Background: Previous studies have suggested that there is an association between air pollutants and circulatory and respiratory diseases; however, relatively few have analyzed the association between air pollutants and outpatient visits based on the mortality, hospitalization rates, etc., especially in areas with relatively good air quality. Therefore, we conducted this study to research the association between air pollutants and outpatient visits in Fuzhou, China. Methods: We used a generalized linear Poisson model to study the association between air pollution and outpatient visits for respiratory and circulatory diseases from 2016 to 2018 in Fuzhou, China. Results: In the single pollutant model, nitrogen dioxide (NO 2) had a significant effect. For lag day 0 to lag day 5, the effect decreased with every 10 μg/L increase in NO 2. The daily maximum 8-h mean ozone (O 3-8h) and upper respiratory outpatient visits were positively associated during the cold period [lag2, excess risk (ER) (95% confidence interval (CI)): 1.68% (0.44-2.94%)], while O 3-8h and respiratory disease were positively associated during the warm period [lag5, ER (95% CI): 1.10% (0.11-2.10%) and lag4, ER (95% CI): 1.02% (0.032-2.02%)]. Similarly, particulate matter (PM) with an average aerodynamic diameter of less than 10 μm (PM 10) and lower respiratory diseases were positively associated during the warm period [lag0, ER (95% CI): 1.68% (0.44-2.94%)]. When the concentration of O 3-8h was higher than 100 μg/L, there was a positive effect on circulatory [lag5, ER (95% CI): 2.83% (0.65-5.06%)], respiratory [lag5, ER (95% CI): 2.47% (0.85-4.11%)] and upper respiratory [lag5, ER (95% CI): 3.06% (1.38-4.77%)] outpatient visits. The variation in O 3-8h changed slightly when we adjusted for other air pollutants, and after adjusting for O 3-8h, the ERs of the other air pollutants changed slightly. After adjusting for PM with an average aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 μm (PM 2.5), the ERs of the other air pollutants increased, and after adjusting for NO 2 , the ER of PM decreased.
Enteromorpha prolifera polysaccharide (EP) has been shown to exhibit hypolipidemic and hypoglycemic activities in various experimental models.Here, an 1 H-NMR-based metabolomic study was conducted to explore the regulatory effects of EP on serum metabolic changes in obese hamsters. High-fat diet (HFD)-fed hamsters were orally administrated with EP (300, 450, or 600 mg/kg) once daily for 12 weeks. Compared with HFD-fed hamsters, EP treatment (450 and 600 mg/kg) significantly decreased the body weight (by 8.69 and 8.24%), liver weight (by 7.87 and 8.25%), epididymal white adipose tissue (by 19.54 and 17.26%), perirenal white adipose tissue (by 28.09 and 28.94%), serum total cholesterol (by 24.31 and 18.61%), triglyceride (by 30.64 and 31.38%), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (by 38.26 and 36.30%), respectively. In addition, EP intervention also significantly decreased hepatic cholesterol (by 23.20, 38.16, and 34.57%) and triglyceride content (by 17.78, 41.47, and 35.50%) as well as serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and ALT/aspartate aminotransferase (AST) ratio. The serum samples of normal diet (ND) group, HFD group and HFD + EP 450 mg/kg (HFD + MEP) group were further analyzed by 1 H-NMR spectroscopy. Compared with ND group, 17 and 2 metabolites were significantly upregulated and downregulated in HFD group, respectively. Interestingly, EP treatment significantly downregulated nine metabolites and upregulated one metabolite when compared to those in HFD group. Our results indicated that EP intervention partially ameliorated HFD-induced metabolic dysfunction, and the most prominent metabolic pathways included citrate cycle, synthesis and degradation of ketone bodies, pyruvate metabolism, valine, leucine and isoleucine degradation, and arginine biosynthesis. Practical Application: Enteromorpha prolifera polysaccharide (EP), the main active component of Enteromorpha prolifera, is reported to have many biological activities. However, the antiobesity effect of EP and its corresponding metabolic mechanism have not been reported so far. The results of this study confirmed the antiobesity effect of EP on HFD-induced obese hamsters and elucidated its possible metabolic mechanism. Our study highlighted that EP might be used in weight-loss functional foods.
The atomized nutrient solution droplet sizes and spraying intervals can impact the chemical properties of the nutrient solution, biomass yield, root-to-shoot ratio and nutrient uptake of aeroponically cultivated plants. In this study, four different nozzles having droplet sizes N1 = 11.24, N2 = 26.35, N3 = 17.38 and N4 = 4.89 µm were selected and misted at three nutrient solution spraying intervals of 30, 45 and 60 min, with a 5 min spraying time. The measured parameters were power of hydrogen (pH) and electrical conductivity (EC) values of the nutrient solution, shoot and root growth, ratio of roots to shoots (fresh and dry), biomass yield and nutrient uptake. The results indicated that the N1 presented significantly lower changes in chemical properties than those of N2, N3 and N4, resulting in stable lateral root growth and increased biomass yield. Also, the root-to-shoot ratio significantly increased with increasing spraying interval using N1 and N4 nozzles. The N1 nozzle also revealed a significant effect on the phosphorous, potassium and magnesium uptake by the plants misted at proposed nutrient solution spraying intervals. However, the ultrasonic nozzle showed a nonsignificant effect on all measured parameters with respect to spraying intervals. In the last, this research experiment validates the applicability of air-assisted nozzle (N1) misting at a 30-min spraying interval and 5 min of spraying time for the cultivation of butter-head lettuce in aeroponic systems.
The proper selection of the atomizer (droplet size) and nutrient solution spray interval is one of the most important factors to be investigated in aeroponics systems for sustainable agriculture. The aim of this study was to research the effects of four aeroponics atomizing nozzles (one air-assisted; A 1 , two air-less; A 2 and A 3 , and one ultrasonic fogger; A 4 ) with droplet sizes of 11.24 µm, 26.35 µm, 17.38 µm, and 4.89 µm, respectively, four spray intervals (15 min (I 1 ), 30 min (I 2 ), 45 min (I 3 ) and 60 min (I 4 )) at a 5 min of constant spray time by atomizing the Hoagland's nutrient solution on growth, root-to-shoot ratio, photosynthesis characteristics, pigments, and nutritional quality of the aeroponically grown lettuce. The experimental results demonstrated that in A 1 atomizer and I 2 interval, the growth, photosynthesis efficiency, chlorophyll, carotenoids, and nutritional values of the lettuce were significantly higher compared to that grown in A 2 and A 3 atomizers at all spray intervals. The shoot developments were more constrained than root, prominent to the alteration of root-to-shoot ratio (fresh and dry) in the influence of different droplet sizes and spray intervals. Moreover, the plants did not grow well in A 4 atomizer associated with proposed spray intervals. The results disclosed that there was an obvious interaction between droplet sizes (atomizers) and spray intervals for growth, the ratio of root to shoot, photosynthesis efficiency, pigments, and nutritional quality of the aeroponically grown lettuce. This research study increases the awareness of the proper droplet size (atomizer) and the regulation of nutrient solution spray interval for leafy vegetables grown in an aeroponics system.
To explore the effects of calorie restriction (CR) on body weight, gut microbiota, and metabolites post-CR, male C57BL/6 mice were placed in three groups: a control group fed a standard...
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