Analysis of Blue and Green Water Consumption at the Irrigation District Scale

The concepts of virtual water and water footprint bring a new perspective for water management. Previous studies mainly focus on one type of water and the relationship between water footprint and water availability. In this study, three indicators were proposed to show water consumption and the influences of virtual water flows at the Hetao irrigation district, China, during 2001–2010, considering both blue and green water. Results indicate that the ratio of blue water footprint and blue water availability was 0.642 in 2010 and the value for green water was 0.148, coefficients on contribution of regional production on consumption in other areas were about 0.9, and coefficients on influences of trades from other regions to the district on regional water consumption were 0.528 (blue water) and 0.433 (green water), respectively. Government should promote water pricing policies that can encourage the adoption of irrigation technologies and water-saving practices. Besides, the adjustment of the crop sowing date or the cultivation of new varieties may be helpful in using more rainfall. Lastly, a compensation mechanism for virtual water export should be built in the future, and virtual water importing can be advocated. Before actions are taken, the possible influences and related constraints should be considered

Prediction of sinus node dysfunction in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and sinus pause

Background and Objectives: Sinus pause association of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAP) is generally considered a sinus node dysfunction (SND) known as tachycardia-bradycardia syndrome (TBS). Cure of tachyarrhythmias in some patients with prolonged pauses on termination of tachyarrhythmia resulted in an improvement in sinus node function and/or a return to normal ranges thus avoiding the need for permanent pacing. The purpose of this study was to investigate the electrophysiological and clinical characteristics as well as their sinus node function in patients with prolonged pauses and PAP. Methods and Results: Of 1266 PAP patients undergoing radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA), 122 patients with pauses (>2 s) were studied. The mean maximum symptomatic prolonged pause on termination of tachycardias was 2.67 ± 1.4 s (2.0–12.6 s). SND developed in 32 patients. There was no difference between the patients with and without SND in terms of the age and sex. Patients were divided into two groups based on the intracardiac electrophysiology study after the RFCA procedure. Eleven patients (8 men, 3 women; age 30–72 years, mean 48.2 ± 9.3 years) were placed in a normal sinus node function (NSF) group, and 17 patients (12 men, 5 women; age 37–75 years, mean 62.2 ± 7.5 years) were in an SND group. There was no significant difference in gender, left atrial dimension, left ventricular ejection fraction, blood pressure, or the longest pause between the two groups. RFCA was successful in 28 patients. Electrophysiological data show that corrected sinus node recovery time (CSNRT) was 409 ± 152 ms in NSF group patients and 558 ± 178 ms in SND group before the ablation procedure (P 2 cycle lengths in 12 patients. In the multivariate analysis, prolonged pauses on termination of tachyarrhythmia, frequency of pauses, and mean heart rate after ablation were independent predictors of SND. Conclusions: (1) Catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) is effective in treating paroxysmal AF-related TBS; (2) in some patients, there is progressive improvement of sinus node function after elimination of AF, an indication that these sinus pauses may be a manifestation of tachycardia-mediated remodeling of the sinus node, and that permanent pacemaker implantation is unnecessary; (3) among the extrinsic and intrinsic causes of SND, intrinsic causes are seldom reversible and some causes of extrinsic SND may be reversible; and (4) prolonged pauses on termination of PAF, frequency of pauses (>2.0 s), and mean heart rate after ablation were independent predictive factors of SND

Novel nested saddle coils used in miniature atomic sensors

A novel uniform magnetic field coil structure with two pairs of saddle coils nested is proposed in order to minish the aspect ratio without losing much field uniformity, which is significant in innovative miniature atomic instruments and sensors. Optimal configuration parameters are obtained from the Taylor expansion of the magnetic field. The remainder terms are used to estimate the field uniformity and optimize the configuration while minishing computation time. Compared with traditional saddle coils, the nested saddle coils have unique advantages in miniature applications where the aspect ratios are strictly limited. The optimized nested saddle coils were manufactured by Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) technology and the magnetic field uniformities were verified experimentally using a flux-gate magnetometer. Furthermore, the example application of a miniature nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) gyro demonstrates the practical use of the nested coils

Existing hip joint disease is associated with an increased incidence of hip fracture in adults: A retrospective survey of 9710 individuals from a single center

