Age-specific differences in the association between prediabetes and cardiovascular diseases in China:A national cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND Cardiovascular disease(CVD)is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide,the global burden of which is rising.It is still unclear the extent to which prediabetes contributes to the risk of CVD in various age brackets among adults.To develop a focused screening plan and treatment for Chinese adults with prediabetes,it is crucial to identify variations in the connection between prediabetes and the risk of CVD based on age.AIM To examine the clinical features of prediabetes and identify risk factors for CVD in different age groups in China.METHODS The cross-sectional study involved a total of 46239 participants from June 2007 through May 2008.A thorough evaluation was conducted.Individuals with prediabetes were categorized into two groups based on age.Chinese atherosclerotic CVD risk prediction model was employed to evaluate the risk of developing CVD over 10 years.Random forest was established in both age groups.SHapley Additive exPlanation method prioritized the importance of features from the perspective of assessment contribution.RESULTS In total,6948 people were diagnosed with prediabetes in this study.In prediabetes,prevalences of CVD were 5(0.29%)in the younger group and 148(2.85%)in the older group.Overall,11.11%of the younger group and 29.59% of the older group were intermediate/high-risk of CVD for prediabetes without CVD based on the Prediction for ASCVD Risk in China equation in ten years.In the younger age group,the 10-year risk of CVD was found to be more closely linked to family history of CVD rather than lifestyle,whereas in the older age group,resident status was more closely linked.CONCLUSION The susceptibility to CVD is age-specific in newly diagnosed prediabetes.It is necessary to develop targeted approaches for the prevention and management of CVD in adults across various age brackets.

Real-Time 4-Mode MDM Transmission Using Commercial 400G OTN Transceivers and All-Fiber Mode Multiplexers

Weakly-coupled mode division multiplexing(MDM)technique is considered a promising candidate to enhance the capacity of an optical transmission system,in which mode multiplexers/demultiplexers(MMUX/MDEMUX)with low insertion loss and modal crosstalk are the key components.In this paper,a low-modal-crosstalk 4-mode MMUX/MDEMUX for the weakly-coupled triple-ring-core few-mode fiber(TRC-FMF)is designed and fabricated with side-polishing processing.The measurement results show that a pair of MMUX/MDEMUX and 25 km weakly-coupled TRC-FMF MDM link achieve low modal crosstalk of lower than−17.5 dB and insertion loss of lower than 11.56 dB for all the four modes.Based on the TRC-FMF and all-fiber MMUX/MDEMUX,an experiment for 25 km real-time 4-mode 3-λwavelength division multiplexing(WDM)-MDM transmission is conducted using commercial 400G optical transport network(OTN)transceivers.The experimental results prove weakly-coupled MDM techniques facilitate a smooth upgrade of the optical transmission system.

Mother-to-Child Transmission of Human Papillomavirus in Burkina Faso

Introduction: Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the most widespread sexually transmitted infection in the world. Today, there is growing evidence that HPV can be transmitted early in life, and one potential route is mother-to-child transmission. Data on this route of HPV transmission are scarce in Africa and particularly in Burkina Faso, where no data on the subject are yet available. The aim of our study was to estimate the rate of mother-to-child transmission of HPV infection and to identify circulating genotypes. Methodology: Cervico-uterine samples were collected from 100 full-term pregnant women and, buccal samples were obtained from their newborns at Hopital Saint Camille de Ouagadougou (HOSCO) by the specialist physician. HPV DNA amplification and genotyping were performed by PCR followed by hybridization using the HPV Direct Flow Chips kit, detecting 36 genotypes including 18 high-risk and 18 low-risk. Results: The prevalence of HPV in newborns was 8% (8/100). Six (6) HPV-positive neonates had HPV-positive mothers, while 2 HPV-positive neonates had HPV-negative mothers. The vertical transmission rate was 26.09% (6/23). Mother-newborn genotypes were concordant. However, the genotype profile of the newborns was more restricted than that of the mothers. Conclusion: HPV DNA was found in 8% of newborns in our study. The genotype profile of the mother-newborn pair was concordant. Asymptomatic HPV infection in a pregnant woman could constitute a risk factor for vertical transmission.

