Background: Glucagon-like peptide 1 agonists differ in chemical structure, duration of action and in their effects on clinical outcomes. The cardiovascular effects of once-weekly albiglutide in type 2 diabetes are unknown. Methods: We randomly assigned patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease to the addition of once-weekly subcutaneous injection of albiglutide (30 mg to 50 mg) or matching placebo to standard care. We hypothesized that albiglutide would be noninferior to placebo for the primary outcome of first occurrence of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke. If noninferiority was confirmed by an upper limit of the 95% confidence interval for the hazard ratio of less than 1.30, closed-testing for superiority was prespecified. Findings: Overall, 9463 participants were followed for a median of 1.6 years. The primary composite outcome occurred in 338 of 4731 patients (7.1%; 4.6 events per 100 person-years) in the albiglutide group and in 428 of 4732 patients (9.0%; 5.9 events per 100 person-years) in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.78; 95% confidence interval [CI ], 0.68 to 0.90), indicating that albiglutide, was superior to placebo (P<0.0001 for noninferiority, P=0.0006 for superiority). The incidence of acute pancreatitis (albiglutide 10 patients and placebo 7 patients), pancreatic cancer (6 and 5), medullary thyroid carcinoma (0 and 0), and other serious adverse events did not differ significantly between the two groups. Interpretation: In patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, albiglutide was superior to placebo with respect to major adverse cardiovascular events. (Funded by GlaxoSmithKline; Harmony Outcomes ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02465515.) noninferiority; P = 0.06 for superiority). There seems to be variation in the results of existing trials with GLP-1 receptor agonists, which if correct, might reflect drug structure or duration of action, patients studied, duration of follow-up or other factors.

Poor eating habits are an important public health issue that has large health and economic implications. Many food preferences are established early, but because people make more and more independent eating decisions as they move through adolescence, the transition to independent living during the university days is an important event. To study the phenomenon of food selection, the heath belief model was applied to predict the likelihood of healthy eating among university students. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate the validity of the health belief model (HBM) among 194 students, followed by gender-based analyses. The data strongly supported the HBM. Social change campaign implications are discussed.

This paper makes the case for immediate planning for a COVID-19 vaccination uptake strategy in advance of vaccine availability for two reasons: first, the need to build a consensus about the order in which groups of the population will get access to the vaccine; second, to reduce any fear and concerns that exist in relation to vaccination and to create demand for vaccines. A key part of this strategy is to counter the anti-vaccination movement that is already promoting hesitancy and resistance. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic there has been a tsunami of misinformation and conspiracy theories that have the potential to reduce vaccine uptake. To make matters worse, sections of populations in many countries display low trust in governments and official information about the pandemic and how the officials are tackling it. This paper aims to set out in short form critical guidelines that governments and regional bodies should take to enhance the impact of a COVID-19 vaccination strategy. We base our recommendations on a review of existing best practice guidance. This paper aims to assist those responsible for promoting COVID-19 vaccine uptake to digest the mass of guidance that exists and formulate an effective locally relevant strategy. A summary of key guidelines is presented based on best practice guidance.

Porous silica coatings were prepared by acid- and base-catalyzed sol−gel method. Surface morphology studies by atomic force microscopy showed smooth surface for acid-catalyzed coatings while base catalysis resulted in coarse particle morphology. On increasing the tetraethyl orthosilicate to base molar ratio from 1:1 to 1:3, the mean particle size of the coating shifted from 30 to 100 nm while the pore size varied from 4.7 to 14 nm. Infrared spectral analysis exhibited a change in the ratio of integrated peak intensities of Si−O−Si to Si−OH in acid-and base-catalyzed silica coatings. Textural studies showed an increase in particle size and porosity with base concentration. Optical transmission and surface roughness of base-catalyzed samples were found to be higher than that of acid-catalyzed silica coatings.

Social marketing is an effective approach in promoting physical activity among adults when a substantial number of benchmarks are used and when managers understand the audience, make the desired behavior tangible, and promote the desired behavior persuasively.

