Mechanism of Green Finance Awareness on Sustainable Competitiveness of SMEs

One phenomenon observed during environmental problems was increased green finance in most countries. This study explores the mechanisms of green finance, sustainable competitiveness, and supply chain among SMEs. Self-administered online questionnaires were completed by 738, 314, and 210 senior managers respectively from China, Malaysia, and Singapore. SPSS and Smart PLS-SEM software were used to test the hypotheses. This study aligns with Sustainable Development Goal 11, i.e., sustainable cities and communities, and Sustainable Development Goal 13, i.e., climate action. This study echoes the China government's "double-carbon" target initiative presented in the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Keywords: Human Capital Index in Malaysia, Early Education, Economic growth, Future Productivity eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2023. The Authors. Published for AMER & cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), College of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v8i24.463

Efficacy and safety of bempedoic acid for prevention of cardiovascular events and diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Bempedoic acid is an oral, once-daily, first-in-class drug being developed for the treatment of hyperlipidemia. However, evidence of bempedoic acid use for the prevention of cardiovascular events and diabetes is lacking. Thus, we aim to evaluate the benefit and safety of bempedoic acid use for the prevention of cardiovascular events and diabetes. METHODS: We searched Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials with no language restriction from inception until March 3, 2020. Pairs of reviewers independently identified randomized controlled trials comparing the use of bempedoic acid with placebo or no treatment for primary prevention of cardiovascular events in statin-intolerant patients with hypercholesterolemia. The primary outcomes were major adverse cardiac events, and percent change in LDL-C. RESULTS: We identified 11 trials including a total of 4391 participants. Bempedoic acid use was associated with a reduction in composite cardiovascular outcome (RR 0.75, 95% CI 0.56-0.99; I CONCLUSIONS: Bempedoic acid in patients with hypercholesterolemia was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular events and diabetes

How to Achieve Sufficient Endogenous Insulin Suppression in Euglycemic Clamps Assessing the Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Long-Acting Insulin Preparations Employing Healthy Volunteers

The therapeutic effect of basal insulin analogs will be sustained at a rather low insulin level. When employing healthy volunteers to assess the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of long-acting insulin preparations by euglycemic clamp techniques, endogenous insulin cannot be ignored and sufficient endogenous insulin inhibition is crucial for the PD and/or PK assessment. This study aimed to explore a way to sufficiently inhibit endogenous insulin secretion. Healthy Chinese male and female volunteers were enrolled. After a subcutaneous injection of insulin glargine (IGlar) (LY2963016 or Lantus) (0.5 IU/kg), they underwent a manual euglycemic clamp for up to 24 h where the target blood glucose (BG) was set as 0.28 mmol/L below the individual’s baseline. Blood samples were collected for analysis of PK/PD and C-peptide. The subjects fell into two groups according to the reduction extent of postdose C-peptide from baseline. After matching for the dosage proportion of Lantus, there were 52 subjects in group A (C-peptide reduction<50%) and 26 in group B (C-peptide reduction≥50%), respectively. No significant difference was detected in age, body mass index, the proportion of Latus treatment and female participants. A lower basal BG was observed in group B compared to group A (4.35 ± 0.26 vs. 4.59 ± 0.22 mmol/L, p < 0.05). The clamp studies were all conducted with high quality (where BG was consistently maintained around the target and exhibited a low variety). The binary logistic regression analysis indicated low basal BG as an independent factor for the success of sufficient endogenous insulin suppression. In conclusion, setting a lower sub-baseline target BG (e.g., 10% instead of 5% below baseline) might be an approach to help achieve sufficient endogenous insulin suppression in euglycemic clamps with higher basal BG levels (e.g., beyond 4.60 mmol/L)

Association between the lean nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and risk of incident type 2 diabetes in a healthy population of Northwest China: a retrospective cohort study with a 2-year follow-up period

