Comparison of the efficacy of oral contraceptives and levonorgestrel intrauterine system in intermenstrual bleeding caused by uterine niche

This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of oral contraceptives and a levonorgestrel intrauterine system in treating intermenstrual bleeding due to uterine niche. We retrospectively analyzed 72 patients with intermenstrual bleeding due to uterine niche from January 2017 to December 2021, of whom 41 were treated with oral contraceptives and 31 with a levonorgestrel intrauterine system. Post-treatment follow-ups at 1, 3, and 6 months were conducted to compare the efficiency and adverse effects between the two groups. In the oral contraceptive group, the effectiveness rate was higher than 80% at 1- and 3-months post-treatment and higher than 90% at 6 months. In the levonorgestrel intrauterine system group, the effectiveness rates were 58.06%, 54.84%, and 61.29% at 1, 3, and 6 months of treatment, respectively. Oral contraceptives were more effective than the levonorgestrel intrauterine system in treating intermenstrual bleeding caused by uterine niche (p < 0.05)

Calculation of S-parameters for network cascading and deembedding

This dissertation report presents the calculation of S-parameters for network cascading and deembedding. The calculation methods can be formulated in two forms, i.e., based on matrix form and element form. In addition, the methods not only consider balanced networks and imbalanced networks, but also deal with the cases when the number of external ports is greater / less than the number of internal ports. After numerical tests and experiments, it is found that the methods based on matrix form may suffer from the problem of singular matrix. On the other hand, the method based on element form is effective, but it is not easy to be generalized and thus needs further optimization.Master of Science (Communications Engineering

Performance Analysis of a Travelling-Wave Ultrasonic Motor under Impact Load

With the increased application of ultrasonic motors, it is necessary to put forward higher demand for the adaptability to environment. Impact, as a type of extreme environment, is widespread in weapon systems, machinery and aerospace. However, there are few reports about the influence of impact on an ultrasonic motor. This article aimed to study the reasons for the performance degradation and failure mechanism of an ultrasonic motor in a shock environment. First, a finite element model is established to observe the dynamic response of ultrasonic motor in a shock environment. Meanwhile, the reasons of the performance degradation in the motor are discussed. An impact experiment is carried out to test the influence of impact on an ultrasonic motor, including the influence on the mechanical characteristic of an ultrasonic motor and the vibration characteristic of a stator. In addition, the protection effect of rubber on an ultrasonic motor in a shock environment is verified via an experimental method. This article reveals the failure mechanism of ultrasonic motors in a shock environment and provides a basis for the improvement of the anti-impact property of ultrasonic motors

Research on the response improvement of optical actuation based on lead lanthanum zirconate titanate ceramics

Lead lanthanum zirconate titanate actuators taken as one type of photo-deformable actuators have been widely applied for micro-driven systems and active vibration control of photostrictive laminated flexible structures. However, the slow response of photodeformation of single patch lead lanthanum zirconate titanate actuator greatly affects its application. In this article, the main factors for the slow response of the lead lanthanum zirconate titanate actuator are investigated using experimental method. The increasing temperature during light on state and the residual photovoltage and photodeformation during light off state are considered as dominant factors causing the slow response of the lead lanthanum zirconate titanate actuator. To gain a better driving capability of lead lanthanum zirconate titanate actuator, some effective solutions through weakening the effect of increasing temperature and eliminating residual photovoltage and photodeformation are proposed and experimentally validated in this article. Considering the effective solutions proposed in this article, a novel optical driving mechanism based on multi-patches combination is proposed

Emotions and global warming action

Prior researches have found that emotions and subsequent behaviours are closely bonded. Following that, in the context of global warming, this study examines how approach-oriented emotions (e.g. happiness) and avoidant emotions (e.g. sadness) influence the preference of energy, choice of diet and willingness to recycle. Thus, we have two conditions (i.e. happy and sad) in the study and each condition is asked to complete a survey regarding the pro-environmental behaviors. The result reveals that happiness makes people more likely to recycle and sadness has the opposite effect. However, no results are found in the willingness to use green energy and plant-based diet. This result contributes to the previous finding and give a dimensional perspective on how to analysis the effect of emotions on global warming actions. Limitations and implication are also discussed. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”Arts, Faculty ofScience, Faculty ofPsychology, Department ofResources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute forUnreviewedUndergraduat

Design and Analysis of a Light-Operated Microgripper Using an Opto-Electrostatic Repulsive Combined Actuator

