72 research outputs found
Enhance the viscosity properties of ball-shaped Carbonyl iron based magnetorheological fluid by adding glass particles
In this study, the effect of nonmagnetizable glass particles to the viscosity properties of the ball-shaped Carbonyl iron based magnetorheological fluid containing a mixture of magnetizable and nonmagnetizable particles were investigated. Two different MR fluids with different mass fraction of Carbonyl iron and glass particles were tested in the experiments. Experiment results show that the viscosity is greatly improved when the glass particles are added in the magnetorheological fluid. When the added glass particles mass fraction up to 10%, the viscosity is at the highest value under the application of the currents, nearly 7 times larger than MRF-60 without glass particles. MRF-60, MRF-65 two different magnetorheological fluids exhibits similar phenomena. The proper amount of glass particles can enhance the viscosity of the magnetorheological fluid
Fatiguing freestyle swimming modifies miRNA profiles of circulating extracellular vesicles in athletes
FTO gene polymorphisms and obesity risk: a meta-analysis
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The pathogenesis of obesity is reportedly related to variations in the fat mass and an obesity-associated gene (<it>FTO</it>); however, as the number of reports increases, particularly with respect to varying ethnicities, there is a need to determine more precisely the effect sizes in each ethnic group. In addition, some reports have claimed ethnic-specific associations with alternative SNPs, and to that end there has been a degree of confusion.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We searched PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science, EMBASE, and BIOSIS Preview to identify studies investigating the associations between the five polymorphisms and obesity risk. Individual study odds ratios (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using per-allele comparison. Summary ORs were estimated using a random effects model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified 59 eligible case-control studies in 27 articles, investigating 41,734 obesity cases and 69,837 healthy controls. Significant associations were detected between obesity risk and the five polymorphisms: rs9939609 (OR: 1.31, 95% CI: 1.26 to 1.36), rs1421085 (OR: 1.43, 95% CI: 1.33 to 1.53), rs8050136 (OR: 1.25, 95% CI: 1.13 to 1.38), rs17817449 (OR: 1.54, 95% CI: 1.41 to 1.68), and rs1121980 (OR: 1.34, 95% CI: 1.10 to 1.62). Begg's and Egger's tests provided no evidence of publication bias for the polymorphisms except rs1121980. There is evidence of higher heterogeneity, with <it>I</it><sup>2 </sup>test values ranging from 38.1% to 84.5%.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This meta-analysis suggests that <it>FTO </it>may represent a low-penetrance susceptible gene for obesity risk. Individual studies with large sample size are needed to further evaluate the associations between the polymorphisms and obesity risk in various ethnic populations.</p
Ability Tracking and Social Capital in China's Rural Secondary School System
The goal of this paper is describe and analyze the relationship between ability tracking and student social capital, in the context of poor students in developing countries. Drawing on the results from a longitudinal study among 1,436 poor students across 132 schools in rural China, we find a significant lack of interpersonal trust and confidence in public institutions among poor rural young adults. We also find that there is a strong correlation between ability tracking during junior high school and levels of social capital. The disparities might serve to further widen the gap between the relatively privileged students who are staying in school and the less privileged students who are dropping out of school. This result suggests that making high school accessible to more students would improve social capital in the general population
A nurse-led care program on quality of life and health care utilization for cancer patients in a chemotherapy day center : a randomized controlled trial
The quality of dying and death of patients with cancer from Shanghai in China from the perspective of healthcare providers: A cross-sectional study
Objective: To evaluate the quality of dying and death among deceased patients with cancer in Shanghai from the perspective of healthcare providers. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Shanghai from April to July 2023. A convenience sample of 261 healthcare providers working at eight healthcare institutions participated. Each participant was asked to evaluate the quality of dying and death of one deceased patient who had been cared for recently using the Good Death Scale for patients in China (GDS-PCN). The scale included family companionship (eight items), dying with peace (six items), professional care (six items), preparation & no regrets (five items), maintaining dignity (four items), keeping autonomy (four items), and physical wellbeing (three items) seven dimensions, 36 items. Results: The total GDS-PCN score was 144.11 ± 17.86. The professional care dimension scored the highest (4.21 ± 0.58), whereas the preparation and no regret dimension scored the lowest (3.75 ± 0.70). Significant differences in the GDS-PCN scores were based on the healthcare institution grade, ward type, hospitalization duration, communication about the condition, treatment, and death-related topics with the healthcare provider, and decision-making style (P < 0.05). The quality of dying and death of the deceased patients was higher among those who received care in community health service centers and hospice wards, those who had been hospitalized for more than 15 days, those who had discussed their personal conditions, treatment, and death-related topics with healthcare providers to a greater extent; and those who were involved in decision-making (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The overall quality of dying and death among cancer patients in Shanghai is moderate to high, but the quality of dying and death in the preparation and no regret dimension and the keeping autonomy dimension still have room for improvement. Increased utilization of hospice care and better communication between patients and healthcare providers may enhance decedents’ quality of dying and death. Future research on this topic is required from different perspectives and on a broader scale in the mainland of China