Effects of cross-Kerr coupling on transmission spectrum of double-cavity optomechanical system

We theoretically study the transmission spectrum of the cavity field in a double-cavity optomechanical system with cross-Kerr(CK) effect. The system consists of two tunneling coupling optomechanical cavities with a mechanical resonator as a coupling interface. By doping CK medium into the mechanical resonator, CK couplings between the cavity fields and the mechanical resonator are introduced. We investigate the effects of CK coupling strength on the transmission spectrum of the cavity field, including the transmission rate, nonreciprocity and four-wave mixing(FWM). We find that the transmission spectrum of the probe field can show two obvious transparent windows, which can be widened by increasing the CK coupling strength. For the transmission between the two cavity fields, the perfect nonreciprocity and reciprocity are present and modulated by CK coupling and phase difference between two effective optomechanical couplings. In addition, the effects of the optomechanical and CK couplings on FWM show that the single peak of FWM is split into three symmetrical peaks due to the introduction of the CK effect.

An Encode-and CRT-Based Scalability Scheme for Optimizing Transmission in Blockchain

Blockchain technology has witnessed a burgeoning integration into diverse realms of economic and societal development.Nevertheless,scalability challenges,characterized by diminished broadcast efficiency,heightened communication overhead,and escalated storage costs,have significantly constrained the broad-scale application of blockchain.This paper introduces a novel Encode-and CRT-based Scalability Scheme(ECSS),meticulously refined to enhance both block broadcasting and storage.Primarily,ECSS categorizes nodes into distinct domains,thereby reducing the network diameter and augmenting transmission efficiency.Secondly,ECSS streamlines block transmission through a compact block protocol and robust RS coding,which not only reduces the size of broadcasted blocks but also ensures transmission reliability.Finally,ECSS utilizes the Chinese remainder theorem,designating the block body as the compression target and mapping it to multiple modules to achieve efficient storage,thereby alleviating the storage burdens on nodes.To evaluate ECSS’s performance,we established an experimental platformand conducted comprehensive assessments.Empirical results demonstrate that ECSS attains superior network scalability and stability,reducing communication overhead by an impressive 72% and total storage costs by a substantial 63.6%.

Variational Learned Talking-Head Semantic Coded Transmission System

Video transmission requires considerable bandwidth,and current widely employed schemes prove inadequate when confronted with scenes featuring prominently.Motivated by the strides in talkinghead generative technology,the paper introduces a semantic transmission system tailored for talking-head videos.The system captures semantic information from talking-head video and faithfully reconstructs source video at the receiver,only one-shot reference frame and compact semantic features are required for the entire transmission.Specifically,we analyze video semantics in the pixel domain frame-by-frame and jointly process multi-frame semantic information to seamlessly incorporate spatial and temporal information.Variational modeling is utilized to evaluate the diversity of importance among group semantics,thereby guiding bandwidth resource allocation for semantics to enhance system efficiency.The whole endto-end system is modeled as an optimization problem and equivalent to acquiring optimal rate-distortion performance.We evaluate our system on both reference frame and video transmission,experimental results demonstrate that our system can improve the efficiency and robustness of communications.Compared to the classical approaches,our system can save over 90%of bandwidth when user perception is close.

Inferring Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Drug Resistance and Transmission using Whole-genome Sequencing in a High TB-burden Setting in China

Objective China is among the 30 countries with a high burden of tuberculosis(TB)worldwide,and TB remains a public health concern.Kashgar Prefecture in the southern Xinjiang Autonomous Region is considered as one of the highest TB burden regions in China.However,molecular epidemiological studies of Kashgar are lacking.Methods A population-based retrospective study was conducted using whole-genome sequencing(WGS)to determine the characteristics of drug resistance and the transmission patterns.Results A total of 1,668 isolates collected in 2020 were classified into lineages 2(46.0%),3(27.5%),and 4(26.5%).The drug resistance rates revealed by WGS showed that the top three drugs in terms of the resistance rate were isoniazid(7.4%,124/1,668),streptomycin(6.0%,100/1,668),and rifampicin(3.3%,55/1,668).The rate of rifampicin resistance was 1.8%(23/1,290)in the new cases and 9.4%(32/340)in the previously treated cases.Known resistance mutations were detected more frequently in lineage 2 strains than in lineage 3 or 4 strains,respectively:18.6%vs.8.7 or 9%,P<0.001.The estimated proportion of recent transmissions was 25.9%(432/1,668).Multivariate logistic analyses indicated that sex,age,occupation,lineage,and drug resistance were the risk factors for recent transmission.Despite the low rate of drug resistance,drug-resistant strains had a higher risk of recent transmission than the susceptible strains(adjusted odds ratio,1.414;95%CI,1.023–1.954;P=0.036).Among all patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis(DR-TB),78.4%(171/218)were attributed to the transmission of DR-TB strains.Conclusion Our results suggest that drug-resistant strains are more transmissible than susceptible strains and that transmission is the major driving force of the current DR-TB epidemic in Kashgar.

