"Getting sicker quicker": does living in a more deprived neighbourhood mean your health deteriorates faster?

Data from the longitudinal West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study: Health in the Community was used to examine whether, over a 20 year period, the self-reported health of people living in deprived areas became poorer faster compared to those living in more affluent areas. Three cohorts (born in the early 1930s, 1950s and 1970s) are included, covering 60 years of the life span. Using multilevel growth curve models, a 40% probability of reporting poor health was predicted among residents of more deprived areas at an earlier age (66) compared to those living in more affluent areas (83). Wider area differences were seen for men than for women. Our findings indicate that attempts to reduce area differences in health should start young but also continue throughout the lifespan

Structural, optical, and mechanical properties of cobalt copper oxide coatings synthesized from low concentrations of sol–gel process

Thin films of CoxCuyOz have been coated on aluminum substrates via sol–gel route using low concentration of copper and cobalt precursors at annealing temperatures in range of 500–650 °C. The coatings were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometry, and nanoindentation. The XRD analysis in 2θ-range of 30°–42° revealed that the coatings exhibited low crystallinity of CoCu2O3, CoCuO2, and CuCoO2. The surface bonding structure analyzed using XPS indicated that the coating contained: Cu (tetrahedral Cu+ and octahedral Cu2+), Co (octahedral Co3+, tetrahedral Co2+, and mixed Co2+ and Co3+), and O (lattice, surface, and sub-surface oxygens). The optical properties characterized using UV-Vis-NIR showed that the reflectance spectra of coatings formed a spectrally solar selective absorber profile associated with the interference peaks and the absorption edges around wavelengths of below 1.2 μm. The maximum absorptance (α = 75.8%) was shown by coating synthesized at 500 °C. The mechanical properties of coatings showed that the increase of annealing temperature increased the coating's hardness (H) and the elastic modulus (E) due to the enhancement of the [CoCuO2/CuCoO2]:[CoCu2O3] oxide phases ratio, as the result, an excellent stability of the wear resistance (H/E) of around ∼0.035 was recorded

Catheter-associated urinary tract infection

10.1016/j.jiac.2021.07.022Journal of Infection and Chemotherapy27101400-140

Tailoring the physicochemical and mechanical properties of optical copper–cobalt oxide thin films through annealing treatment

Sol–gel dip-coated optical coatings, copper–cobalt oxides on aluminum substrates, were thermally treated at different annealing temperatures in the range 500–650 °C. The resulting films were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV–Vis–NIR spectrophotometry and nanoindentation techniques. The crystallinity of CoCu2O3 enhanced significantly, with increasing annealing temperature from 500 to 650 °C, while the electronic structure and bonding states of the copper–cobalt oxides matrix remained unchanged. UV–Vis–NIR analysis showed that the solar absorptance (α) of the coatings changed with increase of annealing temperature and an optimum α (84.4%) was achieved at 550 °C, which also coincides to the maximum tensile residual stress of the coating. Nanoindentation tests exhibited an increasing trend in both the hardness (H) and elastic modulus (E) of the coatings with increase in annealing temperature, although a slight decrease in the H/E ratio was also observed. The experimental studies were complemented by finite element modeling (FEM). The results showed that, under mechanical loading, the stress deformation and plastic deformation were concentrated within the coating layers. As such, the likelihood of delamination of the coating layer upon unloading would be reduced