The Burden of Occupational Noise-Induced Hearing Loss From 1990 to 2019: An Analysis of Global Burden of Disease Data.

OBJECTIVES: The relationship between long-term exposure to occupational noise and hearing loss has been extensively documented. We aimed to assess spatial and temporal changes in the burden of occupational noise-induced hearing loss (ONIHL) in 204 countries and territories with varying socio-demographic indexes (SDI) from 1990 to 2019. DESIGN: Temporal and spatial trends in age-standardized disability-adjusted life year rates (ASDR) for ONIHL were estimated by sex, age, SDI level, country, and geographic region from 1990 to 2019. We used the Joinpoint model to calculate annual average percentage changes to assess such trends and projected trends in ASDR for ONIHL globally and across different income regions from 2020 to 2044 using an age-period-cohort model. We fitted the relationship between ASDR and SDI, ASDR and healthcare access and quality index, respectively. RESULTS: Overall, the global burden of ONIHL has decreased since 1990, especially in middle and lower SDI regions. In 2019, the global ASDR for ONIHL was 84.23 (95% confidence interval: 57.46 to 120.52) per 100,000 population. From 1990 to 2019, the global ASDR for ONIHL decreased by 1.72% (annual average percentage change = -0.05, 95% confidence interval: -0.07 to -0.03). Our projections showed a decreasing trend in the global ONIHL burden until 2044. ASDR and SDI (R = -0.8, p < 0.05), ASDR and healthcare access and quality index (R = -0.75, p < 0.05) showed significant negative correlations. CONCLUSIONS: The global ONIHL burden has decreased over the past three decades, especially in regions with middle and lower SDI levels. However, the global ONIHL burden still remained severe in 2019, notably among males, the middle-aged and elderly, and regions with lower SDI levels.

Global burden study of lower respiratory infections linked to low temperatures: an analysis from 1990 to 2019.

Low temperature conditions have been linked to a heightened susceptibility to lower respiratory infections (LRIs). Yet, our comprehension of the LRIs' disease burden due to such conditions remains limited, especially when considering the diverse socio-demographic indexes (SDIs) and climate types across various nations and regions. We examined the variations over time and space in the impact of LRIs due to low temperatures across a diverse set of 204 nations and regions, each with unique SDIs and climate types, spanning the years 1990 to 2019. Data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 was used for this retrospective analysis. The burden of LRIs attributable to low temperatures was estimated by stratifying by sex, age, country, climate type, and SDI, including age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) and age-standardized disability-adjusted life year rate (ASDR). We employed Joinpoint models to compute the annual average percent changes (AAPCs) in order to evaluate the trends in LRIs burden due to low temperatures from 1990 to 2019. Furthermore, we utilized Poisson age-period-cohort models to forecast the global and income-specific trends in LRIs burden due to low temperatures for the period 2020-2044. Generalized additive mixed models were used to fit changes in the disease burden of different climate regions. The relationship between SDI and both ASMR and ASDR was determined using models grounded in Gaussian process regression. In general, since the year 1990, there has been a significant reduction in the worldwide impact of LRIs due to low temperatures. This decrease is particularly noticeable among infants and the elderly, as well as in regions with a boreal climate and those with an average SDI. In 2019, LRIs induced by low temperatures showed an ASMR of 2.2 (95% CI: 1.34, 3.07) and an ASDR of 53.73 (95% CI: 17.5, 93.22) for every 100,000 individuals. A global reduction was observed in the ASMR and ASDR for LRIs over the period from 1990 to 2019, showing a decrease of 60.27% and 77.5%, in that order. For ASMR and ASDR, the AAPC values were found to be - 3.3 (95% CI: - 3.4, - 3.1) and - 5 (95% CI: - 5.2, - 4.9), in that order. However, a contrasting pattern was observed in southern Latin America, where an increase was noted in the ASMR for LRIs induced by low temperatures [AAPC: 0.5; 95% CI: (0.3, 0.8)]. Low temperature has decreased as an environmental risk factor for LRIs globally over 30 years, especially in middle SDI regions and boreal climates, but remains important for infants and the elderly population.

Self-harm and interpersonal violence due to high temperature from the global burden of disease study 2019: A 30-year assessment.