AimsWe aimed to explore the metabolic features of lean nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (Lean-NAFLD) and its association with the risk of incident type 2 diabetes in young and middle-aged people.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study of 3001 participants who were enrolled in a health check-up program from January 2018 to December 2020 in the Health Management Center of Karamay People’s Hospital. The age, sex, height, weight, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, waist circumference (WC), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), lipid profiles, serum uric acid and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) of the subjects were collected. The cutoff point of BMI for lean nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is <25 kg/m2. A COX proportional hazard regression model was used to analyze the risk ratio of lean nonalcoholic fatty liver disease to type 2 diabetes mellitus.ResultsLean NAFLD participants had many metabolic abnormalities, such as overweight and obesity with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Compared with lean participants without nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, the fully adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for lean participants with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease was 3.83 (95% CI 2.02-7.24, p<0.01). In the normal waist circumference group (man<90cm, woman<80 cm), compared with lean participants without NAFLD, the adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of incident type 2 diabetes for lean participants with NAFLD and overweight or obese participants with NAFLD were 1.93 (95% CI 0.70-5.35, p>0.05) and 4.20 (95% CI 1.44-12.22, p<0.05), respectively. For excess waist circumference (man≥90 cm, woman ≥80 cm) compared with lean participants without NAFLD, the adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of incident type 2 diabetes for lean participants with NAFLD and overweight or obese participants with NAFLD were 3.88 (95% CI 1.56-9.66, p<0.05) and 3.30 (95% CI 1.52-7.14, p<0.05), respectively.ConclusionAbdominal obesity is the strongest risk factor for type 2 diabetes in lean nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

House dust mite sensitization, eczema, and wheeze increase risk of shellfish sensitization

Non peer reviewe

Allergic sensitization trajectories to age 8 years in the Singapore GUSTO cohort

Background: Allergic sensitization is linked to allergy development, with early sensitization often associated with worse outcomes. We aimed to identify if distinct allergic sensitization trajectories existed within a diverse and multi-ethnic Asian cohort.Methods: We administered modified ISAAC questionnaires in the first 8 years and conducted skin prick testing at ages 18 months, 3, 5 and 8 years in the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) cohort. We used latent class analysis to derive allergic sensitization trajectories, and adjusted odds ratios (AOR) to evaluate predictive risk factors and associations with allergic comorbidities.Results: Among 997 children, three trajectories were identified: early food and mite sensitization (16.2%), late mite sensitization (24.2%) and no/low sensitization (59.6%). Early food and mite sensitization was associated with early eczema by 6 months [AOR (95%CI) 4.67 (1.78-12.28)], increased risk of wheeze by 3-8 years (ARR 1.72-1.99) and eczema in the first 8 years of life (ARR 1.87-2.41). Late mite sensitization was associated with female sex [AOR 0.58 (0.35-0.96)], cesar-ean section [AOR 0.54 (0.30-0.98)], early eczema by 6 months [AOR 3.40 (1.38-8.42)], and increased risk of eczema by 18 months [ARR 1.47 (1.03-2.08)] and 8 years [ARR 1.35 (1.05-1.73)].Conclusion: Early onset of eczema and early allergic sensitization were strongly associated. Early sensitization, especially to house dust mites, was associated with increased risks of developing wheeze and eczema, pointing to the importance of developing preventive perinatal interventions and effective therapeutics for sensitized toddlers.Peer reviewe

Hidden structural and chemical order controls lithium transport in cation-disordered oxides for rechargeable batteries

This work was supported by the Robert Bosch Corporation, Umicore Specialty Oxides and Chemicals, and the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Vehicle Technologies Office of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 under the Advanced Battery Materials Research (BMR) Program. The research conducted at the NOMAD Beamline at ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source was sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy. Work at the Molecular Foundry was supported by the Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. The computational analysis was performed using computational resources sponsored by the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and located at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, as well computational resources provided by Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE), which was supported by the National Science Foundation grant number ACI-1053575.Structure plays a vital role in determining materials properties. In lithium ion cathode materials, the crystal structure defines the dimensionality and connectivity of interstitial sites, thus determining lithium ion diffusion kinetics. In most conventional cathode materials that are well-ordered, the average structure as seen in diffraction dictates the lithium ion diffusion pathways. Here, we show that this is not the case in a class of recently discovered high-capacity lithium-excess rocksalts. An average structure picture is no longer satisfactory to understand the performance of such disordered materials. Cation short-range order, hidden in diffraction, is not only ubiquitous in these long-range disordered materials, but fully controls the local and macroscopic environments for lithium ion transport. Our discovery identifies a crucial property that has previously been overlooked and provides guidelines for designing and engineering cation-disordered cathode materials.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Associations Between Eczema and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms in Children

