Trends in all-cause mortality attributable to particulate matter 2.5 pollution in Sub-Saharan Africa: An age-period-cohort analysis.

Particulate matter 2.5 (PM) pollution, comprising ambient PM pollution (APMP) and household air PM pollution from solid fuels (HAP), significantly impacts population health in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study extracted mortality data and various socio-economic indices in Sub-Saharan Africa from the Global Burden of Disease 2021 and World Bank databases, aiming to evaluate PM-related disease burden.

Quality Factor Improvement of a Thin-Film Piezoelectric-on-Silicon Resonator Using a Radial Alternating Material Phononic Crystal.

This paper studies the radial alternating material phononic crystal (RAM-PnC). By simulating the band gap structure of the phononic crystal, a complete acoustic band gap was verified at the resonant frequency of 175.14 MHz, which can prevent the propagation of elastic waves in a specific direction.

Reem-Shape Phononic Crystal for Q Anchor Enhancement of Thin-Film-Piezoelectric-on-Si MEMS Resonator.

This paper proposes a reem-shaped phononic crystal for the performance enhancement of TPoS resonators. The proposed phononic crystal offers an ultra-wide acoustic band gap that prevents energy leakage through the supporting substrate upon its placement at the anchoring boundary, resulting in significant improvements in the resonator quality factor. Simulated results show reem-shape phononic crystals generate a band gap up to 175 MHz with a BG of 90% and enhance the anchor quality factor from 180,000 to 6,000,000 and the unloaded quality factor from 133,000 to 160,000, representing 33.

Bibliometric analysis of fibroblast growth factor 21 research over the period 2000 to 2021.

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF-21) is an evolutionarily conserved protein that plays multiple roles in metabolic regulation. Over the past two decades, numerous studies have deepened our understanding of its various functions and its pharmacological value. Nevertheless, most clinical trials have not achieved the desired results, which raises issues regarding its clinical value.

First-Order Perturbation Analysis of Nonlinear Signal Generation in Surface Acoustic Wave Resonators on LiTaO/SiO/Si Structure Based on Coupling-of-Modes Theory.

This article describes the first-order perturbation analysis of nonlinear responses in surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators on the LiTaO3/SiO2/Si structure, where bulk wave radiation is negligible near the main resonance while the longitudinal resonances are not. The coupling-of-modes (COMs) theory is employed as the platform for both the linear and nonlinear response analyses. Stress and dielectric flux are assumed to be generated by nonlinear mixture of linear strain and electric fields proportional to the SAW displacement and applied voltage, respectively, and they are newly introduced to the extended COM equations as excitation sources.

A Bibliometric and Visualized Analysis of Uremic Cardiomyopathy From 1990 to 2021.

Background: Uremic cardiomyopathy is commonly presented in chronic kidney disease (CKD), and it severely affects the prognosis of patients with CKD. In the past few decades, the investigation of uremic cardiomyopathy has developed rapidly. However, no report has summarized the situation of uremic cardiomyopathy research to date.

Irisin, a fascinating field in our times.

Irisin is a muscle-secreted hormone that is generated by cleavage of membrane protein FNDC-5 (fibronectin type III domain-containing protein 5). Irisin is considered to be a mediator of exercise-induced metabolic improvements, such as browning of white adipose tissue, and is known to alleviate several chronic non-metabolic diseases. Thus, irisin may be an ideal therapeutic target for metabolic and non-metabolic diseases.

Fibroblast growth factor 21: A "rheostat" for metabolic regulation?

Fibroblast growth factor 21 is an evolutionarily conserved factor that plays multiple important roles in metabolic homeostasis. During the past two decades, extensive investigations have improved our understanding of its delicate metabolic roles and identified its pharmacological potential to mitigate metabolic disorders. However, most clinical trials have failed to obtain the desired results, which raises issues regarding its clinical value.

Electron-Ion Coupling Mechanism to Construct Stable Output Performance Nanogenerator.

