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Yunnan plays a pivotal role in transmitting electricity from west to east within China's Southern Power Grid. During 7–13 January 2021, a large-scale continuous ice-covering event of ultra-high voltage (UHV) transmission lines occurred in the Qujing area of eastern Yunnan Province. Based on ERA5 reanalysis data and meteorological observation data of UHV transmission line icing in China's Southern Power Grid, the synoptic causes of the icing are comprehensively analyzed from various perspectives, including weather situations, vertical stratification of temperature and humidity, local meteorological elements, and atmospheric circulation indices. The results indicate a strong East Asian trough and a blocking high directing northern airflow southward ahead of the ridge. Cold air enters the Qujing area and combines with warm and moist air from the subtropical high pressure of 50–110° E. As warm and cold air masses form a quasi-stationary front over the northern mountainous area of Qujing due to topographic uplift, the mechanism of "supercooling and warm rain" caused by the "warm–cold" temperature profile structure leads to freezing rain events. Large-scale circulation indices in the Siberian High, East Asian Trough, and 50–110° E Subtropical High regions provided clear precursor signals within 0–2 days before the icing events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study simulated the wind energy density distribution in the Jiaodong Peninsula region using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model. The impacts of different boundary-layer and near-surface parameterization schemes on the simulated wind speed and direction were investigated. The results indicate that the Yonsei University (YSU) scheme and the Quasi-Normal Scale Elimination (QNSE) scheme performed optimally for wind speed and wind direction. We also conducted a sensitivity test of the simulation results for atmospheric pressure, air temperature, and relative humidity. The statistical analysis showed that the YSU scheme performed optimally, while the MRF and BL schemes performed poorly. Following this, the wind energy distribution in the coastal hilly areas of the Jiaodong Peninsula was simulated using the YSU boundary-layer parameterization scheme. The modeled wind energy density in the mountainous and hilly areas of the Jiaodong Peninsula were higher than that in other regions. The wind energy density exhibits a seasonal variation, with the highest values in spring and early summer and the lowest in summer. In spring, the wind energy density over the Bohai Sea is higher than over the Yellow Sea, while the opposite trend is modeled in summer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ca 1.15 RE 0.85 Al 0.85 Ti 0.15 O 4 (RE = Nd, La, Y) ceramics were prepared by a reaction sintering method. The sintering behavior, phase composition, microstructure and microwave dielectric performances of ceramics were investigated. X-ray diffraction patterns illustrated that both the Ca 1.15 Nd 0.85 Al 0.85 Ti 0.15 O 4 (CNAT) and Ca 1.15 Y 0.85 Al 0.85 Ti 0.15 O 4 (CYAT) ceramics are single-phase structures, and the Ca 1.15 La 0.85 Al 0.85 Ti 0.15 O 4 (CLAT) ceramic contain LaAlO 3 and CaO phases. The apparent morphology and elemental distribution of the ceramic samples were analyzed by using scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive spectrometer. When the sintering temperature is 1500 °C, the CNAT and CYAT ceramics have the best microwave dielectric properties with ε r = 19.2, Q × f = 74924 GHz, τ f = −1.21 ppm/°C and ε r = 17.5, Q × f = 27440 GHz, τ f = −5.79 ppm/°C, respectively. And the best microwave dielectric properties of ε r = 17.5, Q × f = 22568 GHz, τ f = −14.69 ppm/°C were obtained for the CLAT ceramic sintered at 1525 °C. The reaction sintering method provides a low-cost, economical and straightforward method for the preparation of the Ca 1.15 RE 0.85 Al 0.85 Ti 0.15 O 4 (RE = Nd, La, Y) ceramics, which has promising potential for application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper, the effect of mechanical ball milling time on the fretting wear of GCr15 steel balls at different displacement amplitudes is investigated. TiC powder coating was fabricated on the surface of GCr15 steel balls using various process times, and the fretting wear tests were conducted on an AISI 52100 steel disk with the applied force of 80 N. Additionally, various displacement amplitudes (10 μm, 20 μm, and 60 μm) were selected. Specimen attributes and wear scars were characterized using an inverted metallographic microscope, a microhardness tester, an X-ray diffractometry analyzer, a white light interferometer, and a scanning electron microscope. The results showed that thick and continuous coatings could be obtained at the milling time of 18 h. The specimens processed for a longer milling time demonstrated better fretting wear resistance, which we attribute to higher microhardness of the surface layer. The coefficient of friction and wear volume of specimens at each different displacement amplitude significantly decreased with increasing milling time. As the displacement amplitude increased, the three fretting states were: partial slip coordinated by elastic deformation; partial slip state coordinated by plastic deformation; and gross slip condition. Our observations indicate that mechanical ball milling could be an efficient approach to improve the fretting wear resistance of GCr15 steel balls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of our study were to examine whether initial or subsequent adiposity status had a greater effect on hypertension. We collected data in 1992 and again in 2007 from the same group of 597 individuals in the middle age. The subjects were classified into four groups: individuals with a normal body mass index (BMI) in 1992 and 2007 were in Group I; those with a normal BMI in 1992, but became overweight or obese in 2007 were in Group II; those who were overweight or obese in 1992, but had a normal BMI in 2007 were in Group III; and those who were overweight or obese in 1992 and 2007 were in Group IV. Their demographic data were recorded. The relationship between adiposity status and hypertension was analyzed using logistic regression model. The cumulative incidence of hypertension was 35.5%, 56.3%, 50.0%, and 65.1% for Group I to IV, respectively. Compared with Group I, after adjusted factors, the hazard ratio (HR) was 1.80 for Group II (P =.001), 1.40 for Group III (P =.150), and 2.31 for Group IV (P <.001). Adiposity status in 2007 could predict hypertension (OR = 2.5, P <.001), as opposed to the initial adiposity status (P =.148). Subsequently adiposity status could have major effects on hypertension. Our society is very short of public health resources, particularly in developing countries, we should pay more attention to current adiposity status and encourage middle‐aged people to lose weight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, a high quality (Q) Ca 1.15 Sm 0.85 Al 0.85 Ti 0.15 O 4 (CSAT) ceramic was prepared via reaction sintering (RS) method. The phase structure, surface morphology, packing fraction (PF), and valence bond of the ceramic were systematically investigated. By studying the X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of the ceramic, it was determined to exhibit a single-phase tetragonal structure with the dimensions of a = b = 3.6943(13)Å and c = 12.0320(23)Å and volume of V = 164.22(10) Å3. The influence of the intrinsic quality loss factor on the Q × f value was investigated by calculating the PF. Simultaneously, the bond valence of the samarium (Sm) sites was evaluated to elucidate the relationship with the temperature coefficient of resonant frequency (τ f). The CSAT ceramic was sintered at 1550 °C for 6 h and exhibited exceptional characteristics in terms of the relative dielectric constant (ε r) = 17.5, quality factor (Q × f) = 66700 GHz, and τ f = −6.93 ppm/°C. These results highlighted the excellent suitability of the RS method for preparing CSAT ceramics with outstanding microwave dielectric properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wind tunnel test was conducted with an NACA 0012 airfoil to explore the flow control effects on airfoil dynamic stall by NS-DBD plasma actuation. Firstly, light and deep dynamic stall states were set, based on the static stall characteristics of airfoil at a Reynolds number of 5.8 × 105. Then, the flow control effect of NS-DBD on dynamic stall was studied and the influence law of three typical reduced frequencies (k = 0.05, k = 0.05, and k = 0.15) was examined at various dimensionless actuation frequencies (F+ = 1, F+ = 2, and F+ = 3). For both light and deep dynamic stall states, NS-DBD had almost no effect on upstroke. However, the lift coefficients on downstroke were increased significantly and the flow control effect at F+ = 1 is the best. The flow control effect of the light stall state is more obvious than that of deep stall state under the same actuation conditions. For the same stall state, with the reduced frequency increasing, the control effect became worse. Based on the in being principles of flow separation control by NS-DBD, the mechanism of dynamic stall control was discussed and the influence of reduced frequency on the dynamic flow control was analyzed. Different from the static airfoil flow separation control, the separated angle of leading-edge shear layer for the airfoil in dynamic stall state is larger and flow control with dynamic oscillation is more difficult. The separated angle is closely related to the effective angle of attack, so the effect of dynamic stall control is greatly dependent on the history of angles of attack. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(E)-N,N-dimethyl-4-oxo-4-(4-(pyridin-4-yl)phenyl)but-2-enamide hydrochloride (IMB-YH-4py5-2H) is a novel Protein Kinase B (PknB) inhibitor with potent activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains. In the present study, a sensitive and specific liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated to determine IMB-YH-4py5-2H in rat plasma. Sample pretreatment was achieved by liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate, and separation was performed on an XTerra MS C18 column (2.1×50 mm, 3.5 μm) with gradient elution (methanol and 0.1% formic acid) at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. Detection was performed in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. Linear calibration curves were obtained over a concentration range of 1−100 ng/mL. The intra-day and inter-day precisions were lower than 8.46%, and the accuracies ranged from -8.71% to 12.36% at all quality control levels. The extraction recoveries were approximately 70%, and the matrix effects were negligible. All quality control samples were stable under different storage conditions. The validated method was successfully applied to a preclinical pharmacokinetic study in Sprague-Dawley rats. IMB-YH-4py5-2H demonstrated improved pharmacokinetic properties (higher exposure level) compared with its leading compound. IMB-YH-4py5-2H was also distributed throughout the lung pronouncedly, especially inside alveolar macrophages, indicating its effectiveness against lower respiratory infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiomyocyte hypertrophy is a heart response adapting to increasing cardiac load. Prolonged cardiomyocyte hypertrophy indicates a higher risk of heart failure or even cardiac death. Long noncoding RNAs have been largely reported to modulate human diseases. CTPB1-AS2 is a newly discovered lncRNA reported as an oncogene in papillary thyroid cancer, but its function in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy has never been probed. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is recognized to play important roles in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. The present study aimed to investigate the role of CTBP1-AS2 in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. First, we discovered the low expression of CTBP1-AS2 in normal heart tissues in GETx database. Then, we established cardiomyocyte hypertrophy models on mice and cardiomyocytes through transverse aortic constriction surgery and Ang II treatment. We revealed the up-regulation of CTBP1-AS2 and TLR4 in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy models. Also, we confirmed the positive correlation between CTBP1-AS2 and TLR4 expressions in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy tissues. Loss-of-function assays confirmed that inhibiting CTBP1-AS2 attenuated the Ang II-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Mechanism research showed that CTBP1-AS2 stabilized TLR4 mRNA by recruiting FUS. Rescue assays certified that CTBP1-AS2 regulated cardiomyocyte hypertrophy through TLR4. Finally, we found Sp1 as an upstream activator for CTBP1-AS2 expression. In conclusion, our study uncovered CTBP1-AS2 as a novel regulator of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy through regulating TLR4, providing a new potential treatment target for cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. • CTBP1-AS2 is up-regulated in Ang II-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy cells and positively regulates TLR4. • Suppression of CTBP1-AS2 retards the Ang II-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. • CTBP1-AS2 promotes cardiomyocyte hypertrophy through stabilizing TLR4 mRNA by recruiting FUS. • Sp-1 induces the expression of CTBP1-AS2 in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Aims/Introduction: Recently, a new anthropometric parameter (a new hip index [HI]) was developed, and the HI shows a U‐shaped relationship to mortality in the USA population. It is well known that there is an inverse relationship between hip circumference (HC) and the risk of diabetes mellitus. Accordingly, the study sought to investigate whether HI could predict future diabetes mellitus, as compared with HC and the waist‐to‐hip ratio (WHR), in a general Chinese population. Materials and Methods: In 2007, we carried out a health examination of 687 participants (mean age 48.1 ± 6.2 years, male 58.1%). Development of diabetes mellitus by the 2007 examination was studied in relation to data from a baseline health examination carried out in 1992. Results: During the follow up, 74 participants were diagnosed with diabetes mellitus. Across the quintiles of baseline HI, the incidence rates of diabetes mellitus were 12.4, 12.4, 9.9, 7.8 and 11.3% in quintile (Q)1, Q2, Q3, Q4 and Q5, respectively (P = 0.698). With the lowest quintile (Q1) as reference, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses showed that HI was not associated with diabetes mellitus. In contrast, HC and WHR could predict future diabetes mellitus. Furthermore, WHR had the best discriminatory power for diabetes mellitus (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.691, 95% confidence interval 0.621–0.761), followed by HC (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.623, 95% confidence interval 0.558–0.689) and HI (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.464, 95% confidence interval 0.396–0.531). Conclusions: Compared with HC and WHR, HI was not an independent risk factor for diabetes mellitus in the Chinese population. More studies are required to delineate the limits of the utility of HI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Neonicotinoids bind to and activate G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER). • Neonicotinoids induce breast cancer cells migration via GPER in vitro. • Acetamiprid up-regulate 4T1 cells GPER mRNA expression in a dose-dependent manner. • Acetamiprid promote breast cancer proliferation and migration via GPER in vivo. • GPER is a potential molecular target for the estrogenic disruption of neonicotinoids. Neonicotinoid insecticides (NIs) have been widely detected in environmental media and human body with concentrations reaching hundreds of nanomolar to micromolar levels. However, the information about their human health toxicology and mechanism is deficient. Previous studies have implied that NIs might exert estrogenic disruption and promote breast cancer progression, but the molecular mechanism is unclear, especially the molecular initiating event. G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER), as a candidate therapeutic target, plays vital roles in the development of breast cancer. This work aimed to reveal the potential mechanism through GPER pathway. Firstly, we screened the activities of seven most common NIs on GPER signal pathway by calcium mobilization assay. Clothianidin, acetamiprid (ACE), and dinotefuran activated GPER most potently and ACE displayed the highest agonistic activity with the lowest observed effective concentration (LOEC) of 1 μM. The molecular docking and dynamics simulation showed favored interaction trend between the NIs and GPER. The three NIs with GPER activity induced 4T1 breast cancer cells migration and ACE showed the highest potency with LOEC of 100 nM. ACE also induced 4T1 cells proliferation at high concentration of 50 μM and up-regulated GPER expression in a dose-dependent manner. We speculated that both the induction effects of ACE on 4T1 cells proliferation and migration might be owing to the activation and up-regulation of GPER. By using 4T1-Luc cells injected orthotopic tumor model, we found that ACE also promoted in-situ breast cancer growth and lung metastasis in normal mouse dependent on GPER. However, ACE only promoted in-situ breast cancer growth through GPER but not lung metastasis in ovariectomized mice, implying that the ACE-induced lung metastasis should be related to endogenous estrogen from ovary. Overall, we demonstrated that NIs promoted breast cancer progression via GPER pathway at human related exposure levels and their female health risks need urgent concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polygonatum kingianum Collett & Hemsl is one of the famous traditional Chinese herbs with satisfactory therapeutic effects on invigorating Qi, nourishing Yin and moistening lungs, in which steroidal saponins are one class of important active substances. The main