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| 2. |
- Lin, Weili, et al.
(author)
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A superluminous supernova lightened by collisions with pulsational pair-instability shells
- 2023
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In: Nature Astronomy. - 2397-3366. ; 7:7, s. 779-789
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Superluminous supernovae are among the most energetic stellar explosions in the Universe, but their energy sources remain an open question. Here we present long-term observations of one of the closest examples of the hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae subclass SLSNe-I, supernova SN 2017egm, revealing the most complicated known luminosity evolution of SLSNe-I. Three distinct post-peak bumps were recorded in its light curve collected at about 100–350 days after maximum brightness, challenging current popular power models such as magnetar, fallback accretion, and interaction between ejecta and a circumstellar shell. However, the complex light curve can be well modelled by successive interactions with multiple circumstellar shells with a total mass of about 6.8–7.7 M⊙. In this scenario, large energy deposition from interaction-induced reverse shocks results in ionization of neutral oxygen in the supernova ejecta and hence a much lower nebular-phase line ratio of [O I] λ6,300/([Ca II] + [O II]) λ7,300 (~0.2) compared with that derived for other superluminous and normal stripped-envelope supernovae. The pre-existing multiple shells indicate that the progenitor of SN 2017egm experienced pulsational mass ejections triggered by pair instability within 2 years before explosion, in robust agreement with theoretical predictions for a pre-pulsation helium-core mass of 48–51 M⊙.
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| 3. |
- Bentham, James, et al.
(author)
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A century of trends in adult human height
- 2016
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In: eLIFE. - 2050-084X. ; 5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Being taller is associated with enhanced longevity, and higher education and earnings. We reanalysed 1472 population-based studies, with measurement of height on more than 18.6 million participants to estimate mean height for people born between 1896 and 1996 in 200 countries. The largest gain in adult height over the past century has occurred in South Korean women and Iranian men, who became 20.2 cm (95% credible interval 17.522.7) and 16.5 cm (13.319.7) taller, respectively. In contrast, there was little change in adult height in some sub-Saharan African countries and in South Asia over the century of analysis. The tallest people over these 100 years are men born in the Netherlands in the last quarter of 20th century, whose average heights surpassed 182.5 cm, and the shortest were women born in Guatemala in 1896 (140.3 cm; 135.8144.8). The height differential between the tallest and shortest populations was 19-20 cm a century ago, and has remained the same for women and increased for men a century later despite substantial changes in the ranking of countries.
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| 4. |
- Bentham, James, et al.
(author)
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A century of trends in adult human height
- 2016
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In: eLIFE. - : eLife Sciences Publications Ltd. - 2050-084X. ; 5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Being taller is associated with enhanced longevity, and higher education and earnings. We reanalysed 1472 population-based studies, with measurement of height on more than 18.6 million participants to estimate mean height for people born between 1896 and 1996 in 200 countries. The largest gain in adult height over the past century has occurred in South Korean women and Iranian men, who became 20.2 cm (95% credible interval 17.5–22.7) and 16.5 cm (13.3– 19.7) taller, respectively. In contrast, there was little change in adult height in some sub-Saharan African countries and in South Asia over the century of analysis. The tallest people over these 100 years are men born in the Netherlands in the last quarter of 20th century, whose average heights surpassed 182.5 cm, and the shortest were women born in Guatemala in 1896 (140.3 cm; 135.8– 144.8). The height differential between the tallest and shortest populations was 19-20 cm a century ago, and has remained the same for women and increased for men a century later despite substantial changes in the ranking of countries.
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| 6. |
- Zhou, Bin, et al.