BACKGROUND: The impact of global warming on health due to climate change is increasingly studied, but the global burden of self-harm and interpersonal violence attributable to high temperature is still limited. This study aimed to systematically assess the burden of self-harm and interpersonal violence attributable to high temperature globally or by region and climate zone from 1990 to 2019. METHODS: We obtained the global, regional, and national deaths, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), age-standardized mortality rates (ASMR), and age-standardized disability-adjusted life year rates (ASDR) of self-harm and interpersonal violence due to high temperature from 1990 to 2019 through the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2019. The burden of self-harm and interpersonal violence due to high temperature was estimated by age, sex, climate zone, the socio-demographic index (SDI), and the healthcare access and quality index (HAQ). Average annual percentage changes (AAPCs) in ASMR and ASDR were calculated for 1990-2019 using the Joinpoint model. RESULTS: From 1990 to 2019, the global deaths and DALYs related to self-harm and interpersonal violence due to high temperature increased from 20,002 (95% UI, 9243 to 41,928) and 1,107,216 (95% UI, 512,062 to 2,319,477) to 26,459 (95% UI, 13,574 to 47,265) and 1,382,487 (95% UI, 722,060 to 2,474,441), respectively. However, the ASMR and ASDR showed varying degrees of decreasing trends, with decreases of 13.36% and 12.66%, respectively. The ASMR was high and declining in low and low-middle SDI regions, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. In addition, SDI and HAQ index were negatively correlated with ASMR in 204 countries and regions. CONCLUSIONS: The global burden of self-harm and interpersonal violence attributed to high temperature has decreased over the past 30 years, but the number of deaths and DALYs continues to rise. Climate change continues to make heat stress a significant risk factor for self-harm and interpersonal violence worldwide.

Disease burden of chronic kidney disease attributable to lead exposure: A global analysis of 30 years since 1990.

BACKGROUND: Exposure to lead (Pb) is associated with an increased risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, limited studies explored the global burden of CKD attributable to Pb exposure, especially in countries with different development levels. This study aimed to comprehensively evaluate the temporal and spatial trend in the disease burden of CKD attributable to Pb exposure in 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019. METHODS: We used the data from Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2019 to estimate annual deaths, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), age-standardized mortality rates (ASMR), and age-standardized DALYs rate (ASDR) of CKD attributable to Pb exposure. The annual average percentage change (AAPCs) was calculated using the Joinpoint model to evaluate the changing trend of CKD ASMR and ASDR attributable to Pb exposure from 1990 to 2019. Meanwhile, age-period-cohort (APC) model was used to assess changes in the mortality of CKD attributable to Pb exposure from 1990 to 2019. RESULTS: Global ASMR for CKD attributable to Pb exposure trended upward from 1990 to 2019. ASMR and ASDR were the highest in low and low-middle SDI regions. With the APC model, we found that global mortality rates for CKD attributable to Pb exposure increased with age. The global period rate ratio showed the highest value in 2000-2004 and the lowest in 2015-2019, while the global cohort rate ratio showed the highest value in 1941-1949 and the lowest during 1986-1994. CONCLUSIONS: From 1990 to 2019, the global burden of CKD attributable to Pb exposure increased globally, especially in low and low-middle SDI regions, as well as the elderly. Pb exposure is still a great threat to the global burden of CKD, and the implementation of effective prevention measures to reduce Pb exposure in the environment should be continually strengthened.

The association between multi-heavy metals exposure and lung function in a typical rural population of Northwest China.

