Impact of elevated lipoprotein(a) levels on the functional outcomes of ischemic stroke patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Elevated serum lipoprotein(a) (Lp[a]) levels have been linked to an increased incidence of stroke. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the impact of serum Lp(a) on the functional outcomes of patients with ischemic stroke (IS). METHODS: We conducted a comprehensive search of the MEDLINE, Web of Science, Embase, Wanfang, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases to identify relevant cohort studies. A random effects model was utilized to synthesize the data, accounting for study heterogeneity. RESULTS: The analysis included 11 cohort studies comprising 11,958 patients with IS. Pooled results indicated that high baseline Lp(a) levels were associated with an increased risk of poor functional outcomes during follow-up (odds ratio [OR] = 2.13, 95% confidence interval = 1.67-2.71, p < 0.001, I2 = 62%). Subgroup analyses revealed that the relationship between high Lp(a) levels and the risk of poor functional outcomes was more pronounced at discharge (OR = 3.25), 3 months (OR = 2.02), and 6 months (OR = 2.11) poststroke, compared to 12 months (OR = 1.25, p for subgroup difference < 0.001). Furthermore, the association was attenuated yet remained significant in studies adjusting for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) compared to those that did not adjust for LDL-C (OR = 1.69 vs. 2.63, p for subgroup difference = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: High serum Lp(a) levels at baseline are significantly associated with poor functional outcomes in patients with IS.

IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON COASTAL ECOSYSTEM AND OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS AMONG FOUR LARGEST COASTLINE COVERING COUNTRIES.

Climate change and coastal ecosystems have become challenging subjects for world sustainability. Humans, animals, and other ocean habitats are primarily affected by the harmful changes in climate. Coastal ecosystems support biodiversity and a wide range of species that serve as habitats for many commercially important fish species and enhance human activities in coastal areas. By engaging in coastal outdoor activities, individuals can experience numerous physical and mental health benefits, foster environmental awareness. This study provided valuable insights into the importance of coastal outdoor activities and their potential to improve our quality of life. This study undertook a challenging subject where we graphically and econometrically analyze the relationship and linkages among coastal indicators with other climate-concerning factors. The study comprises the ordinary regression and comparative analysis among the four largest coastline countries in the world. The study took a sample from Canada, Indonesia, Norway, and the Russian Federation from 1990 to 2022. The data is selected on a convenient basis. Results declared that each country has its unique challenges and opportunities in mitigating adverse climate change and retaining a sustainable coastal ecosystem. The study surprisingly revealed that climate change insignificantly affects the coastal ecosystem in Indonesia and the Russian Federation while it inversely affects the coastal ecosystem in Canada and Norway, showed that climate change on average declines coastal production by 0.0041922 and 0.0261104 in Canada and Norway respectively. The detailed review is given in the results section; however, the pooling analysis proved that at the aggregate level, a one percent increase in climate change caused a 0.02266-tonne decline in coastal ecosystems in the four largest coastline nations. There is a need for policies tend to increase CAP activities by implementing practical marine protected areas. Furthermore, scientific research and monitoring will be beneficial in restoring coastal sustainability.

Impact of plastic pollution on outdoor recreation in the existence of bearing capacity and perspective management.

Large-scale increases in plastic waste, greenhouse gas emissions, and fossil fuel depletion all have negative consequences for the environment. Plastic pollution can lead towards negative impacts on outdoor recreational activities. China and the European Union, as world leader in recycling and reuse, are tackling this issue by putting in place measures to counteract this trend for better outdoor recreational activities. As China and EU nations are most attracted by the tourists it is possible that recreational spot can have harmful effects upon wild and human life. So, we analyze the impacts of plastic waste recycling and reuse on outdoor recreation. It is possible to speed up the circular process if industry reduces its resource and energy consumption while also being able to handle plastic waste responsibly, utilize renewable energy sources, generate jobs, and contribute to economic growth, among other things. This research investigates the transition to sustainability in the European Union nations and China between 2000 and 2020 via the prism of resource and energy productivity in the EU nations and China. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Model, as well as the estimator Driscool Kraay, are employed in this study. There is a statistically significant relationship between plastic recycling and valorization because of plastic pollution leads toward negative impacts on outdoor recreation, as well as resource productivity, according to the data. Increased energy tariffs, insufficient investment in research and development, a lack of job opportunities, and other factors all act as roadblocks to the implementation of circular growth strategies.

