| 1. |
- Li, Xinxuan, et al.
(författare)
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Genetically predicted high IGF-1 levels showed protective effects on COVID-19 susceptibility and hospitalization : a Mendelian randomisation study with data from 60 studies across 25 countries
- 2022
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Ingår i: eLIFE. - : eLife Sciences Publications Ltd. - 2050-084X. ; 11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Epidemiological studies observed gender differences in COVID-19 outcomes, however, whether sex hormone plays a causal in COVID-19 risk remains unclear. This study aimed to examine associations of sex hormone, sex hormones-binding globulin (SHBG), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), and COVID-19 risk. Methods: Two-sample Mendelian randomization (TSMR) study was performed to explore the causal associations between testosterone, estrogen, SHBG, IGF-1, and the risk of COVID-19 (susceptibility, hospitalization, and severity) using genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary level data from the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative (N=1,348,701). Random-effects inverse variance weighted (IVW) MR approach was used as the primary MR method and the weighted median, MR-Egger, and MR Pleiotropy RESidual Sum and Outlier (MR-PRESSO) test were conducted as sensitivity analyses. Results: Higher genetically predicted IGF-1 levels have nominally significant association with reduced risk of COVID-19 susceptibility and hospitalization. For one standard deviation increase in genetically predicted IGF-1 levels, the odds ratio was 0.77 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.61-0.97, p=0.027) for COVID-19 susceptibility, 0.62 (95% CI: 0.25-0.51, p=0.018) for COVID-19 hospitalization, and 0.85 (95% CI: 0.52-1.38, p=0.513) for COVID-19 severity. There was no evidence that testosterone, estrogen, and SHBG are associated with the risk of COVID-19 susceptibility, hospitalization, and severity in either overall or sex-stratified TSMR analysis. Conclusions: Our study indicated that genetically predicted high IGF-1 levels were associated with decrease the risk of COVID-19 susceptibility and hospitalization, but these associations did not survive the Bonferroni correction of multiple testing. Further studies are needed to validate the findings and explore whether IGF-1 could be a potential intervention target to reduce COVID-19 risk.
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| 2. |
- Yang, Mei Jie, et al.
(författare)
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Expression and activity of critical digestive enzymes during early larval development of the veined rapa whelk, Rapana venosa (Valenciennes, 1846)
- 2020
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Ingår i: Aquaculture. - : Elsevier BV. - 0044-8486. ; 519
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Metamorphosis is a vital developmental event in the life cycle of molluscs and involves extensive morphological and physiological changes. Remodeling of the digestive system is suggested to occur anticipatorily to enable the larva to shift its diet (from filter feeding on microalgae to feeding on small bivalves) after metamorphosis. Changes in the profiles and activities of digestive enzymes, the main executors of digestion, can reflect substantial remodeling of the digestive system. Artificial aquaculture of Rapana venosa, an important commercial shellfish in China, has been hampered because the transition of its food habit during metamorphosis makes determining the timing and dose for bait regulation difficult. In the present study, full-length cDNA sequences encoding cellulase and trypsin were characterized, and cellulase and trypsin mRNA expression levels were analyzed. Additionally, patterns in the activities of six digestive enzymes, including trypsin and cellulase, were investigated throughout the early developmental stage of R. venosa. In the present study, the full-length cDNA of the cellulase gene, comprising 2,086 bp, was found to contain a 1,719-bp open reading frame encoding 572 amino acids, and the full-length cDNA of the trypsin gene was found to be 1,587 bp in length and contained an 855-bp open reading frame encoding 284 amino acids. Quantitative real-time PCR showed that the cellulase levels in R. venosa increased beginning at the early intramembrane veliger stage, whereas cellulase activity was significantly increased in the one-spiral whorl stage. The mRNA expression and activity of trypsin were greatly increased in the juvenile stage (postlarva), whereas those of cellulase were decreased during this stage, which indicated functional changes in the digestive system during larval food habit transition. Our results showed that remodeling of the digestive system occurs prior to metamorphosis and suggest that animal bait should be provided as early as possible to R. venosa in the four-spiral whorl stage to meet its nutritional requirements for the development of its digestive system and to ensure successful metamorphosis of competent larvae.
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| 3. |
- Zhang, Rongqi, et al.
