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Environmental Science and Pollution... Jul 2024Diesel soot is a significant contributor to air pollution. Soot particles present in diesel engine exhaust have a negative impact on the environment and human health....
Diesel soot is a significant contributor to air pollution. Soot particles present in diesel engine exhaust have a negative impact on the environment and human health. Diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs) and diesel particulate filters (DPFs) currently use noble metal-based catalysts for soot oxidation. Due to the use of noble metals in the catalyst, the cost of diesel after-treatment systems is steadily rising. As a result, diesel vehicles have become commercially less viable than gasoline vehicles and electronic vehicles. The study focuses on an alternative diesel oxidation catalyst with efficiency similar to that of a noble metal catalyst but with a much lower cost. CeO-AlO catalysts are known for their oxygen storage capacity and high redox activity, making them suitable for soot oxidation. Adding Zr to these catalysts has been shown to influence their structural and chemical properties, significantly affecting their catalytic behavior. Therefore, the current study is focused on using Zr/CeO-AlO as a substitute for noble metal-based catalysts to enhance its performance for diesel soot oxidation in automotive exhaust. Evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) was used to prepare 1, 3, and 5 weight (wt) % Zr supported mesoporous CeO-AlO catalysts. Morphological, structural, and physicochemical properties of the synthesized catalysts were examined using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) absolute isotherm, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Temperature programmed reduction (TPR), and Temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia (NH-TPD). XRD, BET, and SEM data confirmed that the catalysts were mesoporous and low-crystalline with a high surface area. The soot oxidation activity of the catalysts was evaluated using a thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) technique. The loose contacts soot oxidation activity test suggested that 50% oxidation of soot occurred at 390 °C in the absence of a catalyst. T of CeO-AlO catalyzed soot oxidation was 296 °C. Adding Zr to the catalyst significantly improved catalytic activity for diesel soot oxidation. We observed a further drastic change in T of soot over 1, 3, and 5% Zr/CeO-AlO, which were 220 °C, 210 °C, and 193 °C, respectively. According to these results, incorporating Zr into the CeO-AlO catalyst significantly improved the oxidation process of soot.
PubMed: 38958858
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-024-34052-9 -
Sleep & Breathing = Schlaf & Atmung Jul 2024To systematically review the literature regarding the concordance of sleep bruxism (SB) between monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins. (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVE
To systematically review the literature regarding the concordance of sleep bruxism (SB) between monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins.
METHODS
The registration for this systematic review was accomplished in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO, No. CRD42021251751). As of July 2022, four databases were searched, including PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science, as well as the grey literature in Google Scholar and OpenGrey. Observational studies evaluating SB in MZ and DZ twins of any age and sex were included. For the evaluation of the risk of bias, the Joanna Briggs checklist was utilized. The certainty of evidence was assessed via the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system. Pooled and subgroup meta-analyses were performed to estimate concordance of SB between twins (p < 0.05).
RESULTS
In total, 3,155 records were identified. In the qualitative analysis, eleven studies were included; of these, seven were included in the meta-analysis. The majority of the articles exhibited a low risk of bias (63.6%). Greater SB concordance was observed between MZ twins than between DZ twins in the analysis of general concordance (OR = 1.47; 95% CI = 1.07-2.02) and also positive concordance (OR = 1.53; 95% CI = 1.29-1.81). Within the subgroup analyses, the significance of the findings remained only for the reported/self-reported SB regarding general concordance (OR = 1.44; 95% CI = 1.07-1.95) and positive concordance (OR = 1.55; 95% CI = 1.28-1.88). Low certainty of the evidence was observed for the general concordance analysis, while moderate certainty was observed for the positive concordance.
CONCLUSION
There was a higher concordance of SB in MZ twins compared to DZ twins, indicating a possible genetic influence on the condition's occurrence.
PubMed: 38958854
DOI: 10.1007/s11325-024-03090-5 -
Advances in Therapy Jul 2024Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is characterized by rapid functional decline. Current available treatment options aim to delay disease progression or stabilize...
INTRODUCTION
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is characterized by rapid functional decline. Current available treatment options aim to delay disease progression or stabilize physical function. To aid in healthcare providers' understanding of the symptoms of disease that impact patients' experience, this study explored children's physical functioning, activities of daily living (ADLs), and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after receiving eteplirsen, a weekly infusion indicated for individuals with DMD with exon 51 skip-amenable mutations.
METHODS
Fifteen caregivers of male individuals with DMD participated in a 60-min, semi-structured interview. Open-ended questioning explored changes in the children's condition or maintenance in abilities since eteplirsen initiation.
