A Comprehensive Review of Slag-Coating Mechanisms in Blast-Furnace Staves: Furnace Profile Optimization and Material-Structure Design.

Blast-furnace staves serve as critical protective components in ironmaking, requiring synergistic optimization of slag-coating behavior and self-protection capability to extend furnace lifespan and reduce energy consumption. Traditional integer-order heat transfer models, constrained by assumptions of homogeneous materials and instantaneous heat conduction, fail to accurately capture the cross-scale thermal memory effects and non-local diffusion characteristics in multiphase heterogeneous blast-furnace systems, leading to substantial inaccuracies in predicting dynamic slag-layer evolution. This review synthesizes recent advancements across three interlinked dimensions: first, analyzing design principles of zonal staves and how refractory material properties influence slag-layer formation, proposing a "high thermal conductivity-low thermal expansion" material matching strategy to mitigate thermal stress cracks through optimized synergy; second, developing a mechanistic model by introducing the Caputo fractional derivative to construct a non-Fourier heat-transfer framework (i.

The global incidence rate of type 2 diabetes related chronic kidney disease and predictions by Bayesian age-period-cohort analysis: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.

Aims: To evaluate the spatial-temporal changes in the incidence of type 2 diabetes related chronic kidney disease (CKD-T2DM) from 1990 to 2019, categorized by age and sex in 21 regions with different socio-demographic indexes (SDI), and to predict the incidence rate between 2020 and 2030.

Methods: Data on the burden of CKD-T2DM were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Age-standardized incidence rates (ASIR) were estimated by sex, age, region, SDI, and specifically in China.

Social determinants of health and progression to cardio-renal-metabolic multimorbidity and mortality in people with prediabetes: A prospective cohort study.

Aims: Social determinants of health (SDHs) have been increasingly recognised as upstream drivers of preventable health disparities. However, it is unclear what the role of SDHs is in the whole progression of prediabetes. We aimed to delineate the impact of SDHs on the progression from prediabetes to subsequent cardio-renal-metabolic disease (CRMD), cardio-renal-metabolic multimorbidity (CRMM) and mortality.

External radiation spatial distribution and safety assessment of yttrium-90 resin microsphere selective hepatic radioembolisation therapy.

This study investigated the spatial distribution pattern of external radiation dose rates in patients treated with yttrium-90 (Y) resin microspheres and evaluated the potential radiation exposure to other individuals. External radiation dose rates from 15 patients were measured following therapy. A curve fit was performed using MATLAB to verify adherence to the inverse square law.

The efficacy of dietary interventions for prediabetes management: An umbrella review of meta-analyses.

Background: Literature suggested that prediabetes may be reversible through dietary interventions. Despite numerous meta-analyses evaluating the efficacies of dietary intervention strategies, there is a lack of umbrella review to gather published meta-analyses, then to assess their reliability and strength of evidence.

Methods: Meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on dietary interventions for adults with prediabetes were collected from Embase, Emcare, MEDLINE, Ovid Nursing, and CNKI.

SARS-CoV-2 rebound and post-acute mortality and hospitalization among patients admitted with COVID-19: cohort study.

Recent investigations have demonstrated a relationship between the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 and post-COVID-19 conditions. Building upon a potential connection between SARS-CoV-2 persistence and early virologic rebound, we examine the association of early virologic rebound with post-acute mortality and hospitalization due to post-acute sequelae among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Hong Kong. Our study includes 13,859, 3959, and 4502 patients in the all-patient, nirmatrelvir/ritonavir, and molnupiravir group, respectively.

ATG16L1 membrane recruitment in autophagy.

Autophagy, a highly conserved catabolic pathway in eukaryotes, is essential for cellular survival during starvation and for maintaining cellular homeostasis. Central to autophagy is the formation of double-membrane autophagosomes, which requires the orchestrated action of a set of autophagy-related (ATG) proteins. ATG16L1 is a core autophagy protein involved in distinct phases of autophagosome biogenesis, including membrane remodeling and the formation of phagophore-like membrane cups.

Subclasses of Glucose Trajectories in Early Childhood Stratified the Risk of Abnormal Glucose Tolerance in Adolescence and Young Adulthood.

