Associations of Short-Term Ozone Exposure With Hypoxia and Arterial Stiffness.

Background: Epidemiological studies reported associations between ozone (O) exposure and cardiovascular diseases, yet the biological mechanisms remain underexplored. Hypoxia is a shared pathogenesis of O-associated diseases; therefore, we hypothesized that O exposure may induce changes in hypoxia-related markers, leading to adverse cardiovascular effects.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate associations of short-term O exposure with hypoxic biomarkers and arterial stiffness.

Associations between long-term exposure to fine particulate matter and its constituents with lung cancer incidence: Evidence from a prospective cohort study in Beijing, China.

Association between long-term exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM) and lung cancer incidence is well-documented. However, the role of different PM constituents [black carbon (BC), ammonium (NH), nitrate (NO), organic matter (OM), and inorganic sulfate (SO)] remain unclear. The study aimed to specify the associations between PM constituents and lung cancer incidence.

Indoor Environment and Health Effects: Protocol of an Exploratory Panel Study among Young Adults in China (China IEHE Study).

Indoor environment and health have drawn public attention worldwide. However, the joint health effects and mechanisms of exposure to different types of indoor environmental factors remain unclear. We established an exploratory panel study on indoor environment and health effects among young adults in China (the China IEHE Study) to comprehensively investigate 3M issues, including multiple indoor environmental factors, multiple health effects, and multiple omics methods for mechanism exploration.

Development, Validation, and Visualization of a Web-Based Nomogram to Predict the Risk of Psychological Distress in Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy After Breast Cancer Surgery.

Background: Psychological distress of postoperative chemotherapy patients with breast cancer is significant and has a serious impact on their quality of survival. Risk prediction models can efficiently assess patients' psychological distress and risk factors.

Objectives: To investigate the factors influencing psychological distress in postoperative chemotherapy patients with breast cancer and construct a nomogram model to predict the occurrence of psychological distress in patients.

Lysoglycerophospholipid metabolism alterations associated with ambient fine particulate matter exposure: Insights into the pro-atherosclerotic effects.

The biological pathways connecting ambient fine particulate matter (PM)-induced initial adverse effects to the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases are not fully understood. We hypothesize that lysoglycerophospholipids (LysoGPLs) are pivotal mediators of atherosclerosis induced by exposure to PM. This study investigated the changes of LysoGPLs in response to PM exposure and the mediation role of LysoGPLs in the pro-atherosclerotic effects of PM exposure.

Estimating the Risk of Women Anemia Associated with Ozone Exposure Across 123 Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Multicenter Epidemiological Study.

Anemia in women of reproductive age (WRA) presents a pressing global public health issue, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Yet, the potential impact of ozone (O) exposure on anemia remains uncertain. The study included 1,467,887 eligible women from 83 surveys of 45 LMICs between 2004 to 2020.

The 2023 report of the synergetic roadmap on carbon neutrality and clean air for China: Carbon reduction, pollution mitigation, greening, and growth.

The response to climate change and air pollution control demonstrates strong synergy across scientific mechanisms, targets, strategies, and governance systems. This report, based on a monitoring indicator system for coordinated governance of air pollution and climate change, employs an interdisciplinary approach combining natural and social sciences. It establishes 20 indicators across five key areas: air pollution and climate change, governance systems and practices, structural transformation and technologies, atmospheric components and emission reduction pathways, and health impacts and co-benefits.

Health-Oriented Strategy for Clean Air and Climate Actions: Differential Health Effects of Atmospheric Components.

Health is at the forefront of clean air and climate action. However, most existing studies of health impacts were based on additive single-exposure effects, which often oversimplify the relationships between atmospheric components and health outcomes. This review examines various atmospheric components' common sources and differential health effects, including greenhouse gases and major air pollutants such as fine particulate matter (PM).

A Comparative Analysis on Indoor and Outdoor PM and Their Hourly Associations with Acute Respiratory Inflammation Among College Students in Lhasa.

Ambient concentrations are commonly used as proxies for personal PM exposure in epidemiological studies, despite indoor settings being the places where people spend most of their time. In a panel study of 110 nonsmoking, healthy college students in Lhasa, Tibet, indoor PM was monitored using calibrated low-cost sensors for two multiweek periods, in over 40 dormitories where participants resided. We also repeatedly measured fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), an acute respiratory inflammation biomarker, for each participant.

Specifying the Associations between PM Constituents and Gastrointestinal Cancer Incidence: Findings from a Prospective Cohort Study in Beijing, China.

This study aimed to test the association between PM and the incidence of gastrointestinal (GI) cancer, and further to detect the primary constituents on this association. A sum of 142,982 participants without GI cancer at baseline were derived from the National Urban Cancer Screening Program in Beijing (2013-2019). The 5 year averaged concentrations of PM mass and its five constituents, namely, black carbon (BC), ammonium (NH), nitrate (NO), organic matter (OM), and inorganic sulfate (SO), were estimated by using a hybrid machine learning model.

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.

Development of a Method to Determine the Environmental Burden of Diseases and an Application to Identify Factors Driving Changes in the Number of PM-Related Deaths in China between 2000 and 2010.

The attributable burden is codetermined by the exposure level and nontarget characteristics. However, the conventional method of health impact assessment based on preestablished exposure-response functions includes only a few well-known characteristics and thus is insufficient to capture the comprehensive variation. We aimed to develop a method to fuse health impact assessment with epidemiological analysis and to identify factors driving baseline risk.