A Novel Fractional Dengue Transmission Model in the Presence of Wolbachia Using Stochastic Based Artificial Neural Network

The purpose of this research work is to investigate the numerical solutions of the fractional dengue transmission model(FDTM)in the presence of Wolbachia using the stochastic-based Levenberg-Marquardt neural network(LM-NN)technique.The fractional dengue transmission model(FDTM)consists of 12 compartments.The human population is divided into four compartments;susceptible humans(S_(h)),exposed humans(E_(h)),infectious humans(I_(h)),and recovered humans(R_(h)).Wolbachia-infected and Wolbachia-uninfected mosquito population is also divided into four compartments:aquatic(eggs,larvae,pupae),susceptible,exposed,and infectious.We investigated three different cases of vertical transmission probability(η),namely when Wolbachia-free mosquitoes persist only(η=0.6),when both types of mosquitoes persist(η=0.8),and when Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes persist only(η=1).The objective of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of Wolbachia in reducing dengue and presenting the numerical results by using the stochastic structure LM-NN approach with 10 hidden layers of neurons for three different cases of the fractional order derivatives(α=0.4,0.6,0.8).LM-NN approach includes a training,validation,and testing procedure to minimize the mean square error(MSE)values using the reference dataset(obtained by solving the model using the Adams-Bashforth-Moulton method(ABM).The distribution of data is 80% data for training,10% for validation,and,10% for testing purpose)results.A comprehensive investigation is accessible to observe the competence,precision,capacity,and efficiency of the suggested LM-NN approach by executing the MSE,state transitions findings,and regression analysis.The effectiveness of the LM-NN approach for solving the FDTM is demonstrated by the overlap of the findings with trustworthy measures,which achieves a precision of up to 10^(-4).

Dynamics of information diffusion and disease transmission in time-varying multiplex networks with asymmetric activity levels

While the interaction between information and disease in static networks has been extensively investigated,many studies have ignored the characteristics of network evolution.In this study,we construct a new two-layer coupling model to explore the interactions between information and disease.The upper layer describes the diffusion of disease-related information,and the lower layer represents the disease transmission.We then use power-law distributions to examine the influence of asymmetric activity levels on dynamic propagation,revealing a mapping relationship characterizing the interconnected propagation of information and diseases among partial nodes within the network.Subsequently,we derive the disease outbreak threshold by using the microscopic Markov-chain approach(MMCA).Finally,we perform extensive Monte Carlo(MC)numerical simulations to verify the accuracy of our theoretical results.Our findings indicate that the activity levels of individuals in the disease transmission layer have a more significant influence on disease transmission compared with the individual activity levels in the information diffusion layer.Moreover,reducing the damping factor can delay disease outbreaks and suppress disease transmission,while improving individual quarantine measures can contribute positively to disease control.This study provides valuable insights into policymakers for developing outbreak prevention and control strategies.

Characterization of local chemical ordering and deformation behavior in high entropy alloys by transmission electron microscopy

Short-range ordering(SRO)is one of the most important structural features of high entropy alloys(HEAs).However,the chemical and structural analyses of SROs are very difficult due to their small size,complexed compositions,and varied locations.Transmission electron microscopy(TEM)as well as its aberration correction techniques are powerful for characterizing SROs in these compositionally complex alloys.In this short communication,we summarized recent progresses regarding characterization of SROs using TEM in the field of HEAs.By using advanced TEM techniques,not only the existence of SROs was confirmed,but also the effect of SROs on the deformation mechanism was clarified.Moreover,the perspective related to application of TEM techniques in HEAs are also discussed.