(författare)
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Field Synopsis of Environmental and Genetic Risk Factors of Sporadic Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer and Advanced Adenoma
- 2023
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Ingår i: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. - : American Association For Cancer Research (AACR). - 1055-9965 .- 1538-7755. ; 32:8, s. 1048-1060
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: To systematically appraise and synthesize avail-able epidemiologic evidence on the associations of environmental and genetic factors with the risk of sporadic early-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC) and early-onset advanced colorectal adenoma (EOCRA).Methods: Multiple databases were comprehensively searched to identify eligible observational studies. Genotype data from UK Biobank were incorporated to examine their associations with EOCRC in a nested case-control design. Meta-analyses of envi-ronmental risk factors were performed, and the strength of evidence was graded based on predefined criteria. Meta-analyses of genetic associations were conducted using the allelic, recessive, and dom-inant models, respectively.Results: A total of 61 studies were included, reporting 120 environmental factors and 62 genetic variants. We found 12 risk factors (current overweight, overweight in adolescence, high waist circumference, smoking, alcohol, sugary beverages intake, seden-tary behavior, red meat intake, family history of colorectal cancer, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and metabolic syndrome) and three protective factors (vitamin D, folate, and calcium intake) for EOCRC or EOCRA. No significant associations between the exam-ined genetic variants and EOCRC risk were observed.Conclusions: Recent data indicate that the changing patterns of traditional colorectal cancer risk factors may explain the rising incidence of EOCRC. However, research on novel risk factors for EOCRC is limited; therefore, we cannot rule out the possibility of EOCRC having different risk factors than late-onset colorectal cancer (LOCRC).Impact: The potential for the identified risk factors to enhance the identification of at-risk groups for personalized EOCRC screen-ing and prevention and for the prediction of EOCRC risk should be comprehensively addressed by future studies.
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| 4. |
- Chen, Xie, et al.
(författare)
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Climate change impacts on global photovoltaic variability
- 2024
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Ingår i: Applied Energy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0306-2619 .- 1872-9118. ; 374
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The anticipated increase in the frequency of extreme weather events and the growing photovoltaic (PV) penetration in the energy system raise concerns about future variability in PV power generation. However, future changes in global PV variability based on the CMIP6 still remain uncertain. To fill this gap, data from 16 state-of-art CMIP6 models were employed to analyze trends in both PV power generation and variability for 2025–2100 under low, medium, and high greenhouse gas emission scenarios. A multivariate bias correction algorithm (MBCn) was used to calibrate CMIP6 data, with reanalysis data - ERA5 serving as the benchmark. Additionally, the impact of meteorological factors were examined. The results indicate that under the low emission scenario, global PV power generation shows a slight increase, while the other two scenarios exhibit decreasing trends. In terms of PV variability, changes are correlated with latitude, with high-latitude regions more likely to face higher fluctuations, leading to an additional approximately 16% of low-power days by 2100 under the high emission scenario. Furthermore, over two-thirds of the land area experiences a decrease in PV power generation along with increased variability under the high emission scenario, approximately 8 times higher than the low emission scenario. Considering the impact of meteorological factors, removing days with extreme high and low solar irradiance increases stability by about 23%. However, eliminating days with extreme high and low temperature worsens stability, revealing that global warming reduces variability to some extent due to the opposing effects of temperature and irradiance on PV power generation. This study highlights the consequences of climate change on PV power generation variability, providing valuable insights for PV installation planning, especially for countries at higher latitudes.
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| 5. |
- GUAN, WEN, et al.
(författare)
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Frequency tuning behaviour of terahertz quantum cascade lasers revealed by a laser beating scheme
- 2021
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Ingår i: Optics Express. - 1094-4087 .- 1094-4087. ; 29:14, s. 21269-21279
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the terahertz frequency range, the commercialized spectrometers, such as the Fourier transform infrared and time domain spectroscopies, show spectral resolutions between a hundred megahertz and a few gigahertz. Therefore, the high precision frequency tuning ability of terahertz lasers cannot be revealed by these traditional spectroscopic techniques. In this work, we demonstrate a laser beating experiment to investigate the frequency tuning characteristics of terahertz quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) induced by temperature or drive current. Two terahertz QCLs emitting around 4.2 THz with identical active regions and laser dimensions (150 μm wide and 6 mm long) are employed in the beating experiment. One laser is operated as a frequency comb and the other one is driven at a lower current to emit a single frequency. To measure the beating signal, the single mode laser is used as a fast detector (laser self-detection). The laser beating scheme allows the high precision measurement of the frequency tuning of the single mode terahertz QCL. The experimental results show that in the investigated temperature and current ranges, the frequency tuning coefficients of the terahertz QCL are 6.1 MHz/0.1 K (temperature tuning) and 2.7 MHz/mA (current tuning) that cannot be revealed by a traditional terahertz spectrometer. The laser beating technique shows potential abilities in high precision linewidth measurements of narrow absorption lines and multi-channel terahertz communications.
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| 6. |
- Jiang, Ruijie, et al.