RESULTS
Children with DMD (age 7-15 years [mean 10.9]; steroid treatment at interview, n = 8; time since eteplirsen initiation 3-24 months [mean 14.9]) were described by caregivers as ambulatory (n = 9) and non-ambulatory (n = 6). Caregivers of ambulatory children reported improvements or maintenance of walking ability (n = 7/9), running (n = 6/9), and using stairs (n = 4/9). Continued decline in using stairs was reported by two caregivers. In upper-limb functioning, improvements or maintenances in fine-motor movements were reported by nearly half of all caregivers (n = 7/15), with one caregiver noting a continued decline. Subsequent improvements or maintenances in ADLs were described. Improvements or maintenances in fatigue (n = 9/15), muscle weakness (n = 7/15), and pain (n = 6/15) were reported, although some caregivers described a continued decline (n = 3/15 fatigue, n = 1/15 muscle weakness, n = 2/15 pain). Importantly, most caregivers who reported maintenances in ability perceived this as a positive outcome (n = 6/9).
CONCLUSION
This exploratory study indicated that most caregivers perceived improvements or maintenances in aspects of their child's physical functioning, ADLs, and HRQoL since eteplirsen initiation, which they perceived to be a positive outcome.
PubMed: 38958840
DOI: 10.1007/s12325-024-02915-9 -
Annals of Surgical Oncology Jul 2024For women at increased risk of breast cancer, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines recommend clinical encounters every 6-12 months. While...
BACKGROUND
For women at increased risk of breast cancer, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines recommend clinical encounters every 6-12 months. While screening mammography has corresponded with a relative risk reduction in breast cancer mortality of approximately 20%, evidence validating clinical breast examination (CBE) as an efficacious screening modality is deficient. Our study aimed to assess the conventional merit of regular CBE for breast cancer detection among individuals at increased risk of breast cancer development.
METHODS
Women > 18 years with documented high-risk encounters at Corewell Health West from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 22 were retrospectively reviewed. High-risk criteria included genetic predisposition, 5-year (> 1.7%) or lifetime (> 20%) Tyrer-Cuzick and/or Gail Model risk estimations, thoracic radiotherapy before age 30 years, lobular carcinoma in-situ, or atypical hyperplasia. Patients with a history of breast cancer or bilateral prophylactic mastectomy prior to 2018 were excluded.
RESULTS
Of the 9171 cumulative high-risk encounters among 2493 women, only one breast cancer was detected by CBE. CBE resulted in 1 (0.04%) cancer diagnosis compared with 30 (1.2%) detected on screening imaging and 10 (0.4%) self-reported. Of the 30 image-detected cancers, 28 (93.3%) had no detectable clinical findings at the time of preoperative consultation. Self-reported and CBE-detected cancers were more likely to be of higher clinical stage compared with imaging-detected malignancies.
CONCLUSIONS
The role of routine CBE as a cancer detection modality in the high-risk patient population appears to be limited. Telemedicine can be offered to individuals who have completed screening imaging but are unable to commit and/or are inconvenienced by in-person high-risk breast cancer assessments.
PubMed: 38958807
DOI: 10.1245/s10434-024-15702-1 -
Lasers in Medical Science Jul 2024Despite the importance of self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG) for management of diabetes mellitus (DM), frequent blood sampling is discouraged by bleeding risk due to... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
PURPOSE
Despite the importance of self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG) for management of diabetes mellitus (DM), frequent blood sampling is discouraged by bleeding risk due to dual-antiplatelet agent therapy (DAPT) or thrombocytopenia.
METHODS
We compared the bleeding time (BT) of sampling by using a laser-lancing-device (LMT-1000) and a conventional lancet in patients with DM and thrombocytopenia or patients undergoing DAPT. BT was measured using the Duke method, and pain and satisfaction scores were assessed using numeric rating scale (NRS) and visual analog scale (VAS). The consistency in the values of glucose and glycated-hemoglobin (HbA1c) sampled using the LMT-1000 or lancet were compared.
RESULTS
The BT of sampling with the LMT-1000 was shorter than that with the lancet in patients with thrombocytopenia (60s vs. 85s, P = 0.024). The NRS was lower and the VAS was higher in laser-applied-sampling than lancet-applied sampling in the DAPT-user group (NRS: 1 vs. 2, P = 0.010; VAS: 7 vs. 6, P = 0.003), whereas the group with thrombocytopenia only showed improvement in the VAS score (8 vs. 7, P = 0.049). Glucose and HbA1c sampled by the LMT-1000 and lancet were significantly correlated in both the DAPT-user and the thrombocytopenia groups.