purpose is to determine the optimal extraction technology of steroidal saponins and evaluate the quality of P. kingianum planted in five different areas. The optimal ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE) technology was established by using single-factor experiments and the response surface methodology (RSM), and the determination method of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for dioscin and diosgenin, two primary types of acid-hydrolyzed steroidal saponins, was constructed with good linear range and precision. The results showed that UAE was an efficient extraction method for steroidal saponins, and the extraction yield was significantly affected by the liquid-solid ratio. The optimal extraction technology was generated following a liquid-solid ratio of 10:1 (mL/g), an ethanol concentration of 85% (v/v), an extraction time of 75 min, an extraction temperature of 50 °C and three extractions, of which these parameters were in line with the predicted values calculated by RSM. Considering only dioscin and diosgenin, the quality of P. kingianum planted at five sample plots presented non-significant difference. However, the content of diosgenin in Pingbian Prefecture (PB) was higher than that of the other four areas with a value of 0.46 mg/g. Taken together, the optimal UAE technology for P. kingianum steroidal saponins was determined via RSM. The quality evaluation revealed that there was a non-significant difference among P. kingianum planted in different areas based on the contents of the sum of dioscin and diosgenin. This work has important reference value for the exploitation and utilization of P. kingianum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Obesity in adulthood is associated with increased risk for diabetes mellitus (DM). It is uncertain whether this risk is attenuated in adulthood who are overweight or obese initially but not obese subsequently. Methods and results: The data were collected in 1992 and then again in 2007 from the same group of 687 participants (male: 58.1%, age: 48.1±6.2years).The participants were categorized into four groups on the basis of adiposity status in 1992 and 2007: group I included subjects with a normal BMI in 1992 and 2007; group II, those with a normal BMI in 1992 who were overweight or obese in 2007; group III, those who were overweight or obese in 1992 but normal BMI in 2007; and group IV, those who were overweight or obese in 1992 and 2007. With group I as reference, the HR is 0.818 for group II (95% CI: 0.341–1.962, p =0.653), 2.231 for group III (95% CI: 1.087–4.579, p =0.029) and 1.855 for group IV (95% CI: 1.049–3.279, p =0.034) after adjustment for confounders. It was not significantly different between groups I and II, as well as between groups III and IV. Conclusion: In adulthood, becoming nonobese could not reverse the adverse effects of obesity on DM, as compared with the subjects who persist being overweight or obese. Keeping weight in the normal BMI range should be emphasized in the public for preventing DM. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The study aimed to assess the validity of some recently published diabetes risk scoring models in a general Chinese population. In 2007, there was a re-examination of 711 individuals who were originally examined in 1992. Since 24 individuals had diabetes in 1992, 687 individuals were available for analysis. Validity was assessed with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AROC), and we assessed seven prospective and four cross-sectional models. When applied to our population, AROCs tended to be higher in Asian models than in non-Asian models (average AROCs 0.694±0.034 vs. 0.667±0.040, p =0.258), and those tended to be higher in prospective models than in cross-sectional models (average AROCs 0.695±0.028 vs. 0.652±0.042, p =0.072). A prospective model from Taiwan performed best (AROC 0.749; 95% CI 0.691–0.807). In conclusion, diabetes risk scoring models could not always be generalized from one population to another before validation. Asian models might be more suitable for Asian populations than non-Asian models, and prospective models might be more suitable for predicting future diabetes than cross-sectional models. When applied to our population, a prospective model from Taiwan performed best, and widespread application might be considered in the population. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Sodium percarbonate (SPC) is considered a potential alternative to liquid hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2) in organic compounds contaminated water/soil remediation due to its regularly, transportable, economical, and eco-friendly features. The solid state of SPC makes it more suitable to remediate actual soil and water with a milder H 2 O 2 release rate. Apart from its good oxidative capacity, alkaline SPC can simultaneously remediate acidized solution and soil to the neutral condition. Conventionally, percarbonate-based advanced oxidation process (P-AOPs) system proceed through the catalysis under ultraviolet ray, transition metal ions (i.e. , Fe2+, Fe3+, and V4+), and nanoscale zero-valent metals (iron, zinc, copper, and nickel). The hydroxyl radical (•OH), superoxide radical (•O 2 −), and carbonate radical anion (•CO 3 −) generated from sodium percarbonate could attack the organic pollutant structure. In this review, we present the advances of P-AOPs in heterogeneous and homogeneous catalytic processes through a wide range of activation methods. This review aims to give an overview of the catalysis and application of P-AOPs for emerging contaminants degradation and act as a guideline of the field advances. Various activation methods of percarbonate are summarized, and the influence factors in the solution matrix such as pH, anions, and cations are thoroughly discussed. Moreover, this review helps to clarify the advantages and shortcomings of P-AOPs in current scientific progress and guide the future practical direction of P-AOPs in sustainable carbon catalysis and green chemistry. [Display omitted] • Multifaceted comparisons with typical advanced oxidant process have been done. • Activations of percarbonate for containment destruction are summarized. • The influence factors of organic compounds oxidation by percarbonate are presented. • P-AOPs may be economically feasible for organic matter reduction in the future. • Future prospect and challenges of percarbonate application are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hypertension and frailty often coexist in older people. The present study aimed to evaluate the association of frailty status with overall survival in elderly hypertensive patients, using data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. Methods: A total of 10,493 elderly hypertensive patients were included in the present study (median age 87.0 years, 58.3% male). Frailty status was assessed according to a 36-item frailty index (FI), which divides elderly individuals into four groups: robustness (FI ≤ 0.10), pre-frailty (0.10 < FI ≤ 0.20), mild-frailty (0.20 < FI ≤ 0.30), and moderate-severe frailty (FI > 0.30). The study outcome was overall survival time. Accelerated failure time model was used to evaluate the association of frailty status with overall survival. Results: During a period of 44,616.6 person-years of follow-up, 7327 (69.8%) participants died. The overall survival time was decreased with the deterioration of frailty status. With the robust group as reference, adjusted time ratios (TRs) were 0.84 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.80–0.87) for the pre-frailty group, 0.68 (95% CI: 0.64–0.72) for the mild frailty group, and 0.52 (95% CI: 0.48–0.56) for the moderate-severe frailty group, respectively. In addition, restricted cubic spline analysis revealed a nearly linear relationship between FI and overall survival (p for non-linearity = 0.041), which indicated the overall survival time decreased by 17% with per standard deviation increase in FI (TR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.82–0.85). Stratified and sensitivity analyses suggested the robustness of the results. Conclusions: The overall survival time of elderly hypertensive patients decreased with the deterioration of frailty status. Given that frailty is a dynamic and even reversible process, early identification of frailty and active intervention may improve the prognosis of elderly hypertensive patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preliminary observing achievements by the Super Soft X-ray Detector and the ɣ Detector in the fields of cosmic gamma-ray bursts, solar X-ray bursts and cosmic X-ray / ɣ-ray background radiation are summarized. The detectors are aboard the spacecraft Shenzhou-2 that was launched on 2001 January 10. The scientific mission and general situation of the instruments are briefly described. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Preliminary observing achievements by the Super Soft X-ray Detector and the γ-ray Detector in the fields of cosmic γ-ray bursts, solar X-ray bursts and cosmic X-ray/γ-ray background radiation are summarized. The detectors are aboard the spacecraft Shenzhou-2 that was launched on 2001 January 10. The scientific mission and general situation of the instruments are briefly described. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: The metabolic syndrome (Mets) is a multiplex risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. The aims of the study were to assess the association of the Mets with TyG index and TyG-related parameters in an urban Chinese population. Methods: The data were collected in 1992 and then again in 2007 from the same group of 590 individuals (363 males and 227 females) without Mets in 1992. The fasting lipid profile and blood glucose were measured. TyG index and related parameters were calculated, and Mets defined according to the harmonized criteria. The area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic curves was used to evaluate TyG index and related parameters for their diagnostic ability to identify people with Mets. Odd ratios (OR) for Mets prediction were calculated using stepwise logistic regression analyses. Results: The incidence of Mets was 18.64% over the 15-year follow-up period.During 15 years' follow-up, TyG-waist to height ratio (TyG-WHtR) shows the largest AUC for Mets detection (0.686) followed by TyG-waist circumference (TyG-WC) (0.660), TyG-waist-to-hip ratio (TyG-WHpR) (0.564), and TyG index (0.556) in all participants. Gender analysis revealed that TyG-WHtR and TyG-WC have the largest AUC in both genders. TyG-WHtR significantly predicted Mets in all participants, with an unadjusted odds ratio of 5.63 (95% CI 3.23–9.83 P < 0.001). Associations remained significant after adjustment for smoking, drinking, physical exercise and components of Mets. Conclusions: TyG-WHtR might be a strong and independent predictor for Mets in all participants in an urban Chinese population. TyG-related markers that combine obesity markers with TyG index are superior to other parameters in identifying Mets in both genders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Niclosamide bind to and activate ERs with EC 20 of 100 nM. • Niclosamide activate ERRα with LOEC of 10 nM. • Niclosamide bind to and activate ERRγ with LOEC of 0.5 nM. • ERRγ might be the dominant target for NIC in cells rather than ERRα and ERs. • NIC activate both ERRs and ERs at environmentally-related nanomolar levels. Niclosamide (NIC), a helminthic drug used widely for controlling schistosomiasis, can reportedly disrupt the endocrine system. However, its underlying mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, we revealed the potential endocrine disruption mechanism of NIC by activating estrogen receptors (ERs) and estrogen-related receptors (ERRs). The binding potency of NIC with ERα, ERβ and ERRγ were determined by fluorescence competitive binding assays, which shows an IC 50 (the concentration of NIC needed to displace 50 % of the probe from the receptor) of 90 ± 4.1, 10 ± 1.7 nM and 0.59 ± 0.07 nM respectively. The IC 50 for ERRγ is the lowest one among the three detected receptors, which is three orders of magnitude lower than the known agonist GSK4716.The transcriptional activities of NIC on ERs and ERRs were detected by MVLN cells (stably transfected with ERs reporter gene) and HeLa cells (transiently transfected with ERRs reporter gene)-based luciferase reporter gene assay. The lowest observable effective concentration (LOEC) ranked as follows: ERRγ (0.5 nM) < ERRα (10 nM) < ERs (100 nM). The maximum observed induction rate for ERRγ (294 %) was higher than that for ERRα (191 %). The maximum observed induction rate of NIC for ERs was 30 % relative to 17β-estradiol. In addition, we simulated the interactions of NIC with ERs and ERRs by molecular docking. NIC could dock into the ligand binding pockets of ERs and ERRs and form hydrogen bonds with different amino acids. The binding energy ranked as follows: ERRγ (-8.90 kcal/mol) < ERβ (-7.57 kcal/mol) < ERRα (-7.15 kcal/mol) < ERα (-6.53 kcal/mol), which implied that NIC bound to ERRγ with higher binding affinity than the other receptors. Overall, we clarify that ERRγ might be the dominant target for NIC in cells rather than ERRα and ERs. We reveal potential novel mechanisms for the endocrine disruption effects of NIC by activating both ERRs and ERs at environmentally-related nanomolar levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The metabolic syndrome (Mets) is a multiplex risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. The aims of the study were to assess the association of the Mets with TyG index and TyG-related parameters in an urban Chinese population. Methods: The data were collected in 1992 and then again in 2007 from the same group of 590 individuals (363 males and 227 females) without Mets in 1992. The fasting lipid profile and blood glucose were measured. TyG index and related parameters were calculated, and Mets defined according to the harmonized criteria. The area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic curves was used to evaluate TyG index and related parameters for their diagnostic ability to identify people with Mets. Odd ratios (OR) for Mets prediction were calculated using stepwise logistic regression analyses. Results: The incidence of Mets was 18.64% over the 15-year follow-up period.During 15 years' follow-up, TyG-waist to height ratio (TyG-WHtR) shows the largest AUC for Mets detection (0.686) followed by TyG-waist circumference (TyG-WC) (0.660), TyG-waist-to-hip ratio (TyG-WHpR) (0.564), and TyG index (0.556) in all participants. Gender analysis revealed that TyG-WHtR and TyG-WC have the largest AUC in both genders. TyG-WHtR significantly predicted Mets in all participants, with an unadjusted odds ratio of 5.63 (95% CI 3.23–9.83 P < 0.001). Associations remained significant after adjustment for smoking, drinking, physical exercise and components of Mets. Conclusions: TyG-WHtR might be a strong and independent predictor for Mets in all participants in an urban Chinese population. TyG-related markers that combine obesity markers with TyG index are superior to other parameters in identifying Mets in both genders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel NaAGeO 4 (A = Sm, Y) ceramics with olivine structures were prepared and characterized. The phase composition, microstructural evolution, and densification behavior of the ceramics were investigated. The NaAGeO 4 (A = Sm, Y) ceramics possessed a single orthorhombic crystal system with Pbn21 and Pnma space groups. The NaSmGeO 4 ceramics had dense grains, clear boundaries, and low sintering temperatures, whereas a relatively wide range of sintering temperatures were feasible for the NaYGeO 4 ceramics. The NaSmGeO 4 ceramic material sintered at 1025 °C possessed excellent performance-related parameters, i.e., Q × f = 31,281 GHz, ε r = 6.29, and τ ƒ = −48.3 ppm/°C, whereas those for the NaYGeO 4 ceramic material were Q × f = 32,646 GHz, ε r = 6.74, and τ ƒ = −39 ppm/°C at 1200 °C. Furthermore, doping the NaYGeO 4 ceramic material with CaTiO 3 to obtain 0.12CaTiO 3 -0.88NaYGeO 4 yielded a τ ƒ value close to zero (−3 ppm/°C). The results demonstrate that NaAGeO 4 (A = Sm, Y) ceramics have substantial potential for application in microwave devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) has emerged as a useful indicator for adverse outcomes in several cardiovascular diseases. The relation between RDW and the prognosis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) remains to be evaluated. We examined the relation between RDW and all-cause mortality and HCM-related death in a population of adult HCM patients. We performed clinical evaluation in 414 consecutive adult HCM patients (median age, 57.5 years; male, 54.8%). During a median follow-up of 3.7 years, all-cause mortality and HCM-related death occurred in 75 (18.1%) and 50 (12.1%) patients, respectively. Based on the tertiles of baseline RDW, mortality increased with higher tertile. With the tertile 1 as reference, adjusted all-cause mortality hazard ratios (HRs) were 3.9 for the tertile 2 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.5–10.3) and 3.1 for the tertile 3 (95% CI: 1.1–8.2). Adjusted HCM-related death HRs were higher in the tertile 2 (HR: 5.5; 95% CI: 1.2–24.4) and tertile 3 (HR: 6.6; 95% CI: 1.5–29.0) compared with the tertile 1. Further smooth curve fitting exhibited a saturation effect after adjusting for confounders, and there were a two-stage change and an inflection point. Two-piecewise Cox model suggested mortality significantly increased with RDW level up to the inflection point (about 14.0% for both all-cause mortality and HCM-related death), and RDW was not associated with mortality after the point. In adult HCM patients, we found increased RDW was a significant risk predictor for all-cause mortality and HCM-related death, and a saturation effect was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a mathematical model and experimental verification of factors influencing thermal runaway propagation of NCM811/C lithium-ion battery module after fast charging operation. The key factors considered for the thermal runaway propagation include