Association of preserved ratio impaired spirometry with mortality and cardiovascular diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Preserved ratio impaired spirometry (PRISm) is a type of abnormal lung function. PRISm and mortality have been explored in several studies, but a comprehensive evaluation of the associations is limited. The current study aims to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis in order to investigate the mortality and cardiovascular diseases in patients with PRISm. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases, as well as gray literature sources, were searched for relevant studies published up to 7 September 2023 without language restrictions. This review included all published observational cohort studies that investigated the association of PRISm with mortality in the general population, as well as subgroup analyses in smokers and pre-bronchodilation spirometry studies. The outcomes of interest were all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and respiratory-related mortality. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale assessed study quality. Sensitivity and subgroup analyses explored heterogeneity and robustness. Publication bias was assessed with Egger's and Begg's tests. RESULTS: Overall, eight studies were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled HR was 1.60 (95% CI, 1.48-1.74) for all-cause mortality, 1.68 (95% CI, 1.46-1.94) for CVD mortality, and 3.09 (95% CI, 1.42-6.71) for respiratory-related mortality in PRISm group compared to normal group. In the subgroup analysis, participants with PRISm had a higher effect (HR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.74-2.54) on all-cause mortality among smokers relative to participants with normal spirometry. Furthermore, the association between PRISm and mortality risk was consistent across several sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSIONS: People with PRISm were associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality, CVD mortality, and respiratory-related mortality as compared to those with normal lung function in the general population. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42023426872.

Histone ß-hydroxybutyrylation is critical in reversal of sarcopenia.

Sarcopenia, a leading cause for global disability and mortality, is an age-related muscular disorder, characterized by accelerated muscle mass loss and functional decline. It is known that caloric restriction (CR), ketogenic diet or endurance exercise lessen sarcopenia and elevate circulating ß-hydroxybutyrate (ß-HB) levels. Whether the elevated ß-HB is essential to the reversal of sarcopenia, however, remains unclear. Here we show in both Caenorhabditis elegans and mouse models that an increase of ß-HB reverse myofiber atrophy and improves motor functions at advanced ages. ß-HB-induced histone lysine ß-hydroxybutyrylation (Kbhb) is indispensable for the reversal of sarcopenia. Histone Kbhb enhances transcription of genes associated with mitochondrial pathways, including oxidative phosphorylation, ATP metabolic process and aerobic respiration. This ultimately leads to improve mitochondrial integrity and enhance mitochondrial respiration. The histone Kbhb are validated in mouse model with CR. Thus, we demonstrate that ß-HB induces histone Kbhb, increases mitochondrial function, and reverses sarcopenia.

Taxis-driven complex patterns of a plankton model.

This paper reports an important conclusion that self-diffusion is not a necessary condition for inducing Turing patterns, while taxis could establish complex pattern phenomena. We investigate pattern formation in a zooplankton-phytoplankton model incorporating phytoplankton-taxis, where phytoplankton-taxis describes the zooplankton that tends to move toward the high-densities region of the phytoplankton population. By using the phytoplankton-taxis sensitivity coefficient as the Turing instability threshold, one shows that the model exhibits Turing instability only when repulsive phytoplankton-taxis is added into the system, while the attractive-type phytoplankton-taxis cannot induce Turing instability of the system. In addition, the system does not exhibit Turing instability when the phytoplankton-taxis disappears. Numerically, we display the complex patterns in 1D, 2D domains and on spherical and zebra surfaces, respectively. In summary, our results indicate that the phytoplankton-taxis plays a pivotal role in giving rise to the Turing pattern formation of the model. Additionally, these theoretical and numerical results contribute to our understanding of the complex interaction dynamics between zooplankton and phytoplankton populations.

Phase Transformation on Multilayer 2M-WS2 for Improved Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering.

In recent years, two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have been widely recognized as an ideal platform for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Given their rich structural phases, phase transformation in 2D TMDCs is an efficient strategy to tailor their SERS performance. In this paper, we present the great SERS performance of multilayer 2M-WS2 and then investigate the effect of its phase transformation on SERS performance. It is observed that multilayer 2M-WS2 nanosheets undergo a thermally induced single-crystal phase transition from 2M-WS2 to 2H-WS2 upon thermal annealing or laser treatment. Distinguishing from the commercially available pure 2H-WS2 (P-2H-WS2), 2H-WS2 obtained by annealing and laser treatment still retain SERS properties comparable to those of 2M-WS2, among which the detection limits for CV molecules (10-8 M) are 3 orders of magnitude lower than that of P-2H-WS2 and the Raman intensity enhancements are ∼10-37 times higher. In contrast to the charge transfer (CT) mechanism governed by the Fermi level in metallic-phase 2M-WS2, 2H-WS2 obtained by phase transition exhibits accelerated CT facilitated by the bandgap reduction and reorganization resulting from the abundance of vacancies. This study introduces an interesting perspective and potential avenue for enhancing SERS through metal-to-semiconductor phase transitions in 2D TMDCs materials.

The temporal variation of CH4 emissions embodied in Chinese supply chains, 2000-2020.