The microgripper plays a critical role in micromanipulation systems; however, the handling accuracy of traditional driving microgrippers suffers from external vibration due to requiring connecting wires for an external power supply. By contrast, light driving has many advantages of remote non-contact manipulation, wireless energy transfer and no induced electromagnetic noise. In this study, an opto-electrostatic repulsive combined driving mechanism was proposed, and then a novel light-operated microgripper that used an opto-electrostatic repulsive actuator was designed and simulated. The static performance of the light-operated microgripper was investigated via simulation and numeric calculation results. The overall size of the microgripper was 1.3 mm × 0.7 mm × 1.027 mm, and the micro-objects ranging from 0 to 1000 μm in size could be manipulated and held using light. The proposed microgripper had many outstanding characteristics, such as a larger stroke, high response speed, remote non-contact manipulation, easy to integrate with an integrated circuit (IC) process and free from external interference. In addition, the dynamic control experiments of the photo-induced voltage of the PbLaZrTi (PLZT) ceramic were carried out, which shows that a stable electrical field could be obtained using the effective control methods that were developed

Multidimensional Feature-Based Graph Attention Networks and Dynamic Learning for Electricity Load Forecasting

Electricity load forecasting is of great significance for the overall operation of the power system and the orderly use of electricity at a later stage. However, traditional load forecasting does not consider the change in load quantity at each time point, while the information on the time difference of the load data can reflect the dynamic evolution information of the load data, which is a very important factor for load forecasting. In addition, the research topics in recent years mainly focus on the learning of the complex relationships of load sequences in time latitude by graph neural networks. The relationships between different variables of load sequences are not explicitly captured. In this paper, we propose a model that combines a differential learning network and a multidimensional feature graph attention layer, it can model the time dependence and dynamic evolution of load sequences by learning the amount of load variation at different time points, while representing the correlation of different variable features of load sequences through the graph attention layer. Comparative experiments show that the prediction errors of the proposed model have decreased by 5–26% compared to other advanced methods in the UC Irvine Machine Learning Repository Electricity Load Chart public dataset

Incorporation of black phosphorus nanosheets into poly(propylene fumarate) biodegradable bone cement to enhance bioactivity and osteogenesis

Abstract Background Injectable bone cement is commonly used in clinical orthopaedics to fill bone defects, treat vertebral compression fractures, and fix joint prostheses during joint replacement surgery. Poly(propylene fumarate) (PPF) has been proposed as a biodegradable and injectable alternative to polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) bone cement. Recently, there has been considerable interest in two-dimensional (2D) black phosphorus nanomaterials (BPNSs) in the biomedical field due to their excellent photothermal and osteogenic properties. In this study, we investigated the biological and physicochemical qualities of BPNSs mixed with PPF bone cement created through thermal cross-linking. Methods PPF was prepared through a two-step process, and BPNSs were prepared via a liquid phase stripping method. BP/PPF was subsequently prepared through thermal cross-linking, and its characteristics were thoroughly analysed. The mechanical properties, cytocompatibility, osteogenic performance, degradation performance, photothermal performance, and in vivo toxicity of BP/PPF were evaluated. Results BP/PPF exhibited low cytotoxicity levels and mechanical properties similar to that of bone, whereas the inclusion of BPNSs promoted preosteoblast adherence, proliferation, and differentiation on the surface of the bone cement. Furthermore, 200 BP/PPF demonstrated superior cytocompatibility and osteogenic effects, leading to the degradation of PPF bone cement and enabling it to possess photothermal properties. When exposed to an 808-nm laser, the temperature of the bone cement increased to 45–55 °C. Furthermore, haematoxylin and eosin-stained sections from the in vivo toxicity test did not display any anomalous tissue changes. Conclusion BP/PPF exhibited mechanical properties similar to that of bone: outstanding photothermal properties, cytocompatibility, and osteoinductivity. BP/PPF serves as an effective degradable bone cement and holds great potential in the field of bone regeneration

Open acid dissolution-Ammonia solution extraction-ICP OES rapid determination of 7 trace metal elements in soil.

To overcome the corrosion of hydrofluoric acid on the ICP OES injection system in the acid dissolution system, this paper makes some improvements based on the traditional open digestion. The improved method does not require the complete removal of hydrofluoric acid. After appropriate digestion of the sample with a mixed acid, the solution can be transferred to a colorimetric tube containing ammonium hydroxide solution to give the final volume for analysis. In this paper, two-point standard curves are plotted using soil standards and process blanks, which is not only convenient but also overcomes the interference of the matrix effect. Through continuous experiments, the preferred ratio of mixed acid is 3 mL nitric acid + 5 mL hydrofluoric acid, and the concentration of ammonia solution is 0.5%. The spectral lines of the measured elements V (292.4), Cr (283.5), Co (228.6), Ni (231.6), Cu (324.7), Zn (213.8) and Pb (220.3) were determined. The method quantification limits of the seven measured elements V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb were 0.909, 4.32, 0.269, 0.261, 0.968, 3.69 and 2.64 μg g-1, respectively, and the precision was 3.5%, 5.2%, 4.8%, 2.4%, 6.1% and 4.5%, respectively. After processing six national standard materials according to the experimental method, the measured values of each measured element were basically in agreement with the certified values, indicating that this method is fully feasible for the measurement of V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb in soil. This method greatly improves the efficiency of pretreatment and is particularly suitable for analysing large batches of samples