Tumor Reoxygenation and Blood Perfusion Enhanced Photodynamic Therapy using Ultrathin Graphdiyne Oxide Nanosheets.

Both diffusion-limited and perfusion-limited hypoxia are associated with tumor progression, metastasis, and the resistance to therapeutic modalities. A strategy that can efficiently overcome both types of hypoxia to enhance the efficacy of cancer treatment has not been reported yet. Here, it is shown that by using biomimetic ultrathin graphdiyne oxide (GDYO) nanosheets, both types of hypoxia can be simultaneously addressed toward an ideal photodynamic therapy (PDT). The GDYO nanosheets, which are oxidized and exfoliated from graphdiyne (GDY), are able to efficiently catalyze water oxidation to release O2 and generate singlet oxygen (1O2) using near-infrared irradiation. Meanwhile, GDYO nanosheets also exhibit excellent light-to-heat conversion performance with a photothermal conversion efficiency of 60.8%. Thus, after the GDYO nanosheets are coated with iRGD peptide-modified red blood membrane (i-RBM) to achieve tumor targeting, the biomimetic GDYO@i-RBM nanosheets can simultaneously enhance tumor reoxygenation and blood perfusion for PDT. This study provides new insights into utilizing novel water-splitting materials to relieve both diffusion- and perfusion-limited hypoxia for the development of a novel therapeutic platform.

Preparation of high internal water-phase double emulsions stabilized by a single anionic surfactant for fabricating interconnecting porous polymer microspheres.

Herein we report a one-step method to prepare high internal water-phase double emulsions (W/O/W) via catastrophic phase inversion of water-in-oil high internal phase emulsions (W/O HIPEs) stabilized solely by 12-acryloxy-9-octadecenoic acid (AOA) through increasing the content of water phase. This is the first time for double emulsions to be stabilized solely by a single small molecular surfactant, which are usually costabilized by both hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfactants. After neutralized with ammonia, AOA is confirmed to be capable of stabilizing both W/O emulsions and O/W emulsions, which may account for its unique ability to stabilize double emulsions. The effects of different conditions (including changing the concentrations of AOA and salt (NaCl), pH value, the polarity of oils, the addition interval of water and stirring rate, etc.) on the formation and the stability of double emulsions as well as the inversion point have been investigated by using optical microscopy and conductivity monitoring. Finally, porous polymer microspheres with high interconnection (polyHIPE microspheres) were fabricated by γ-ray initiated polymerization of the as-prepared double emulsions composed of different monomers (styrene, or n-butyl acrylate, or methyl methacrylate), which have been confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. Our method is facile and effective for preparing high interconnecting porous polymer microspheres without tedious post-treatment of the products in common emulsion polymerization due to the use of polymerizable surfactant.

UV light induced plasticization and light activated shape memory of spiropyran doped ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers.

Light activated shape memory polymers (LASMPs) are relatively new kinds of smart materials and have significant technological applications ranging from biomedical devices to aerospace technology. EVA films doped with spiropyran with contents ranging from 0.1% to 3% show efficient UV activated shape memory behaviors if the fixed shape deformation is limited within 80%. For EVA films containing 3% spiropyran, UV irradiation causes a decrease in EVA modulus of about 44%. FT-IR and solid (13)C NMR in association with UV-vis absorption analysis demonstrate that UV irradiation transforms spiropyran from the SP form to the MC form, meanwhile, it induces an increase in the molecular mobility in the amorphous phase of EVA. Thus, the spiropyran-doped EVA films act as LASMPs via a mechanism of light induced plasticization. Light activated spiropyran acts as a plasticizer to EVA.

