Pareto effects in the eCasino: differences across online products and links with self-exclusion

Consumption of many goods adheres to the Pareto rule (or 80:20 law) that the 20% most engaged consumers generate 80% of revenue. Using a dataset from the eCasino section of the provincial online gambling platform in British Columbia, Canada, we recently observed that Pareto values exceeded the conventional 80:20 ratio, with the top 20% generating ~92% of bets and ~90% of revenue (Deng, Lesch & Clark, 2021 Addictive Behaviors 120: 106968). In this presentation, we will examine how these effects vary across different gambling product types within the eCasino: online slot machine games, table games, video poker, and other probability games. As a marker of likely gambling harm, we test rates of enrolment in Voluntary Self-Exclusion (VSE). The dataset comprises 30,920 account holders who placed at least one bet on the platform in 2014-2015, comprising over half a billion individual bets. Across the four product types, Pareto values indicated greatest concentration for video poker (98%) and lowest for slot machines (89%). We also observe higher levels of VSE in the top 20% compared to the remaining 80% (13% vs 7%) with some differences across products. Statement of Importance: As online gambling expands, behavioural tracking offers a promising technique for detecting risk, but limited work has examined behavioural markers across different online gambling products. We examine concentrations of consumption using the Pareto rule across 4 different product types in an online casino, and associations with gambling self-exclusion

Level Set Based Hippocampus Segmentation in MR Images with Improved Initialization Using Region Growing

The hippocampus has been known as one of the most important structures referred to as Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disorders. However, segmentation of the hippocampus from MR images is still a challenging task due to its small size, complex shape, low contrast, and discontinuous boundaries. For the accurate and efficient detection of the hippocampus, a new image segmentation method based on adaptive region growing and level set algorithm is proposed. Firstly, adaptive region growing and morphological operations are performed in the target regions and its output is used for the initial contour of level set evolution method. Then, an improved edge-based level set method utilizing global Gaussian distributions with different means and variances is developed to implement the accurate segmentation. Finally, gradient descent method is adopted to get the minimization of the energy equation. As proved by experiment results, the proposed method can ideally extract the contours of the hippocampus that are very close to manual segmentation drawn by specialists

PO-075 Effects of hypoxic exercise on weight loss and lipid metabolism in overweight/obese adult women

Objective To investigate the effectiveness of hypoxic exercise intervention on weight loss and weight control in overweight and obese people from the perspective of lipid metabolism through the exercise intervention in this experiment under normal pressure and low oxygen environment. Exercise is indispensable in the prevention and treatment of obesity. Scientific weight loss is firstly to change the original unhealthy daily life habits and to develop a good lifestyle and to control diet and to exercise regularly. Exercise in a hypoxic environment, the body should accept the dual stimulation of environmental what hypoxia and exercise hypoxia. Exercise in a hypoxic environment can deepen the impact on lipid metabolism. In a hypoxic environment, the oxygen saturation of the human arteries (the concentration of blood oxygen in the blood) is reduced; in altitude training or intermittent hypoxia training conditions, blood oxygen saturation can be reduced to 80-85%, and it is not in the normoxic environment. The result of hypoxia is that the muscles are forced to do anaerobic metabolism. In order to provide energy during exercise, and the body will store the stored fat to supply energy. Methods The subjects in this study were adult overweight or obese women between the ages from 18 to 47 for a total of 40. Subjects with a BMI ≥ 24 were overweight and subjects with a BMI ≥ 28 were obese. Subjects who passed the physical examination screening were healthy and had normal motor function. All subjects used the weight index to pair the average into subgroups what hypoxic and normoxic groups. Exercise intervention, the training period is 6 weeks, the training the next day and 7 times in two weeks. The training content is divided into strength training and endurance training. The strength training is divided into each group of eight. To complete two cycles and the interval is 30s. The interval between each subgroup is 10s. Warm up and stretch before training. The time is 30 minutes. 12RM weight for strength training dumbbells, each group do 10-15 times. Eight actions include dead lift, upright row, squat, shoulder press, calf Jump, advance junge, biceps curl and triceps extension. Endurance training uses a running platform with a slope of 0°. The running speed is adjusted according to the target heart rate interval. The formula for calculating the target heart rate interval is (220-age) × 60%~(220-age) × 70%, running time is 30 minutes. In the hypoxic group, a suction-type atmospheric hypoxic device was used during exercise, and a mixed gas having an oxygen content of 16% was inhaled. The normoxic group is in a normal atmospheric environment during exercise. The ideological education of a reasonable nutritional diet for the subjects before and during the intervention is not mandatory to control the subject's daily diet. Height and weight and BMI were measured before and after exercise intervention. Fasting venous blood was taken to detect total cholesterol (TC), total triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-). C), leptin (LEP) and adiponectin (ADPN). All test results were expressed as mean ± standard deviation, non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison between groups, and non-parametric Wilcoxo was used for comparison within the group.The n-match was tested on the symbol level, with a significance level of P < 0.05 and a very significant level of P < 0.01. Results After the intervention, the body weight of both groups decreased. The Δ body weight (P<0.01), body weight change rate (P<0.01) and BMI change rate (P<0.01) in the hypoxic group were significantly higher than the normal rate. Oxygen group. TG, TC and LDL-C decreased in hypoxia group, and TG (P<0.05), TC (P<0.05) and LDL-C (P<0.01) were significantly different from those before intervention (P<0.01). The levels of TG and LDL-C increased after the intervention of normoxia group, and LDL-C was significantly different from that before intervention (P<0.05). The TC change rate (P<0.01) and LDL-C change rate (P<0.01) in the hypoxic group were significantly higher than those in the normoxic group, and the TG change rate was not different from the normoxic group (P>0.05). The HDL-C in hypoxia group and normoxia group increased after intervention. The hypoxia group had a statistically significant difference compared with the pre-intervention group (P<0.01), and the HDL-C rate in the hypoxic group was significantly higher than that in the hypoxic group. Oxygen group (P<0.05). LEP and ADPN in the hypoxic group increased after intervention, but there was no significant difference compared with before intervention (P>0.05). There was no significant difference between LEP and ADPN in the normoxic group before and after intervention (P>0.05). The change rate of LEP (P<0.05) and ADPN (P<0.01) were significantly higher in the group than in the normoxic group. Conclusions (1) Under the same exercise intensity, After 6 weeks of hypoxic exercise intervention the hypoxic environment is more conducive to weight loss in overweight/obese women. (2) Compared with normotensive exercise, The six weeks of hypoxic exercise can effectively improve the lipid metabolism of overweight/obese women. (3) Hypoxic exercise failed to significantly increase serum LEP and ADPN levels in subjects, but the index change rate was better than that of oxygen group

