Associations of Emergency Department Visits for Asthma with Precipitation and Temperature on Thunderstorm Days: A Time-Series Analysis of Data from Louisiana,USA, 2010–2012

Background: Studies of thunderstorm asthma to understand risk factors using high-resolution climate data and asthma outcomes on a large scale are scarce. Moreover, thunderstorm asthma is not well studied in the United States.Objectives: We examined whether climate parameters involved in thunderstorms are associated with emergency department (ED) visits for acute asthma attacks in the United States.Methods: We analyzed 63,789 asthma-related, daily ED visits for all age groups, and thunderstorm-associated climate data in Louisiana during 2010 through 2012. We performed time-series analyses using quasi-Poisson regression models with natural cubic splines of date, parish, holiday, day of week, season, daily maximum concentrations of ozone (O3) and fine particulate matter [PM ≤2.5μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5)], and daily mean pressure, precipitation, and temperature. Because of a significant interaction effect between temperature and lightning days on asthma-related visits, we performed stratified analyses by days with/without lightning or thunderstorm (defined by any lightning and precipitation).Results: On thunderstorm days, higher asthma-related ED visits were associated with higher daily mean precipitation [relative risk (RR)=1.145 per 1g/m2/s (95% CI: 1.009, 1.300)] and lower daily mean temperature [RR=1.011 per 1°C change (1.000–1.021)] without carry-over effect to the next non-thunderstorm day. These higher risks were found mainly among children and adults <65 years of age. We observed similar results on lightning days. However, we did not find similar associations for non-thunderstorm or non-lightning days. Daily maximum O3 and PM2.5 levels were not significantly associated with asthma ED visits on thunderstorm days.Discussion: Higher precipitation and lower temperature on thunderstorm days appear to contribute to asthma attacks among people with asthma, suggesting they should consider taking precautions during thunderstorms. EDs should consider preparing for a potential increase of asthma-related visits and ensuring sufficient stock of emergency medication and supplies for forecasted severe thunderstorm days. https://doi.org/10.1289/{"type":"entrez-protein","attrs":{"text":"EHP10440","term_id":"372009825","term_text":"EHP10440"}}EHP10440     

Prevalence and risk factors for refractive errors in adult Chinese in Singapore

PURPOSE: To determine the epidemiology of refractive errors in an adult Chinese population in Singapore. METHODS: A disproportionate, stratified, clustered, random-sampling procedure was used to select names of 2000 Chinese people aged 40 to 79 years from the 1996 Singapore electoral register in the Tanjong Pagar district in Singapore. These people were invited to a centralized clinic for a comprehensive eye examination, including refraction. Refraction was also performed on nonrespondents in their homes. Myopia, high myopia, and hyperopia were defined as a spherical equivalent (SE) in the right eye of less than -0.5 D, less than -5.0 D, and more than +0.5 D, respectively. Astigmatism was defined as less than -0.5 D of cylinder. Anisometropia was defined as a difference in SE of more than 1.0 D between the two eyes. Only phakic eyes were analyzed. RESULTS: From 1717 eligible people, 1232 (71.8%) were examined. Adjusted to the 1997 Singapore population, the overall prevalence of myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and anisometropia was 38.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 35.5, 42.1), 28.4% (95% CI: 25.3, 31.3), 37.8% (95% CI: 34.6, 41.1), and 15.9% (95% CI: 13.5, 18.4), respectively. The prevalence of high myopia was 9.1% (95% CI: 7.2, 11.2), with women having significantly higher rates than men. The age pattern of myopia was bimodal, with higher prevalence in the 40 to 49 and 70 to 81 age groups and lower prevalence between those age ranges. Prevalence was reversed in hyperopia, with a higher prevalence in subjects aged 50 to 69. There was a monotonic increase in prevalence with age for both astigmatism and anisometropia. Increasing educational levels, higher individual income, professional or office-related occupations, better housing, and greater severity of nuclear opacity were all significantly associated with higher rates of myopia, after adjustment for age and sex. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that whereas myopia is 1.5 to 2.5 times more prevalent in adult Chinese residing in Singapore than in similarly aged European-derived populations in the United States and Australia, the sociodemographic associations are similar.     

