Health impacts of parental migration on left-behind children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Globally, a growing number of children and adolescents are left behind when parents migrate. We investigated the effect of parental migration on the health of left behind-children and adolescents in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis we searched MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PsychINFO, Global Index Medicus, Scopus, and Popline from inception to April 27, 2017, without language restrictions, for observational studies investigating the effects of parental migration on nutrition, mental health, unintentional injuries, infectious disease, substance use, unprotected sex, early pregnancy, and abuse in left-behind children (aged 0-19 years) in LMICs. We excluded studies in which less than 50% of participants were aged 0-19 years, the mean or median age of participants was more than 19 years, fewer than 50% of parents had migrated for more than 6 months, or the mean or median duration of migration was less than 6 months. We screened studies using systematic review software and extracted summary estimates from published reports independently. The main outcomes were risk and prevalence of health outcomes, including nutrition (stunting, wasting, underweight, overweight and obesity, low birthweight, and anaemia), mental health (depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, conduct disorders, self-harm, and suicide), unintentional injuries, substance use, abuse, and infectious disease. We calculated pooled risk ratios (RRs) and standardised mean differences (SMDs) using random-effects models. This study is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42017064871. FINDINGS: Our search identified 10 284 records, of which 111 studies were included for analysis, including a total of 264 967 children (n=106 167 left-behind children and adolescents; n=158 800 children and adolescents of non-migrant parents). 91 studies were done in China and focused on effects of internal labour migration. Compared with children of non-migrants, left-behind children had increased risk of depression and higher depression scores (RR 1·52 [95% CI 1·27-1·82]; SMD 0·16 [0·10-0·21]), anxiety (RR 1·85 [1·36-2·53]; SMD 0·18 [0·11-0·26]), suicidal ideation (RR 1·70 [1·28-2·26]), conduct disorder (SMD 0·16 [0·04-0·28]), substance use (RR 1·24 [1·00-1·52]), wasting (RR 1·13 [1·02-1·24]) and stunting (RR 1·12 [1·00-1·26]). No differences were identified between left-behind children and children of non-migrants for other nutrition outcomes, unintentional injury, abuse, or diarrhoea. No studies reported outcomes for other infectious diseases, self-harm, unprotected sex, or early pregnancy. Study quality varied across the included studies, with 43% of studies at high or unclear risk of bias across five or more domains. INTERPRETATION: Parental migration is detrimental to the health of left-behind children and adolescents, with no evidence of any benefit. Policy makers and health-care professionals need to take action to improve the health of these young people. FUNDING: Wellcome Trust

Thermal Hazard Characteristics of Unsaturated Polyester Resin Mixed with Hardeners

Unsaturated polyester resin (UP) is a critical polymer material in applications of many fields, such as the chemical industry, military, and architecture. For improving the mechanical properties, some hardeners, such as methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (MEKPO) or tert-butyl peroxy-2-ethylhexanoate (TBPO), can trigger the curing reaction in UP polymerization, which causes that UP changes the structure from monomer to polymer. However, polymerization is a strong exothermic reaction, which can increase the risk of thermal runaway reaction in UP. Therefore, the mechanisms and characteristics in the thermal runaway reaction of UP mixed with hardeners should be studied for preventing and controlling UP explosion. The thermal hazards of UP mixed with hardeners were determined by thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis. According to the results, UP mixed with MEKPO exhibited a more violent mass loss and exothermic reaction than UP mixed with TBPO. Furthermore, the thermal runaway reactions of UP mixed with MEKPO or TBPO with different mixing proportions of 1:1, 3:1, and 5:1 were determined. Irrespective of MEKPO or TBPO, the mixing proportions of 3:1 exhibited a high onset temperature and low enthalpy of curing reaction (ΔHexo). This demonstrated that this proportion was safer during UP polymerization. The results of this study can provide useful information for preventing UP explosion and developing polymerization technology

Analysis of microstructure, treatment pattern, and corrosion behaviour of AZ91D magnesium alloy processed by selective laser surface remelting

In this work, we show that selective laser surface remelting, apart from modifying the microstructure, can also act as a design method to treat the surface of AZ91D magnesium alloy with varying treatment patterns, thus providing a feasible approach to tailor the electrochemical behaviour and to improve its corrosion resistance. Two treatment patterns, spots and stripes, are designed, in which cases, the boundary ratio and geometrical complexity are analyzed and compared. Besides microstructure, Hydrogen evolution, and potentiodynamic polarization curves are studied. It is found that in the central treated area, corrosion is hindered by formation of the greatly refined β-Mg17Al12 continuous network, together with the uniform distribution of surface potential. As a comparison, in the boundary region, extensive micro/galvanic couples are detrimental to the corrosion resistance, due to the oriented dendritic microstructure. As a result, good corrosion resistance, 3–5 times higher than the as-received material, is obtained despite of the variation of treatment patterns and presence of extensive micro/galvanic couples in the boundary region, indicating that selective laser surface remelting could act as a feasible way to tailor the corrosion behaviour of AZ91D. It is suggested that this technique provides not only a metallurgical approach, and also a design one to improve the corrosion resistance of AZ91D, which may lead to numerous applications of both AZ91D and laser surface treatment