Complement Receptor 1 Is a Potential Extracerebral Factor Promoting α-Synuclein Pathology.

The deposition of pathological α-synuclein (α-Syn) in the central nervous system (CNS) is a hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD). Notably, pathological α-Syn exists not only in the CNS but also in peripheral organs and body fluids in PD patients. Emerging evidence has shown the transmission of α-Syn pathology from the body to the brain.

Coupling Effect of Elemental Carbon and Organic Carbon on the Changes of Optical Properties and Oxidative Potential of Soot Particles under Visible Light.

Soot particles, coming from the incomplete combustion of fossil or biomass fuels, feature a core-shell structure with inner elemental carbon (EC) and outer organic carbon (OC). Both EC and OC are known to be photoactive under solar radiation. However, research on their coupling effect during photochemical aging remains limited.

Associations of indoor airborne microbiome with lung function: evidence from a randomized, double-blind, crossover study of microbial intervention.

Microorganisms constitute an essential component of the indoor ecosystem and may pose potential health risks after inhalation. However, evidence regarding the impact of indoor airborne microbiome on general respiratory health is scarce. Additionally, while air purification has been shown to be an effective strategy for controlling culturable bioaerosols, its impact on indoor airborne microbiome remains unclear.

Polystyrene microplastics alleviate the developmental toxicity of silver nanoparticles in embryo-larval zebrafish (Danio rerio) at the transcriptomic level.

Since silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and polystyrene microplastics (PS-MP) share common environmental niches, their interactions can modulate their hazard impacts. Herein, we assessed the developmental toxicity of 1 mg/L PS-MP, 0.5 mg/L AgNPs and the mixtures of AgNPs and PS-MP on embryo-larval zebrafish.

From whole-slide image to biomarker prediction: end-to-end weakly supervised deep learning in computational pathology.

Hematoxylin- and eosin-stained whole-slide images (WSIs) are the foundation of diagnosis of cancer. In recent years, development of deep learning-based methods in computational pathology has enabled the prediction of biomarkers directly from WSIs. However, accurately linking tissue phenotype to biomarkers at scale remains a crucial challenge for democratizing complex biomarkers in precision oncology.

Impacts of different vehicle emissions on ozone levels in Beijing: Insights into source contributions and formation processes.

Beijing, with the highest number of motor vehicles in China, significantly contributes to O pollution through substantial NO and VOC emissions in the on-road transportation sector. Understanding the unique impact of emissions from different vehicle types on O levels is crucial for developing targeted strategies for O pollution. This study applied the Community Multiscale Air Quality Modeling System (CMAQ) to comprehensively investigate the impacts of emissions from different vehicle types on O levels in various regions of Beijing and to provide valuable insights into source contributions and formation processes.

Landscape Fire Air Pollution as a Mediator in Drought and Childhood Stunting Pathway in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Drought induces dry hazards, including wildfire, and increased air pollution from wildfire may be a mechanism by which drought increases health risks. We examined whether the drought-wildfire pathway increases the risk of childhood stunting. We analyzed all geocoded children under five across 44 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Stillbirths Associated with Particle Pollution are Disproportionally Contributed by Sand Dust: Findings from 52 Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Whether maternal exposure to dust-sourced particulate matter (hereafter, dust PM) is associated with stillbirth remains unknown. We adopted a sibling-matched case-control design to analyze 9332 stillbirths and 17,421 live births. We associated the risk of stillbirth simultaneously with dust and nondust components of PM and developed a nonlinear joint exposure-response function.

Additive genotoxic effects in cord blood cells upon indirect exposure to chemotherapeutic compounds crossing an in vitro placental barrier.

Prenatal exposure to toxins can adversely affect long-term health outcomes of the offspring. Though chemotherapeutics are now standard of care for treating cancer patients during pregnancy, certain compounds are known to cross the placenta and harm placental tissue. The consequences for the fetus are largely unexplored.

The hnRNP A2B1 is important for the replication of SFTSV and other RNA viruses.

The heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP A2B1) is a key component of the hnRNP complex involving RNA modulation in eukaryotic cells and it has also been reported to be involved in the replication of the hepatitis E virus, influenza A virus, and hepatitis B virus. However, it is not clear whether the role of the hnRNP A2B1 in viral replication is conserved among RNA viruses and what is the mechanism of hnRNP A2B1 in RNA virus replication. In this study, we first used severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV), a tick-borne RNA virus that causes a severe viral hemorrhagic fever as well as other RNA viruses including VSV-GFP, SeV, EV71, and ZIKV to demonstrate that knockout hnRNPA2B1 gene inhibited viral RNA replication and overexpression of hnRNP A2B1 could restore the RNA levels of all tested RNA viruses.

Risk willingness in multiple system atrophy and Parkinson's disease understanding patient preferences.

Disease-modifying therapeutics in the α-synucleinopathies multiple system atrophy (MSA) and Parkinson's Disease (PD) are in early phases of clinical testing. Involving patients' preferences including therapy-associated risk willingness in initial stages of therapy development has been increasingly pursued in regulatory approval processes. In our study with 49 MSA and 38 PD patients, therapy-associated risk willingness was quantified using validated standard gamble scenarios for varying severities of potential drug or surgical side effects.