Abnormal glucose tolerance (AGT) in youth has become an alarming global public health issue; however, approaches to identify high-risk population among young people have not been well-established. Can the long-term risk of AGT be stratified by the subclasses of glucose trajectories defined in childhood? Subclasses defined in childhood can efficiently stratify the risk of AGT in adolescence and young adulthood. The subclass membership was strongly associated with cardiometabolic disorders in childhood and maternal cardiometabolic disorders during pregnancy.

Population-level productivity-adjusted life years lost in individuals with type 2 diabetes in Hong Kong: a life table modelling study.

Background: Type 2 diabetes has become increasingly prevalent in young populations who are in their prime working years. We estimated the population-level productivity-adjusted life years (PALYs) lost in the working-age population with type 2 diabetes in Hong Kong.

Methods: We constructed life tables for individuals aged 20-64 years with type 2 diabetes, with simulated follow-up until retirement at 65 years.

Association of maternal overweight and gestational diabetes mellitus with offspring adiposity trajectory: from birth to early adolescence.

Aims/hypothesis: We aimed to examine offspring adiposity trajectories from birth to age 9-14 years and to assess the joint associations of maternal overweight and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) with these trajectories.

Methods: This is a prospective cohort study with 564 mother-child dyads from the Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome study Hong Kong field centre. Assessments and anthropometric measurements were taken during pregnancy, at delivery and at median ages of 7 and 10 years postpartum.

RhTSH in aiding dynamic assessment in patients with differentiated thyroid Cancer.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of a novel recombinant human thyroid-stimulating hormone (ZGrhTSH) as an alternative to thyroid hormone withdrawal (THW) in dynamic assessment of DTC patients.

Methods: This phase 3, open-label, multicenter trial, conducted across 27 sites in China, employed a self-controlled design to enroll patients. Eligible patients had previously undergone total or near-total thyroidectomy, with or without RAI therapy.

(+)-a-Longipinene alleviates murine laser-induced choroidal neovascularization: Evidence from in vivo and in vitro experiments.

Choroidal neovascularization (CNV) is a progressive, degenerative pathological change. CNV can lead to severe vision loss, even blindness. (+)-a-Longipinene (LON) is an essential oil isolated from Pinus koraiensis and Hypericum.

Robust Infrared-Visible Fusion Imaging with Decoupled Semantic Segmentation Network.

The fusion of infrared and visible images provides complementary information from both modalities and has been widely used in surveillance, military, and other fields. However, most of the available fusion methods have only been evaluated with subjective metrics of visual quality of the fused images, which are often independent of the following relevant high-level visual tasks. Moreover, as a useful technique especially used in low-light scenarios, the effect of low-light conditions on the fusion result has not been well-addressed yet.

Use of technology in prediabetes and precision prevention.

Controlling the epidemic of diabetes is an urgent global healthcare challenge. The low uptake of diabetes prevention programs highlights difficulties in scalability, partly due to the need for intensive face-to-face contact and its impact on healthcare resource utilization. In this narrative review, we will summarize the latest evidence in technology-assisted lifestyle interventions.

Identifying and visualising temporal trajectories of hospitalisations for traditional and non-traditional complications in people with type 2 diabetes: a population-based study.

Background: People with type 2 diabetes are increasingly susceptible to complications that are not specific to diabetes. We aimed to examine the temporal trajectories of hospitalisations for traditional and non-traditional complications in people with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: We included 758,254 people with incident type 2 diabetes between 2002 and 2018 in Hong Kong, followed up until 2019.

Real world evidence of insulin and biosimilar insulin therapy-Opportunities to improve adherence, outcomes and cost-effectiveness.

Insulin has been discovered for more than a century; however, its benefits to people with diabetes are yet to be fully realized due to barriers related to access, quality of care and costs. Insulin therapy remains the cornerstone of diabetes management. The multicausality of diabetes and its subtypes calls for comprehensive phenotyping and use of biomarkers to ensure timely use of insulin to achieve early glycaemic control for long-term benefits.

The emerging roles of S-acylation in autophagy.

Autophagy is an intracellular degradation system that delivers cytoplasmic materials to the lysosome. S-acylation, a reversible post-translational modification that attaches long-chain fatty acids to cysteine residues within proteins, has recently emerged as an important regulatory mechanism for autophagy. In this forum article, we review and discuss the emerging roles of S-acylation in autophagy.

Chinese management guidelines for radioactive iodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer (2025 edition).

