Habitual snoring, adiposity measures and risk of type 2 diabetes in 0.5 million Chinese adults:a 10-year cohort

OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to examine whether habitual snoring was independently associated with risk of type 2 diabetes among Chinese adults, and to assess the role that adiposity measures play in the snoring-diabetes association, as well as to evaluate the joint influence of snoring and adiposity measures on diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The China Kadoorie Biobank study recruited 512 715 adults aged 30-79 years from 10 regions in China during 2004 and 2008. Data from 482 413 participants without baseline diabetes were analyzed in the present study. Autoregressive cross-lagged panel analysis was used to assess the longitudinal relationship between adiposity measures and habitual snoring. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine the association between habitual snoring and diabetes risk. RESULTS: Both higher body mass index and waist circumference were associated with higher risks of subsequent habitual snoring, whereas no reverse association was detected. A total of 16 479 type 2 diabetes cases were observed during a 10-year follow-up. Habitual snoring was independently associated with 12% (95% CI 6% to 18%) and 14% (95% CI 9% to 19%) higher risks of diabetes among men and women, respectively. Habitual snorers who had general obesity or central obesity were about twice as likely to develop diabetes as non-snorers at the lowest levels of adiposity measures. CONCLUSION: Habitual snoring was independently associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes among Chinese adults. It is important to maintain both a healthy weight and a normal waist circumference to prevent or alleviate habitual snoring and ultimately prevent diabetes among Chinese adults

Evolution and development of Miocene “island dolostones” on Xisha Islands, South China Sea

On Xisha Islands, located in the South China Sea, the Neogene succession includes the unconformity-bounded Huangliu Formation that is 210.5 m thick in well CK-2 and formed almost entirely of dolostones. The diverse biota in the Huangliu Formation, which includes corals, algae, bivalves and foraminifera, indicates that the original carbonate sediments accumulated in water that was < 30 m deep. The dolostones are formed of various mixtures of low- and high-calcium calcian dolomite with limpid dolomite lining the walls of many cavities. The O-18 and C-13 stable isotopes suggest that dolomitization was mediated by slightly modified seawater. The Sr-87/Sr-86 ratios from the dolostones suggest that dolomitization took place similar to 9.4 and 2.3 Ma ago, with the age of dolomitization becoming progressively younger towards the top of the formation. "Island dolostones" like these, found on many islands throughout the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, have commonly been linked to eustatic changes in sea-level with dolomitization taking place during lowstands, highstands, or transgressive phases. Data from the Huangliu Formation in well CK-2 suggests that dolomitization was associated with (semi-) continuous transgressive conditions that were controlled by the interaction of tectonic subsidence and eustatic changes in sea level

Triticeae crop genome biology: an endless frontier

Triticeae, the wheatgrass tribe, includes several major cereal crops and their wild relatives. Major crops within the Triticeae are wheat, barley, rye, and oat, which are important for human consumption, animal feed, and rangeland protection. Species within this tribe are known for their large genomes and complex genetic histories. Powered by recent advances in sequencing technology, researchers worldwide have made progress in elucidating the genomes of Triticeae crops. In addition to assemblies of high-quality reference genomes, pan-genome studies have just started to capture the genomic diversities of these species, shedding light on our understanding of the genetic basis of domestication and environmental adaptation of Triticeae crops. In this review, we focus on recent signs of progress in genome sequencing, pan-genome analyses, and resequencing analysis of Triticeae crops. We also propose future research avenues in Triticeae crop genomes, including identifying genome structure variations, the association of genomic regions with desired traits, mining functions of the non-coding area, introgression of high-quality genes from wild Triticeae resources, genome editing, and integration of genomic resources

Characterization of Neuraminidases from the Highly Pathogenic Avian H5N1 and 2009 Pandemic H1N1 Influenza A Viruses

To study the precise role of the neuraminidase (NA), and its stalk region in particular, in the assembly, release, and entry of influenza virus, we deleted the 20-aa stalk segment from 2009 pandemic H1N1 NA (09N1) and inserted this segment, now designated 09s60, into the stalk region of a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus H5N1 NA (AH N1). The biological characterization of these wild-type and mutant NAs was analyzed by pseudotyped particles (pseudoparticles) system. Compared with the wild-type AH N1, the wild-type 09N1 exhibited higher NA activity and released more pseudoparticles. Deletion/insertion of the 09s60 segment did not alter this relationship. The infectivity of pseudoparticles harboring NA in combination with the hemagglutinin from HPAI H5N1 (AH H5) was decreased by insertion of 09s60 into AH N1 and was increased by deletion of 09s60 from 09N1. When isolated from the wild-type 2009H1N1 virus, 09N1 existed in the forms (in order of abundance) dimer>>tetramer>monomer, but when isolated from pseudoparticles, 09N1 existed in the forms dimer>monomer>>>tetramer. After deletion of 09s60, 09N1 existed in the forms monomer>>>dimer. AH N1 from pseudoparticles existed in the forms monomer>>dimer, but after insertion of 09s60, it existed in the forms dimer>>monomer. Deletion/insertion of 09s60 did not alter the NA glycosylation pattern of 09N1 or AH N1. The 09N1 was more sensitive than the AH N1 to the NA inhibitor oseltamivir, suggesting that the infectivity-enhancing effect of oseltamivir correlates with robust NA activity

Optimisation of maintenance strategy of deteriorating bridges considering sustainability criteria

International audienc

Oil property changes during the waterflooding for reservoirs with condensate gas cap

Zanarol Oilfield is a giant carbonate reservoir with condensate cap, weakly volatile oil, and bioclastic limestone of low porosity and permeability. During the waterflooding stage, formation pressure decreased step by step resulting from the former depleting development and the strong heterogeneity of carbonate reservoirs. The gas cap spread outwards with the formation pressure dropping, causing gas breakthrough in production wells near the oil and gas contact, GOR increased and oil density decreased. In the internal oil region far from the oil-gas contact, the dropping reservoir pressure led to dissolved gas separating out from oil, making crude oil change to black oil from weak volatile oil. With the separated solution gas, the oil density, produced gas oil ratio and oil viscosity increased, the oil well productivity decreased, all these make waterflooding more difficult. The main method for improving development response is to keep formation pressure and improve the utilization factor of water injection. Key words: condensate gas cap, waterflood development, formation pressure, crude oil property, phase behavior, Zanarol Oilfiel

The preparation of intrinsic DOPO-Cinnamic flame-retardant cellulose and its application for lithium-ion battery separator

A renewable and superior intrinsic thermal-resistant cellulose-based nonwoven was explored as lithium-ion battery separator via phase separation mechanism. Herein, we sparked a robust strategy for improving the flammability of cellulose, namely DOPO- Cinnamoyl Cellulose (DCC) with intrinsic flame retardant was obtained via the incorporation of 9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide (DOPO) and Cinnamoyl Chloride attached on the backbone of cellulose. It demonstrates that the heat release rate and total heat release significantly reduced. Meanwhile the membrane displayed excellent self-extinction. Additionally, after the DCC membrane assembled into lithium battery, under the optimum formulation situation, the electrochemical properties established that the LIBs showed superior electrochemical performance compared with PP separator. The interface impedance of DCC separator was less than 300 Ω, which was much smaller than that of commercial separator of 410 Ω. After 50 cycles, the battery with DCC-0.11 separator retained 84.2% of its initial discharge capacity, which was higher than the commercial polypropylene separator with the numeric of 79.1%. In sum, this novel, environmental friendly and intrinsic DOPO-Cinnamic flame-retardant cellulose based separator can be considered as an expectant candidate for lithium ion battery separator with high performance