BACKGROUND: Identifying subjects with a high risk of ischemic stroke is fundamental for prevention of the disease. Both genetic and environmental risk factors contribute to ischemic stroke, but the underlying epigenetic mechanisms which mediate genetic and environmental risk effects are not fully understood. The aim of this study was to explore whether DNA methylation loci located in the ATP-binding cassette G1 (ABCG1) and apolipoprotein E (APOE) genes, both involved in the metabolism of lipids in the body, are related to ischemic stroke, using the Fangshan/Family-based Ischemic Stroke Study in China. We also tested if these CpG sites were associated with early signs of cardiovascular atherosclerosis (carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), ankle-brachial index (ABI), and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV)). RESULTS: DNA methylation at the cg02494239 locus in ABCG1 was correlated with ischemic stroke after adjusting for gender, previous history of diabetes and hypertension, smoking, drinking, body mass index, and blood lipid levels (above vs below mean, OR = 2.416, 95% CI 1.024-5.700, P = 0.044; 75-100% percentile vs 0-25% percentile, OR = 4.461, 95% CI 1.226-16.225, P = 0.023). No statistically significant associations were observed for the cg06500161 site in ABCG1 and the cg14123992 site in APOE with ischemic stroke. The study detected that hypermethylation of the ABCG1 gene was significantly associated with cIMT, hypermethylation of the APOE gene was significantly related to ABI, and methylation of the APOE gene was statistically negatively correlated with baPWV. The above relationships demonstrated gender differences. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that epigenetic modification of ABCG1 and APOE may play a role in the pathway from disturbed blood lipid levels to the development of cardiovascular diseases. Future prospective validation of these findings is warranted.
The health impacts associated with engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) released into the atmosphere have not been adequately assessed. Such impacts could potentially arise from the toxicity associated with condensable atmospheric secondary organic material (SOM), or changes in the SOM composition induced by ENPs. Here, these possibilities are evaluated by investigating the oxidative and toxicological evolution of TiO2 and SiO2 nanoparticles which have been coated with SOM from the O-3 or OH initiated oxidation of alpha-pinene. It was found that pristine SiO2 particles were significantly more cytotoxic compared to pristine TiO2 particles. TiO2 in the dark or under UV irradiation catalytically reacted with the SOM, increasing its O/C by up to 55% over photochemically inert SiO2 while having negligible effects on the overall cytotoxicity. Conversely, the cytotoxicity associated with SiO2 coated with SOM was markedly suppressed (by a factor of 9, at the highest exposure dose) with both increased SOM coating thickness and increased photochemical aging. These suppressing effects (organic coating and photo-oxidation of organics) were attributed to a physical hindrance of SiO2-cell interactions by the SOM and enhanced SOM viscosity and hydrophilicity with continued photo-oxidation, respectively. These findings highlight the importance of atmospheric processes in altering the cytotoxicity of ENPs.
Oxidative stress (OS) has been found to be related to accelerated aging and many aging-related health outcomes. Recently, an epigenetic "mortality risk score" (MS) based on whole blood DNA methylation at 10 mortality-related CpG sites has been demonstrated to be associated with all-cause mortality. This study aimed to address the association between OS and MS, and to assess and compare their performance in the prediction of all-cause mortality. For 1448 participants aged 50-75 of the German ESTHER cohort study, the MS was derived from the DNA methylation profiles measured by Illumina HumanMethylation450K Beadchip and the levels of two urinary OS markers, 8-isoprostane (8-iso) and oxidized guanine/guanosine [including 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxo)], were measured by ELISA kits. Associations between OS markers and the MS were evaluated by linear and ordinal logistic regression models, and their associations with all-cause mortality were examined by Cox regression models. Both OS markers were associated with the MS at baseline. The 8-iso levels and MS, but not 8-oxo levels, were associated with all-cause mortality during a median follow-up of 15.1 years. Fully-adjusted hazard ratios (95% CI) were 1.56 (1.13-2.16) for the 4th quartile of 8-iso levels compared with the 1st, 1.71 (1.27-2.29) and 2.92 (2.03-4.18) for the moderate and high MS defined by 2-5 and > 5 CpG sites with aberrant methylation compared with a MS of 0-1, respectively. After controlling for 8-iso levels, the hazard ratios of MS remained essentially unchanged while the association of 8-iso levels with mortality was attenuated. This study demonstrates that OS is highly associated with the epigenetic MS, and the latter at the same time has a higher predictive value for all-cause mortality.