Background: Epidemiological studies suggest a link between eczema and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but underlying mechanisms have not been examined.Objective: We aim to investigate the association between eczema and subsequent ADHD symptoms in the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes cohort and explore the role of pro-inflammatory cytokines and gut microbiome.Methods: The modified International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire and Computerized Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version IV were administered to assess reported eczema within the first 18 months and presence of ADHD symptoms at 54 months, respectively. Skin prick testing at 18 months, cytokines in maternal blood during pregnancy and cord blood and the mediating role of the gut microbiome at 24 months were assessed.Results: After adjusting for confounders, eczema with or without a positive skin prick test was associated with doubling the risk of ADHD symptoms. No differences in maternal and cord blood cytokines were observed in children with and without eczema, or children with and without ADHD. Gut microbiome dysbiosis was observed in children with eczema and children with ADHD. Children with eczema also had lower gut bacterial Shannon diversity. However, the relationship between eczema and ADHD was not mediated by gut microbiome.Conclusion: Early life eczema diagnosis is associated with a higher risk of subsequent ADHD symptoms in children. We found no evidence for underlying inflammatory mechanism or mediation by gut microbiome dysbiosis. Further research should evaluate other mechanisms underlying the link between eczema and ADHD.Peer reviewe

Novel albumin-binding multifunctional probe for synergistic enhancement of FL/MR dual-modal imaging and photothermal therapy

The fluorescence/magnetic resonance (FL/MR) dual-modal imaging could provide accurate tumor visualization to guide photothermal therapy (PTT) of cancer, which has attracted widespread attention from scientists. However, facile and effective strategies to synergistically enhance fluorescence intensity, MR contrast and photothermal efficacy have rarely been reported. This study presents a novel multifunctional probe Gd-EB-ICG (GI) for FL/MR dual-modal imaging-guided PTT of cancer. GIs can self-assemble with endogenous albumin to form drug-albumin complexes (GIAs), which exhibit excellent biocompatibility. Albumin can protect GIAs from the recognition and clearance by the mononuclear phagocytic system (MPS). High plasma concentration and long half-life allow GIAs to accumulate continuously in the tumor area through EPR effect and specific uptake of tumor. Because of the prolonged rotational correlation time (τR) of Gd chelates, GIAs exhibited superior MR contrast performance over GIs with more than 3 times enhancement of longitudinal relaxation efficiency (r1). The fluorescence quantum yield and photothermal conversion efficiency of GIAs was also significantly improved due to the constrained geometry, disrupted aggregation and enhanced photothermal stability. This simple and feasible strategy successfully resulted in a synergistic effect for FL/MR dual-modal imaging and photothermal therapy, which can cast a new light for the clinical translation of multifunctional probes

Endogenous relapse and exogenous reinfection in recurrent pulmonary tuberculosis: A retrospective study revealed by whole genome sequencing

BackgroundTuberculosis may reoccur due to reinfection or relapse after initially successful treatment. Distinguishing the cause of TB recurrence is crucial to guide TB control and treatment. This study aimed to investigate the source of TB recurrence and risk factors related to relapse in Hunan province, a high TB burden region in southern China.MethodsA population-based retrospective study was conducted on all culture-positive TB cases in Hunan province, China from 2013 to 2020. Phenotypic drug susceptibility testing and whole-genome sequencing were used to detect drug resistance and distinguish between relapse and reinfection. Pearson chi-square test and Fisher exact test were applied to compare differences in categorical variables between relapse and reinfection. The Kaplan–Meier curve was generated in R studio (4.0.4) to describe and compare the time to recurrence between different groups. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsOf 36 recurrent events, 27 (75.0%, 27/36) paired isolates were caused by relapse, and reinfection accounted for 25.0% (9/36) of recurrent cases. No significant difference in characteristics was observed between relapse and reinfection (all p > 0.05). In addition, TB relapse occurs earlier in patients of Tu ethnicity compared to patients of Han ethnicity (p < 0.0001), whereas no significant differences in the time interval to relapse were noted in other groups. Moreover, 83.3% (30/36) of TB recurrence occurred within 3 years. Overall, these recurrent TB isolates were predominantly pan-susceptible strains (71.0%, 49/69), followed by DR-TB (17.4%, 12/69) and MDR-TB (11.6%, 8/69), with mutations mainly in codon 450 of the rpoB gene and codon 315 of the katG gene. 11.1% (3/27) of relapse cases had acquired new resistance during treatment, with fluoroquinolone resistance occurring most frequently (7.4%, 2/27), both with mutations in codon 94 of gyrA.ConclusionEndogenous relapse is the main mechanism leading to TB recurrences in Hunan province. Given that TB recurrences can occur more than 4 years after treatment completion, it is necessary to extend the post-treatment follow-up period to achieve better management of TB patients. Moreover, the relatively high frequency of fluoroquinolone resistance in the second episode of relapse suggests that fluoroquinolones should be used with caution when treating TB cases with relapse, preferably guided by DST results