Although the issue of embodied pollutants in China's supply chains has garnered increasing attention, the dynamic changes occurring within them are unclear. Several existing studies analyze one-year or short-term data in supply chain. China's overall CH4 emissions have risen from 41.1 Tg in 2000 to 60 Tg in 2020, so conducting long-term analyses can yield a deeper understanding of the dynamic changes across the entire supply chain from production to consumption. This study uses the environmentally extended input-output analysis (EEIOA) and structural path analysis (SPA) methods to investigate the dynamic variation of China's embodied CH4 emissions in 20 industry sectors from 2000 to 2020, aiming to determine the key supply chain and key sectors. The results reveal that from the final demand perspective, consumption, investment and export drove 52.1%, 32%, and 15.9% of embodied CH4 emissions in 2020. The sector with the highest embodied CH4 emissions has changed from "Agriculture" in 2000 to "Construction" in 2010 to "Other service and activities" in 2020. The top listed supply chain path of embodied CH4 emissions has also evolved (starting from production to consumption) from "Agriculture → Rural consumption" in 2000 to "Agriculture → Food and tobacco → Urban consumption" in 2010 to "Agriculture → Urban consumption" in 2020. Notably, the high-ranked path, "Agriculture → Food and tobacco → Rural consumption", shows that the embodied CH4 emission flowing between agriculture and the food industry cannot be ignored. The supply chain path "Coal Mining → Nonmetal Mineral Products → Construction → Capital Formation" has risen from 17th in 2000 to 3rd in 2020. Thus, it is necessary to control CH4 emissions from sectors upstream, which are predominantly influenced by the construction industry, and a coordinated effort between sectors is also required to effectively reduce emissions. By 2020, the CH4 emissions driven by urban consumption were 3.1 times that of rural consumption. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of China's supply chain over the past two decades. In particular, it suggests policy interventions by controlling critical supply chain paths and key sectors associated with embodied CH4 emission, thereby facilitating the coordinated reduction of anthropogenic CH4 emissions.

Alloying Pd with Ru enables electroreduction of nitrate to ammonia with ∼100% faradaic efficiency over a wide potential window.

Electrocatalytic nitrate (NO3-) reduction reaction (eNO3-RR) to ammonia under ambient conditions is deemed a sustainable route for wastewater treatment and a promising alternative to the Haber-Bosch process. However, there is still a lack of efficient electrocatalysts to achieve high NH3 production performance at wastewater-relevant low NO3- concentrations. Herein, we report a Pd74Ru26 bimetallic nanocrystal (NC) electrocatalyst capable of exhibiting an average NH3 FE of ∼100% over a wide potential window from 0.1 to -0.3 V (vs. reversible hydrogen electrode, RHE) at a low NO3- concentration of 32.3 mM. The average NH3 yield rate at -0.3 V can reach 16.20 mg h-1 cm-2. Meanwhile, Pd74Ru26 also demonstrates excellent electrocatalytic stability for over 110 h. Experimental investigations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest that the electronic structure modulation between Pd and Ru favors the optimization of NO3- transport with respect to single components. Along the *NO3 reduction pathway, the synergy between Pd and Ru can also lower the energy barrier of the rate-determining steps (RDSs) on Ru and Pd, which are the protonation of *NO2 and *NO, respectively. Finally, this unique alloying design achieves a high-level dynamic equilibrium of adsorption and coupling between *H and various nitrogen intermediates during eNO3-RR.

Associations of perceived built environment characteristics using NEWS questionnaires with all-cause mortality and major cardiovascular diseases: The prospective urban rural epidemiology (PURE)-China study.

BACKGROUND: Despite increased literature focusing on the role of the built environment (BE) in health, few cohort studies have quantitatively analyzed neighborhood walkability environment in relation to the risk of death and cardiovascular disease (CVD). This longitudinal study aimed at evaluating the association between perceived BE attributeswith mortality and major CVD based on the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology study in China (PURE-China). METHODS: The PURE-China study recruited 47,931 participants aged 35-70 years from 12 provinces of China between 2005 and 2009. The perceived BE information, including land use, street, aesthetics, and safety, was collected using the neighborhood environment walkability scale (NEWS) questionnaire, with higher scores indicating a more favorable rating. Two primary outcomes are all-cause mortality and major CVD event. The Cox frailty model with random intercepts was used to assess the association between the perceived total BE/subscales score and outcomes. RESULTS: Of 32,163 participants included in this study, 19,253 (59.9 %) were women, and the mean (SD) age was 51.0 (9.5) years. After a median follow-up period of 11.7 years (IQR 9.4 - 12.2), we observed that one standard deviation higher of combined BE scores was related to a lower risk of all-cause mortality (HR = 0.85; 95 %CI, 0.80-0.90), and major CVD events (HR = 0.95; 95 %CI, 0.90-0.99). The subscales of perceived BE were related to a lower risk, although a few were not significant. Land use mix-diversity and safety from crime were the two most significant subscales. Stronger risks were observed among urban and female participants. CONCLUSION: Favorable perceived BE characteristics were linked with a lower risk of all-cause mortality and major CVD events in Chinese population, especially in urban areas and females. Our findings can be used by policymakers to take action to mitigate the adverse effect of poor community conditions on health, such as improving local amenities and transport connectivity, providing building paths for walking, running and cycling.