The bubbles have a huge influence on the passive millimeter-wave (PMMW) radiation of ship wakes. The bubble distribution is able to be simulated based on the semi-empirical formula of Kelvin wake and turbulence energy attenuation spectrum. With the Maxwell-Garnett (MG) theory, the PMMW radiation of bubbles in different conditions can be calculated. Furthermore, the imaging experiment results are in a good agreement with the mathematical calculation results, which confirms the validity of the simulation model.
Plant height is a key functional trait related to aboveground biomass, leaf photosynthesis and plant fitness. However, large-scale geographical patterns in community-average plant height (CAPH) of woody species and drivers of these patterns across different life forms remain hotly debated. Moreover, whether CAPH could be used as a predictor of ecosystem primary productivity is unknown.We compiled mature height and distributions of 11 422 woody species in eastern Eurasia, and estimated geographic patterns in CAPH for different taxonomic groups and life forms. Then we evaluated the effects of environmental (including current climate and historical climate change since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM)) and evolutionary factors on CAPH. Lastly, we compared the predictive power of CAPH on primary productivity with that of LiDAR-derived canopy-height data from a global survey.Geographic patterns of CAPH and their drivers differed among taxonomic groups and life forms. The strongest predictor for CAPH of all woody species combined, angiosperms, all dicots and deciduous dicots was actual evapotranspiration, while temperature was the strongest predictor for CAPH of monocots and tree, shrub and evergreen dicots, and water availability for gymnosperms. Historical climate change since the LGM had only weak effects on CAPH. No phylogenetic signal was detected in family-wise average height, which was also unrelated to the tested environmental factors. Finally, we found a strong correlation between CAPH and ecosystem primary productivity. Primary productivity showed a weaker relationship with CAPH of the tallest species within a grid cell and no relationship with LiDAR-derived canopy height reported in the global survey. Our findings suggest that current climate rather than historical climate change and evolutionary history determine the geographical patterns in CAPH. However, the relative effects of climatic factors representing environmental energy and water availability on spatial variations of CAPH vary among plant life forms. Moreover, our results also suggest that CAPH can be used as a good predictor of ecosystem primary productivity.
Perceptual learning is often interpreted as learning of fine stimulus templates. However, we have proposed that perceptual learning is more than template learning, in that more abstract statistical rules may have been learned, so that learning can transfer to stimuli at different precisions. Here we provide new evidence to support this view: Perceptual learning of Vernier discrimination at high noise, which has thresholds approximately 10 times as much as those at zero noise, is initially non-transferrable to zero noise. However, additional exposure to a noise-free Vernier-forming Gabor, which is ineffective alone, not only maximizes zero-noise fine Vernier discrimination, but also further enhances high-noise Vernier performance. Such high-threshold coarse Vernier training cannot impact the fine stimulus template directly. One plausible explanation is that the observers have learned the statistical rules that can apply to standardized input distributions to improve discrimination, regardless of the original precision of these distributions.
BACKGROUND: Performance of Pooled Cohort Equations (PCEs) for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risks varied across populations. Whether the recently developed Prediction for ASCVD Risk in China (China-PAR) model could accurately predict cardiovascular risks in real practice remains unclear. METHODS: A population-based cohort study in rural Beijing in the "stroke belt" in North China was used to externally validate PCE and China-PAR models for 5-year ASCVD risk prediction. Expected 5-year prediction risk using China-PAR model was compared with PCE (white). The models were assessed for calibration, discrimination, and reclassification. RESULTS: Among 11,169 adults aged 40 to 79years over a median 6.44years of follow-up, 1,921 participants developed a first ASCVD event during total 70,951 person-years. China-PAR model fairly predicted ASCVD risk in men but overestimated by 29.4% risk in women (calibration chi(2)=81.4, P<.001). Underestimations were shown by PCE as 76.2% in men and 88.2% in women with poor calibration (both P<.001). However, discrimination was similar in both models: C-statistics in men were 0.685 (95% CI 0.660-0.710) for China-PAR and 0.675 (95% CI 0.649-0.701) for PCE; C-statistics in women were 0.711 (95% CI 0.694-0.728) for China-PAR and 0.714 (95% CI 0.697-0.731) for PCE. Moreover, China-PAR did not substantially improve accuracy of reclassification compared with PCE. CONCLUSIONS: China-PAR outperformed PCE in 5-year ASCVD risk prediction in this rural Northern Chinese population at average population risk level, fairly predicted risk in men, but overestimated risk in women; however, China-PAR did not meaningfully improve the accuracy of discrimination and reclassification at individual risk level.