DFAEN: Double-order knowledge fusion and attentional encoding network for texture recognition
Recent studies have shown that deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been successfully used for texture representation and recognition. One of the most successful texture recognition methods is the deep texture encoding network (DeepTEN), which has been shown to be effective. However, this network directly uses redundant CNN features with generality and ignores the role of multiorder information during the encoding and learning processes. To address these issues, this paper proposes a double-order knowledge fusion and attentional encoding network for texture recognition (DFAEN). First, crucial texture features are encoded by an embedded attention mechanism. Second, double-order modeling is implemented in the encoding and learning stage to make full use of convolution feature information with different orders, enabling the network to focus on and learn more texture domain information. Our method can stably and effectively perform end-to-end optimization. Evaluation experiments conducted on several widely used benchmark datasets (e.g., the FMD, MINC-2500, the DTD, KTH-TISP-2b, and GTOS-mobile) show that our method clearly demonstrates superior performance to that of competing approaches
A Flexible Meta-Curtain for Simultaneous Soundproofing and Ventilation
We demonstrate a flexible meta-curtain that can simultaneously block the propagation of sound waves of selected frequencies and let air flow through freely. Such a meta-curtain is assembled by two soft and perforated polyvinyl chloride films with an optimized distance between them. The total thickness of the meta-curtain is 1.16 cm and the holes on it have a diameter of 5 cm. The functionality of soundproofing is bestowed by the resonances formed between the films, which is verified by band structure analysis, numerical simulations, and experimental measurements. We experimentally observed sound transmission loss with a peak of 50 dB near 1700 Hz and an average of 26 dB from 1000 Hz to 1760 Hz, which is consistent with the numerical results. Attributing to the softness of the films and the robustness of the resonance, this meta-curtain retains its functionality even at deformations such as bending. Our work paves a way toward soundproof structures with the advantages of ventilation, flexibility, and light weight
A Flexible Meta-Curtain for Simultaneous Soundproofing and Ventilation
We demonstrate a flexible meta-curtain that can simultaneously block the propagation of sound waves of selected frequencies and let air flow through freely. Such a meta-curtain is assembled by two soft and perforated polyvinyl chloride films with an optimized distance between them. The total thickness of the meta-curtain is 1.16 cm and the holes on it have a diameter of 5 cm. The functionality of soundproofing is bestowed by the resonances formed between the films, which is verified by band structure analysis, numerical simulations, and experimental measurements. We experimentally observed sound transmission loss with a peak of 50 dB near 1700 Hz and an average of 26 dB from 1000 Hz to 1760 Hz, which is consistent with the numerical results. Attributing to the softness of the films and the robustness of the resonance, this meta-curtain retains its functionality even at deformations such as bending. Our work paves a way toward soundproof structures with the advantages of ventilation, flexibility, and light weight
Response of Channel Morphology to Climate Change over the Past 2000 Years Using Vertical Boreholes Analysis in Lancang River Headwater in Tibetan Plateau
The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, known as the world’s “third pole”, is home to several large rivers in Asia. Its geomorphology is exceptionally vulnerable to climate change, which has had a significant impact on historical riverbed development through runoff and sedimentation processes. However, there is limited research combining climate change, sedimentology, and chronology with river dynamics to investigate riverbed evolution patterns in geological-historical time scales and their changes in overland flow capacity. In the current study, the evolution of a representative portion of the river channel in the Nangqian basin in the Lancang River headwaters was investigated to explore the reaction of the riverbed to climatic change during the geological period via field surveys, riverbed drilling, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating and bankfull channel geometry parameters. The generalized channel section of the historical period was obtained by linking sedimentary layers of the same age on the distribution map of borehole sections, and the bankfull area of the river was computed accordingly. The restored bankfull areas can effectively reflect the ability of historical river channels to transport water and sediment, thus reflecting the climate change at that time. The findings showed that river morphology in the mounded river section could be successfully reconstructed using OSL dating and sedimentary records and that the conceptual sections of the historical warm periods at 2000 years (2 ka) and 0.7 ka can be recovered. Based on the reconstruction, the calculated bankfull areas during the two warm events were larger than present by factors of 1.28 and 1.9, respectively, indicating a stronger capacity for transporting water and sediments. This is the first trial in the Lancang headwaters to investigate the response of river morphology to climate change on a geological time scale
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