Associations of long-term nitrogen dioxide exposure with a wide spectrum of diseases: a prospective cohort study of 0·5 million Chinese adults.

Background: Little evidence is available on the long-term health effects of nitrogen dioxide (NO) in low-income and middle-income populations. We investigated the associations of long-term NO exposure with the incidence of a wide spectrum of disease outcomes, based on data from the China Kadoorie Biobank.

Methods: This prospective cohort study involved 512 724 Chinese adults aged 30-79 years recruited from ten areas of China during 2004-08.

Association Between Long-Term Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution and Fasting Blood Glucose: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Increasing studies are indicating a potential association between ambient air pollution exposure and fasting blood glucose (FBG), an indicator of prediabetes and diabetes. However, there is inconsistency within the existing literature. The aim of this study was to summarize the associations of exposures to particulate matters (PMs) (with aerodynamic diameters of ≤1 μm (PM), ≤2.

Cognitive Benefits of Reducing Indoor Particulate Matter Exposure During Sleep: New Evidence from a Randomized, Double-blind Crossover Trial.

There is increasing evidence that particulate matter (PM) pollution may adversely impact cognition. Considering that sleep is critical for cognitive health and occupies about one-third of human life, understanding the cognitive effects of indoor PM exposure during sleep and the potential cognitive benefits of reducing such exposure is crucial, yet currently unknown. This randomized, double-blind crossover intervention trial was conducted among 80 college students with real and sham PM filtration in their dormitories.

Psychosocial Stress Modifies the Acute Cardiac Health Effects of Traffic-Related Air Pollution.

Previous studies have shown that exposure to black carbon (BC, a tracer of traffic-related air pollution) and psychosocial stress are both associated with adverse cardiac effects, but whether psychosocial stress could modify the cardiac effects of BC is unclear. To investigate the potential modifying effect of psychosocial stress on the associations between acute exposure to BC and typical cardiac health variables, real-time personal 24 h measurements were conducted in a repeated-measure study among adults with elevated blood pressure (high-risk group) and a panel study among normal adults (low-risk group) in China. Measured cardiac health variables included ST-segment depression events, heart rate, and heart rate variability (HRV) variables.

Ambient Air Pollution and Hospitalizations for Schizophrenia in China.

Importance: Schizophrenia episodes may be triggered by short-term environmental stimuli. Short-term increases in ambient air pollution levels may elevate the risk of schizophrenia episodes, yet few epidemiologic studies have examined this association.

Objective: To investigate whether short-term increases in air pollution levels are associated with an additional risk of schizophrenia episodes, independent of absolute air pollution concentrations, and whether sustained increases in air pollution levels for several days are associated with more pronounced risks of schizophrenia episodes.

Assessment of short-term effects of ambient air pollution exposure on osteoarthritis outpatient visits.

The association of short-term ambient air pollution exposure with osteoarthritis (OA) outpatient visits has been unclear and no study has assessed the modifying roles of district-level characteristics in the association between ambient air pollution exposure and OA outpatient visits. We investigated the cumulative associations of ambient air pollution exposure with daily OA outpatient visits and vulnerable factors influencing the associations using data from 16 districts of Beijing, China during 2013-2019. A total of 18,351,795 OA outpatient visits were included in the analyses.

Potential Early Effect Biomarkers for Ambient Air Pollution Related Mental Disorders.

Air pollution is one of the greatest environmental risks to health, with 99% of the world's population living where the World Health Organization's air quality guidelines were not met. In addition to the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, the brain is another potential target of air pollution. Population- and experiment-based studies have shown that air pollution may affect mental health through direct or indirect biological pathways.

[Personal nitrogen oxides exposure levels and related influencing factors in adults over 35 years old in Tianjin and Shanghai].

Objective: To investigate personal exposures to nitrogen oxides (NO) and nitrogen di-oxide (NO) and the influence of baseline personal characteristics, living environment and daily activity patterns of the participants on the exposures among adults over 35 in Tianjin and Shanghai.

Methods: In this panel study, 91 healthy nonsmoking adults aged over 35 from Tianjin and Shanghai participated in our study. The study was conducted in summer and winter.

Prospective study of urinary incontinence recovery following endoscopic enucleation of the prostate.

Objective: To investigate the clinical trajectories and identify risk factors linked to post-enucleation urinary incontinence (UI).

Patients And Methods: In this prospective study (April 2020 to March 2022) at a single institution, 316 consecutive patients receiving endoscopic enucleation due to benign prostatic enlargement were included. Patient information and perioperative details were collected.

Short-Term PM Exposure and DNA Methylation Changes of Circadian Rhythm Genes: Evidence from Two Experimental Studies.

The circadian rhythm regulates many crucial physiological processes, impacting human aging and aging-related outcomes. Observational evidence links circadian rhythm disturbance to PM exposure, yet the underlying DNA methylation mechanisms remain unclear due to limited PM-dominated experimental settings. Therefore, we investigated the associations between short-term PM exposure and DNA methylation changes of 1188 CpG candidates across circadian genes among 32 young adults in the FDU study, with the validation in 26 individuals from the PKU study.