Recently, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have been promoted as an effective technique for ambient energy harvesting, given their large power density and high energy conversion efficiency. However, traditional TENGs based on the combination of triboelectrification effect and electrostatic induction have proven susceptible to environmental influence, which intensively restricts their application range. Herein, a new coupling mechanism based on electrostatic induction and ion conduction is proposed to construct flexible stable output performance TENGs (SOP-TENGs).

Flexible Hybrid Photo-Thermoelectric Generator Based on Single Thermoelectric Effect for Simultaneously Harvesting Thermal and Radiation Energies.

Wearable electronic devices have great potential in the fields of the Internet of Things (IoT), sports and entertainment, and healthcare, and they are essential in advancing the development of next-generation electronic information technology. However, conventional lithium batteries, which are currently the main power supply of wearable electronic devices, have some critical issues, such as frequent charging, environmental pollution, and no surface adaptability, which limit the further development of wearable electronic devices. To address these challenges, we present a flexible hybrid photothermoelectric generator (PTEG) with a simple structure composed of a thermoelectric generator (TEG) and a light-to-thermal conversion layer to simultaneously harvest thermal and radiation energies based on a single working mechanism.

Roles for fibroblast growth factor-23 and α-Klotho in acute kidney injury.

Acute kidney injury is a global disease with high morbidity and mortality. Recent studies have revealed that the fibroblast growth factor-23-α-Klotho axis is closely related to chronic kidney disease, and has multiple biological functions beyond bone-mineral metabolism. However, although dysregulation of fibroblast growth factor-23-α-Klotho has been observed in acute kidney injury, the role of fibroblast growth factor-23-α-Klotho in the pathophysiology of acute kidney injury remains largely unknown.

Single-Layer Triboelectric Nanogenerators Based on Ion-Doped Natural Nanofibrils.

As emerging ambient energy harvesting technology, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have proven to be a robust power source and have demonstrated the unique ability to power micro-nano electronics autonomously to form self-powered devices. Although four working modes of TENGs have been developed to promote the feasibility of self-powered micro-nano systems, the relatively complicated structure composed of multilayer and movable components limits the practical applications of TENGs. Herein, we propose a single-layer triboelectric nanogenerator (SL-TENG) based on ion-doped natural nanofibrils.

A Land of Controversy: Fibroblast Growth Factor-23 and Uremic Cardiac Hypertrophy.

Cardiac hypertrophy is a common feature in patients with CKD. Recent studies revealed that two phosphate regulators, fibroblast growth factor-23 and -Klotho, are highly involved in the pathophysiologic process of CKD-induced cardiac hypertrophy. With decreasing renal function, elevated fibroblast growth factor-23 and decreased -Klotho may contribute to cardiac hypertrophy by targeting the heart directly or by inducing systemic changes, such as vascular injury, hemodynamic disorders, and inflammation.

Fully-Differential TPoS Resonators Based on Dual Interdigital Electrodes for Feedthrough Suppression.

As one of the core components of MEMS (i.e., micro-electro-mechanical systems), thin-film piezoelectric-on-silicon (TPoS) resonators experienced a blooming development in the past decades due to unique features such as a remarkable capability of integration for attractive applications of system-on-chip integrated timing references.

Spider Web-Like Phononic Crystals for Piezoelectric MEMS Resonators to Reduce Acoustic Energy Dissipation.

Phononic crystals (PnC) are a remarkable example of acoustic metamaterials with superior wave attenuation mechanisms for piezoelectric micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) resonators to reduce the energy dissipation. Herein, a spider web-like PnC () is proposed to sufficiently isolate the wave vibration. Finite-element analysis is performed to gain insight into the transmission property of finite PnC, and band characteristics by infinite periods.

Concentric Split Aluminum with Silicon-Aluminum Nitride Annular Rings Resonators.

This paper presents a novel approach of annular concentric split rings microelectromechanical resonators with tether configuration to reduce anchor loss and gives very high-quality factor () 2.97 Million based on FEA (Finite Element Analysis) simulation. The operating frequencies of these resonators are 188.