(author)
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Worldwide trends in diabetes since 1980: A pooled analysis of 751 population-based studies with 4.4 million participants
- 2016
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In: The Lancet. - : Elsevier B.V.. - 0140-6736 .- 1474-547X. ; 387:10027, s. 1513-1530
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: One of the global targets for non-communicable diseases is to halt, by 2025, the rise in the age standardised adult prevalence of diabetes at its 2010 levels. We aimed to estimate worldwide trends in diabetes, how likely it is for countries to achieve the global target, and how changes in prevalence, together with population growth and ageing, are aff ecting the number of adults with diabetes.Methods: We pooled data from population-based studies that had collected data on diabetes through measurement of its biomarkers. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends in diabetes prevalence-defined as fasting plasma glucose of 7.0 mmol/L or higher, or history of diagnosis with diabetes, or use of insulin or oral hypoglycaemic drugs-in 200 countries and territories in 21 regions, by sex and from 1980 to 2014. We also calculated the posterior probability of meeting the global diabetes target if post-2000 trends continue.Findings: We used data from 751 studies including 4372000 adults from 146 of the 200 countries we make estimates for. Global age-standardised diabetes prevalence increased from 4.3% (95% credible interval 2.4-17.0) in 1980 to 9.0% (7.2-11.1) in 2014 in men, and from 5.0% (2.9-7.9) to 7.9% (6.4-9.7) in women. The number of adults with diabetes in the world increased from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014 (28.5% due to the rise in prevalence, 39.7% due to population growth and ageing, and 31.8% due to interaction of these two factors). Age-standardised adult diabetes prevalence in 2014 was lowest in northwestern Europe, and highest in Polynesia and Micronesia, at nearly 25%, followed by Melanesia and the Middle East and north Africa. Between 1980 and 2014 there was little change in age-standardised diabetes prevalence in adult women in continental western Europe, although crude prevalence rose because of ageing of the population. By contrast, age-standardised adult prevalence rose by 15 percentage points in men and women in Polynesia and Micronesia. In 2014, American Samoa had the highest national prevalence of diabetes (>30% in both sexes), with age-standardised adult prevalence also higher than 25% in some other islands in Polynesia and Micronesia. If post-2000 trends continue, the probability of meeting the global target of halting the rise in the prevalence of diabetes by 2025 at the 2010 level worldwide is lower than 1% for men and is 1% for women. Only nine countries for men and 29 countries for women, mostly in western Europe, have a 50% or higher probability of meeting the global target.Interpretation: Since 1980, age-standardised diabetes prevalence in adults has increased, or at best remained unchanged, in every country. Together with population growth and ageing, this rise has led to a near quadrupling of the number of adults with diabetes worldwide. The burden of diabetes, both in terms of prevalence and number of adults aff ected, has increased faster in low-income and middle-income countries than in high-income countries.
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| 7. |
- Donahue, Manus J, et al.
(author)
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Consensus statement on current and emerging methods for the diagnosis and evaluation of cerebrovascular disease
- 2018
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In: Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism. - 1559-7016. ; 38:9, s. 1391-1417
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Cerebrovascular disease (CVD) remains a leading cause of death and the leading cause of adult disability in most developed countries. This work summarizes state-of-the-art, and possible future, diagnostic and evaluation approaches in multiple stages of CVD, including (i) visualization of sub-clinical disease processes, (ii) acute stroke theranostics, and (iii) characterization of post-stroke recovery mechanisms. Underlying pathophysiology as it relates to large vessel steno-occlusive disease and the impact of this macrovascular disease on tissue-level viability, hemodynamics (cerebral blood flow, cerebral blood volume, and mean transit time), and metabolism (cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen consumption and pH) are also discussed in the context of emerging neuroimaging protocols with sensitivity to these factors. The overall purpose is to highlight advancements in stroke care and diagnostics and to provide a general overview of emerging research topics that have potential for reducing morbidity in multiple areas of CVD.
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| 8. |
- Lin, Jing, et al.
(author)
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Association of time spent in outdoor light and genetic susceptibility with the risk of type 2 diabetes
- 2023
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In: Science of the Total Environment. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 888
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To explore the joint association of time spent in outdoor light and genetic susceptibility with the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). A total of 395,809 individuals of European ancestry with diabetes-free at baseline in the UK Biobank were in-cluded. Time spent in outdoor light on a typical day in summer or winter was obtained from the questionnaire. T2D genetic risk was quantified via the polygenic risk score (PRS) and divided into three levels based on tertiles (lower, in-termediate, and higher). T2D cases were ascertained according to the hospital records of diagnoses. After the median follow-up of 12.55 years, the association of outdoor light time and T2D risk demonstrated a nonlinear (J-shaped) trend. Compared to individuals with an average of 1.5-2.5 h/day of outdoor light, individuals who spent <1.5 h/ day or >2.5 h/day in outdoor light both had an elevated risk of T2D, and the risk of T2D related to <1.5 h/day outdoor light time was much higher (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.10, 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 1.06 to 1.15). After combining with PRS, in comparison with the lower PRS - average 1.5-2.5 h/day outdoor light group (reference), the higher PRS - <1.5 h/day outdoor light group had the highest T2D risk (HR = 2.74, 95 % CI: 2.55 to 2.94), the higher PRS - >2.5 h/ day outdoor light group also had a higher risk of T2D (HR = 2.58, 95 % CI: 2.43 to 2.74). The interaction between average outdoor light time and genetic susceptibility for T2D was statistically significant (Paverage for interaction <0.001). We found that optimal outdoor light time may modify the genetic risk for T2D. This suggests the T2D risk related to genetic factors could be prevented by spending optimal outdoor light time.
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| 9. |
- Sai, Hanna, et al.
