ABSTRACT
Objective: To assess the influence of advanced maternal age on congenital malformations, and short- and long-term outcomes in offspring of nulligravida. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted using the Korean National Health Insurance Service database spanning from January 2005 to December 2019. All live-born offspring of nulligravida (n=3,685,817) were included. The maternal age was subdivided into the following subgroups: <25 years (n=153,818), 25-29 years (n=845,355), 30-34 years (n=1,738,299), 35-39 years (n=787,530), 40-44 years (n=151,519), and >44 years (n=9,296). Outcomes were assessed based on ICD-10 codes. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) were calculated with the group of 25-29 years as a reference using logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards model analysis. Results: Most congenital malformations showed an age-dependent increase, but cleft lip and abdominal wall defect exhibited a U-shape curve, indicating an increase even in those <25 years old. Similarly, various disorders included in the neonatal composite outcomes from short-term outcomes showed an age-dependent escalation. However, preterm birth from the short-term outcomes and most of the long-term developmental outcomes, except for motor developmental delays and Tics, showed a U-shaped pattern. The aOR of autism and cerebral palsy, showing the most obvious U-shaped curved in the long-term outcomes, was 1.50 (95% CI 1.24-1.82) and 1.54 (95% CI 1.17-2.03), respectively in the >44 years old group and 1.18 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11-1.25) and 1.19 (95% CI, 1.09-1.30) in the <25 years old group. Conclusion: Overall, an advanced maternal age shows an age-dependent correlation with most congenital malformations, as well as short- and long-term outcomes of neonates.
ABSTRACT
Since adsorption performances are dominantly determined by adsorbate-adsorbent interactions, accurate theoretical prediction of the thermodynamic characteristics of gas adsorption is critical for designing new sorbent materials as well as understanding the adsorption mechanisms. Here, through our molecular modeling approach using a newly developed quantum-mechanics-based force field, it is demonstrated that the CO2 adsorption selectivity of SBA-15 can be enhanced by incorporating crystalline potassium chloride particles. It is noted that the induced intensive electrostatic fields around potassium chloride clusters create gas-trapping sites with high selectivity for CO2 adsorption. The newly developed force field can provide a reliable theoretical tool for accurately evaluating the gas adsorption on given adsorbents, which can be utilized to identify good gas adsorbents.
ABSTRACT
The direct conversion of cellulose into polyols over Ni/W/SiO(2)-Al(2)O(3) catalysts with different Al molar fractions was examined. For comparison, Cu/W/SiO(2)-Al(2)O(3), Fe/W/SiO(2)-Al(2)O(3), and Co/W/SiO(2)-Al(2)O(3) were also evaluated. The bulk crystalline structure was determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The surface acidity was probed via temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia (NH(3)-TPD). The textural properties were investigated using N(2) physisorption. The metal contents were confirmed via inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). Among the various metal catalysts, Ni/W/SiO(2)-Al(2)O(3) was confirmed to be the most favorable for hydrogenolysis of cellulose into polyols. The effect of the Al molar fraction in SiO(2)-Al(2)O(3) on this reaction over Ni/W/SiO(2)-Al(2)O(3) was also investigated. It was found that the polyol yield was closely related to the total acidity of the support. Compared to Ni/W/SBA-15, Ni/W/SiO(2)-Al(2)O(3) (Al/(Al+Si)=0.6) showed better stability during the recycling test. The catalyst deactivation was confirmed to be caused by metal leaching.
