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Summary: Background: Acne vulgaris is widespread across the world. Mapping the latest magnitudes and temporal trends of acne vulgaris provides the essential foundation for targeted public policies at the national, regional and global levels. Objectives: In compliance with the framework of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019, this study aimed to summarize the incidence, prevalence, DALYs and the corresponding secular trends of acne vulgaris by sex and age group in 204 countries from 1990 to 2019. Methods: The average annual percentage change was calculated to depict the temporal trends in age‐standardized rates (ASRs) of acne vulgaris burden by region, sex and age. Results: Globally, it was estimated that there were 117·4 million [95% uncertainty interval (UI) 103·0–133.7] incident cases of acne vulgaris, 231·2 million (95% UI 208·2–255·5) prevalent cases and 5·0 (95% UI 3·0–7·9) million DALYs, with an increase of approximately 48% compared with 1990. Moreover, the overall ASRs of acne vulgaris increased by approximately 0·55% annually over the past three decades. We observed large disparities in ASRs of acne vulgaris with changing trends in sex, location and age. The ASR of acne vulgaris among women was around 1·3 times that of men, but the sex difference was narrowed because of the pronounced increase among men. The ASRs of acne vulgaris were higher in high‐income regions, but the increasing trend was more pronounced in other regions. Conclusions: The burden rate of acne vulgaris continues to increase in almost all countries. Understanding the specific characteristics of acne vulgaris burden is essential to formulate more effective and targeted interventions for controlling acne burden. Whatis already known about this topic?Acne vulgaris is a common skin condition affecting around 9·4% of the global population.However, there is a sparsity of studies that have taken a truly global, regional and national approach. Whatdoes this study add?Following the Global Burden of Disease Study framework, this study summarizes the global magnitudes of acne vulgaris burden along with the temporal trend.A pronounced acne vulgaris burden rate was observed in Western Europe, high‐income Asia Pacific and East Asia.The burden rate of acne vulgaris continued to increase in almost all countries, except for the USA, Poland, Germany and New Zealand. Linked Comment:L. Naldi. Br J Dermatol 2022; 186:605. Plain language summary available online [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Cubic boron nitride (c-BN) crystals were synthesized in conditions of high temperature and high pressure (HTHP) when different kinds of bonded water were respectively added into the system of h-BN–Mg. All bonded water used in this work could reduce the temperature of growing c-BN compared to that in the system of h-BN–Mg. The c-BN color could change from black to yellow when certain amounts of bonded water, such as NiSO4·6H2O and CuSO4·5H2O, Mg(OH)2, were added. However, c-BN color remained black no matter how much bonded water, such as NiCl2·6H2O, CuCl2·2H2O, and SnCl2·2H2O, was added. The bonded water can be classified into Chlorine-containing bonded water (Cl-BW) and Chlorine-free bonded water (ClF-BW) according to their different characters and effects on the synthesized c-BN color. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Asserts the need for China to preserve its biodiversity. Factors affecting the country's biodiversity; Scientific basis of biodiversity research; Importance of conservation biology; Proposal for the establishment of a national centre for ecology and evolution.

Abstract: A route for synthesizing high Mg content single-phase wurtzite MgZnO films having band gaps in the solar-blind region is demonstrated by employing molecular beam epitaxy on Al2O3 substrates. Importantly, a low Mg content “quasi-homo” buffer, Mg0.17Zn0.83O, was applied to accommodate a host of structural discrepancies and therefore, avoiding phase separation in a high Mg content film, Mg0.55Zn0.45O, as proved by X-ray diffraction. The Mg fraction in the overgrown single-phase epilayer, Mg0.55Zn0.45O, was confirmed by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

ZnO/diamond hetero-junction diodes have been fabricated for the first time. The structure of the diode was n-type ZnO film/p-type diamond film on the {111} surface of a crystalline diamond. The contact between the n- and p-type semiconductors was found to be improved. The ratio of forward current to the reverse current exceeded 120 within the range of applied voltages of −4 to +4 V. The diode possessed an optical transmission of 50–70% in 500–700 nm wavelength regions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Low-threshold heterojunctions have been formed from a boron-doped p-type diamond layer grown epitaxially on the {1 1 1} surface of a Si-treated single crystalline cubic boron nitride. The resistivity of the Si-treated cubic boron nitride was 0.1 Ω cm. With the resistivity of 0.1 Ω cm, which is lower than that of the sample prepared by conventional high-temperature and high-pressure method, the turn-on voltage and the highest current of the heterojunction are 0.5 V and 1 mA, respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The growing behavior of cubic boron nitride (cBN) crystal in the system of hBN–Mg with bonded water (&z.dbnd6;(HO)2&z.dbnd6;) was investigated at 5.0 GPa and 1100–1500 °C. The results show that, with the existence of bonded water, the grown cBN crystals can appear different color and the growth temperature decreases approximately 300 °C with the pressure fixed at 5.0 GPa by contrast with that in the hBN–Mg system. In addition, the cBN synthesis process is quite different from that when bonded water is absent or that when magnesium is absent. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the present work, the microstructure modifications and corrosion behaviors of a Mg-4Sm alloy treated by high current pulsed electron beam (HCPEB) with different number of pulses were investigated. The microstructure, composition and phase component in the treated surface layers were characterized by using optical microscope (OM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The results showed the dissolution of large Mg 41 Sm 5 segregates, the formation of Mg 41 Sm 5 nano-precipitates and twins in the surface layers after treatments. Electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and polarization tests in the 3.5 wt% NaCl solution showed that the 15 pulses treated Mg-4Sm alloy sample exhibited the lowest corrosion current density, highest corrosion potential and polarization resistance among all samples. This is attributed to the homogeneous microstructure and composition with fewer defects in the surface layer after sufficient number of HCPEB pulses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), which find their way easily into the water sources, are emerging as a major concern for drinking water quality and aquatic species. Therefore, their removal from water sources is a priority from environmental point of view. During the past decade, different methods including membrane separation, adsorption systems and chemical transformation have been evaluated for removal of these compounds. This paper reviews different aspects of PhAC removal by using membrane separation processes, as they have been conventionally known to show high potential in the production of superior quality drinking and industrial water. In brief, osmosis membranes can efficiently remove almost all PhACs though its operational cost is relatively high and nanofiltration (NF) membranes are highly influenced by electrostatic and hydrophobic interaction. Moreover, the efficiency of membrane bioreactors (MBRs) is difficult to predict due to the complex interaction of compounds with microorganisms. To improve the performance and robustness of membrane technology, it is suggested to combine membranes with other systems, such as activated carbon and enzymatic degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]