Purpose: Radioactive iodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer (RAIR-DTC) has become a challenge in clinical practice, particularly in China with a high incidence and undesirable survival outcome. Since the publication of first China consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of RAIR-DTC in 2019, significant and rapid advances have occurred in the field both in China and internationally. This guideline aims to inform Chinese clinicians, researchers, patients, and health policy makers on the latest evidence and recommendations, to further standardize the clinical diagnosis and treatment of RAIR-DTC.

Association Between Multiple Plasma Toxic Metal and Metalloid Exposures and Hypertension in Elderly Chinese Adults.

Although environmental exposure to toxic metals and metalloids is linked with the risk of cardiovascular diseases, the evidence is limited in the elderly. We evaluated the associations between 12 plasma metal levels including aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti), strontium (Sr), lead (Pb), vanadium (V), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), cuprum (Cu), zinc (Zn), arsenic (As), and selenium (Se) with prevalence of hypertension in the elderly Chinese population. In this study, stratified cluster sampling was conducted among elderly residents in three communities in Gansu province from June to July 2023, with a total of 330 participants included.

Cross-sectional associations between multiple plasma heavy metals and lung function among elderly Chinese.

Environmental exposure to heavy metals may adversely affect lung function particularly in the elderly. However, limited data are available directly evaluating the relationship of heavy metal exposures with lung function in Chinese elderly. We aimed to investigate the associations between plasma metals and lung function among Chinese elderly residents.

Genetic evidence for the effects of glucokinase activation on frailty-related outcomes: A Mendelian randomisation study.

Aims: We aimed to use the Mendelian randomisation (MR) design to investigate the potential causal effects of glucokinase (GK) activation on frailty-related outcomes and to explore the potential mediating effects of metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers.

Materials And Methods: Seventeen independent single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located within the GCK gene and significantly correlated with the glycated haemoglobin (HbA) level were used as genetic proxies for the effect of GK activation. We employed two-sample MR analysis to assess the relationship between genetically proxied GK activation and multifactorial frailty-related outcomes (frailty index, grip strength, walking pace, appendicular lean mass [ALM] and telomere length) We also explored the potential mediating effects using two-step MR.

Short- and long-term comparative effectiveness of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir and molnupiravir in asthma patients: a cohort study.

Background: Few studies evaluated the effectiveness of COVID-19 antivirals specifically in the asthma population This study assessed short- and long-term effects of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir versus molnupiravir in asthma population.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study on adult asthma patients infected with COVID-19, using real-world data obtained from the health officials in Hong Kong. Key inclusion criteria were infection with COVID-19 between March 16, 2022, and Oct 30, 2023, age ≥ 18 years, previous asthma diagnosis, and prescription history of an asthma medication.

Phase separation of p62: roles and regulations in autophagy.

The phase separation of the cargo receptor sequestome-1/p62 (SQSTM1/p62) is a critical mechanism for assembling signaling complexes in autophagy. During this process, p62 undergoes phase separation upon binding to polyubiquitin chains, concentrating ubiquitinated substrates within p62 droplets. These droplets further gather membrane sources and core autophagy machineries to facilitate autophagosome formation.

Development and Validation of the Patient-Level Chinese Diabetes Outcome Model on Long-term Complications in Type 2 Diabetes: An Application of the Hong Kong Diabetes Register.

Objective: Patient-level simulation models, mainly developed in Western populations, capture complex interactions between risk factors and complications to predict the long-term effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of novel treatments and identify high-risk subgroups for personalized care. However, incidence of outcomes varies significantly by ethnicity and region. We used high-quality, patient-level register data to develop the Chinese Diabetes Outcomes Model (CDOM) for predicting incident and recurrent events in type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Effectiveness of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir and molnupiravir on post-COVID-19 outcomes among outpatients: a target trial emulation investigation.

Limited studies compared the effectiveness of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir and molnupiravir against a control group on post-COVID-19 conditions. Our study examined the association of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir and molnupiravir with post-acute mortality and hospitalizations among outpatients using real-world outpatient records of COVID-19 designated clinics in Hong Kong. This is an observational study using a target trial emulation framework, involving nirmatrelvir-ritonavir versus no antiviral treatment (Trial 1) and molnupiravir versus no antiviral treatment (Trial 2).