charging C-rate, battery spacing, triggering temperature, speed, and interval of the thermal runaway propagation. The analysis of the 3D model shows that increasing the spacing and triggering temperature of the battery will reduce the risk of thermal runaway propagation of the battery module and change the order of thermal runaway propagation. Further, the thermal runaway propagation speed increases gradually with the propagation process; however, it is inhibited by increasing triggering temperature and battery spacing and the decrease of charging C-rate. These observations play a critical role in the lithium-ion battery pack design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nutritional status has been related to clinical outcomes in patients with cardiovascular diseases. The prognostic impact of poor nutritional status in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is not clearly understood. The aim of the present study is to investigate the prognostic value of prognostic nutritional index (PNI), calculated from serum albumin level and total lymphocyte count, in HCM patients. A total of 393 HCM patients in a tertiary medical centre were enrolled. The primary and secondary endpoints were all-cause mortality and cardiovascular death. The association between PNI and endpoints was analysed. During a mean follow-up duration of 4.8 years, patients with high PNI values (PNI ≥ 48.8) had significantly lower incidence of all-cause mortality (9.3% vs. 33.1%, P < 0.001) and cardiovascular death (7.1% vs. 21.0%, P < 0.001). After adjusting for potential confounders, PNI was independently associated with all-cause mortality and cardiovascular death (hazard ratio per 1 SD increase: 0.46 [95% CI: 0.34–0.62, P < 0.001] and 0.44 [95% CI: 0.30–0.63, P < 0.001]). In subgroup analysis stratified by age, gender, New York Heart Association class, atrial fibrillation, estimated glomerular filtration rate, left ventricular ejection fraction or left ventricular outflow tract obstruction, PNI was consistently related to mortality. PNI is an independent prognostic factor for mortality in patients with HCM. • Prognostic nutritional index (PNI) reflects individual's immunonutritional status. • It has been regarded as a useful indicator for poor prognosis in several diseases. • The prognostic value of PNI in HCM patients was initially assessed. • PNI significantly predicts all-cause mortality and cardiovascular death in HCM. • The best cut-off value of PNI was 48.8 for our HCM population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to evaluate the tolerance of endophytic fungi isolated from the fibrous roots of Polygonatum kingianum to arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) and their physiological response mechanisms. Five isolated strains were obtained with EC50 values for As(V) ranging from 421 to 1281 mg/L, while the other three strains tolerated Cd(II) with an EC50 range of 407–1112 mg/L. Morphological and molecular identification indicated that these eight strains were Cladosporium spp. belonging to dark septate endophytes (DSEs). The contents of metal ions in mycelium sharply increased, reaching 38.87 mg/kg for strain MZ‐11 under As(V) stress and 0.33 mg/kg for fungus PR‐2 under Cd(II). The physiological response revealed that the biomass decreased with increasing concentrations of As(V) or Cd(II), and the activity of superoxide dismutase significantly improved under the corresponding EC50‐concentration As/Cd of the strains, as well as the contents of antioxidant substances, including metallothionein, glutathione, malondialdehyde, melanin, and proline. Taken together, the filamentous fungi of Cladosporium spp. accounted for a high proportion of fungi isolated from the fibrous roots of P. kingianum and had a strong capacity to tolerate As(V) or Cd(II) stress by improving antioxidase activities and the content of antioxidant substances, and immobilization of metal ions in hyphae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the unbalanced three-phase loads, the single-phase distributed photovoltaic (PV) integration, the long feeders, and the heavy loads in a three-phase four-wire low voltage distribution network (LVDN), the voltage unbalance factor (VUF), the network loss and the voltage deviation are relatively high. Considering the uncertain fluctuation of the PV output and the load power, a robust optimal allocation of decentralized reactive power compensation (RPC) devices model for a three-phase four-wire LVDN is proposed. In this model, the uncertain variables are described as box uncertain sets, the three-phase simultaneous switching capacity and single-phase independent switching capacity of the RPC devices are taken as decision variables, and the objective is to minimize the total power loss of the LVDN under the extreme scenarios of uncertain variables. The bi-level optimization method is used to transform the robust optimization model with uncertain variables into bi-level deterministic optimization models, which could be solved alternately. The nonlinear programming solver IPOPT in the mature commercial software GAMS is adopted to solve the upper and lower deterministic optimization models to obtain a robust optimal allocation scheme of decentralized RPC devices. Finally, the simulation results for an actual LVDN show that the obtained decentralized RPC scheme can ensure that the voltage deviation and the VUF of each bus satisfied the secure operation requirement no matter how the PV output and load power changed within their own uncertain sets, and the network loss could be effectively reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The plasma D-dimer has been regarded as a poor prognosis factor in aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH) patients, but the reason of elevated D-dimer level has not been revealed. In this study, we retrospectively explored the potential clinical parameters which might be related to D-dimer level and further attempted to explain the pathological process of D-dimer level elevation in aSAH patients. Patients and methods: The qualified patients with aSAH were recruited and treated in Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital from 1 October 2015 to 28 February 2018. All clinical data were collected, the blood samples were gathered on admission and the levels of D-dimer were detected by the clinical laboratory. The χ2-test, univariate and multiple linear regression analysis were used to seek the relationship between clinical variables and D-dimer level. Results: Total 98 aSAH patients were enrolled. The χ2-test showed a significant difference in clinical characteristics of gender, hyperlipidaemia and ICP between the patients with normal D-dimer level and the others with a high D-dimer level (p <.05). The univariate linear regression analysis and the multiple linear regression analysis showed the combined CCT and ICP were still significantly related to D-dimer level (p <.05). Conclusion: Besides the other related factors, the increased ICP was obviously associated with the elevated plasma D-dimer level. It may indicate that the high ICP acted as the initial role, then led to poor perfusion, even induced the microthrombosis and activated the fibrinolytic system, which eventually contributed to D-dimer level increasing in aSAH patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the mortality risk in older people who drank alcohol in the past by varying the duration of alcohol abstention. In total, 31,999 participants aged ≥65 years from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (Waves 1998, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2014) were included. Duration of alcohol abstention was assessed by designed questions, and the study outcome was all-cause mortality. Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the association. Analyses occurred from 2022 to 2023. During a follow-up of 140,974.8 person-years, all-cause mortality occurred in 24,257 participants. Mortality significantly increased by 23% (adjusted hazard ratio=1.23, 95% CI=1.14, 1.33, p <0.001), by 17% (adjusted hazard ratio=1.17, 95% CI=1.06, 1.31, p =0.003), and by 17% (adjusted hazard ratio=1.17, 95% CI=1.07, 1.28, p =0.001) in people who drank alcohol in the past with ≤5 years, 5–10 years, 10–20 years of alcohol abstention, respectively, compared with that among those who drink alcohol at present. After 20 years of alcohol abstention, the increased mortality risk disappeared (adjusted hazard ratio=1.06, 95% CI=0.97, 1.15, p =0.204). Stratified and sensitivity analysis revealed similar results. In addition, compared with the risk of all-cause mortality among people who never drink alcohol, the risk of all-cause mortality in those who drank alcohol in the past also significantly increased in the following 20 years after they stop drinking, and then the increased risk disappeared afterward. An increased risk of all-cause mortality in older people who drank alcohol in the past was observed, which disappeared after 20 years of alcohol abstention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silica aerogel is a nano-porous ultra-light weight aggregate, and its excellent thermal insulation performance has attracted much attention in building energy conservation. However, the hygrothermal properties parameters such as thermal conductivity, water absorption characteristics, moisture distribution, and pore structure of aerogel incorporated cementitious composites (AICs) are unclear and lack for experimental data. The effects of different aerogel contents on the microstructure and thermophysical parameters of cementitious composites were systematically studied based on traditional characterization methods (Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron microscope) and low field NMR technology was used to study the distribution and migration of water of AICs in the pore structure. The result shows that the microstructure, thermal insulation performance, and hydrophobicity of AICs are affected by aerogel content enormously. The water migration in the pore structure of AICs can be divided into four stages: rapid rise stage (0–15 min), slow growth stage (15 min − 1 h), uniform growth stage (1 – 12 h), and stable stage (12 − 24 h). The thermal conductivity decreases significantly (52.72%) with the increase in aerogel. However, the thermal conductivity of AICs increases after seven days of water absorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The snare-assisted technique has been described to facilitate transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) delivery system advancement in complex aortic anatomies. However, the evidence is limited to case reports. To evaluate the safety profile of the snare-facilitated approach and its impact on self-expanding (SE) TAVR outcomes, we collected consecutive patients who underwent transfemoral SE-TAVR for aortic stenosis, using propensity score matching (PSM) separately in tricuspid and type-0 and type-1 bicuspid aortic valve morphology between the snare and non-snare groups. In 766 patients, despite the snare group having significantly larger annulus angulation and maximal ascending aortic diameter, both groups achieved comparable 30-day device success rates, regardless of first-generation or new-generation valve use. After PSM, the snare group had a significantly lower new permanent pacemaker implantation rate among 193 type-0 patients (3.3% vs. 18.3%, p = 0.01). The ipsilateral group used new-generation valves less frequently (23.0% vs. 75.4%, p < 0.001), but there were no significant inter-group differences in procedure-related events, except for a lower incidence of PVL ≥ mild in the ipsilateral group (14.9% vs. 32.3%, p = 0.01). In conclusion, the snare-assisted technique appears useful in SE-TAVR with angulated aortic root anatomy, and the benefits were comparable between ipsilateral and contralateral snare techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome plays an important role in high glucose- induced endothelial dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Dulaglutide, a newly developed glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonist, has been approved for the management of T2DM. In the current study, we aimed to investigate whether dulaglutide possesses a protective effect against high glucose- induced activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome. Our results indicate that dulaglutide treatment prevented high glucose- induced generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and protein carbonyl, as well as the expression of NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX-4) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Dulaglutide treatment could inhibit high glucose- induced release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and the expression of TXNIP. Dulaglutide suppressed high glucose- induced activation of NLRP3 inflammasome by reducing the expression of NLRP3, ASC, and cleaved caspase 1 (P10). Notably, dulaglutide treatment suppressed high glucose- induced maturation of IL-1β and IL-18. Mechanistically, our findings indicate that SIRT1 was involved in this process by showing that knockdown of SIRT1 by transfection with SIRT1 siRNA abolished the inhibitory effects of dulaglutide on IL-1β and IL-18 secretion via suppression of NLRP3, ASC, and p10. These data suggest that dulaglutide might serve as a potential drug for the treatment of cardiovascular complications in T2DM patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this study was to reveal the nutritional value and antioxidant activity of 34 edible flowers that grew in Yunnan Province, China, through a comprehensive assessment of their nutritional composition and antioxidant indices. The results showed that sample A3 of Asteraceae flowers had the highest total flavonoid content, with a value of 8.53%, and the maximum contents of vitamin C and reducing sugars were from Rosaceae sample R1 and Gentianaceae sample G3, with values of 143.80 mg/100 g and 7.82%, respectively. Samples R2 and R3 of Rosaceae were the top two flowers in terms of comprehensive nutritional quality. In addition, the antioxidant capacity of Rosaceae samples was evidently better than that of three others, in which Sample R1 had the maximum values in hydroxyl radical (·OH) scavenging and superoxide anion radical (·O2−) scavenging rates, and samples R2 and R3 showed a high total antioxidant capacity and 2,2-diphenyl-1-pyridylhydrazine (DPPH) scavenging rate, respectively. Taken together, there were significant differences in the nutrient contents and antioxidant properties of these 34 flowers, and the comprehensive quality of Rosaceae samples was generally better than the other three families. This study provides references for 34 edible flowers to be used as dietary supplements and important sources of natural antioxidants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims/Introduction Materials and Methods Results Conclusions To evaluate the differences in cardiac autonomic function, cardiac structure and diastolic function between individuals with diabetic foot (DF) and those with diabetes but without DF.A total of 413 individuals with DF and 437 without DF who underwent a 24‐h electrocardiogram Holter and a Doppler echocardiogram were included. The heart rate variability parameters to evaluate cardiac autonomic function, and the indices for the assessment of cardiac structure and left ventricular (LV) diastolic function, including left atrium, LV posterior wall thickness, interventricular septum and E/e′ ratio, were measured or calculated. Propensity score matching was used for the sensitivity analysis to minimize potential imbalance.In both the crude and propensity score matching analyses, significant differences were observed in heart rate variability between individuals with and without DF, as evidenced by lower standard deviation of the normal sinus interval, lower low‐frequency power/high‐frequency power ratio, lower standard deviation of the 5‐min average RR intervals, lower low‐frequency power, lower percentage of normal adjacent RR interval difference >50 ms, lower root mean square of successive RR interval differences and lower high‐frequency power (all P < 0.05). In multivariate analysis, DF showed an independent negative correlation with the aforementioned indices of heart rate variability (all P < 0.05). Individuals with DF showed higher left atrium, LV posterior wall thickness, interventricular septum and a higher E/e′ ratio than those without DF in the crude analysis (all P < 0.05), whereas these indices were no longer associated with DF in the multivariate analysis and the propensity score matching analyses.Cardiac autonomic modulation was more severely impaired in individuals with DF than in their counterparts without DF. There has been insufficient evidence to demonstrate the independent association of DF and LV diastolic dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To develop a fully automatic framework for the diagnosis of cause for left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) via cardiac cine images. Methods: A total of 302 LVH patients with cine MRI images were recruited as the primary cohort. Another 53 LVH patients prospectively collected or from multi-centers were used as the external test dataset. Different models based on the cardiac regions (Model 1), segmented ventricle (Model 2) and ventricle mask (Model 3) were constructed. The diagnostic performance was accessed by the confusion matrix with respect to overall accuracy. The capability of the predictive models for binary classification of cardiac amyloidosis (CA), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) or hypertensive heart disease (HHD) were also evaluated. Additionally, the diagnostic performance of best Model was compared with that of 7 radiologists/cardiologists. Results: Model 3 showed the best performance with an overall classification accuracy up to 77.4% in the external test datasets. On the subtasks for identifying CA, HCM or HHD only, Model 3 also achieved the best performance with AUCs yielding 0.895–0.980, 0.879–0.984 and 0.848–0.983 in the validation, internal test and external test datasets, respectively. The deep learning model showed non-inferior diagnostic capability to the cardiovascular imaging expert and outperformed other radiologists/cardiologists. Conclusion: The combined model based on the mask of left ventricular segmented from multi-sequences cine MR images shows favorable and robust performance in diagnosing the cause of left ventricular hypertrophy, which could be served as a noninvasive tool and help clinical decision. Key Points: Multi-view cine images provide a potential etiology diagnosis tool for LVH. AI-based myocardium spatial–temporal features extracted from images is helpful in diagnosis. AI demonstrated higher accuracy and greater robustness with human experience added. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:In some cross-sectional studies, hypertriglyceridemic waist (HTGW) has been recommended as an alternative to metabolic syndrome (MetS) for screening individuals at high risk for diabetes mellitus (DM). However, little information is about the predictive power of HTGW for future DM. The aims of the study were to assess the DM predictive power of HTGW compared with MetS based on the follow-up data over 15 years collected from a general Chinese population. Methods:And Findings: The data were collected in 1992 and then again in 2007 from the same group of 687 individuals without DM in 1992. For the whole population (n =687), multivariate analysis showed presence of HTGW was associated with a 4.1-fold (95%CI: 2.4-7.0, p < 0.001) increased risk and presence of MetS was associated with a 3.7-fold (95%CI: 2.2-6.2, p < 0.001) increased risk for future DM. For the population without elevated fasting plasma glucose (n = 650), multivariate analysis showed presence of HTGW was associated with a 3.9-fold (95%CI: 2.2-7.0, p < 0.001) increased risk and presence of MetS was associated with a 3.7-fold (95%CI: 2.1-6.6, p < 0.001) increased risk for future DM. Conclusions:HTGW could predict future DM independently, and the predictive power was similar to MetS. HTGW might be an alternative to MetS for predicting future DM. For simpler and fewer components, HTGW might be more practical than MetS, and it might be recommended in most clinical practices. This finding might be more useful for the individuals who only have elevated WC and TG. Although these individuals are without MetS, they are still at high risk for future DM, similarly to the individuals with MetS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Single self-reported measures of daily sleep duration are associated with adverse health outcomes; however, the association between changes in daily sleep duration and all-cause mortality has not been thoroughly evaluated among a large group of older people.Methods: Using data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Surveys, a total of 8588 older participants were included in the present study. Changes in daily sleep duration were assessed using annual changes, and Cox regression analysis examined the association of the annual changes with mortality.Results: The median age of the study population was 82.00 (IQR: 72.00, 90.00) years, and 3974 (46.27%) participants were men. During a median follow-up period of 3.81 (IQR: 2.03, 6.74) years, 5100 (59.39%) deaths were recorded. After adjusting for initial daily sleep duration and other confounders, there was a non-linear relationship between annual changes in daily sleep duration and all-cause mortality. Annual changes were not associated with mortality before 0.0 h/year, and mortality risk increased after 0.0 h/year, specially after 1 h/year (adjusted HR: 1.32 per 1-hour/year increment, 95% CI: 1.18-1.47). Compared to the stable group (annual changes between -1 and 1 h), adjusted HRs for mortality were 0.98 (95% CI: 0.89-1.08) for the shorter group (annual decline more than 1 h) and 1.29 (95% CI: 1.19-1.41) for the longer group (annual increase greater than 1 h), respectively. Stratified and sensitivity analyses suggested robustness of the results.Conclusions: The present study suggested there was a non-linear relationship between annual changes in daily sleep duration and all-cause mortality among older people: longer changes were associated with higher mortality; while, shorter changes were not associated with mortality. Specially, mortality risk increased significantly with longer than 1 h of annual changes. The findings highlight the importance of closely monitoring the changes in daily sleep duration among older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher levels of serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) as a novel risk factor was recently found associated with mortality in different population, whereas, the relationship remains unknown in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) population. In this study, we hypothesized that increased ALP could predict all-cause mortality in the adult HCM population. In this cohort study, retrospective data from 538 HCM patients consecutively recruited in West China Hospital were collected. Patients were divided into two groups by baseline ALP with 80 IU/L as the cutoff. All-cause mortality was set as the endpoint. Subgroup analysis was conducted in patients with normal liver function. In total, 461 adult HCM patients were included. After a median follow-up of 4.7 years, 91 patients died. Alkaline phosphatase was an independent predictor of all-cause mortality since patients in the higher ALP group had an increased risk (adjusted HR 2.0, 95% CI: 1.3-3.3, P < 0.01) compared with those in the lower ALP group. In subgroup analysis, the relationship was consistent with the overall (adjusted HR: 3.0, 95% CI: 1.7-5.3, P < 0.01 for the higher ALP group). In the Chinese cohort study of HCM patients, serum ALP is independently associated with all-cause mortality. Patients with a measured value above 80 IU/L had an increased risk of all-cause mortality and this cutoff might help with risk stratification in HCM population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A graph neural network (GNN) based unified framework named TSRNet is proposed to jointly detect and recognize the structures of various tables and forms. • GNN is used to classify and group primitive regions into page objects and classify the relationships. • The parameters of all the modules in the system is trained end-to-end to optimize the overall performance • Superior performance has been achieved on table detection, table structure recognition and template-free form parsing. The recognition of two-dimensional structure of tables and forms from document images is a challenge due to the complexity of document structures and the diversity of layouts. In this paper, we propose a graph neural network (GNN) based unified framework named Table Structure Recognition Network (TSRNet) to jointly detect and recognize the structures of various tables and forms. First, a multi-task fully convolutional network (FCN) is used to segment primitive regions such as text segments and ruling lines from document images, then a GNN is used to classify and group these primitive regions into page objects such as tables and cells. At last, the relationships between neighboring page objects are analyzed using another GNN based parsing module. The parameters of all the modules in the system can be trained end-to-end to optimize the overall performance. Experiments of table detection and structure recognition for modern documents on the POD 2017, cTDaR 2019 and PubTabNet datasets and template-free form parsing for historical documents on the NAF dataset show that the proposed method can handle various table/form structures and achieve superior performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recently, a new metabolic health (MH) definition was developed from NHANES-III. In the origin study, the definition may stratify mortality risks in people who are overweight or normal weight. We aimed to investigate the association between the new MH definition and all-cause mortality in a nonobese Chinese population.Methods: The data were collected in 1992 and then again in 2007 from the same group of 1157 participants. The association between the new MH definition and all-cause mortality were analyzed by Cox regression models with overlap weighting according to propensity score (PS) as primary analysis.Results: At baseline in 1992, 920 (79.5%) participants were categorized as MH, and 237 (20.5%) participants were categorized as metabolically unhealthy (MUH) based on this new definition. During a median follow-up of 15 years, all-cause mortality occurred in 17 (1.85%) participants in MH group and 13 (5.49%) in MUH group, respectively. In the crude sample, Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated a significantly higher all-cause mortality in MUH group when compared to MH group (log-rank p = 0.002), and MUH was significantly associated with increased all-cause mortality when compared to MH with HR at 3.04 (95% CI: 1.47-6.25, p = 0.003). However, Kaplan-Meier analysis with overlap weighting showed that the cumulative incidence of all-cause mortality was not significantly different between MH and MUH groups (adjusted p = 