BACKGROUND: Heavy metal exposure is acknowledged to be associated with decrease of lung function, but the relationship between metals co-exposure and lung function in rural areas of Northwest China remains unclear, particularly in an area famous for heavy metal pollution and solid fuel use. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the effects of heavy metal exposure on lung function and the potential impacts of living habit in a rural cohort of Northwest China. METHODS: The study area included five villages of two regions in Northwestern China-Gansu province. All participants were recruited from the Dongdagou-Xinglong (DDG-XL) rural cohort in the study area. Urine levels of 10 common and representative heavy metals were detected by ICP-MS, including Cobalt (Co), Nickel (Ni), Molybdenum (Mo), Cadmium (Cd), Stibium (Sb), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Mercury (Hg), Lead (Pb), and Manganese (Mn). The lung function was detected by measuring percentages of predicted forced vital capacity (FVC%) and predicted forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1%) as well as the ratio of FEV1/FVC. We also analyzed the association between heavy metals and pulmonary ventilation dysfunction (PVD). Restricted cubic spline, logistic regression, linear regression, and bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) model were used to analyze the relationship between heavy metal exposure and lung function. RESULTS: Finally, a total of 382 participants were included in this study with an average age of 56.69 ± 7.32 years, and 82.46% of them used solid fuels for heating and cooking. Single metal exposure analysis showed that the higher concentration of Hg, Mn, Sb, and lower Mo may be risk factors for PVD. We also found that FEV1% and FVC% were negatively correlated with Sb, Hg, and Mn, but positively correlated with Mo. The effect of mixed heavy metals exposure could be observed through BKMR model, through which we found the lung function decreased with the increase of heavy metal concentration. Furthermore, the males, BMI ≥ 24 kg/m2 and who used solid fuels showed a higher risk of PVD when exposed to Co, Zn, and Hg. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggested that heavy metal exposure was associated with decrease of lung function regardless of single exposure or mixed exposure, particularly for Sb, Hg, Mn and those who use solid fuels.

Mixed heavy metals exposure affects the renal function mediated by 8-OHG: A cross-sectional study in rural residents of China.

Heavy metals are important risk factors for kidney, but their co-exposure effect on kidney and related mechanism remain unclear. This study evaluated the relationship between heavy metals and renal function, and the feasible mediation effect of oxidative stress. Based on the Dongdagou-Xinglong cohort, participants were recruited and their information were collected through questionnaires and physical examinations. The urine concentration of heavy metals like Cobalt, Nickel, Molybdenum, Cadmium, Antimony, Copper, Zinc, Mercury, Lead, Manganese, and renal injury biomarkers like ß2-microglobulin, ß-N-Acetylglucosaminidase, retinol-binding protein, 8-hydroxyguanine (8-OHG) were measured and corrected by creatinine. Linear regression was conducted to analyze the relationship between metals and renal biomarkers. Bayesian kernel machine regression, weighted quantile sum and quantile-based g-computation were applied to analyze the association between metal mixtures and renal biomarkers. Finally, the mediating effect of 8-OHG was analyzed through the mediation model. We found that these metals were positively related with renal biomarkers, where copper showed the strongest relationship. The co-exposure models showed that renal biomarkers increased with the concentration of mixtures, particularly for cadmium, copper, mercury, manganese. In addition, the proportion of 8-OHG in mediating effect of metals on renal function ranged from 2.6% to 86.9%. Accordingly, the renal function damage is positively associated with metals, and 8-OHG may play an important mediating role.

Impact of high temperature on road injury mortality in a changing climate, 1990-2019: A global analysis.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that extreme heat likely increases the risk of road injuries. However, the global burden of road injuries due to high temperature and contributing factors remain unclear. This study aims to characterize the global, regional and national burden of road injuries due to high temperature from 1990 to 2019. METHODS: Based on the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study 2019, we obtained the numbers and age-standardized mortality rates (ASMR) and age-standardized disability-adjusted life years (DALY) rates (ASDR) of the road injury due to high temperature at global, regional, and national levels from 1990 to 2019. The world is divided into five climate zones according to the average annual temperature of each country: tropical, subtropical, warm temperate, cold temperate, and boreal. We used the generalized additive models (GAM) to model the trends of road injuries globally and by region. RESULTS: Globally, between 1990 and 2019, the deaths of road injury attributable to high temperature increased significantly from 20,270 (95% uncertainty interval [UI], 7836 to 42,716) to 28,396 (95% UI, 13,311 to 51,178), and the DALYs increased from 1,169,309 (95% UI, 450,834 to 2,491,075) to 1,414,527 (95% UI, 658,347 to 2,543,613). But the ASMR and the ASDR slightly decreased by 8.49% and 13.16%, respectively. The burden of road injury death attributable to high temperature remained high in low SDI and tropical regions. In addition, road transport infrastructure investment per inhabitant is associated with the burden of road injuries attributable to high temperature. CONCLUSIONS: Globally, the ASMR and ASDR for road injuries attributable to high temperature decreased from 1990 to 2019, but the absolute death and DALYs continued to increase. Thus, concerning global warming, implementation of prevention and interventions to reduce road injuries from heat exposure should be stressed globally.

A global burden assessment of lung cancer attributed to residential radon exposure during 1990-2019.