An underwater vest containing an antioxidant MXene hydrogel for sensitive recognition of fish locomotion.

The perception of fish locomotion is important for understanding their adaptive behaviors and ethological characteristics. However, the main strategy used for extracting fish attitudes involves the use of a vision-based monitoring system, which is limited in its range of observation and cannot perform tracking for long times. Here, we report the use of a wearable tagging electronic device, referred to as an underwater vest, to capture the surrounding flow field disturbances triggered by swimming or momentary postural changes.

Associations between urinary concentrations of benzothiazole, benzotriazole, and their derivatives and lung cancer: A nested case-control study.

Benzothiazole (BTH), benzotriazole (BTR), and their respective derivatives (BTHs and BTRs) are emerging environmental pollutants with widespread human exposure and oncogenic potential. Studies have demonstrated adverse effects of exposure to certain BTHs and BTRs on the respiratory system. However, no study has examined the associations between exposure to BTHs and BTRs and lung cancer risk.

Short-term effects of ambient gaseous air pollution on blood platelet mitochondrial DNA methylation and myocardial ischemia.

Background: The potential effects of short-term exposure to major ambient gaseous pollutants (ozone: O, carbon monoxide: CO, and sulfur dioxide: SO) on platelet mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) methylation have been uncertain and no studies have examined whether platelet mtDNA methylation levels could modify the associations between ambient gaseous pollutants and the risks of ST-segment depression (STDE) and T-wave inversion events (TIE), two indicators of myocardial ischemia.

Methods: This study used data from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled intervention study with a standardized 24-hour exposure protocol among 110 participants in Beijing. Absolute changes in platelet mtDNA methylation (ACmtDNAm) levels were determined by two repeated measurements on platelet mtDNA methylation levels in blood samples collected before and after the 24-hour exposure period.

Exosome-encapsulated lncRNA HOTAIRM1 contributes to PM-aggravated COPD airway remodeling by enhancing myofibroblast differentiation.

Emphysema, myofibroblast accumulation and airway remodeling can occur in the lungs due to exposure to atmospheric pollution, especially fine particulate matter (PM), leading to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Specifically, bronchial epithelium-fibroblast communication participates in airway remodeling, which results in COPD. An increasing number of studies are now being conducted on the role of exosome-mediated cell-cell communication in disease pathogenesis.

Effects of long-term indoor air purification intervention on cardiovascular health in elderly: a parallel, double-blinded randomized controlled trial in Hong Kong.

Ambient fine particulate matter (PM) is a leading environmental risk factor globally, and over half of the associated disease burden are caused by cardiovascular disease. Numerous randomized controlled trials (RCT) have investigated the short-term cardiovascular benefits of indoor air purifiers (IAPs), but major knowledge gaps remain on their longer-term benefits. In this 1-year, randomized, double-blinded, parallel controlled trial of 47 elderly (n = 24; n = 23) aged ≥70 years, true-purification reduced household PM levels by 28% and maintained lower exposure throughout the year compared to the sham-purification group.

Association between Ambient Particulate Air Pollution and Soluble Biomarkers of Endothelial Function: A Meta-Analysis.

Background: The burden of cardiovascular diseases caused by ambient particulate air pollution is universal. An increasing number of studies have investigated the potential effects of exposure to particulate air pollution on endothelial function, which is one of the important mechanisms for the onset and development of cardiovascular disease. However, no previous study has conducted a summary analysis of the potential effects of particulate air pollution on endothelial function.

Exposure to ambient black carbon and particulate matter during pregnancy in associations with risk of pre-eclampsia: A meta-analysis based on population-based studies.

Air pollution control protocols and policies formulated for PM and PM (particulate matter [PM] with an aerodynamic diameter of ≤2.5 and 10 μm), however, such protocols and policies have not been available for black carbon (BC). A growing number of studies have evaluated the association between long-term exposure to ambient air pollution with BC and PM and pre-eclampsia.

Association of residential greenness, air pollution with adverse birth outcomes: Results from 61,762 mother‑neonatal pairs in project ELEFANT (2011-2021).

Background: Emerging evidence has demonstrated the benefits of greenness exposure on human health, while conflicts remain unsolved in issue of adverse birth outcomes.

Methods: Utilizing data from project ELEFANT spanning the years 2011 to 2021, we assessed residential greenness using the NDVI from MODIS data and residential PM exposure level from CHAP data. Our primary concerns were PTD, LBW, LGA, and SGA.

Pretreatment radiomic biomarker for immunotherapy responder prediction in stage IB-IV NSCLC (LCDigital-IO Study): a multicenter retrospective study.

Background: The predictive efficacy of current biomarker of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is not sufficient. This study investigated the causality between radiomic biomarkers and immunotherapy response status in patients with stage IB-IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), including its biological context for ICIs treatment response prediction.

Methods: CT images from 319 patients with pretreatment NSCLC receiving immunotherapy between January 2015 and November 2021 were retrospectively collected and composed a discovery (n=214), independent validation (n=54), and external test cohort (n=51).