(author)
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Observations of the very young Type Ia Supernova 2019np with early-excess emission
- 2022
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 514:3, s. 3541-3558
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Early-time radiative signals from Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) can provide important constraints on the explosion mechanism and the progenitor system. We present observations and analysis of SN 2019np, a nearby SN Ia discovered within 1–2 days after the explosion. Follow-up observations were conducted in optical, ultraviolet, and near-infrared bands, covering the phases from ∼−16.7 d to ∼+ 367.8 d relative to its B-band peak luminosity. The photometric and spectral evolutions of SN 2019np resemble the average behaviour of normal SNe Ia. The absolute B-band peak magnitude and the post-peak decline rate are Mmax(B) = −19.52 ± 0.47 mag and Δm15(B) = 1.04 ± 0.04 mag, respectively. No Hydrogen line has been detected in the nebular-phase spectra of SN 2019np. Assuming that the 56Ni powering the light curve is centrally located, we find that the bolometric light curve of SN 2019np shows a flux excess up to 5.0 per cent in the early phase compared to the radiative diffusion model. Such an extra radiation perhaps suggests the presence of an additional energy source beyond the radioactive decay of central nickel. Comparing the observed colour evolution with that predicted by different models, such as interactions of SN ejecta with circumstellar matter (CSM)/companion star, a double-detonation explosion from a sub-Chandrasekhar mass white dwarf (WD) and surface 56Ni mixing, we propose that the nickel mixing is more favoured for SN 2019np.
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| 10. |
- Sheng, Weili, et al.
(author)
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Design matters: New insights on optimizing energy consumption for residential buildings
- 2021
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In: Energy and Buildings. - : Elsevier BV. - 0378-7788. ; 242
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this paper, we construct a unique database for 1228 residential buildings in Hong Kong to investigate how the spatial features of these residential buildings affect the electricity consumption in the communal area. We choose Hong Kong for this analysis as the city owns a large number of standard-type residential buildings managed by the public institution, which could be affected strongly by environmental policies. Both the machine learning method, based on the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO), and econometric regressions are adopted to analyse the data. We first utilize the machine learning LASSO technique to identify the most relevant factors for the subsequent econometric analysis. Our results show that the electricity demand for relatively low consumption building types, such as Twin Tower, is 6% lower than that of the high consumption building types. Newly constructed buildings usually belong to the medium consumption types, with the estimated monthly electricity consumption per apartment in communal areas to be around 50.2 kWh on average in 2020. These findings shed light on the nexus between spatial features and energy use for complex buildings, potentially contributing to the better crafting of energy-saving policy and the improvement of residential building programmes.
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| 11. |
- Yang, Rongrong, et al.
(author)
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A low-inflammatory diet is associated with a lower incidence of diabetes : role of diabetes-related genetic risk
- 2023
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In: BMC Medicine. - 1741-7015. ; 21:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Whether a low-inflammatory diet relates to type 2 diabetes risk remains unclear. We examined the association between a low-inflammatory diet and risk of type 2 diabetes among normoglycemic and prediabetic participants. We also explored whether a low-inflammatory diet modifies genetic risk for type 2 diabetes.Methods: Among 142,271 diabetes-free UK Biobank participants (aged 39-72 years), 126,203 were normoglycemic and 16,068 were prediabetic at baseline. Participants were followed for up to 15 years to detect incident type 2 diabetes. At baseline, dietary intake was assessed with a 24-h dietary record. An inflammatory diet index (IDI) was generated based on high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels and was a weighted sum of 34 food groups (16 anti-inflammatory and 18 pro-inflammatory). Participants were grouped into tertiles corresponding to inflammatory level (low, moderate, and high) based on IDI scores. Prediabetes at baseline was defined as HbA1c 5.7-6.4% in diabetes-free participants. Incident type 2 diabetes and age of onset were ascertained according to the earliest recorded date of type 2 diabetes in the Primary Care and Hospital inpatient data. A diabetes-related genetic risk score (GRS) was calculated using 424 single-nucleotide polymorphisms. Data were analyzed using Cox regression and Laplace regression.Results: During follow-up (median 8.40 years, interquartile range 6.89 to 11.02 years), 3348 (2.4%) participants in the normoglycemia group and 2496 (15.5%) in the prediabetes group developed type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes risk was lower in normoglycemic (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.71, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.65, 0.78) and prediabetic (HR = 0.81, 95% CI 0.73, 0.89) participants with low IDI scores compared to those with high IDI scores. A low-inflammatory diet may prolong type 2 diabetes onset by 2.20 (95% CI 1.67, 2.72) years among participants with normoglycemia and 1.11 (95% CI 0.59, 1.63) years among participants with prediabetes. In joint effect analyses, normoglycemic or prediabetes participants with low genetic predisposition to type 2 diabetes and low IDI scores had a significant 74% (HR = 0.26, 95% CI 0.21, 0.32) or 51% (HR = 0.49, 95% CI 0.40, 0.59) reduction in type 2 diabetes risk compared to those with high genetic risk plus high IDI scores. There were significant additive and multiplicative interactions between IDI and GRS in relation to type 2 diabetes risk in the normoglycemia group.ConclusionsA low-inflammatory diet is associated with a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes and may delay type 2 diabetes onset among participants with normal blood glucose or prediabetes. A low-inflammatory diet might significantly mitigate the risk of genetic factors on type 2 diabetes development.
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