白首乌化学成分的研究

自白首乌主要品种耳叶牛皮消(Cynanchum auriculatum Royle ex Wight)根中首次分得三个已知甾体酯型甙元:告达亭(caudatin),开德甙元(kidjolanin),萝藦甙元(Metaplexigenin)和一种新的二苯酮衍生物(Ⅳ),经光谱分析推定其结构为2,6,2′,5′-四羟基,3-乙酰基,6′-甲基二苯酮,命名白首乌二苯酮。     

Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution from Artificial Seawater Splitting over Amorphous Carbon Nitride: Optimization and Process Parameters Study via Response Surface Modeling

Photocatalytic water splitting has garnered tremendous attention for its capability to produce clean and renewable H₂ fuel from inexhaustible solar energy. Until now, most research has focused on scarce pure water as the source of H₂, which is not consistent with the concept of sustainable energy. Hence, the importance of photocatalytic splitting of abundant seawater in alleviating the issue of pure water shortages. However, seawater contains a wide variety of ionic components which have unknown effects on photocatalytic H₂ production. This work investigates photocatalytic seawater splitting conditions using environmentally friendly amorphous carbon nitride (ACN) as the photocatalyst. The individual effects of catalyst loading (X₁), sacrificial reagent concentration (X₂), salinity (X₃), and their interactive effects were studied via the Box–Behnken design in response surface modeling towards the H₂ evolution reaction (HER) from photocatalytic artificial seawater splitting. A second-order polynomial regression model is predicted from experimental data where the variance analysis of the regressions shows that the linear term (X₁, X₂), the two-way interaction term X₁X₂, and all the quadratic terms (X₁₂, X₂₂, X₂₃) pose significant effects towards the response of the HER rate. Numerical optimization suggests that the highest HER rate is 7.16 µmol/h, achievable by dosing 2.55 g/L of ACN in 45.06 g sea salt/L aqueous solution containing 17.46 vol% of triethanolamine. Based on the outcome of our findings, an apparent effect of salt ions on the adsorption behavior of the photocatalyst in seawater splitting with a sacrificial reagent has been postulated.     

白首乌化学成分的研究

自白首乌主要品种耳叶牛皮消(Cynanchum auriculatum Royle ex Wight)根中首次分得三个已知甾体酯型甙元:告达亭(caudatin),开德甙元(kidjolanin),萝藦甙元(Metaplexigenin)和一种新的二苯酮衍生物(Ⅳ),经光谱分析推定其结构为2,6,2′,5′-四羟基,3-乙酰基,6′-甲基二苯酮,命名白首乌二苯酮。     

Diurnal intraocular pressure in young adults with central retinal vein occlusion

In the older population, there is a well-known relationship between central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) and glaucoma and ocular hypertension. In young adults, CRVO is a rare occurrence, the cause of which is not well understood. Seven patients under the age of 36 years with CRVO and no associated systemic disease underwent modified diurnal intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements (8:00 AM to 11:00 PM). Abnormal IOPs were found in the affected and/or the unaffected fellow eyes. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report implicating abnormal IOP as an etiologic factor in the development of CRVO in young adults. Only with diurnal IOP measurements were the elevated swings and peak IOPs detected. This finding suggests that abnormal IOP may be an important factor in the development of CRVO in young adults.     

Dynamic Interactions of Post Cleaved NS2B Cofactor and NS3 Protease Identified by Integrative Structural Approaches

Diseases caused by flaviviruses such as dengue virus (DENV) and West Nile Virus (WNV), are a serious threat to public health. The flavivirus single-stranded RNA genome is translated into a polyprotein which is cleaved into three structural proteins and seven non-structural proteins by the viral and cellular proteases. Non-structural (NS) protein 3 is a multifunctional protein that has N-terminal protease and C-terminal helicase domains. The NS3 protease requires co-factor NS2B for enzymatic activity and folding. Due to its essential role in viral replication, NS2B-NS3 protease is an attractive target for antiviral drugs. Despite the availability of crystal structures, dynamic interactions of the N- and C-termini of NS2B co-factor have been elusive due to their flexible fold. In this study, we employ integrative structural approaches combined with biochemical assays to elucidate the dynamic interactions of the flexible DENV4 NS2B and NS3 N- and C-termini. We captured the crystal structure of self-cleaved DENV4 NS2B₄₇NS3 protease in post cleavage state. The intermediate conformation adopted in the reported structure can be targeted by allosteric inhibitors. Comparison of our new findings from DENV4 against previously studied ZIKV NS2B-NS3 proteins reveals differences in NS2B-NS3 function between the two viruses. No inhibition of protease activity was observed for unlinked DENV NS2B-NS3 in presence of the cleavage site while ZIKV NS2B-NS3 cleavage inhibits protease activity. Another difference is that binding of the NS2B C-terminus to DENV4 eNS2B₄₇NS3Pro active site is mediated via interactions with P4-P6 residues while for ZIKV, the binding of NS2B C-terminus to active site is mediated by P1-P3 residues. The mapping of NS2B N- and C-termini with NS3 indicates that these intermolecular interactions occur mainly on the beta-barrel 2 of the NS3 protease domain. Our integrative approach enables a comprehensive understanding of the folding and dynamic interactions of DENV NS3 protease and its cofactor NS2B.