Measuring Urban Spatial Activity Structures: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract: Human activity recognition has been of interest in the field of urban planning. This paper established a general framework by which expected human activity intensity (HAI) measured by the built environment and factual HAI measured by the Baidu thermal chart were estimated and comparatively analyzed so as to identify abnormal human activities in Hanghzou, China. Three elements of the built environment (i.e., residential density, road connectivity, and land-use mixing degree) from multi-source data with high precision are selected to assess the expected HAI. Results indicate Hangzhou has evolved into a polycentric city with three urban clusters. In addition, a significant positive correlation exists between the two types of HAIs. However, there are areas with spatial mismatches, particularly in the “urban village” and new towns, suggesting human activities are not equally distributed all over the city. Research implications, limitations, and future research needs are discussed

Effects of follicle-stimulating hormone on fat metabolism and cognitive impairment in women during menopause

Lipid metabolism disorder is a common pathological manifestation of menopausal women, and is also an important risk factor for many diseases at this stage of life. Epidemiological studies have shown that high levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) in menopausal women are closely associated with changes in body composition, central obesity, and cognitive decline. Exogenous FSH causes growth and proliferation of adipose, whereas blockage of the FSH signaling pathway leads to decline in adipose. Mechanistically, FSH, FSH receptor (FSHR), G protein coupling, gene mutation and other pathways are involved in adipogenesis and cognitive impairment. Here, we review the critical role and potential interactions of FSH in adipogenesis and cognitive impairment in menopausal women. Further understanding of the exact mechanisms of FSH aggravating obesity and cognitive impairment may provide a new perspective for promoting healthy aging in menopausal women

Th17/Treg Cells Imbalance and GITRL Profile in Patients with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

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Effects of Linpan nature therapy on health benefits in older women with and without hypertension

BackgroundNature therapy can significantly benefit the physiology and psychology of middle-aged and older people, but previous studies have focused on forest environments. The restoration potential of rural environments in urban fringe areas, which are more accessible to older people on a daily basis, has not been fully studied. This study assessed the effects of nature therapy on the physical and mental health of older women in a rural setting (locally known as Linpan) in the urban fringe area of Chengdu, China.MethodsWe recruited a total of 60 older women (65.3 ± 5.5 years old) living in cities for 3 days of nature therapy in the winter (30 subjects) and spring (30 subjects), including 20 hypertensive patients.ResultsThe results showed that the overall blood pressure, pulse and sleep dysfunction rating scores of the participants were significantly lower than the pretest levels, and the finger blood oxygen saturation, mid-day salivary alpha-amylase and cortisol were increased post-treatment. Increases in these biomarker indicates and increase in stress. There were significant differences in the changes in systolic blood pressure between the hypertension group (HTN) and the normal group (normal) (HTN decreased by 8.8%, normal decreased by 5.4%), salivary alpha-amylase content (HTN decreased by 0.3%, normal increased by 16.9%), and sleep dysfunction rating scores (HTN decreased by 59.6%, normal decreased by 54%). The decreases in systolic blood pressure and pulse in the winter group were higher than those in the spring group by 1.8 and 4.4%, respectively, while the increases in salivary alpha-amylase content and salivary cortisol content were lower than those in the spring group by 11.7 and 11.2%, respectively, and the decrease in sleep dysfunction rating scores was lower than that in the spring group by 7.1%.ConclusionOur study concluded that nature therapy based on various health activities in the Linpan has significant health effects on older women. It can regulate blood pressure and pulse in older women, relieve cardiovascular disease, improve sleep quality. Meanwhile, older women with high blood pressure experienced a more significant effect than the healthy group

