Prevalence of allergic rhinitis among adults in urban and rural areas of China : a population-based cross-sectional survey

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to compare the prevalence of self-reported and confirmable allergic rhinitis (AR) with positive skin prick test (SPT) results among adults living in urban and rural areas of China. Methods: Adults from a community in Beijing and a village in Baoding were selected as representative urban and rural dwellers, respectively. All eligible residents were enrolled from the population register and received a face-to-face interview using modified validated questionnaires. Equal sets of randomly selected self-reporting AR-positive and AR-negative participants who responded to the questionnaires were also investigated using skin prick tests. Results: A total of 803 participants in the rural area and a total of 1,499 participants in the urban area completed the questionnaires, with response rates being 75.9% and 81.5% respectively. The prevalence of self-reported AR of the rural area (19.1%) was significantly higher than that of the urban area (13.5%). The elementary school of educational level increased the risk of having AR (adjusted OR=2.198, 95% CI=1.072-2.236). The positive SET rates among subjects with self-reported AR in the rural and urban areas were 32.5% and 53.3%, respectively; the confirmable AR prevalence of 6.2% and 7.2% among the rural and urban adults, respectively. Conclusions: The prevalence of confirmable AR is similar between rural and urban areas in China, although there is a higher prevalence of self-reported AR in the former

Exploring topological phase transition andWeyl physics in five dimensions with electric circuits

Weyl semimetals are phases of matter with gapless electronic excitations that are protected by topology and symmetry. Their properties depend on the dimensions of the systems. It has been theoretically demonstrated that five-dimensional (5D) Weyl semimetals emerge as novel phases during the topological phase transition in analogy to the three-dimensional case. However, experimental observation of such a phenomenon remains a great challenge because the tunable 5D system is extremely hard to construct in real space. Here, we construct 5D electric circuit platforms in fully real space and experimentally observe topological phase transitions in five dimensions. Not only are Yang monopoles and linked Weyl surfaces observed experimentally, but various phase transitions in five dimensions are also proved, such as the phase transitions from a normal insulator to a Hopf link of twoWeyl surfaces and then to a 5D topological insulator. The demonstrated topological phase transitions in five dimensions leverage the concept of higher-dimensional Weyl physics to control electrical signals in the engineered circuits

Unipolar resistance switching and abnormal reset behaviors in Pt/CuO/Pt and Cu/CuO/Pt structures

The effects of Pt and Cu top electrodes on resistance switching properties were investigated for CuO thin films with Pt/CuO/Pt and Cu/CuO/Pt sandwich structures. Typical unipolar resistance switching (URS) behaviors and two different kinds of resistance changes in the reset process were observed in both structures. When voltages were applied to the film, the low-resistance state (LRS) with relatively low resistance value (50 Ω), the resistance first decreased then increased to HRS, showing abnormal reset behavior. The former variation of LRS could be ascribed to the decrease in filament size induced by Joule heating, while the latter one could be ascribed to the growth of disconnected filaments induced by high electric fields. This study indicates that the switching modes and the abnormal reset behaviors in CuO thin films are not due to Pt and Cu top electrodes, but the intrinsic properties of CuO film

Diversity of TH cytokine profiles in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis : a multicenter study in Europe, Asia, and Oceania

Background: To date, no study has evaluated the diversity of T-H cell cytokine patterns of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) among centers in different continents using identical methods. Objective: We sought to assess T-H cytokine profiles in patients with CRS from Europe, Asia, and Australia. Methods: Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) and without nasal polyps (CRSsNP; n 5 435) and control subjects (n 5 138) were recruited from centers in Adelaide, Benelux, Berlin, Beijing, Chengdu, and Tochigi. Nasal mucosal concentrations of T(H)2, T(H)17, and T(H)1 cytokines; eosinophilic cationic protein (ECP); myeloperoxidase (MPO); IL-8; and tissue total and Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin (SE)-specific IgE were measured by using identical tools. Results: Combinations of T(H)1/T(H)2/T(H)17 cytokine profiles in patients with CRSwNP varied considerably between regions. CRSwNP tissues from patients from Benelux, Berlin, Adelaide, and Tochigi were T(H)2 biased, whereas those from Beijing mainly demonstrated T(H)2/T(H)1/T(H)17 mixed patterns, and patients from Chengdu showed an even lower T(H)2 expression. Concentrations of IL-8 and tissue total IgE in patients with CRSwNP were significantly higher than those in control subjects in all regions. More than 50% of patients with CRSwNP in Benelux, Berlin, Adelaide, and Tochigi showed a predominantly eosinophilic endotype compared with less than 30% of patients in Beijing and Chengdu. SE-specific IgE was found in significantly greater numbers in patients with CRSwNP from Benelux, Adelaide, and Tochigi and significantly lower numbers in patients from Beijing and Chengdu. Moreover, the T(H)1/T(H)2/T(H)17 cytokine profiles in patients with CRSsNP showed diversity among the 6 regions. Conclusion: T-H cytokine levels, eosinophilic/neutrophilic patterns, and SE-specific IgE expressions show extreme diversity among patients with CRS from Europe, Asia, and Oceania

Realization of rectifying and resistive switching behaviors of TiO2 nanorod arrays for nonvolatile memory

Both the rectifying and resistive switching behaviors are reported in single-crystalline TiO2 nanorod arrays (NRAs). The transition from rectifying to bipolar resistive switching behavior can be controlled by a forming process. The surface of TiO2 nanorods and the Pt/TiO2 NRAs interface play crucial roles on resistive switching. In low resistance state, the dependence of resistance on cell area indicates that filaments form on each individual nanorod, which contributes to the narrow distribution of resistive switching parameters. These results suggest that single-crystalline TiO2 NRAs could be used as nanowire-based switch element and memory cell for next-generation nonvolatile memory

Variation characteristics of carbon monoxide and ozone over the course of the 2014 Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition

The concentrations of carbon monoxide and ozone in the marine boundary layer were measured during the 6th Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition (from July to September, 2014). Carbon monoxide concentration ranged between 47.00 and 528.52 ppbv with an average of 103.59 ± 40.37 ppbv. A slight decrease with increasing latitude was observed, except for the extremely high values over the East China Sea which may be attributed to anthropogenic emissions. Ozone concentration ranged between 3.27 and 77.82 ppbv with an average of 29.46±10.48 ppbv. Ozone concentration decreased sharply with increasing latitude outside the Arctic Ocean (during both the northward and the southward course), while no significant variation was observed over the Arctic Ocean. The positive correlation between carbon monoxide and ozone in most sections suggests that the ozone in the marine boundary layer mainly originated from photochemical reactions involving carbon monoxide