(författare)
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Substantial increase in future fluvial flood risk projected in China’s major urban agglomerations
- 2023
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Ingår i: Communications Earth and Environment. - 2662-4435. ; 4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Urban land will face high fluvial flood risk against the background of climate change and urban expansion. The effect of urban spatial expansion, instead of densification of assets within existing urban cells, on flood risk has rarely been reported. Here, we project the future flood risk of seven urban agglomerations in China, home to over 750 million people. The inundated urban land areas in the future are projected to be 4 to 19 times that at present. Without considering the urban spatial expansion, the inundated urban land areas will be underestimated by 10-50%. Urban land is more likely to be inundated than non-urban land, and the newly-developed urban land will be inundated more easily than the historical urban land. The results demonstrate the urgency of integrating climate change mitigation, reasonable urban land expansion, and increased flood protection levels to minimize the flood risk in urban land.
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| 7. |
- Li, Junhao, et al.
(författare)
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Full-color enhanced second harmonic generation using rainbow trapping in ultrathin hyperbolic metamaterials
- 2021
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Nature. - 2041-1723. ; 12:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Though metamaterials enhance nonlinear light-matter interactions due to their resonant features, these materials typically show a narrow spectral bandwidth. Here, the authors report broadband enhanced second-harmonic generation in patterned multilayer hyperbolic metamaterial arrays. Metasurfaces have provided a promising approach to enhance the nonlinearity at subwavelength scale, but usually suffer from a narrow bandwidth as imposed by sharp resonant features. Here, we counterintuitively report a broadband, enhanced second-harmonic generation, in nanopatterned hyperbolic metamaterials. The nanopatterning allows the direct access of the mode with large momentum, rendering the rainbow light trapping, i.e. slow light in a broad frequency, and thus enhancing the local field intensity for boosted nonlinear light-matter interactions. For a proof-of-concept demonstration, we fabricated a nanostructured Au/ZnO multilayer, and enhanced second harmonic generation can be observed within the visible wavelength range (400-650 nm). The enhancement factor is over 50 within the wavelength range of 470-650 nm, and a maximum conversion efficiency of 1.13x10(-6) is obtained with a pump power of only 8.80 mW. Our results herein offer an effective and robust approach towards the broadband metasurface-based nonlinear devices for various important technologies.
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| 8. |
- Luo, Yifei, et al.
(författare)
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Technology Roadmap for Flexible Sensors
- 2023
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Ingår i: ACS Nano. - : American Chemical Society. - 1936-0851 .- 1936-086X. ; 17:6, s. 5211-5295
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Humans rely increasingly on sensors to address grand challenges and to improve quality of life in the era of digitalization and big data. For ubiquitous sensing, flexible sensors are developed to overcome the limitations of conventional rigid counterparts. Despite rapid advancement in bench-side research over the last decade, the market adoption of flexible sensors remains limited. To ease and to expedite their deployment, here, we identify bottlenecks hindering the maturation of flexible sensors and propose promising solutions. We first analyze challenges in achieving satisfactory sensing performance for real-world applications and then summarize issues in compatible sensor-biology interfaces, followed by brief discussions on powering and connecting sensor networks. Issues en route to commercialization and for sustainable growth of the sector are also analyzed, highlighting environmental concerns and emphasizing nontechnical issues such as business, regulatory, and ethical considerations. Additionally, we look at future intelligent flexible sensors. In proposing a comprehensive roadmap, we hope to steer research efforts towards common goals and to guide coordinated development strategies from disparate communities. Through such collaborative efforts, scientific breakthroughs can be made sooner and capitalized for the betterment of humanity.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Qi, Nan, et al.
(författare)
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A Task-Driven Sequential Overlapping Coalition Formation Game for Resource Allocation in Heterogeneous UAV Networks
- 2023
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Ingår i: IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing. - : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). - 1536-1233 .- 1558-0660. ; 22:8, s. 4439-4455
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A heterogeneous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) network where UAVs carrying different resources form coalition and cooperatively carry out tasks is of crucial importance for fulfilling diverse tasks. However, the existing coalition formation (CF) game model only optimizes the composition of UAVs in a single coalition, which results in disjoined coalitions. In order to tackle this issue, a sequential overlapping coalition formation (OCF) game is proposed by considering the overlapping and complementary relations of resource properties and the task execution order. Moreover, different from the Pareto and selfish orders, a bilateral mutual benefit transfer (BMBT) order is proposed to optimize the cooperative task resource allocation through partial cooperation among overlapping coalition members. Furthermore, using the preference relation between UAVs carrying resources and tasks requiring the same type of resource, a preference gravity-guided tabu search (PGG-TS) algorithm is developed to obtain a stable coalition structure. Numerical results verify that the proposed PGG-TS algorithm increases the average utility of tasks by 12.5% and 38.5% compared with the split-merge preferred OCF algorithm and non-overlapping CF algorithm, respectively. The utility of the proposed BMBT order increases by 25.1% and 34.3% compared with selfish and Pareto orders, respectively.
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