Climate changes altered the citrus fruit quality: A 9-year case study in China.

Global climate change has significantly impacted the production of various crops, particularly long-term fruit-bearing plants such as citrus. This study analyzed the fruit quality of 12 citrus orchards (Citrus Sinensis L.Osbeck cv. Bingtang) in a subtropical region in Yunnan, China from 2014 to 2022. The results indicated that high rainfall (>220 mm) and low cumulative temperature (<3150 °C) promoted increases in titratable acidity (>1.8 %) in young fruits. As the fruits further expanded (with a horizontal diameter increasing from 50 to 65 mm), excessive rainfall (300-400 mm), lower cumulative temperature (<2400 °C), and a reduced diurnal temperature range (<10 °C) hindered decreases in titratable acidity. Conversely, low rainfall (<220 mm), high cumulative temperature (>3150 °C), and a high diurnal temperature range (>14 °C) promoted the accumulation of soluble solids in young fruits (9 %) at 120 days after flowering (DAF). Furthermore, low rainfall (<100 mm) favored the accumulation of soluble solids (1.5 %) during fruit expansion (195-225DAF). To quantify the relationship between fruit acidity and climate variables at 120 DAF, we developed a regression model, which was further validated by actual measurements and accurately predicted fruit acidity in 2023. Our findings have the potential to assist citrus growers in optimizing cultivation techniques for the production of high-quality citrus under increasingly variable climatic conditions.

Patterns governed by chemotaxis and time delay.

In this paper, sufficient conditions of Turing instability are established for general delayed reaction-diffusion-chemotaxis models with no-flux boundary conditions. In particular, we address the difficulty brought about by the time delay in investigating the Turing instability. These models involve the time delay parameter τ and the general density (concentration) function in chemotaxis terms with the chemotaxis parameter χ. Theoretical results reveal that the time delay parameter τ could determine the stability of positive equilibrium for ordinary differential equations, while the chemotaxis parameter χ could describe the stability of positive equilibrium for partial differential equations. In this fashion, the general conditions of Turing instability are presented. To confirm their validity, the delayed chemotaxis-type predator-prey model and the phytoplankton-zooplankton model are considered. It is found that these two models admit Turing instability, and the numerical results are in good agreement with the theoretical analysis. The obtained results are helpful in the application of the Turing pattern in models with time delay and chemotaxis.

In Situ Raman Study of Surface Reconstruction of FeOOH/Ni3S2 Oxygen Evolution Reaction Electrocatalysts.

Construction of heterojunctions is an effective strategy to enhanced electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER), but the structural evolution of the active phases and synergistic mechanism still lack in-depth understanding. Here, an FeOOH/Ni3S2 heterostructure supported on nickel foam (NF) through a two-step hydrothermal-chemical etching method is reported. In situ Raman spectroscopy study of the surface reconstruction behaviors of FeOOH/Ni3S2/NF indicates that Ni3S2 can be rapidly converted to NiOOH, accompanied by the phase transition from α-FeOOH to ß-FeOOH during the OER process. Importantly, a deep analysis of Ni─O bond reveals that the phase transition of FeOOH can regulate the lattice disorder of NiOOH for improved catalytic activity. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations further confirm that NiOOH/FeOOH heterostructure possess strengthened adsorption for O-containing intermediates, as well as lower energy barrier toward the OER. As a result, FeOOH/Ni3S2/NF exhibits promising OER activity and stability in alkaline conditions, requiring an overpotential of 268 mV @ 100 mA cm-2 and long-term stability over 200 h at a current density of 200 mA cm-2. This work provides a new perspective for understanding the synergistic mechanism of heterogeneous electrocatalysts during the OER process.

Selective Photoelectrochemical Oxidation of Glycerol to Glyceric Acid on (002) Facets Exposed WO3 Nanosheets.

Glycerol is a byproduct of biodiesel production. Selective photoelectrochemical oxidation of glycerol to high value-added chemicals offers an economical and sustainable approach to transform renewable feedstock as well as store green energy at the same time. In this work, we synthesized monoclinic WO3 nanosheets with exposed (002) facets, which could selectively oxidize glycerol to glyceric acid (GLYA) with a photocurrent density of 1.7 mA cm-2 , a 73 % GLYA selectivity and a 39 % GLYA Faradaic efficiency at 0.9 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) under AM 1.5G illumination (100 mW cm-2 ). Compared to (200) facets exposed WO3 , a combination of experiments and theoretical calculations indicates that the superior performance of selective glycerol oxidation mainly originates from the better charge separation and prolonged carrier lifetime resulted from the plenty of surface trapping states, lower energy barrier of the glycerol-to-GLYA reaction pathway, more abundant active sites and stronger oxidative ability of photogenerated holes on the (002) facets exposed WO3 . Our findings show great potential to significantly contribute to the sustainable and environmentally friendly chemical processes via designing high performance photoelectrochemical cell via facet engineering for renewable feedstock transformation.