Facile preparation of raspberry-like superhydrophobic polystyrene particles via seeded dispersion polymerization.

A simple and facile approach was developed to fabricate raspberry-like or snowman-like particles via seeded dispersion polymerization by just changing the ratio of second monomer styrene (St) to seeds in which poly(styrene-co-hydrolyzed-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane) [P(St-co-MPS)] latex was used as seeds with hydrolyzed-MPS as a cross-linking agent. The morphologies of final products were confirmed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Interestingly, the seed part of snowman-like particles showed raspberry-like with adsorbing quantities of PS particles while the other part smooth. The formation mechanism of the raspberry-like particles was also discussed. The superhydrophobic surface with both the static contact angle of 158° and high adhesion to water could be achieved by the hydrophobization of the particulate film with octadecyltrimethoxysilane that was formed from the raspberry-like particles decorated by a thin layer of silica nanoparticles. Further, through encapsulating Ag nanoparticles within the surface, the obtained raspberry-like PS/Ag/SiO2 nanocomposite particles exhibited excellent antibacterial property simultaneously.

Synthesis of anisotropic polymer/inorganic particles via asymmetric swelling-dissolving process.

In this work, an asymmetric swelling-dissolving process of original submicrometer-sized decentered sulfonated polystyrene/silica (SPS/silica) particles in a ternary mixed solvent (water/ethanol/heptane) was first reported. Actinia-like and porous snowman-like SPS/silica composite particles are fabricated through tuning the composition of the ternary mixed solvent. Actinia-like particles, with a silica core embedded in a "blooming" SPS matrix, are obtained when the composition of the mixed solvent is 5 g/5 g/0.1 g (water/ethanol/heptane). If the amount of heptane in the mixed solvent is doubled, then porous snowman-like particles are produced. The TEM and SEM images show that silica particles are exposed in these two anisotropic SPS/silica composite particles compared with the original decentered SPS/silica particles. Considering the particles morphology and the swelling and dissolving performance of SPS in different solvents, the formation of the new-shaped anisotropic SPS/silica composite particles should be attributed to an asymmetric swelling-dissolving process; that is, the swelling-dissolving rate of SPS coating around the protruding silica part is faster than the other part of the composite particles. The anisotropic swelling-dissolving property of polymer/inorganic composite particles inspires a facile way to the fabrication of new composite particles.

[Study on the UV-quantitative analysis of theabrownins in Pu-Erh tea].

An UV-quantitative analysis method for the theabrownin (TB) in Pu-erh tea and its derived products was established in the present study. The results showed that the Pu-erh tea shows characteristic absorption at the wavelength of 270 nm, which can be used as wavelength for the content determination of TB. The preparation methods of standard TB and standard curve were also established. The determination results show that the method is simple, the results have certain credibility, and the established method can be used for the determination of TB in Pu-erh tea and its derived products.

Nanomaterials pollutant's emission influencing outdoor recreation in China: Analytical strategies proceeding to sustainable environment.