Objective: In hip disease patients, pain and movement restrictions might cause changes in bone strength and increase the likelihood of falls, finally leading to hip fracture. The aim of this study was to identify the incidence of, characteristics of and risk factors for hip fracture in patients with existing hip disease. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study. Patients with existing hip disease treated at both outpatient and inpatient departments of our institute were identified by searching the electronic medical record system and followed retrospectively for the occurrence of hip fracture. Demographic and clinical characteristics, such as age, sex and kind of primary hip disease, were collected from the electronic medical record system. The incidence and timing of hip fracture were estimated, and a Cox regression model was built to identify the independent risk factors for hip fracture in these patients. Results: A total of 9710 eligible patients were included. After a mean follow-up of 3.97 years, hip fractures were identified in 95 patients, for an estimated incidence of hip fracture of 978.37 per 100,000 patients. The femoral neck was involved in 49 fractures (51.58 %), and the femoral trochanter was involved in 45 fractures (47.37 %). Four independent risk factors and one protective factor for hip fracture in patients with hip diseases were identified: age (HR = 1.116, 95 % CI = 1.094–1.138), the presence of osteonecrosis of the femoral head (HR = 2.201, 95 % CI = 1.217–3.980), a lower Harris hip score (HR = 0.966, 95 % CI = 0.949–0.982), a history of previous hip surgery (HR = 2.126, 95 % CI = 1.304–3.466) and the use of walking aids (HR = 0.588, 95 % CI = 0.354–0.975). A scoring system with a total score of 20 points was built, which included all of the above risk factors. The predictive scores for a low risk (estimated incidence of hip fracture ≤30 %), a moderate risk (estimated incidence of hip fracture 31 %–69 %), and a high risk (estimated incidence of hip fracture ≥70 %) of hip fracture were ≤8.5 points, 9.0–13.0 points and ≥13.5 points, respectively. Conclusion: The incidence of hip fracture in the special population of patients with existing hip disease was determined. Elderly patients, patients with a history of hip surgery, patients with osteonecrosis and patients with poor Harris hip scores were at increased risk of hip fracture. In patients with a predictive score greater than 9 points, indicating a moderate to high risk of hip fracture, the use of a walking aid might reduce the risk of hip fracture

Analysis and Correction of the Crosstalk Effect in a Three-Axis SERF Atomic Magnetometer

Three-axis atomic magnetometers have an excellent advantage for determining the complete vector information of a magnetic field to be measured. However, the crosstalk effect, which leads to an error output on one axis owing to a magnetic field on the other axes, can reduce the measurement accuracy. In this study, we propose an effective suppression method for the crosstalk effect in a three-axis atomic magnetometer. First, we investigated and analyzed the main factors that introduce the effect. Based on this, the modulation parameters were optimized to improve the scale factors, which obtained a coupling coefficient of less than 6% for the atomic magnetometer. Subsequently, the associated transfer matrix was corrected to further suppress the crosstalk effect. After correction, all the coupling coefficients were decreased to less than 3%, with the majority being lower than 1%

Fetal Exposure to Air Pollution in Late Pregnancy Significantly Increases ADHD-Risk Behavior in Early Childhood

BACKGROUND: Air pollution nowadays has seriously threatened the health of the Chinese population, especially in the vulnerable groups of fetuses, infants and toddlers. In particular, the effects of air pollution on children's neurobehavioral development have attracted widespread attention. Moreover, the early detection of a sensitive period is very important for the precise intervention of the disease. However, such studies focusing on hyperactive behaviors and susceptible window identification are currently lacking in China. OBJECTIVES: The study aims to explore the correlation between air pollution exposure and hyperactive behaviors during the early life stage and attempt to identify whether a susceptible exposure window exists that is crucial for further precise intervention. METHODS: Based on the Longhua Child Cohort Study, we collected the basic information and hyperactivity index of 26,052 children using a questionnaire conducted from 2015 to 2017, and the Conners' Parent Rating Scale-revised (CPRS-48) was used to assess hyperactive behaviors. Moreover, the data of air pollution concentration (PM10, PM2.5, NO2, CO, O3 and SO2) were collected from the monitoring station between 2011 to 2017, and a land-use random forest model was used to evaluate the exposure level of each subject. Furthermore, Distributed lag non-linear models (DLNMs) were applied for statistic analysis. RESULTS: The risk of child hyperactivity was found to be positively associated with early life exposure to PM10, PM2.5 and NO2. In particular, for an increase of per 10 µg/m3 in PM10, PM2.5 and NO2 exposure concentration during early life, the risk of child hyperactivity increased significantly during the seventh month of pregnancy to the fourth month after birth, with the strongest association in the ninth month of pregnancy (PM10: OR = 1.043, 95% CI: 1.016-1.071; PM2.5: OR = 1.062, 95% CI: 1.024-1.102; NO2: OR = 1.043, 95% CI: 1.016-1.071). However, no significant associations among early life exposure to CO, O3 and SO2 and child hyperactive behaviors were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Early life exposure to PM10, PM2.5 and NO2 is associated with an increased risk of child ADHD-like behaviors at the age around 3 years, and the late-prenatal and early postnatal periods might be the susceptible exposure windows.</p