CONCLUSION
The LMT-1000 can promote SMBG by shortening BT in subject with thrombocytopenia and by increasing satisfaction score, as well as by showing reliable glucose and HbA1c value.
Topics: Humans; Female; Male; Aged; Middle Aged; Lasers; Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring; Blood Glucose; Hemorrhage; Glycated Hemoglobin; Blood Specimen Collection; Diabetes Mellitus; Thrombocytopenia; Capillaries; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors
PubMed: 38958779
DOI: 10.1007/s10103-024-04128-6 -
Environmental Geochemistry and Health Jul 2024Fluoride-enriched groundwater is a serious threat for groundwater supply around the world. The medium-low temperature fluoride-enriched geothermal groundwater resource...
Identifying the genetic mechanism of medium-low temperature fluoride-enriched geothermal groundwater by the self-organizing map and evaluating health risk in the Wugongshan area, southeast China.
Fluoride-enriched groundwater is a serious threat for groundwater supply around the world. The medium-low temperature fluoride-enriched geothermal groundwater resource is widely distributed in the circum-Wugongshan area. And the fluoride concentration of all geothermal samples exceeds the WHO permissible limit of 1.5 mg/L. The Self-Organizing Map method, hydrochemical and isotopic analysis are used to decipher the driving factors and genetic mechanism of fluoride-enriched geothermal groundwater. A total of 19 samples collected from the circum-Wugongshan geothermal belt are divided into four clusters by the self-organizing map. Cluster I, Cluster II, Cluster III, and Cluster IV represent the geothermal groundwater with the different degree of fluoride concentration pollution, the different hydrochemical type, and the physicochemical characteristic. The high F concentration geothermal groundwater is characterized by HCO-Na with alkalinity environment. The δD and δO values indicate that the geothermal groundwater origins from the atmospheric precipitation with the recharge elevation of 1000-2100 m. The dissolution of fluoride-bearing minerals is the main source of fluoride ions in geothermal water. Moreover, groundwater fluoride enrichment is also facilitated by water-rock interaction, cation exchange and alkaline environment. Additionally, the health risk assessment result reveals that the fluorine-enriched geothermal groundwater in the western part of Wugongshan area poses a more serious threat to human health than that of eastern part. The fluoride health risks of geothermal groundwater for different group show differentiation, 100% for children, 94.74% for adult females, and 68.42% for adult males, respectively. Compared with adult females and adult males, children faced the greatest health risks. The results of this study provide scientific evaluation for the utilization of geothermal groundwater and the protection of human health around the Wugongshan area.
Topics: Groundwater; Fluorides; China; Humans; Risk Assessment; Water Pollutants, Chemical; Female; Male; Child; Environmental Monitoring; Adult; Child, Preschool; Adolescent; Young Adult; Infant; Cold Temperature; Hot Springs
PubMed: 38958770
DOI: 10.1007/s10653-024-02058-4 -
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces Jul 2024Hydrogels, as flexible materials, have been widely used in the field of flexible sensors. Human sweat contains a variety of biomarkers that can reflect the physiological...
Hydrogels, as flexible materials, have been widely used in the field of flexible sensors. Human sweat contains a variety of biomarkers that can reflect the physiological state of the human body. Therefore, it is of great practical significance and application value to realize the detection of sweat composition and combine it with human motion sensing through a hydrogel. Based on mussel-inspired chemistry, polydopamine (PDA) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were coated on the surface of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) to obtain CNC-based nanocomposites (CNCs@PDA-Au), which could simultaneously enhance the mechanical, electrochemical, and self-healing properties of hydrogels. The CNCs@PDA-Au was composited with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel to obtain the nanocomposite hydrogel (PVA/CNCs@PDA-Au) by freeze-thaw cycles. The PVA/CNCs@PDA-Au has excellent mechanical strength (7.2 MPa) and self-healing properties (88.3%). The motion sensors designed with PVA/CNCs@PDA-Au exhibited a fast response time (122.9 ms), wide strain sensing range (0-600.0%), excellent stability, and fatigue resistance. With the unique electrochemical redox properties of uric acid, the designed hydrogel sensor successfully realized the detection of uric acid in sweat with a wide detection range (1.0-100.0 μmol/L) and low detection limit (0.42 μmol/L). In this study, the dual detection of human motion and uric acid in sweat was successfully realized by the designed PVA/CNCs@PDA-Au nanocomposite hydrogel.
