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Background: Studies had suggested increased risk of death of residents was associated with typhoons, particularly coastal regions. However, these findings ignored the impact of inland typhoons on the health of residents, especially the indirect death risk caused by typhoons. This study aimed to investigate the acute death risk of residents during inland typhoon Lekima in Jinan, further identify vulnerable populations and areas. Methods: We selected the daily death from 11 to 27th August 2019 in Jinan as case period, and conducted a time-stratified case-crossover design to match the contemporaneous data from 2016 to 2018 as control period. We used the generalized linear Poisson models to estimate the related effects of death risk during typhoon Lekima and lag days. Results: During the Lekima typhoon month, there were 3,366 deaths occurred in Jinan. Compared to unexposed periods, the acute death risk of non-accidental diseases (especially circulatory diseases), female and the older adults increased significantly in the second week after the typhoon. The maximum significant effect of circulatory disease deaths, female and older adult deaths were appeared on lag9, lag9, and lag13 respectively. And the typhoon-associated RR were 1.19 (95%CI:1.05,1.34), 1.28 (95%CI:1.08,1.52), and 1.22 (95%CI:1.06,1.42) respectively. The acute death risk of residents living in TQ and CQ increased significantly on Lag2 and Lag6 after the typhoon, respectively, while those living in LX, LC, HY, JY, and SH occurred from Lag 8 to Lag 13 after the typhoon. LC lasted the longest days. Conclusions: Typhoons would increase the vulnerability of residents living in Jinan which mainly occurred from the seventh day after the typhoon. Residents suffering from non-accidental diseases (circulatory diseases), female and the older adults were more vulnerable. The vulnerability of TQ and CQ occurred on Lag2 and Lag6 after typhoon Lekima, respectively, and the other areas except ZQ and PY occurred from Lag 8 to Lag 13. LC lasted the longest duration. Our findings emphasized the importance of the emergency response, which would help policymakers to identify vulnerable regions and populations accurately during typhoons and formulate the emergency response plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

So-called Z-scheme systems permit overall water splitting using narrow-bandgap photocatalysts. To boost the performance of such systems, it is necessary to enhance the intrinsic activities of the hydrogen evolution photocatalyst and oxygen evolution photocatalyst, promote electron transfer from the oxygen evolution photocatalyst to the hydrogen evolution photocatalyst, and suppress back reactions. The present work develop a high-performance oxysulfide photocatalyst, Sm2Ti2O5S2, as an hydrogen evolution photocatalyst for use in a Z-scheme overall water splitting system in combination with BiVO4 as the oxygen evolution photocatalyst and reduced graphene oxide as the solid-state electron mediator. After surface modifications of the photocatalysts to promote charge separation and redox reactions, this system is able to split water into hydrogen and oxygen for more than 100 hours with a solar-to-hydrogen energy conversion efficiency of 0.22%. In contrast to many existing photocatalytic systems, the water splitting activity of the present system is only minimally reduced by increasing the background pressure to 90 kPa. These results suggest characteristics suitable for applications under practical operating conditions.Photocatalytic water splitting systems using Sm2Ti2O5S2, a visible light-active oxysulfide, exhibited low efficiencies due to low intrinsic photoactivity and rapid back reaction. Here, the efficiency was greatly improved by refining the preparation of photocatalysts and electron mediators [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photocatalytic water splitting is an ideal means of producing hydrogen in a sustainable manner, and developing highly efficient photocatalysts is a vital aspect of realizing this process. The photocatalyst Y2Ti2O5S2 (YTOS) is capable of absorbing at wavelengths up to 650 nm and exhibits outstanding thermal and chemical durability compared with other oxysulfides. However, the photocatalytic performance of YTOS synthesized using the conventional solid‐state reaction (SSR) process is limited owing to the large particle sizes and structural defects associated with this synthetic method. Herein, we report the synthesis of YTOS particles by a flux‐assisted technique. The enhanced mass transfer efficiency in the flux significantly reduced the preparation time compared with the SSR method. In addition, the resulting YTOS showed improved photocatalytic H2 and O2 evolution activity when loaded with Rh and Co3O4 co‐catalysts, respectively. These improvements are attributed to the reduced particle size and enhanced crystallinity of the material as well as the slower decay of photogenerated carriers on a nanosecond to sub‐microsecond time range. Further optimization of this flux‐assisted method together with suitable surface modification is expected to produce high‐quality YTOS crystals with superior photocatalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrochemical reduction of CO2 is a promising strategy to realize clean energy and a balanced carbon cycle. However, a critical challenge for this approach is to develop effective electrocatalysts with high current density and selectivity. Here, we report the facile synthesis of a highly efficient carbon coated silver (Ag/C) catalyst for CO2 reduction through a simple ultrasonic pyrolysis method. The obtained Ag/C exhibits high CO faradaic efficiency of up to 95% at a high current density of 800 mA cm−2 in 1 M KOH, which is far superior to the performance of state-of-the-art Ag-based catalysts. Mechanistic investigations combined with surface spectroscopic studies reveal that the amorphous carbon shell can boost the CO2 adsorption in the catalytic layer during CO2 electroreduction, favoring the formation of highly active solid–liquid–gas interfacial environments. The findings of this study contribute to the design and synthesis of highly active Ag-based catalysts for industrial-level applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and the second leading cause of cancer‐related deaths after lung cancer. Metastasis of the central nervous system is a terrible event for breast cancer patients, affecting their survival and quality of life. Compared with hormone receptor‐positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2‐negative breast cancer patients, brain metastases are more likely to affect patients with triple‐negative breast cancer and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2‐positive breast cancer. The treatment of breast cancer has improved greatly in the last two decades. However, brain metastases from breast cancer remain the leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Patients with breast cancer brain metastasis have been in an inferior position due to the lack of clinical research in this field, and they are often explicitly excluded from almost all clinical trials. The occurrence and progression of brain metastases will result in severe cognitive impairment and adverse physical consequences, so we must have a good understanding of the molecular mechanisms of breast cancer brain metastasis. In this article, we have retrieved the latest literature of molecules and pathways associated with breast cancer brain metastasis, summarized common therapy strategies, and discussed the prospects and clinical implications of targeting the molecules involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Y2Ti2O5S2 (YTOS), an oxysulfide material, has attracted attention as a photocatalyst due to its optical absorption at wavelengths up to 650 nm, and its ability to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. However, the performance of YTOS in photocatalytic water splitting has remained low. One important factor accounting for this poor activity is the absence of highly efficient active sites. Surface modification with oxygen‐evolution co‐catalysts is indispensable for enhancing the activity and durability of non‐oxide narrow‐bandgap photocatalysts. Herein, we report the preparation of cobalt oxide (Co3O4)‐loaded YTOS for photocatalytic oxygen evolution. The Co3O4 co‐catalyst was loaded by thermal decomposition of cobalt nitrate. The as‐obtained sample showed significantly enhanced activity in the oxygen evolution reaction compared with unmodified or IrO2‐loaded YTOS. Transient absorption spectroscopy revealed that the Co3O4 co‐catalyst captured holes and promoted charge separation, which accounted for the enhanced activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]