The global demand for bioenergy and nanomaterial utilization has significantly contributed to their source depletion. The impact of outdoor pollutant emissions on residents' health, behavior, physical activity, and sleeping behavior is much less explored. Producing biofuels from organic waste has the potential to unite budget-friendliness and long-term sustainability. Primary biofuels are produced specifically to mitigate environmental problems, and secondary biofuels are produced specifically to mitigate other environmental problems. The high level of pollutants ina certain area can severely restrict human activities and ultimately influence their whole life. The study aims to empirically evaluate the influence of nanomaterials pollutants emissions influencing outdoor recreation in China because its economy is based on fast-paced industrialization and urbanization. Various datasets were collected, including domestic and international tourists from the annual statistics for 2011-2020 from the National Bureau of Statistics of China. Ten years of annual METAR data of visibility (VR), temperature (T), relative humidity (Demirhan), and wind speed (WS) from 30 metrological stations at international airports. Annual average AOD (Aerosol's Optical Depth), O3 (Ozone), CO (Carbon Monoxide), SO4 (Sulphate), and PM2.5 (Particulate Matter) satellite imageries from 2011 to 2020 were obtained from NASA's official portal. The overall picture of satellite observations of pollutants over China describes that the highest level of AOD was observed in regions with greater population concentration than in other areas. We computed a statistical summary, correlation matrix, and Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach. Certain analyses were performed, like Unrestricted Error Correction Models (UECM) and Restricted Error Correction Model (RECM)), bound tests for cointegration, and multiplier estimations for short-term and long-term impacts. UECM and RECM models produced R2 > 0.90 with good F statistics and a p-value of <0.05. A bounds F-test for no cointegration on the ARDL model was performed, and the results show that the p-value = 1e-06 and F = 8.516 with alternative hypothesis = Possible cointegration. Bounds t-test for no cointegration was also performed on UECM model and the results show that t = -2.9066, Lower-bound I(0) = -3.43, Upper-bound I(1) = -5.37, p-value = 0.6138 and alternative hypothesis = Possible cointegration. The study's findings may help Chinese policymakers and stakeholders design effective information strategies to combat air pollution. Effective measures can help alleviate this devastating air quality factor, thus benefiting the tourism industry and enhancing the local inhabitants' welfare.

The Nexus of Sports-Based Development and Education of Mental Health and Physical Fitness.

Physical inactivity has increased globally, particularly in developed nations. A high proportion of the human population is unable to meet the physical activity recommendation of the World Health Organisation due to hypertension, metabolic syndrome, obesity, and other medical conditions. Non-communicable diseases and mental health problems are becoming more prevalent, particularly in low and middle-income nations. This study aimed to determine the effectivenessof a mentorship programmeon university students' mental health and physical fitness. The intervention comprised the effects of sports-based development and education on physical fitness and mental health. A total of 196 and 234 students from two universities were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups, respectively. The primary outcomes were engagement in physical activities (number of push-ups for 1 min, the strength of hand grip (kg), and the Jump test while standing (cm)), body fat proportion and psychological resilience, self-efficacy, and relationship with family and schoolmates. Participants in the control group had access to a web-based health education game, whereas the intervention group wassubjected to intensive interventional activities for one month based on the eight principles of the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. Data were analysed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to compare the physical and mental components between the intervention and control groups. Relative to baseline, all the physical health components (push-ups, sit-ups, and jump tests), psychological resilience, relationship with family members, and self-efficacy increased significantly in the intervention compared to the control group. Body fat composition was significantly reduced in the intervention when compared tothe control group. In conclusion, the mentorship programme effectively improved the participants' physical and psychological health and could be developed further for application in a larger population.

Dramatic fluorescence enhancement of bare carbon dots through facile reduction chemistry.

Reduction of bare carbon dots (CDs) in aqueous NaBH(4) solution is a facile and effective approach to enhance their fluorescence without any surface coverage. CDs are treated with dilute aqueous NaBH(4) solutions, enhancing their quantum yields (QYs) successfully from 1.6 % to 16 % which is comparable to semiconductive QDs in aqueous environments. If pristine CDs are treated hydrothermally prior to reduction by NaBH(4), QYs reach 40.5 %. This value is among the highest QYs reported for bare CDs in the literature. The approach to enhance fluorescence through chemical reduction is generally applicable to other kinds of CDs synthesized by various methods. Alteration of the chemical structure of the CDs by NaBH(4)-reduction is analyzed by (13) C NMR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy, which demonstrate that the carbonyl group content is decreased after NaBH(4)-reduction, whereas the number of sp(3)-type carbon defects is increased. The valence-band maxima (VBM) near the surface related to the surface energy bands of the CDs are estimated by XPS. VBM data show a semiconducting layer on the surface of the CDs, and the VBM of the CDs decrease with increasing NaBH(4)-reduction time. The layered graphite structures in the cores of the CDs are clearly observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). CDs could perhaps be regarded as semiconductive surface defect layers formed by chemical erosion over conductive graphite cores. Chemical reduction by NaBH(4) changes the surface-energy bands of the CDs, thus, enhances their fluorescence. The fluorescence properties of aqueous NaBH(4)-reduced CDs are also studied for possible biological applications.