Deep Learning-Based Secure Transmission Strategy with Sensor-Transmission-Computing Linkage for Power Internet of Things

The automatic collection of power grid situation information, along with real-time multimedia interaction between the front and back ends during the accident handling process, has generated a massive amount of power grid data. While wireless communication offers a convenient channel for grid terminal access and data transmission, it is important to note that the bandwidth of wireless communication is limited. Additionally, the broadcast nature of wireless transmission raises concerns about the potential for unauthorized eavesdropping during data transmission. To address these challenges and achieve reliable, secure, and real-time transmission of power grid data, an intelligent security transmission strategy with sensor-transmission-computing linkage is proposed in this paper. The primary objective of this strategy is to maximize the confidentiality capacity of the system. To tackle this, an optimization problem is formulated, taking into consideration interruption probability and interception probability as constraints. To efficiently solve this optimization problem, a low-complexity algorithm rooted in deep reinforcement learning is designed, which aims to derive a suboptimal solution for the problem at hand. Ultimately, through simulation results, the validity of the proposed strategy in guaranteed communication security, stability, and timeliness is substantiated. The results confirm that the proposed intelligent security transmission strategy significantly contributes to the safeguarding of communication integrity, system stability, and timely data delivery.

Probing the Nucleation and Growth Kinetics of Bismuth Nanoparticles via In-situ Transmission Electron Microscopy

The nucleation and growth mechanism of nanoparticles is an important theory,which can guide the preparation of nanomaterials.However,it is still lacking in direct observation on the details of the evolution of intermediate state structure during nucleation and growth.In this work,the evolution process of bismuth nanoparticles induced by electron beam was revealed by in-situ transmission electron microscopy(TEM)at atomic scale.The experimental results demonstrate that the size,stable surface and crystallographic defect have important influences on the growth of Bi nanoparticles.Two non-classical growth paths including single crystal growth and polycrystalline combined growth,as well as,corresponding layer-by-layer growth mechanism along{012}stable crystal plane of Bi nanoparticles with dodecahedron structure were revealed by in-situ TEM directly.These results provide important guidance and a new approach for in-depth understanding of the nucleation and growth kinetics of nanoparticles.

Experiences of Mothers on the Utilization of Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV Services at Mtendere Clinic, Lusaka

Introduction: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is one of the leading causes of mortality among women of reproductive age and Mother to Child Transmission of Human immunodeficiency virus is still a challenge affecting many countries. Globally, an estimation of 180,000 children under 15 years acquire the Human immunodeficiency virus every day, and more than 90% of those infections are due to Mother to Child Transmission. The study sought to explore the experiences of mothers on the Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission-HIV services at Mtendere Clinic, Lusaka. Materials and Methods: Qualitative interpretive phenomenology study design was employed using in-depth interviews to collect data from a sample that was selected using purposive sampling technique. Thirteen participants were recruited, and these were HIV-positive mothers at least between the ages of 15 and 49 years and enrolled in the Elimination of Mother To Child Transmission-HIV program. The in-depth interviews were audiotape recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data was analyzed using thematic method. Findings: Three main themes that emerged are;living with HIV, support system and barriers to utilization of Elimination of Mother To Child Transmission-HIV services. Most of the participants expressed having acquired knowledge from the program, and received counselling and support from spouses, family as well as health personnel at Mtendere health facility which culminated into a positive experience and enhanced their uptake of the Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission-HIV services. However, barriers to service utilization were identified and these included fear of stigma, negative attitudes from health workers, long waiting times, lack of support and lack of transport to the health facility. Conclusion: Interventions such as community awareness campaigns on Elimination of Mother To Child Transmission-HIV, male involvement and implementing mother-to-mother peer support strategies in Elimination of Mother To Child Transmission-HIV service utilization should be prioritized so as to alleviate stigma and enhancing a positive experience for these mothers thus reducing on the Mother to Child HIV Transmission burden and mortality rates.

Studying the co-evolution of information diffusion,vaccination behavior and disease transmission in multilayer networks with local and global effects

