textual analysis of news discourses from the BBC, CNN, and KBS, focusing on their representations of K-pop. The findings indicate that K-pop is characterized as a 'commodity' strategically produced by the Korean government to boost exports and stimulate the tourism industry. Moreover, the Western news outlets tended to position K-pop as a news anchor, predominantly associating it with controversial socio-political topics in a negative light. Additionally, they frequently linked contentious societal issues with K-pop stars while portraying K-pop fans as 'the Other.' In contrast, KBS primarily directs attention to the unexpected phenomenon of K-pop's global popularity, accentuating a sense of nationalistic pride in K-pop artists. This article further discusses the ways in which news media represents K-pop, grounding its analysis in principles derived from Orientalist theory.
In this paper, we examine how young adults who are consumers of K‐Pop in three culturally diverse cities (Paris, Philadelphia, and Manchester) reshape their symbolic boundaries to face social ...challenges. Analyzing data from 132 interviews, we show how young adults mainly confront social exclusion in Paris, fight racism in Philadelphia and deal with xenophobia in Manchester. Although K‐Pop adds to the dynamics of exclusion due to being perceived as culturally foreign, our participants use K‐Pop as a resource to reshape social boundaries towards new forms of inclusion. They do this by relying on K‐Pop as a cultural product that promotes inclusion, and on their affiliation with the K‐Pop community on a local and global level.
Most oxide ceramics are known to be brittle macroscopically at room temperature with little or no dislocation‐based plasticity prior to crack propagation. Here, we demonstrate the size‐dependent ...brittle to ductile transition in SrTiO3 at room temperature using nanoindentation pop‐in events visible as a sudden increase in displacement at nominally constant load. We identify that the indentation pop‐in event in SrTiO3 at room temperature, below a critical indenter tip radius, is dominated by dislocation‐mediated plasticity. When the tip radius increases to a critical size, concurrent dislocation activation and crack formation, with the latter being the dominating process, occur during the pop‐in event. Beyond the experimental examination and theoretical justification presented on SrTiO3 as a model system, further validation on α‐Al2O3, BaTiO3, and TiO2 are briefly presented and discussed. A new indentation size effect, mainly for brittle ceramics, is suggested by the competition between the dislocation‐based plasticity and crack formation at small scale. Our finding complements the deformation mechanism in the nano‐/microscale deformation regime involving plasticity and cracking in ceramics at room temperature to pave the road for dislocation‐based mechanics and functionalities study in these materials.
Aims
To set out the basic description of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) using the International Continence Society/International Urogynecology Association Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification (POP‐Q) ...system.
Methods
The basic approach to use of the POP‐Q was identified and summarized.
Results
Six defined points in the vagina are identified; points Aa and Ba for the anterior vagina, Ap and Bp for the posterior vagina, and C and D for the cervix/vault. Point D is not used in women who previously had a hysterectomy. The patient is asked to strain, ideally when in the standing position, to elicit the POP to its maximum extent. The location of the defined points is then gauged relative to the hymenal ring and recorded on a grid. Three additional measurements are taken to achieve a full description; the genital hiatus length, perineal body length, and total vaginal length. Staging a POP relies on identifying the lowest extent of any part of the six defined points; if any point reaches close to the hymenal ring (at least stage 2), the prolapse is usually symptomatic.
Conclusions
The POP‐Q system is readily cataloged and offers detailed description of considerable benefit in clinical practice and research.
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•Variable coordination modes of POP-type ligands to transition metals are reviewed.•POP, Xantphos, DBFphos and DPEphos-type ligands are explored.•κ3-P,O,P, κ2-P,P and κ1-P binding of ...POP-type ligands are all shown to be important.•Potential for POP-ligand hemilability, particularly during catalysis, is discussed.
Hemilabile ligands – ligands containing two or more potential donors to a metal centre, of which one or more can dissociate – have the ability to provide a transition metal complex with open coordination sites at which reactivity can occur, or stabilise low coordinate intermediates along reaction pathways. POP-type ligands and in particular POP, Xantphos, DBFphos and DPEphos-based ligands contain three possible binding sites: two phosphines and an ether linker, thus have the potential to show κ1-, κ2- or κ3-binding modes. This review summarises the examples where POP-type ligands display hemilabile,or closely related variable coordination, characteristics in either synthesis or catalysis.
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