0.589). Furthermore, in the primary multivariable Cox analysis with overlap weighting, adjusted HR for all-cause mortality was 1.42 (95% CI: 0.49-4.17, p = 0.519) in MUH group in reference to MH group. Other additional PS analyses also showed the incidence of all-cause mortality was not significantly different between the two groups.Conclusion: The new MH definition may be not appropriate for mortality risk stratification in non-obese Chinese people. Further investigations are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A low-cost flexible PANI@CNM electrode was fabricated by chemical in situ polymerization of aniline on the flexible CNM for pH detection. • The PANI@CNM electrode exhibited a high sensitivity of 76.2 mV/pH. • The PANI@CNM electrode maintained a stable sensing performance under mechanical deformation in the temperature range of 25-40℃ for long time use. • The PANI@CNM electrode presented excellent biocompatibility for biomedical application. A low-cost flexible polyaniline@carbon nanofiber membrane (PANI@CNM) electrode was fabricated by chemical in situ polymerization of aniline monomer for pH detection. The preparation condition, morphology, chemical structure and the electrochemical properties of the PANI@CNM electrode were investigated. The result showed that PANI@CNM electrode with high sensitivity of 76.2 mV/pH was prepared with 0.3 M aniline solution and hydrochloric acid as the doping acid at 0℃ for 6 h. FTIR and Raman analysis suggested that the pH sensibility of PANI is attributed to the super-Nernstian behavior of the PANI in the emerald imine form. The PANI@CNM working electrode performs a stable electrochemical property without interference by the common metal iron and biochemical, and has an outstanding reversible pH response in the pH range of 6.32–8.34 without interference of deformation. It also maintained a stable sensing performance in the temperature range of 25-40℃ for long time use and presented excellent biocompatibility. Generally, the PANI@CNM working electrode exhibits great potential in flexible biomedical and wearable pH detection application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ting Zhang, Shanshan Jia, Zhipeng Zhang, Runyu Ye, Xiangyu Yang have not responded to any correspondence from the editor/publisher about this retraction. Retraction Note: Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome (2022) 14:84 https://doi.org/10.1186/s1... The Editor in Chief has retracted this article because it contains material that substantially overlaps with the following article [[1]]. Xiaoping Chen, Xin Zhang and Sen He do not agree to this retraction. [Extracted from the article]

GLO:55QH/01jul21:jdb13180-toc-0001.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): . gl Historical studies have shown that, even within normal fasting plasma glucose (FPG) level, higher FPG levels still carry a higher risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).1-7 Meanwhile, there was still inconsistency in these studies, especially for individuals without obesity.1 It is well known that obesity is a significant risk factor for T2DM.8 However, for Asians, the risk of T2DM starts at a lower body mass index (BMI)9,10 and may be more attributed to abdominal obesity.10,11 Moreover, nonobese subjects may not take preventive measures for T2DM. 4 Janghorbani M, Amini M. Normal fasting plasma glucose and risk of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes: the Isfahan diabetes prevention study. The present study demonstrated a nonlinear association between normal FPG and T2DM, and after the FPG level of 4.3 mmol/L, a significantly increased risk of T2DM was observed. [Extracted from the article]

Objectives: To investigate the feasibility of automatic machine learning (autoML) based on native T1 mapping to predict late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) status in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Methods: Ninety-one HCM patients and 44 healthy controls who underwent cardiovascular MRI were enrolled. The native T1 maps of HCM patients were classified as LGE (+) or LGE (-) based on location-matched LGE images. An autoML pipeline was implemented using the tree-based pipeline optimization tool (TPOT) for 3 binary classifications: LGE (+) and LGE (-), LGE (-) and control, and HCM and control. TPOT modeling was repeated 10 times to obtain the optimal model for each classification. The diagnostic performance of the best models by slice and by case was evaluated using sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and microaveraged area under the curve (AUC). Results: Ten prediction models were generated by TPOT for each of the 3 binary classifications. The diagnostic accuracy obtained with the best pipeline in detecting LGE status in the testing cohort of HCM patients was 0.80 by slice and 0.79 by case. In addition, the TPOT model also showed discriminability between LGE (-) patients and control (accuracy: 0.77 by slice; 0.78 by case) and for all HCM patients and controls (accuracy: 0.88 for both). Conclusions: Native T1 map analysis based on autoML correlates with LGE (+) or (-) status. The TPOT machine learning algorithm could be a promising method for predicting myocardial fibrosis, as reflected by the presence of LGE in HCM patients without the need for late contrast-enhanced MRI sequences. Key Points: • The tree-based pipeline optimization tool (TPOT) is a machine learning algorithm that could help predict late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) status in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. • The TPOT could serve as an adjuvant method to detect LGE by using information from native T1 maps, thus avoiding the need for contrast agent. • The TPOT also detects native T1 map alterations in LGE-negative patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to the rapid development of wireless communication technologies, microwave dielectric ceramics have been proposed to facilitate an increase in the performance of functional ceramic components. Herein, CaTiO 3 -LnAlO 3 (Ln=La, Nd) ceramics were synthesized via reaction sintering to produce low-cost, high-efficiency, materials. The reaction-sintering method, which imparts excellent comprehensive properties, was used to fabricate these ceramics. The subtle variations in the densification behavior, phase transformation, phase composition, microstructural evolution, and performance exhibited by the CaTiO 3 -LnAlO 3 (Ln=La, Nd) ceramics were systematically evaluated. The X-ray diffraction patterns obtained from each sample indicate that the Ca 0.61 La 0.39 Al 0.39 Ti 0.61 O 3 (CTLA) and Ca 0.7 Nd 0.3 Ti 0.7 Al 0.3 O 3 (CTNA) phases were generated under certain environmental conditions. The as-synthesized ceramics exhibited excellent performance parameters: ε r = 39.1, Q × f = 45 635 GHz, τ f = −1.48 ppm/°C and ε r = 44.03, Q × f = 46 269 GHz, τ f = +2.63 ppm/°C, respectively. In addition, the ceramics retained their strong performance parameters irrespective of external temperature fluctuations. The reaction sintering method provides an economical, convenient, and facile method for the fabrication of CaTiO 3 -LnAlO 3 (Ln=La, Nd) ceramics which, in turn, imparts broad prospects for the application and development of these materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We sought to identify the impact of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) on changes of fractional flow reserve computed tomography (FFRCT) values and the associated clinical impact. Methods: A retrospective analysis was done with CT obtained pre-TAVI, prior to hospital discharge and at 1-year follow-up, which provided imaging sources for the calculation of FFRCT values based on an online platform. Results: A total of 190 patients were enrolled. Patients with pre-procedural FFRCT value > 0.80 (i.e., negative) and ≤ 0.80 (i.e., positive) demonstrated a significantly opposite change in the value after TAVI (0.8798 vs. 0.8718, p < 0.001 and 0.7634 vs. 0.8222, p < 0.001, respectively). The history of coronary artery disease (CAD) was identified as an independent predictor for FFRCT changing from negative to positive after TAVI (odds ratio [OR] 2.927, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.130–7.587, p = 0.027), with lesions more severely stenosed (OR 1.039, 95% CI 1.003–1.076, p = 0.034) and in left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) (OR 3.939, 95% CI 1.060–14.637, p = 0.041) being prone to change. Conclusions: TAVI directly brings improvement in FFRCT values in patients with compromised coronary flow. Patients with a history of CAD, especially with lesions more severely stenosed and in LAD, were under risk of FFRCT changing from negative to positive after TAVI. Key Points: •The effect of TAVI on coronary hemodynamics might be influenced by different ischemic severity and coronary territories reflected by FFRCTvalues. •As different FFRCTvariations did not impact outcomes of TAVI patients, AS, but not coronary issues, may be the primary problem to affect, which needs further validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]