Zhang L, Wang Q, Xing H, Li E, Chen Y, Liu Y. Personality effect on driving behavior. 5th ACM SIGSPATIAL International Workshop on the Use of GIS in Emergency Management, EM-GIS 2019. 2019.Abstract
A novel carbon quantum dots modified potassium titanate nanotubes (CQDs/K2Ti6O13) composite photocatalyst was synthesized by hydrothermal treatment combined with calcination. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated formation of potassium titanate nanotubes and successful deposition of CQDs onto K2Ti6O13. The photocatalytic performance of CQDs/K2Ti6O13 composite was evaluated by degradation of amoxicillin (AMX) under the irradiation of visible light and lights with the wavelengths of 365, 385, 420, 450, 485, 520, 595 and 630 nm. The results showed that the photocatalytic activity of CQDs/K2Ti6O13 hybrid material was greatly enhanced compared with the neat K2Ti6O13 calcined at 300 °C. The narrowed band gap energy (Eg) and transfer of photo-excited electron by CQDs inhibited the immediate combination of electron-hole pairs, thus promoting photocatalytic activity. Moreover, CQDs/K2Ti6O13 exhibited a broad spectrum of photocatalytic ability and it was interesting that the photocatalytic activity decreased with the increase of the irradiation wavelength. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) quenching tests suggested the hole (h+) and hydroxyl radical (OH) played the primary roles in photocatalytic degradation of AMX. Moreover, CQDs/K2Ti6O13 showed good reusability for AMX photocatalytic degradation after five successive runs. This study proposed an available method for titanate nanomaterials modification, and the developed novel CQDs/K2Ti6O13 hybrid material is promising for potential application on antibiotics removal from water and wastewater.
BiOI microspheres doped with different amounts of Ti were fabricated and used to remove diclofenac (DCF) from water under visible light irradiation. The fabricated photocatalysts were well characterized. Ti doped BiOI microspheres were found to exhibit higher photocatalytic activity towards DCF under visible light compared with BiOI. Ti doping broadened the band gap of BiOI, which leads to a more negative conduction band edge and a higher reducing activity of photo-generated electrons, thus facilitates ·O2− production during photocatalysis. Among all the fabricated Ti doped BiOI microspheres, TB450 exhibited the highest DCF photocatalytic removal efficiency. Specifically, 99.2% of DCF (C0 = 10 mg L−1) was removed by TB450 (250 mg L−1) at pH 5 within 90 min under visible light irradiation. Scavenger experiments indicated that active species including h+, ·O2− and H2O2 played important roles in the photocatalytic process. The degradation pathway of DCF was elucidated by theoretical density functional theory (DFT) and by-products identification through liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer (LC-MS) analysis. DCF degradation pathway mainly included hydroxylation and the cleavage of CN bond. DFT calculation can well interpret the degradation mechanism and the sites of DCF molecule with high radical-attack Fukui index (f0) exhibit high reactivity. Acidic condition was found to facilitate the DCF photocatalytic removal. Due to strong photo-stability, Ti doped BiOI microspheres contained good visible-light-driven (VLD) photocatalytic removal efficiency for DCF in the fourth consecutive reused cycle. Ti doped BiOI microspheres can be employed as a cost-effective and high-efficient material to efficiently degrade emerging contaminants (e.g., pharmaceutical) from wastewaters under visible light conditions.
Silver bismuth iodide (Ag-Bi-I) as an environmentally friendly semiconductor with suitable band gap and high stability has been regarded as a potential photovoltaic material, while the reported mesoscopic devices all showed poor open circuit voltage (V-oc) of 0.5-0.6 V. Here, we successfully fabricated AgBiI4 planar heterojunction solar cells via a solution method with a Voc approaching 0.9 V, in which 2 wt % lithium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)-imide (Li-TFSI) was added into the AgI:BiI3 precursor. The device presents a power conversion efficiency of 2.50 +/- 0.20% with a V-oc of 0.82 +/- 0.20 V. Experimental results indicated that the readily coordinated component in the organic salt, TFSI-, could assist film growth and result in a full coverage morphology. Furthermore, double layer devices showed the carrier separation occurred in the interface of SnO2/AgBiI4. These results indicated interface extraction and film enhancement should be concerned in further improvements.
