Periodontal health: A national cross‐sectional study of knowledge, attitudes and practices for the public oral health strategy in China

Aim To assess the status of periodontal health knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) among Chinese adults. Materials and Methods A cross‐sectional study was conducted in a nationally representative sample of adults (N = 50,991) aged 20 years or older from ten provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. Percentages of Chinese adults with correct periodontal knowledge, positive periodontal attitudes, and practices were estimated. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to examine the related factors. Results Less than 20% of Chinese adults were knowledgeable about periodontal disease. Very few (2.6%) of Chinese adults use dental floss ≥once a day and undergo scaling ≥once a year and visit a dentist (6.4%) in the case of gingival bleeding. Periodontal health KAP was associated with gender, age, body mass index, marital status, place of residence, education level, income, smoking status, and history of periodontal disease. Conclusions Periodontal health KAP are generally poor among the Chinese adult population. Community‐based health strategies to improve periodontal health KAP need to be implemented. Increasing knowledge of periodontal disease, the cultivation of correct practices in response to gingival bleeding, and the development of good habits concerning the use of dental floss and regular scaling should be public oral health priorities

Characteristics of stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients in the pulmonology clinics of seven Asian cities

Background and objectives Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is responsible for significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. We evaluated the characteristics of stable COPD patients in the pulmonology clinics of seven Asian cities and also evaluated whether the exposure to biomass fuels and dusty jobs were related to respiratory symptoms, airflow limitation, and quality of life in the COPD patients. Methods: This cross-sectional observational study recruited 922 COPD patients from seven cities of Asia. The patients underwent spirometry and were administered questionnaires about their exposure to cigarette smoking, biomass fuels, and dusty jobs in addition to respiratory symptoms and health related quality of life. Results: Of the patients, there appeared to be variations from city to city in the history of exposure to biomass fuels and dusty jobs and also in respiratory symptoms of cough, phlegm, wheeze, and dyspnea. These symptoms were more frequent in those COPD patients with a history of exposure to biomass fuels than without and those with a history of exposure to dusty jobs than without (P < 0.01 for all comparisons). Airflow limitation was more severe in those COPD patients with a history of exposure to biomass fuels than without (52.2% predicted versus 55.9% of post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV1], P = 0.009); quality of life was poorer in those with exposure to biomass fuels than without (40.4 versus 36.2 of the St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire [SGRQ] total score, P = 0.001). Airflow limitation was more severe in those COPD patients with a history of exposure to dusty jobs than without (51.2% predicted versus 57.3% of post-bronchodilator FEV1, P < 0.001); quality of life was poorer in those with dusty jobs than without (41.0 versus 34.6 of SGRQ score, P = 0.006). Conclusion: In Asian cities, the characteristics of COPD patients vary and the history of exposure to biomass fuels or dusty jobs was related to frequency of symptoms, severe airflow limitation, and poor quality of life

Limb development genes underlie variation in human fingerprint patterns

Fingerprints are of long-standing practical and cultural interest, but little is known about the mechanisms that underlie their variation. Using genome-wide scans in Han Chinese cohorts, we identified 18 loci associated with fingerprint type across the digits, including a genetic basis for the long-recognized “pattern-block” correlations among the middle three digits. In particular, we identified a variant near EVI1 that alters regulatory activity and established a role for EVI1 in dermatoglyph patterning in mice. Dynamic EVI1 expression during human development supports its role in shaping the limbs and digits, rather than influencing skin patterning directly. Trans-ethnic meta-analysis identified 43 fingerprint-associated loci, with nearby genes being strongly enriched for general limb development pathways. We also found that fingerprint patterns were genetically correlated with hand proportions. Taken together, these findings support the key role of limb development genes in influencing the outcome of fingerprint patterning

mechanismresponsibleforthecompletesuppressionofkrmnvortexinflowspastawavysquaresectioncylinder

The Kármán vortex shedding is totally suppressed in flows past a wavy square-section cylinder at a Reynolds number of 100 and the wave steepness of 0.025. Such a phenomenon is illuminated by the numerical simulations. In the present study, the mechanism responsible for it is mainly attributed to the vertical vorticity. The geometric disturbance on the rear surface leads to the appearance of spanwise flow near the base. The specific vertical vorticity is generated on the rear surface and convecting into the near wake. The wake flow is recirculated with the appearance of the pair of recirculating cells. The interaction between the upper and lower shear layers is weakened by such cells, so that the vortex rolls could not be formed and the near wake flow becomes stable

The Development and the Role of International Criminal Justice in Today's World

This thesis deals with international criminal justice, which began to influence international politics during the last twenty years. After the end of the Cold War, a lot of armed conflicts were breaking out. They were accompanied by unprecedented inhuman acts and atrocities. The international community had to find a solution for how to respond to such events. In 1993, the United Nations Security Council acted under Chapter VII of The Charter of the United Nations and decided unanimously upon the establishing of an ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. The Tribunal's role was to prosecute persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed during the Balkans conflict. A year later, in 1994, the Security Council decided to establish another ad hoc tribunal - The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which served to punish the architects of Rwandan genocide. Both tribunals sped up negotiations and the decision to establish the permanent International Criminal Court, whose objective is to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community. The crime of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and in the future the crime of aggression. Firstly, this thesis analyses the ad..