Today,with the rapid development of the internet,a large amount of information often accompanies the rapid transmission of disease outbreaks,and increasing numbers of scholars are studying the relationship between information and the disease transmission process using complex networks.In fact,the disease transmission process is very complex.Besides this information,there will often be individual behavioral measures and other factors to consider.Most of the previous research has aimed to establish a two-layer network model to consider the impact of information on the transmission process of disease,rarely divided into information and behavior,respectively.To carry out a more in-depth analysis of the disease transmission process and the intrinsic influencing mechanism,this paper divides information and behavior into two layers and proposes the establishment of a complex network to study the dynamic co-evolution of information diffusion,vaccination behavior,and disease transmission.This is achieved by considering four influential relationships between adjacent layers in multilayer networks.In the information layer,the diffusion process of negative information is described,and the feedback effects of local and global vaccination are considered.In the behavioral layer,an individual's vaccination behavior is described,and the probability of an individual receiving a vaccination is influenced by two factors:the influence of negative information,and the influence of local and global disease severity.In the disease layer,individual susceptibility is considered to be influenced by vaccination behavior.The state transition equations are derived using the micro Markov chain approach(MMCA),and disease prevalence thresholds are obtained.It is demonstrated through simulation experiments that the negative information diffusion is less influenced by local vaccination behavior,and is mainly influenced by global vaccination behavior;vaccination behavior is mainly influenced by local disease conditions,and is less influenced by global disease conditions;the disease transmission threshold increases with the increasing vaccination rate;and the scale of disease transmission increases with the increasing negative information diffusion rate and decreases with the increasing vaccination rate.Finally,it is found that when individual vaccination behavior considers both the influence of negative information and disease,it can increase the disease transmission threshold and reduce the scale of disease transmission.Therefore,we should resist the diffusion of negative information,increase vaccination proportions,and take appropriate protective measures in time.

Opportunities to Improve the Quality of Environmental Reports and the Effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment: A Case of Electric Power Transmission Systems in Brazil

A good quality Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is key for the effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) processes and consequently to the acceptability of projects subject to EIA. The international literature has contributed to the understanding of the essential aspects to be verified regarding the quality of EIS, offering a wide spectrum of good practice examples related to the content of the studies. Even so, there is a need for empirical studies that allow the identification of specific aspects related to the context of application of the EIS, which could lead to the identification of opportunities to improve both the quality of the reports and also the effectiveness of EIA. Therefore, the present paper is focused on the quality review of a number of EIS submitted to the Brazilian Federal Environmental Agency (Ibama) to instruct the assessment of electric power transmission systems. Based on the application of the EIS quality review package as proposed by Lee and Colley (1992), the outcomes reveal opportunities for improving the scope of EIA, analysis of alternatives, prediction of magnitude and the assessment of impact significance. Finally, the development and/or adaptation of a similar tool for the systematic review of the quality of EIA reports is recommended.

Study on sex differences and potential clinical value of threedimensional computerized tomography pelvimetry in rectal cancer patients

BACKGROUND Laparoscopic rectal cancer radical surgery is a complex procedure affected by various factors.However,the existing literature lacks standardized parameters for the pelvic region and soft tissues,which hampers the establishment of consistent conclusions.AIM To comprehensively assess 16 pelvic and 7 soft tissue parameters through computerized tomography(CT)-based three-dimensional(3D)reconstruction,providing a strong theoretical basis to address challenges in laparoscopic rectal cancer radical surgery.METHODS We analyzed data from 218 patients who underwent radical laparoscopic surgery for rectal cancer,and utilized CT data for 3D pelvic reconstruction.Specific anatomical points were carefully marked and measured using advanced 3D modeling software.To analyze the pelvic and soft tissue parameters,we emp-loyed statistical methods including paired sample t-tests,Wilcoxon rank-sum tests,and correlation analysis.RESULTS The investigation highlighted significant sex disparities in 14 pelvic bone parameters and 3 soft tissue parameters.Males demonstrated larger measurements in pelvic depth and overall curvature,smaller measurements in pelvic width,a larger mesorectal fat area,and a larger anterior-posterior abdominal diameter.By contrast,females exhibited wider pelvises,shallower depth,smaller overall curvature,and an increased amount of subcutaneous fat tissue.However,there were no significant sex differences observed in certain parameters such as sacral curvature height,superior pubococcygeal diameter,rectal area,visceral fat area,waist circumference,and transverse abdominal diameter.CONCLUSION The reconstruction of 3D CT data enabled accurate pelvic measurements,revealing significant sex differences in both pelvic and soft tissue parameters.This study design offer potential in predicting surgical difficulties and creating personalized surgical plans for male rectal cancer patients with a potentially“difficult pelvis”,ultimately improving surgical outcomes.Further research and utilization of these parameters could lead to enhanced surgical methods and patient care in laparoscopic rectal cancer radical surgery.