PubMed: 38958653
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.4c07717 -
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces Jul 2024Isoporous membranes produced from diblock copolymers commonly display a poor mechanical property that shows many negative impacts on their separation application. It is...
Isoporous membranes produced from diblock copolymers commonly display a poor mechanical property that shows many negative impacts on their separation application. It is theoretically predicted that dense films produced from symmetric triblock copolymers show much stronger mechanical properties than those of homologous diblock copolymers. However, to the best of our knowledge, symmetric triblock copolymers have rarely been fabricated into isoporous membranes before, and a full understanding of separation as well as mechanical properties of membranes prepared from triblock copolymers and homologous diblock copolymers has not been conducted, either. In this work, a cleavable symmetric triblock copolymer with polystyrene as the side block and poly(4-vinylpyridine) (P4VP) as the middle block was synthesized and designed by the RAFT polymerization using the symmetric chain transfer agent, which located at the center of polymer chains and could be removed to produce homologous diblock copolymers with half-length while having the same composition as that found in triblock copolymers. The self-assembly of these two copolymers in thin films and casting solutions was first investigated, observing that they displayed similar self-organized structures under these two conditions. When fabricated into isoporous membranes, they showed similar pore sizes (5-7% difference) and comparable rejection performance (∼10% difference). However, isoporous membranes produced from triblock copolymers showed significantly improved mechanical strength and higher toughness (2-10 times larger) as evidenced by the compacting resistance, strain-stress determination, and nanoindentation testing, suggesting the unique and novel structure-performance relationship in the isoporous membranes produced from symmetric triblock copolymers. The above finding will guide the way to fabricate mechanically robust isoporous membranes without notably changing the separation performance from rarely used symmetric triblock copolymers, which can be synthesized by the controlled polymerization as facilely as that found for diblock copolymers.
PubMed: 38958638
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.4c07113 -
Journal of Perianesthesia Nursing :... Jul 2024To investigate the self-perceived functional health literacy (FHL) of patients who underwent advanced endoscopic treatment, explore whether FHL could explain aspects of...
PURPOSE
To investigate the self-perceived functional health literacy (FHL) of patients who underwent advanced endoscopic treatment, explore whether FHL could explain aspects of patients' perioperative experiences, and determine whether patients read the provided patient information.
DESIGN
A prospective cross-sectional explorative study.
METHODS
One hundred patients who underwent endoscopic bile duct intervention were enrolled and asked to answer the Swedish version of the FHL Scale and their perioperative experiences of the intervention. Along with procedural data, all data were analyzed for group comparisons; high or low FHL.
FINDINGS
The study included a total of 100 patients, with half of them rating their FHL as problematic or inadequate (low FHL). Among those who perceived their FHL as inadequate, a majority had not read the provided information before the procedure. Patients with problematic or inadequate FHL experienced perioperative anxiety and pain more frequently than those with sufficient FHL (high FHL).
CONCLUSIONS
This study supports previous research on the association between low FHL and patients' well-being. To better meet patients' information needs, it is crucial for nurse anesthetists and other health care providers to have knowledge about FHL. Additionally, the study highlights the importance of using alternative and more effective means of delivering information to patients.
PubMed: 38958625
DOI: 10.1016/j.jopan.2024.02.004 -
Chemistry (Weinheim An Der Bergstrasse,... Jul 2024Life on Earth uses DNA as the central template for self-replication, genetic encoding, and information transfer. However, there are no physical laws precluding life's...
Life on Earth uses DNA as the central template for self-replication, genetic encoding, and information transfer. However, there are no physical laws precluding life's existence elsewhere in space, and alternative life forms may not need DNA. In the search for exobiology, knowing what to look for as a biosignature remains a challenge-especially if it is not from the obvious list of biologic building blocks. Clues from chemicals recently discovered on Mars and in the Taurus Molecular Cloud 1 (TMC-1), show that intriguing organic compounds exist beyond Earth, which could provide a starting point for unconventional exobiotic designs. Here we present a new self-replicating system with structural similarities to recently discovered compounds on Mars and TMC-1. Rather than using DNA's hydrogen-bonding motif for reliable base-paring, our design employs sulfur-nitrogen interactions to selectively template unique benzothiadiazole units in sequence. We synthesized and studied two versions of this system, one reversible and the other irreversible, and found experimental evidence of self-replication in d-chloroform solvent. These results are part of a larger pursuit in our lab for developing a basis for a potential exobiological system using starting blocks closely related to these cosmic compounds.
PubMed: 38958604
DOI: 10.1002/chem.202401446