Self-assembly of cerium oxide nanoparticles to nanorods is reported. Such nanorods have an aspect ratio of 6 with a diameter of approximately 40 nm. The formation of cylindrical supraaggregates and their subsequent growth by preferential assembling of ceria nanocrystallites along the longitudinal direction was proposed to be the probable mechanism of spontaneous self-assembly of nanorods. The supraaggregate formation was facilitated by influencing the local curvature of the micelle surface in the presence of nitrate ions as a precursor solution. The nanorods were characterized using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy and selected area electron diffraction for their morphology, chemistry, and crystal structure.

Investigations were carried out to understand the effect of hydrogen peroxide as an oxidant and benzotriazole ͑BTA͒ as an inhibitor on the chemical mechanical planarization ͑CMP͒ of copper. Cu-CMP was studied using electrochemistry and removal rate measurements in solutions containing the oxidizer and the inhibitor. In the presence of 0.1 M glycine, the copper removal rate was high in the solution containing 5% H 2 O 2 at pH 2 because of a Cu-glycine complexation reaction. The dissolution rate of Cu increased due to the formation of the highly soluble Cu-glycine complex in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. Addition of 0.01 M BTA in the solution containing 0.1 M glycine and 5% H 2 O 2 at pH 2 exhibited a reduction in the Cu removal rate by the formation of a Cu-BTA complex on the surface of copper that inhibits the dissolution. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and secondary-ion mass spectroscopy investigations revealed the formation of a Cu-glycine complex, which aided the understanding of the mechanism of Cu-oxidant-inhibitor interaction during polishing.In the era of miniaturization, the need of the semiconductor industry is primarily to increase the packaging density of devices. The performance of integrated circuits depends highly on the type of interconnect materials. In interconnecting technology, the term RC delay, which is the product of the metal resistance ͑R͒ and the capacitance ͑C͒ of the interlevel dielectric, is a major factor for the selection of materials. Copper is gradually replacing aluminum as an interconnect material because it exhibits not only a superior electrical conductivity and thereby less RC delay, but also high resistance to electromigration. 1,2 Hence, chemical mechanical planarization of copper ͑Cu-CMP͒ has emerged as an important component for the manufacturing of integrated circuits. Usually, the Cu-CMP process consists of several steps such as the removal of the surface layer by mechanical action of the pad and abrasive particles, the dissolution of the abraded particles in the CMP solution, and the protection of recessed areas of the surface by using a corrosion inhibitor. The corrosion process is likely to result in pattern defects; therefore, the chemical composition of the CMP slurry is extremely important. 3 The slurry for Cu-CMP contains chemical components to facilitate the oxidation and removal of excess copper as well as passivation of the polished surface. 4 The use of sodium chlorate ͓NaClO 3 ͔, 5 hydrogen peroxide ͓H 2 O 2 ͔, 6-10 and iron nitrate ͓Fe(NO 3 ) 3 ͔ 8 as oxidizers during CMP was attempted in previous studies. Earlier studies 11,12 have shown the effectiveness of glycine as an inhibitor in preventing corrosion of metals. The inhibiting effect of glycine on Cu-CMP was investigated. [13][14][15] proposed that the formation of an oxide film by H 2 O 2 protects the recess region of copper. On the protruded region, the removal of Cu took place both by mechanical abrasion and dissolution with the formation of water-soluble Cu ϩ2 -glycine chelate in the presence...

This article reports an easy chemical method of synthesizing boehmite nanofibers by a modified sol-gel process involving aluminum isopropoxide precursor. Nanorods of gamma-alumina have been successfully prepared after dehydration of the viscous sol at 600 degrees C for 4 h in air. The boehmite nanofibers and gamma-alumina nanorods were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy for surface chemistry and functional groups, scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy with selected area electron diffraction, and energy-dispersed spectroscopy for morphology and structure identification. The length of the boehmite nanofibers was found to be more than 10 mum with a crystalline lattice structure. The mechanism of formation of the boehmite nanofibers included the preferential growth along the longitudinal axis due to interaction between the solvent molecules and the surface OH- groups of hydrogen bonds. It is also suggested that the boehmite nanofibers may have formed due to the inherent instability of the planar structure of the boehmite lattice. The diameter of the gamma-alumina nanorods was found to be less than 10 nm with a varying length in the range of 50-200 nm. Boehmite to gamma-Al2O3 transformation was attributed to the loss of water molecules by internal condensation of protons and hydroxyl ions.