Optimal AP Deployment in Cell-Free Massive MIMO Systems with LoS/NLoS Transmissions:A Stochastic Geometry Approach

Cell-free massive multiple-input multipleoutput(MIMO)is a promising technology for future wireless communications,where a large number of distributed access points(APs)simultaneously serve all users over the same time-frequency resources.Since users and APs may locate close to each other,the line-of-sight(Lo S)transmission occurs more frequently in cell-free massive MIMO systems.Hence,in this paper,we investigate the cell-free massive MIMO system with Lo S and non-line-of-sight(NLo S)transmissions,where APs and users are both distributed according to Poisson point process.Using tools from stochastic geometry,we derive a tight lower bound for the user downlink achievable rate and we further obtain the energy efficiency(EE)by considering the power consumption on downlink payload transmissions and circuitry dissipation.Based on the analysis,the optimal AP density and AP antenna number that maximize the EE are obtained.It is found that compared with the previous work that only considers NLo S transmissions,the actual optimal AP density should be much smaller,and the maximized EE is actually much higher.

Keep in mind sex differences when prescribing psychotropic drugs

Women represent the majority of patients with psychiatric diagnoses and also the largest users of psychotropic drugs.There are inevitable differences in efficacy,side effects and long-term treatment response between men and women.Psychopharmacological research needs to develop adequately powered animal and human trials aimed to consider pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of central nervous system drugs in both male and female subjects.Healthcare professionals have the responsibility to prescribe sex-specific psychopharmacotherapies with a priority to differentiate between men and women in order to minimize adverse drugs reactions,to maximize therapeutic effectiveness and to provide personalized management of care.

The Transmission,Establishment and Cross-cultural Integration of Chinese Medicine in the Mainstream Healthcare,through the Eyes of a Generation of Visionaries and Pioneers

It has historically been very difficult to trace the history of the westward transmission of Chinese medicine through the accounts of its protagonists. Many of the early scholars such as Jack Worsley, Dick Van Buren, and Joe Goodman were reluctant to divulge information about the source of their knowledge, or their professional qualifications. Others, such as John Shen and Hong Yuan-bain were early 20th century immigrants who transmitted highly personalized versions of acupuncture and Chinese medicine to select disciples. Eventually, a new class of scholars appeared, including names such as Ted Kaptchuk, Peter Deadman, Nigel Wiseman, William Morris, Peter Eckman, John Mc Donald, Charles Buck, and the late Giovanni Maciocia who looked for answers back in China, developed translation methodologies and terminology, compiled the main textbooks currently in use at TCM colleges, overcame enormous scholastic adversity, developed courses and pursued the regulation and accreditation of TCM in various countries. This special issue synopsizes the path towards the global acculturation of TCM over the last 50 years, the main protagonists, the enormous accomplishments they have achieved for the profession, their philosophy, their clinical perspectives and visions for the future.

Three-dimensional analysis of age and sex differences in femoral head asphericity in asymptomatic hips in the United States

BACKGROUND The sphericity of the femoral head is a metric used to evaluate hip pathologies and is associated with the development of osteoarthritis and femoral-acetabular impingement.AIM To analyze the three-dimensional asphericity of the femoral head of asymptomatic pediatric hips.We hypothesized that femoral head asphericity will vary significantly between male and female pediatric hips and increase with age in both sexes.METHODS Computed tomography scans were obtained on 158 children and adolescents from a single institution in the United States(8-18 years;50%male)without hip pain.Proximal femoral measurements including the femoral head diameter,femoral head volume,residual volume,asphericity index,and local diameter difference were used to evaluate femoral head sphericity.RESULTS In both sexes,the residual volume increased by age(P<0.05).Despite significantly smaller femoral head size in older ages(>13 years)in females,there were no sex-differences in residual volume and aspherity index.There were no age-related changes in mean diameter difference in both sexes(P=0.07)with no significant sex-differences across different age groups(P=0.06).In contrast,there were significant increases in local aspherity(maximum diameter difference)across whole surface of the femoral head and all quadrants except the inferior regions in males(P=0.03).There were no sex-differences in maximum diameter difference at any regions and age group(P>0.05).Increased alpha angle was only correlated to increased mean diameter difference across overall surface of the femoral head(P=0.024).CONCLUSION There is a substantial localized asphericity in asymptomatic hips which increases with age in.While 2D measured alpha angle can capture overall asphericity of the femoral head,it may not be sensitive enough to represent regional asphericity patterns.