Fabrication and morphology of spongelike polymer material based on cross-linked sulfonated polystyrene particles.

A novel spongelike polymer material has been fabricated by γ-ray induced polymerization of methylmethacrylate (MMA) in an emulsion containing cross-linked sulfonated polystyrene (CSP) particles. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images reveal that the spongelike structure is made up of interlinked nanosized PMMA particles with micrometer-sized CSP-PMMA particles embedded inside. The nitrogen adsorption isotherm discloses that the spongelike material has a high specific surface area of 29 m(2)/g and a narrow pore size distribution of 60-120 nm. The formation mechanism is discussed in this paper, which indicates that the key steps to form the spongelike material include a Pickering emulsion stabilized by the CSP particles, followed by the swelling process of MMA into these particles. This approach offers a more convenient alternative to prepare polymeric spongelike material without any etching procedure.

One-pot synthesis of colloidal nanobowls and hybrid multipod-like nanoparticles by radiation miniemulsion polymerization.

A facile approach is proposed to one-pot synthesis of two kinds of nanoparticles: a new type of PS nanobowls (a hole appearing at the bottom of nanobowl) and PS/silica hybrid multipod-like nanoparticles. The two type of nanoparticles generated together during polymerization could be separated easily by centrifugation. Furthermore, the structure of nanobowls could be easily controlled by the weight ratio of monomer/silica. In addition, we find that the multipod-like nanoparticles play important roles in hydrophobic properties. The water contact angle increased from 24.0° to 143.3° after coated with the multipod-like nanoparticles.

Academic Stress, Physical Activity, Sleep, and Mental Health among Chinese Adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of academic stress on physical activity and sleep, and subsequently their impacts on anxiety and depression. METHODS: This cross-sectional study collected data from a convenience sample of 1533 adolescents in an eastern province in China. Surveys were used to collect data on academic stress, anxiety, depression, sleep, physical activity, and demographics. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and path analysis were used to analyze data. RESULTS: The participants reported about 6.77 ± 0.89 h of sleep per day and 1.62 ± 1.79 days of 60 min of physical activity each week. Academic stress was positively correlated with anxiety and depression, which were negatively correlated with physical activity and sleep. The path analysis showed that academic stress directly predicted anxiety (ß = 0.54) and depression (ß = 0.55), and hours of sleep (ß = 0.024) and the number of days of 60 min physical activity (ß = 0.014) mediated the relation. CONCLUSION: The results largely supported our hypotheses and supported the need to lessen academic stress experienced by Chinese adolescents, in effort to enhance mental health indices directly, and by allowing for engagement in health-related behaviors such as physical activity and sleep.

Ellagic Acid Exerts Beneficial Effects on Hyperuricemia by Inhibiting Xanthine Oxidase and NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation.