Analysis of thermal characteristics with multi-physicsc oupling for the feed system of a precision CNC machine tool

The machining accuracy of CNC machine tools is significantly affected by the thermal deformation of the feed system. The ball screw feed system is extensively used as a transmission component in precise CNC machine tools, responsible for converting rotational motion into linear motion or converting torque into repetitive axial force. This study presents a multi-physical coupling analysis model for the ball screw feed system, considering internal thermal generation, intending to reduce the influence of screw-induced thermal deformation on machining accuracy. This model utilizes the Fourier thermal conduction law and the principle of energy conservation. By performing calculations, the thermal source and thermal transfer coefficient of the ball screw feed system are determined. Moreover, the thermal characteristics of the ball screw feed system are effectively analyzed through the utilization of finite element analysis. To validate the proposed analysis model for the ball screw feed system, a dedicated test platform is designed and constructed specifically to investigate the thermal characteristics of the ball screw feed system in CNC machine tools. By selecting specific CNC machine tools as the subjects of investigation, a comprehensive study is conducted on the thermal characteristics of the ball screw feed system. The analysis entails evaluating parameters like temperature field distribution, thermal deformation, thermal stress, and thermal equilibrium state of the ball screw feed system. By comparing the simulation results from the analysis model with the experimental test results, the study yields the following findings: The maximum absolute error between the simulated and experimental temperatures at each measuring point of the feed system components is 2.4◦C, with a maximum relative error of 8.7%. The maximum absolute error between the simulated and experimental temperatures at the measuring point on the lead screw is 2.0◦C, with a maximum relative error of 6.8%. The thermal characteristics obtained from the steady-state thermal analysis model of the feed system exhibit a prominent level of agreement with the experimental results. The research outcomes presented in this paper provide valuable insights for the development of ball screw feed systems and offer guidance for the thermal design of machine tools

An energy-efficient cyclic amine system developed for carbon capture from both flue gas and air

High energy consumption is a major barrier to the large-scale deployment of carbon capture processes from flue gases or air (direct air capture, DAC). The non-aqueous amines reported in literature possess a high energy efficiency for CO2 capture from flue gases, they struggle with gas streams containing ultra-dilute CO2, like air, due to poor absorption kinetics. This study developed novel 2-PE (2-piperidineethanol)/APZ (Aminoethylpiperazine) based CO2 absorbents to address these problems. The experiments and MD simulation results showed that the 2-PE/APZ-based absorbents possessed a superior absorption performance both in flue gas and air. Among the developed absorbents, when 2-PE/APZ mixed with DMF (Dimethylformamide), the CO2 loading reached to 1.004 mol/mole, as the theoretical maximum. In DAC tests, 87.31 % CO2 from the air was captured in 24 h experiments. The regeneration heat duty of 2-PE/APZ/DMF decreased to 1.694 KJ/g CO2, a 55.89 % reduction compared to the benchmark 30 wt% MEA. The CO2 absorption/desorption mechanism was analysed by NMR, In-situ FT-IR, and DFT calculation. It indicated that this significant improvement in CO2 absorption performance and the reduction in energy consumption are due to the synergistic effect of 2-PE and APZ. During CO2 absorption, CO2 reacts with APZ forming APZ zwitterion rapidly, then deprotonation to the 2-PE. The formation of protonated 2-PEH+ ion pairs with APZCOO- reduces hydrogen bonds and van der Waals forces among the amine-CO2 complex, facilitating easy regeneration at mild conditions while maintaining high reactivity. The combination of theoretical and experimental results indicates that 2-PE/APZ-based absorbents can serve as a promising alternative for carbon capture from flue gas to air with low energy usage

Single “Swiss-roll” microelectrode elucidates the critical role of iron substitution in conversion-type oxides

Advancing the lithium-ion battery technology requires the understanding of electrochemical processes in electrode materials with high resolution, accuracy, and sensitivity. However, most techniques today are limited by their inability to separate the complex signals from slurry-coated composite electrodes. Here, we use a three-dimensional “Swiss-roll” microtubular electrode that is incorporated into a micrometer-sized lithium battery. This on-chip platform combines various in situ characterization techniques and precisely probes the intrinsic electrochemical properties of each active material due to the removal of unnecessary binders and additives. As an example, it helps elucidate the critical role of Fe substitution in a conversion-type NiO electrode by monitoring the evolution of Fe2O3 and solid electrolyte interphase layer. The markedly enhanced electrode performances are therefore explained. Our approach exposes a hitherto unexplored route to tracking the phase, morphology, and electrochemical evolution of electrodes in real time, allowing us to reveal information that is not accessible with bulk-level characterization techniques