Longitudinal trajectories of disability among Chinese adults: the role of cardiometabolic multimorbidity.

BACKGROUND: Cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CM) has been found to be associated with higher mortality and functional limitations. However, few studies have investigated the longitudinal association between CM and disability in the Chinese population and whether these associations vary by smoking status. METHODS: The study included 16,754 participants from four waves (2011, 2013, 2015, and 2018) of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) (mean age: 59, female: 51%). CM was assesed at baseline and defined as having two or more of diabetes, stroke, or heart disease. Disability was repeatedly measured by summing the number of impaired activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) during the 7-year follow-up. Linear mixed-effects model was used to determine the association of CM and trajectories of disability and to assess the modification effect of smoking status in these associations. RESULTS: Participants with CM at baseline had a faster progression of disability compared to those without CM (CM: ß = 0.13, 95% CI: 0.05 to 0.21). Current smokers with CM developed disability faster than their counterparts (Pinteraction for smoking=0.011). In addition, there was a significant association between CM and the annual change of disability in current smokers (ß = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.17 to 0.50) while no such association was observed in current non-smokers (ß = 0.08, 95% CI: -0.02 to 0.17). CONCLUSION: CM was associated with more a rapid disability progression. Notably, being current smokers may amplify the adverse effects of CM on disability progression.

Efficient degradation of m-cresol during catalytic wet peroxide oxidation with biochar derived from the pyrolysis of persulfate-ZVI treated sludge.

Sludge dewatering is crucial for cutting the cost of sludge post-disposal in wastewater treatment plants. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used in this study to sufficiently investigate the interaction among persulfate, zero-valent iron (ZVI) and reaction time on the sludge dewatering. Under the experimental condition at the central point in RSM, the sludge moisture content was reduced to 54%. The sludge-based biochar obtained from the pyrolysis of persulfate-ZVI treated sludge at the central point in RSM was marked as SC-M and tested for catalytic activity. With the catalyst SC-M, the removal rates of m-cresol and total organic carbon (TOC) were 98.1% and 84.2%, respectively. The persulfate-ZVI treatment for sludge dewatering facilitated increasing the proportion of iron species in SC-M, which contributed to its high catalytic activity. M-cresol degradation with SC-M was a two-period reaction including an induction period and a rapid reaction with the apparent activation energy at a low level. This study integrates the sludge dewatering by persulfate-ZVI treatment and m-cresol degradation by catalytic oxidation with the biochar SC-M prepared from the dewatered iron-rich sludge, providing an effective, economic and environment-friendly approach for sewage sludge utilization and management.

Potential dynamic regional brain biomarkers for early discrimination of autism and language development delay in toddlers.

Background: The early diagnosis of autism in children is particularly important. However, there is no obvious objective indices for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), especially in toddlers aged 1-3 years with language development delay (LDD). The early differential diagnosis of ASD is challenging. Objective: To examine differences in the dynamic characteristics of regional neural activity in toddlers with ASD and LDD, and whether the differences can be used as an imaging biomarker for the early differential diagnosis of ASD and LDD. Methods: Dynamic regional homogeneity (dReHo) and dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (dALFF) in 55 children with ASD and 31 with LDD, aged 1-3 years, were compared. The correlations between ASD symptoms and the values of dReHo/dALFF within regions showing significant between-group differences were analyzed in ASD group. We further assessed the accuracy of dynamic regional neural activity alterations to distinguish ASD from LDD using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results: Compared with the LDD group, the ASD group showed increased dReHo in the left cerebellum_8/Crust2 and right cerebellum_Crust2, and decreased dReHo in the right middle frontal gyrus (MFG) and post-central gyrus. Patients with ASD also exhibited decreased dALFF in the right middle temporal gyrus (MFG) and right precuneus. Moreover, the Childhood Autism Rating Scale score was negatively correlated with the dReHo of the left cerebellum_8/crust2 and right cerebellum_crust2. The dReHo value of the right MFG was negatively correlated with social self-help of the Autism Behavior Checklist score. Conclusion: The pattern of resting-state regional neural activity variability was different between toddlers with ASD and those with LDD. Dynamic regional indices might be novel neuroimaging biomarkers that allow differentiation of ASD from LDD in toddlers.