Hyperuricemia is a metabolic disease caused by impaired uric acid (UA) metabolism. Ellagic acid (EA) is a natural small-molecule polyphenolic compound with known antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties. Here, we evaluated the regulatory effects of EA on hyperuricemia and explored the underlying mechanisms. We found that EA is an effective xanthine oxidase (XOD) inhibitor (IC50 = 165.6 µmol/L) and superoxide anion scavenger (IC50 = 27.66 µmol/L). EA (5 and 10 µmol/L) treatment significantly and dose-dependently reduced UA levels in L-O2 cells; meanwhile, intraperitoneal EA administration (50 and 100 mg/kg) also significantly reduced serum XOD activity and UA levels in hyperuricemic mice and markedly improved their liver and kidney histopathology. EA treatment significantly reduced the degree of foot edema and inhibited the expression of NLPR3 pathway-related proteins in foot tissue of monosodium urate (MSU)-treated mice. The anti-inflammatory effect was also observed in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW-264.7 cells. Furthermore, EA significantly inhibited the expressions of XOD and NLRP3 pathway-related proteins (TLR4, p-p65, caspase-1, TNF-α, and IL-18) in vitro and in vivo. Our results indicated that EA exerts ameliorative effects in experimental hyperuricemia and foot edema via regulating the NLRP3 signaling pathway and represents a promising therapeutic option for the management of hyperuricemia.

Novel walnut-like multihollow polymer particles: synthesis and morphology control.

Novel walnut-like multihollow polymer particles were first prepared by gamma-ray radiation emulsion polymerization using cross-linked and sulfonated polystyrene spheres (CSPs) as the template. The formation process was studied in detail, and the morphology of walnut-like multihollow polystyrene particles could be controlled by the content of cross-linking agent, sulfonation time of CSP particles, and the weight ratio of monomer/CSP. In addition, an application of walnut multihollow polymer particles on bonding Ag nanoparticles onto the surface was achieved, which could be extended to other noble metal nanoparticles and could have a wide range of potential applications, such as catalysts, sensors, solar cells, and photonic crystals.

Controllable synthesis of CuO nanowires and Cu2O crystals with shape evolution via gamma-irradiation.

Copper oxide nanowires and cuprous oxide crystals had been synthesized through gamma-irradiating aqueous CuCl(2)-NaOH-sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-isopropyl alcohol solutions under ambient conditions. The product composition could be changed by modulating the amount of base, NaOH. The morphology of the products could be accurately controlled by altering the amounts of SDS and isopropyl alcohol. A possible formation mechanism was also proposed.

Influence of surface roughness on field emission of electrons from carbon nanotube films.

Electron field emission properties of a nanotube film are influenced not only by a field enhancement factor of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) beta(CNT) but also by that of film morphology beta(P). A simple method to separate beta(P), and beta(CNT) is proposed by using their different dependences on the cathode-anode distance. Analyses conducted for CNT emitters with rough surface exhibit that beta(P) ranges from 1 to approximately 4.5. The separated beta(CNT) values are in good agreement with the CNT geometries observed by a scanning electron microscope. Variation in beta(P)-values is ascribed to the surface roughness of the CNT films.

Establishment of a novel virus-induced virulence effector assay for the identification of virulence effectors of plant pathogens using a PVX-based expression vector.

Plant pathogens deliver virulence effectors into plant cells to modulate plant immunity and facilitate infection. Although species-specific virulence effector screening approaches have been developed for several pathogens, these assays do not apply to pathogens that cannot be cultured and/or transformed outside of their hosts. Here, we established a rapid and parallel screening assay, called the virus-induced virulence effector (VIVE) assay, to identify putative effectors in various plant pathogens, including unculturable pathogens, using a virus-based expression vector. The VIVE assay uses the potato virus X (PVX) vector to transiently express candidate effector genes of various bacterial and fungal pathogens into Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. Using the VIVE assay, we successfully identified Avh148 as a potential virulence effector of Phytophthora sojae. Plants infected with PVX carrying Avh148 showed strong viral symptoms and high-level Avh148 and viral RNA accumulation. Analysis of P. sojae Avh148 deletion mutants and soybean hairy roots overexpressing Avh148 revealed that Avh148 is required for full pathogen virulence. In addition, the VIVE assay was optimized in N. benthamiana plants at different developmental stages across a range of Agrobacterium cell densities. Overall, we identified six novel virulence effectors from seven pathogens, thus demonstrating the broad effectiveness of the VIVE assay in plant pathology research.