Protective effects of fisetin in an Aβ1-42-induced rat model of Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a chronic, neurodegenerative disorder that affects the central nervous system and is found predominantly in elderly populations. As amyloid b protein (Ab) is one of the key players responsible for the pathogenesis of AD, we sought to investigate the protective effects of fisetin in an Ab1-42-induced rat model of AD. In this model, the protective effects of fisetin on learning and memory impairment induced by Ab1-42 were determined via the Morris water maze and passive avoidance test. Furthermore, the antioxidant activity, anti-inflammation, and apoptosis effect of fisetin were investigated using biochemical and immunohistochemical methods. The results showed that intragastric (i.g.) administration of fisetin (100, 50, and 25 mg/kg) improved previous learning and memory impairments in Ab1-42-treated rats. Hippocampal tissue from these fisetin-treated rats revealed that the activities of total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were markedly enhanced, and that the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and 8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) were significantly reduced. Meanwhile, fisetin also significantly attenuated Ab1-42-induced cholinergic dysfunction such as elevated the activity of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and reduced the activity of acetylcholine esterase (AChE). In addition, hippocampal tissue obtained from fisetin-treated rats revealed a reversal of Ab1-42-induced effects on apoptotic pathway protein (caspase-3) expression and inflammatory response of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). This indicated that the amount of degenerating hippocampal neurons with apoptotic features was dramatically reduced after treatment with fisetin. Collectively, these findings suggest that fisetin has potential as a treatment agent for Alzheimer’s disease and that its effects occur through several mechanisms, including inhibition of oxidative stress, adjustments to previous cholinergic dysfunction, anti-inflammatory actions, and decreased apoptotic activity

Increased precipitation induces a positive plant-soil feedback in a semi-arid grassland

Given that plant growth is often water limited in drylands, it has been proposed that water seems to influence productivity by altering physiological/metabolic responses and nutrient availability in short term. It is unclear, however, whether water mediates a positive plant-soil feedback and whether the feedback drives variations in plant productivity. A 4-year field experiment was performed to examine the effects of water and nitrogen (N) addition on nutrient concentrations in soil and plant, nutrient resorption and potential return, in a temperate grassland in northern China. Water addition enhanced plant N and phosphorus (P) concentrations but reduced plant N and P resorption efficiency, leading to the increased potential N and P return to soil via litterfall. Enhanced nutrient potential return likely contributed to an increase of plant productivity in the following year. These fertilization effects caused by water addition were similar to those by N addition. Our study suggests that the positive plant-soil feedback induced by increased precipitation may have a role in water-induced increases in productivity, and highlights the fertilization effect of water addition in a semiarid grassland in short term

Study on properties of SLM-NiTi shape memory alloy under the same energy density

In recent years, selective laser melting (SLM)-NiTi had developed rapidly due to the ability to achieve the complex shape and internal features, as well as high dimensional accuracy. The choice of parameters was particularly critical to the forming and performance of SLM-NiTi. In this work, we had designed and prepared five sets of SLM-NiTi shape memory alloys with the same energy density (range of 40–90 J/mm3). The microstructure, phase transition characteristic, mechanical properties and shape memory effect of SLM-NiTi shape memory alloys were investigated through various characterization methods of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and stress-controlled cyclic tensile tests, etc. The results showed that the surface forming quality of SLM-NiTi was not only related to the energy density, but also related to the value of P/V, which higher than 0.3 or lower than 0.1 would lead to the formation of surface pores. Interestingly, the SLM-NiTi showed ultrahigh failure strength of 735 MPa and elongation of 10.88% under room temperature tensile conditions. In addition, stress-controlled cyclic tensile tests under 400 MPa indicated that the SLM-NiTi had excellent shape memory effect of 76.1% recovery ratio and 3.95% recoverable strain after ten times loading–unloading cycles. The design of multi-parameter variables can not only optimize the surface quality, but also provide a basis for the prediction of SLM-NiTi phase transition temperature

Source forensics of inorganic and organic nitrogen using delta N-15 for tropospheric aerosols over Mt. Tai

Nitrogen-containing species are major components in atmospheric aerosols. However, little is known about the sources of N-containing aerosols over high mountainous regions, especially for organic nitrogen (ON). This study aims to reveal the emission sources of both inorganic and organic nitrogen in tropospheric aerosols atop Mt. Tai, China, and to improve our understanding of the N cycle imbalance in the North China Plain (NCP). Total suspended particle (TSP) samples were collected on a daytime/nighttime basis in spring 2017 and were investigated for the concentrations and stable N isotopic compositions of total nitrogen, NH4+, NO3- and ON. Our results show that the concentrations of N-containing compounds were higher in daytime than nighttime, mainly resulting from mountain-valley breezes and the changes of planetary boundary layer height. However, no significant day/nighttime changes were found for their corresponding delta N-15 values, indicating similar contributions from different N sources between day and night. The MixSIAR Bayesian stable isotope mixing model results suggest that the most important emission source of NH3 for aerosol NH4+ was agriculture, followed by fossil fuel-related sources, human waste and biomass burning. Aerosol NO3- was mainly formed from combustion and mobile emitted NOx. Interestingly, the isotopes of ON suggest that ON were very likely firstly of primary origin. Our study reveals the characteristics of reactive N emission sources and helps understand the regional transport of tropospheric N-containing aerosols in the NCP