Adsorption and Sensing of CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O Molecules by Ti-Doped HfSe₂ Monolayer Based on the First-Principle

With the continuous emission of greenhouse gases, the greenhouse effect is becoming more and more serious. CO2, CH4, and N2O are three typical greenhouse gases, and in order to limit their emissions, it is imperative that they are accurately monitored. In this paper, the doping behavior of Ti on the surface of HfSe2 is investigated, based on the first-nature principle. Additionally, the parameters of adsorption energy and the transfer charges of Ti−HfSe2 for CO2, CH4, and N2O are calculated and compared, while the sensing characteristics of Ti−HfSe2 are analyzed. The results show that the structure is most stable when Ti is located above the lower-layer Se atom. The CO2 and N2O adsorption systems with large adsorption energies and transfer charges are a chemical adsorption, while the CH4 system is a physical adsorption with small adsorption energies and transfer charges. In addition, Ti−HfSe2 has a good sensitivity and recovery time for CO2 at 298 K, which is feasible for industrial application. All the contents of this paper provide theoretical guidance for the implementation of Ti−HfSe2 as a gas-sensitive material for the detection of greenhouse gas components

High-Speed Shift Register with Dual-Gated Thin-Film Transistors for a 31-Inch 4K AMOLED Display

In this work, a promising dual-gated thin film transistor (TFT) structure has been proposed and introduced in the shift register (SR)-integrated circuits to reduce the rising time. The threshold voltage can be simultaneously changed by the top gate and the bottom gate in the proposed dual-gated TFTs. When the SR circuits start to export the scan signals in the displays, the driving currents in the SR circuits are increased by switching the working station of driving TFTs from the enhancement characterization to the depletion characterization. Subsequently, the detailed smart spice simulation has been used to study the function of the proposed SR circuits. In the next step, the proposed SR circuits have been fabricated in a G4.5 active-matrix organic light-emitting diode manufacture factory. The simulated and experimental results indicate that the shift register pulses with the full swing amplitude can be obtained in the SR circuits. Moreover, in contrast to the conventional SR circuits employing with the single-gated TFTs, it has been found that the rising time of the output signals can be reduced from 3.75 μs to 1.23 μs in the proposed SR circuits with the dual-gated TFTs, thus exhibiting the significant improvement of the driving force in the proposed SR circuits. Finally, we demonstrated a 31-inch 4K AMOLED display with the proposed SR circuits

Association between symptoms of severe periodontitis and post-bronchodilator lung function: results from the China pulmonary health study.

BACKGROUND: The association between periodontitis and post-bronchodilator lung function is unclear. We aimed to determine the associations between symptoms of severe periodontitis (SSP) and post-bronchodilator lung function in the Chinese population. METHODS: A cross-sectional study (China Pulmonary Health study) was conducted from 2012 to 2015 in a large Chinese nationally representative sample of 49,202 participants aged 20-89 years. Data on demographic characteristics and periodontal symptoms of participants were collected by questionnaire. Participants who had at least one of the two severe symptoms (tooth mobility and natural tooth loss) in the past year were defined to have SSP, which was set as one variable for analyses. Post-bronchodilator lung function data including forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV RESULTS: The values of post-FEV CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that SSP were negatively associated with post-bronchodilator lung function in the Chinese population. Longitudinal cohort studies are needed to confirm these associations in the future

Simultaneous implementation of resistive switching and rectifying effects in a metal-organic framework with switched hydrogen bond pathway

Resistive random-access memory (RRAM) has evolved as one of the most promising candidates for the next-generation memory, but bistability for information storage, simultaneous implementation of resistive switching and rectification effects, and a better understanding of switching mechanism are still challenging in this field. Herein, we report a RRAM device based on a chiral metal-organic framework (MOF) FJU-23-H2O with switched hydrogen bond pathway within its channels, exhibiting an ultralow set voltage (~0.2 V), a high ON/OFF ratio (~105), and a high rectification ratio (~105). It is not only the first MOF with voltage-gated proton conduction but also the first single material showing both rectifying and resistive switching effects. By single-crystal x-ray diffraction analyses, the mechanism of the resistive switching has been demonstrated.Published versio

Preservation of Litchi Fruit with Nanosilver Composite Particles (Ag-NP) and Resistance against <i>Peronophythora litchi</i>

Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) is susceptible to infection by Peronophythora litchi post storage, which rapidly decreases the sensory and nutritional quality of the fruit. In this study, the effects of nanosilver (Ag-NP) solution treatment on the shelf life of litchi fruit and the inhibition of P. litchi were examined, and the underlying mechanisms were discussed. For investigations, we used one variety of litchi (‘Feizixiao’), dipping it in different concentrations of Ag-NP solution after harvesting. Meanwhile, we treated P. litchi with different concentrations of Ag-NP solution. According to the data analysis, litchi treated with 400 μg/mL Ag-NPs and stored at 4 °C had the highest health rate and the lowest browning index among all the samples. In the same trend, treatment with 400 μg/mL Ag-NPs produced the best results for anthocyanin content, total soluble solids content, and titratable acidity content. Additionally, according to the results of the inhibition test, 800 μg/mL Ag-NP solution had a 94.97% inhibition rate against P. litchi. Within 2–10 h following exposure to 400 μg/mL Ag-NP solution, the contents of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase in P. litchi gradually increased and peaked, followed by a gradual decline. At this time, the integrity of the cell membrane of P. litchi could be broken by Ag-NP solution, and the sporangia showed deformed germ tubes and abnormal shapes. Taken together, these results suggested that Ag-NP treatment inhibited respiration and P. litchi activity, which might attenuate litchi pericarp browning and prolong the shelf life of litchi. Accordingly, Ag-NPs could be used as an effective antistaling agent in litchi fruit and as an ecofriendly fungicide for the post-harvest control of litchi downy blight. This study provides new insights into the application of Ag-NP as an antistaling agent for fruit storage and as an ecofriendly fungicide