Psychosocial Stress Modifies the Acute Cardiac Health Effects of Traffic-Related Air Pollution

Previous studies have shown that exposure to black carbon(BC,a tracer of traffic-related air pollution)and psychosocial stress are both associated with adverse cardiac effects,but whether psychosocial stress could modify the cardiac effects of BC is unclear.To investigate the potential modifying effect of psychosocial stress on the associations between acute exposure to BC and typical cardiac health variables,real-time personal 24 h measurements were conducted in a repeated-measure study among adults with elevated blood pressure(high-risk group)and a panel study among normal adults(low-risk group)in China.Measured cardiac health variables included ST-segment depression events,heart rate,and heart rate variability(HRV)variables.Perceived Stress Scale,State Anxiety Inventory and Self-rating Depression Scale were used to assess the recent psychosocial stress status of the participants,and a composite stress index was established based on these scales.Generalized linear mixed-effects model was used to analyze the associations between BC exposure and cardiac health variables and potential effect modification by psychosocial stress.A total of 9724 h measurements among 97 participants in the repeated-measure study and 20224 h measurements among 87 participants in the panel study were included in the final analysis.Acute BC exposure was significantly associated with increased ST-segment depression events and heart rate and decreases in HRV in both studies.The marginal effects of acute BC exposure on most cardiac health variables generally tended to be amplified under higher vs low levels of psychosocial stress in both studies,with the composite stress index apparently modifying the associations of BC exposure with most ST-segment depression events and HRV variables.These findings suggest that psychosocial stress may increase the participants’cardiac susceptibility to BC exposure,which could be helpful for the identification of susceptible individuals in the context of traffic-related air pollution.

Engineering oxygen vacancies in hierarchically Li-rich layered oxide porous microspheres for high-rate lithium ion battery cathode

Lithium-rich layered oxides always suffer from low initial Coulombic efficiency,poor rate capability and rapid voltage fading.Herein,engineering oxygen vacancies in hierarchically Li1.2Mn0.54Ni0.13Co0.13O2 porous microspheres(L@S)is carried out to suppress the formation of irreversible Li20 during the initial discharge process and improve the Li+diffusion kinetics and structural stability of the cathode mateiral.As a result,the prepared L@S cathode delivers high initial Coulombic efficiency of 92.3%and large specific capacity of 292.6 mA h g^-1 at 0.1 C.More importantly,a large reversible capacity of 222 mA h g^-1 with a capacity retention of95.7%can be obtained after 100 cycles at 10 C.Even cycled at ultrahigh rate of 20 C,the L@S cathode can deliver stable reversible capacity of 153 mA h g^-1 after 100 cycles.Moreover,the full cell using L@S as cathode and Li4 Ti5 O12 as anode exhibits a relatively high reversible capacity of 141 mA h g^-1 with an outstanding voltage retention of 97%after 400 cycles at a large current density of 3 C.These results may shed light on the improvement of electrochemical performances of lithiumrich layered oxides via the multiscale coordinated design based on atomic defects,microstructure and composition.

Routing valley exciton emission of a WS_(2) monolayer via delocalized Bloch modes of in-plane inversion-symmetry-broken photonic crystal slabs

The valleys of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides(TMDCs)offer a new degree of freedom for information processing.To take advantage of this valley degree of freedom,on the one hand,it is feasible to control valleys by utilizing different external stimuli,such as optical and electric fields.On the other hand,nanostructures are also used to separate the valleys by near-field coupling.However,for both of the above methods,either the required low-temperature environment or low degree of coherence properties limit their further applications.Here,we demonstrate that all-dielectric photonic crystal(PhC)slabs without in-plane inversion symmetry(C_(2) symmetry)can separate and route valley exciton emission of a WS2 monolayer at room temperature.Coupling with circularly polarized photonic Bloch modes of such PhC slabs,valley photons emitted by a WS_(2) monolayer are routed directionally and are efficiently separated in the far field.In addition,far-field emissions are directionally enhanced and have long-distance spatial coherence properties.

Epidemiological survey and genetic characterization of type 3 vaccine-derived poliovirus isolated from a patient with four doses of inactivated polio vaccine in Henan Province,China

Background:Vaccine-derived poliovirus(VDPV)is a potential threat to polio eradication because they can reintroduce into the general population and cause paralytic polio outbreaks,a phenomenon that has recently emerged as a prominent public health concern at the end of global polio eradication.This study aimed to describe the epidemiology and genetic characteristics of the frst VDPV identifed from a patient with acute faccid paralysis(AFP),with four doses of inactivated polio vaccine immunization in Henan Province,China in 2017.Methods:The patient was diagnosed with type 3 VDPV.Subsequently,a series of epidemiological approaches was implemented,including a retrospective search of AFP cases,rate of vaccination assessment,study of contacts,and supplementary immunization activities.Fecal samples were collected,viral isolation was performed,and the viral isolates were characterized using full-length genomic sequencing and bioinformatic analysis.Results:Phylogenetic analysis showed that the viral isolates from the patient were diferent from other reported genetic clusters of type 3 VDPV worldwide.They were identifed as a Sabin 3/Sabin 1 recombinant VDPV with a crossover site in the P2 region.Nucleotide substitutions,including U→C(472)and C→U(2493),have been identifed,both of which are frequently observed as reversion mutations in neurovirulent type 3 poliovirus.A unique aspect of this case is that the patient had been vaccinated with four doses of inactive polio vaccine,and the serum neutralizing antibody for Sabin types 1 and 3 were 1∶16 and 1∶512,respectively.Thus,the patient was speculated to have been infected with type 3 VDPV,and the virus continued to replicate and be excreted for at least 41 d.Conclusions:The existence of this kind of virus in human population is a serious risk and poses a severe challenge in maintaining a polio-free status in China.To the best of our knowledge,this is the frst report of VDPV identifed in the Henan province of China.Our results highlight the importance of maintaining a high-level vaccination rate and highly sensitive AFP case surveillance system in intercepting VDPV transmission.