Tea is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world. However, the association between tea and risk of pancreatic adenocarcinoma remains controversial. This study aimed to investigate the causal relationship between tea consumption and risk of pancreatic adenocarcinoma and to explore their mediating effects. The two-sample Mendelian randomisation (MR) analysis showed an inverse causal relationship between tea intake and pancreatic adenocarcinoma (OR: 0·111 (0·02, 0·85), P < 0·04). To examine the mediating effects, we explored the potential mechanisms by which tea intake reduces the risk of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Based on the oral bioavailability and drug-like properties in Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology database, we selected the main active ingredients of tea. We screened out the fifteen representative targeted genes by Pharmmapper database, and the gene ontology enrichment analysis showed that these targeted genes were related to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway. The two-step MR analysis of results showed that only VEGF-D played a mediating role, with a mediation ratio of 0·230 (0·066, 0·394). In conclusion, the findings suggest that VEGF-D mediates the effect of tea intake on the risk of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Previous studies revealed that consuming spicy food reduced mortality from CVD and lowered stroke risk. However, no studies reported the relationship between spicy food consumption, stroke types and dose–response. This study aimed to further explore the association between the frequency of spicy food intake and the risk of stroke in a large prospective cohort study. In this study, 50 174 participants aged 30–79 years were recruited. Spicy food consumption data were collected via a baseline survey questionnaire. Outcomes were incidence of any stroke, ischaemic stroke (IS) and haemorrhagic stroke (HS). Multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazard models estimated the association between the consumption of spicy food and incident stroke. Restricted cubic spline analysis was used to examine the dose–response relationship. During the median 10·7-year follow-up, 3967 strokes were recorded, including 3494 IS and 516 HS. Compared with those who never/rarely consumed spicy food, those who consumed spicy food monthly, 1–2 d/week and 3–5 d/week had hazard ratio (HR) of 0·914 (95 % CI 0·841, 0·995), 0·869 (95 % CI 0·758, 0·995) and 0·826 (95 % CI 0·714, 0·956) for overall stroke, respectively. For IS, the corresponding HR) were 0·909 (95 % CI 0·832, 0·994), 0·831 (95 % CI 0·718, 0·962) and 0·813 (95 % CI 0·696, 0·951), respectively. This protective effect showed a U-shaped dose–response relationship. For obese participants, consuming spicy food ≥ 3 d/week was negatively associated with the risk of IS. We found the consumption of spicy food was negatively associated with the risk of IS and had a U-shaped dose–response relationship with risk of IS. Individuals who consumed spicy food 3–5 d/week had a significantly lowest risk of IS.

The elimination of Pb2+ and recovery of lead metal during the treatment of industrial sewage is an important research topic. Montmorillonite (Mnt) is a promising material in this regard. The purpose of the present study was to improve the Pb2+ adsorption ability of Na-containing Mnt (Na-Mnt) by pillaring titania (anatase) into its interlayer spaces using a sol-gel method. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The ratio of Ti to Mnt affected the crystal phase of titania-pillared Na-Mnt (Ti-Mnt), and changed the interlayer spacing of the (001) plane of Ti-Mnt and the growth of anatase. The Pb2+-adsorption capabilities of Ti-Mnt were tested using an aqueous solution of lead nitrate as a wastewater model. The Ti-Mnt prepared adsorbed >99.99% of the Pb2+; leached and activated Ti-Mnt adsorbed >95.7% of the Pb2+, indicating that Ti-Mnt could be recycled effectively. Furthermore, the Pb2+-adsorption capability of Ti- Mnt was related to the interlayer spacing of Mnt, the distribution of anatase particles pillared in Mnt, and the specific surface area, especially with respect to the relationship between the anatase particles and the interlayer spacing of the (001) plane.

In this paper, titanium doped (2 wt. %) indium oxide (TIO) thin films deposited on quartz substrates by DC sputtering were presented. Dealt with different temperatures from 420°C to 620°C of post-annealing in vacuum for 40 minuets, the samples display different optical and electric properties. The deposited films exhibited polycrystalline in the preferred (222) and (440) orientation, with higher mobility (up to 48.6 cm2/VS) and lower resistivity (1.26 ×10-4Ω·cm) at the post-annealing temperature of 520°C. The average optical transmittance of the films is over 92% in a wavelength range from 300 to 1100 nm and the transmittance has only around 1.8% change with different post-annealing temperatures.