This study aimed to explore the spatial and temporal trends of lung cancer burden attributable to residential radon exposure at the global, regional, and national levels. Based on the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2019, we collected the age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) and age-standardized disability-adjusted life rate (ASDR) of lung cancer attributable to residential radon exposure from 1990 to 2019. The Joinpoint model was used to calculate the annual average percentage change (AAPC) to evaluate the trend of ASMR and ASDR from 1990 to 2019. The locally weighted regression (LOESS) was used to estimate the relationship of the socio-demographic index (SDI) with ASMR and ASDR. In 2019, the global ASMR and ASDR for lung cancer attributable to residential radon exposure were 1.03 (95% CI: 0.20, 2.00) and 22.66 (95% CI: 4.49, 43.94) per 100 000 population, which were 15.6% and 23.0% lower than in 1990, respectively. According to the estimation, we found the lung cancer burden attributable to residential radon exposure declined significantly in high and high-middle SDI regions, but substantially increased in middle and low-middle SDI regions from 1990 to 2019. Across age and sex, the highest burden of lung cancer attributable to residential radon exposure was found in males and elderly groups. In conclusion, the global burden of lung cancer attributable to residential radon exposure showed a declining trend from 1990 to 2019, but a relatively large increase was found in the middle SDI regions. In 2019, the burden of lung cancer attributable to residential radon exposure remained high, particularly in males, the elderly, and high-middle SDI regions compared with other groups.

Physical activity reduces the role of blood cadmium on depression: A cross-sectional analysis with NHANES data.

Cadmium (Cd) exposure is recognized as an important risk factor for psychological health, but suitable physical activity may relieve depression. However, it remains unknown whether physical activity (PA) can reduce the effect of cadmium exposure on depression. Therefore, a cross-sectional data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2015-2018 was used. The Nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was used to assess depression among the participants. PA was calculated according to the metabolic equivalent (MET), weekly frequency, and duration of each activity. Logistic regression and restricted cubic spline models were used to examine the associations of Cd and depression. A total of 5560 adults aged 20 years and above were finally included in this study. The results indicated a positive correlation between blood Cd and depression. The multivariate-adjusted ORs (95% CI) of the highest quartile were 2.290 (1.754-2.990) for depression, which was still significant after controlling other heavy metals (P < 0.05). Under Cd exposure, the high intensity of physical activity group had the lowest risk of depression (OR = 2.226, 95%CI: 1.447-3.425), while the group with no physical activity had the highest risk (OR = 2.443, 95%CI: 1.382-4.318). Our results indicate that inner Cd exposure may be a risk factor for depression, and physical activity can moderate this relationship to some degree.

Process and Microstructure to Achieve Ultra-high Dielectric Constant in Ceramic-Polymer Composites.

Influences of process conditions on microstructure and dielectric properties of ceramic-polymer composites are systematically studied using CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO) as filler and P(VDF-TrFE) 55/45 mol.% copolymer as the matrix by combining solution-cast and hot-pressing processes. It is found that the dielectric constant of the composites can be significantly enhanced-up to about 10 times - by using proper processing conditions. The dielectric constant of the composites can reach more than 1,000 over a wide temperature range with a low loss (tan δ ~ 10-1). It is concluded that besides the dense structure of composites, the uniform distribution of the CCTO particles in the matrix plays a key role on the dielectric enhancement. Due to the influence of the CCTO on the microstructure of the polymer matrix, the composites exhibit a weaker temperature dependence of the dielectric constant than the polymer matrix. Based on the results, it is also found that the loss of the composites at low temperatures, including room temperature, is determined by the real dielectric relaxation processes including the relaxation process induced by the mixing.

Observation of mass analyzed threshold ionization using synchrotron radiation on a new-style time of flight mass spectrometer.

We have developed an efficient and applicable apparatus that combines mass-analyzed threshold ionization (MATI) with continuous molecular-beam mass spectrometry using tunable vacuum ultraviolet synchrotron radiation at National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory. The new design, in which the spoiling field and the pulsed ionization field are perpendicular to each other, can obtain efficiently the ionic spectra of molecule. The MATI spectra of Ar and N(2) have been recorded in the energy region between 15.5 and 17.5 eV to illustrate the feasibility of this scheme. With its unique features, the important experiment considerations are potentially a powerful tool for study of information of ionization energies and ionic states of complex organic compounds.