Increased Frequency of Circulating Follicular Helper T Cells in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Follicular helper T (Tfh) cells are recognized as a distinct CD4+ helper T-cell subset, which provides for B-cell activation and production of specific antibody responses, and play a critical role in the development of autoimmune disease. So far, only one study investigated the circulating Tfh cells increased in a subset of SLE patients. Since relatively little is known about the Tfh cells in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, in this study, Tfh-cell frequency, related cytokine IL-21, and transcription factor Bcl-6 were investigated in 53 patients with RA and 31 health controls. Firstly, we found that the frequency of CD4+CXCR5+ICOShigh Tfh cells was increased significantly in the peripheral blood of RA patients, compared with that in healthy controls. It is known that Tfh cells are critical for directing the development of an antibody response by germinal centers B cells; secondly, we observed that the Tfh-cell frequency is accompanied by the level of anti-CCP antibody in RA patients. Furthermore, expression of Bcl-6 mRNA and plasma IL-21 concentrations in RA patients was increased. Taken together, these findings have shown that the increased frequency of circulating Tfh cells is correlated with elevated levels of anti-CCP antibody, indicating the possible involvement of Tfh cells in the disease progression of RA

Fluorescein-guided surgery for high-grade glioma resection: a five-year-long retrospective study at our institute

ObjectiveThis study investigates the extent of resection, duration of surgery, intraoperative blood loss, and postoperative complications in patients with high-grade glioma who received surgery with or without sodium fluorescein guidance.MethodsA single-center retrospective cohort study was conducted on 112 patients who visited our department and underwent surgery between July 2017 and June 2022, with 61 in the fluorescein group and 51 in the non-fluorescein group. Baseline characteristics, intraoperative blood loss, surgery duration, resection extent, and postoperative complications were documented.ResultsThe duration of surgery was significantly shorter in the fluorescein group than in the non-fluorescein group (P = 0.022), especially in patients with tumors in the occipital lobes (P = 0.013). More critically, the gross total resection (GTR) rate was significantly higher in the fluorescein group than in the non-fluorescein group (45.9% vs. 19.6%, P = 0.003). The postoperative residual tumor volume (PRTV) was also significantly lower in the fluorescein group than in the non-fluorescein group (0.40 [0.12-7.11] cm3 vs. 4.76 [0.44-11.00] cm3, P = 0.020). Particularly in patients with tumors located in the temporal and occipital lobes (temporal, GTR 47.1% vs. 8.3%, P = 0.026; PRTV 0.23 [0.12-8.97] cm3 vs. 8.35 [4.05-20.59] cm3, P = 0.027; occipital, GTR 75.0% vs. 0.0%, P = 0.005; PRTV 0.15 [0.13-1.50] cm3 vs. 6.58 [3.70-18.79] cm3, P = 0.005). However, the two groups had no significant difference in intraoperative blood loss (P = 0.407) or postoperative complications (P = 0.481).ConclusionsFluorescein-guided resection of high-grade gliomas using a special operating microscope is a feasible, safe, and convenient technique that significantly improves GTR rates and reduces postoperative residual tumor volume when compared to conventional white light surgery without fluorescein guidance. This technique is particularly advantageous for patients with tumors located in non-verbal, sensory, motor, and cognitive areas such as the temporal and occipital lobes, and does not increase the incidence of postoperative complications

Superionic iron oxide-hydroxide in Earth’s deep mantle

H2O ice becomes a superionic phase under the high pressure and temperature conditions of deep planetary interiors of ice planets such as Neptune and Uranus, which affects interior structures and generates magnetic fields. The solid Earth, however, contains only hydrous minerals with negligible amount of ice. Here we combine high pressure and temperature electrical conductivity experiments, Raman spectroscopy, and first-principles simulations, to investigate the state of hydrogen in the pyrite type FeO2Hx (x ≤ 1) which is a potential H-bearing phase near the core-mantle boundary. We find that when the pressure increases beyond 73 GPa at room temperature, symmetric hydroxyl bonds are softened and the H+ (or proton) become diffusive within the vicinity of its crystallographic site. Increasing temperature under pressure, the diffusivity of hydrogen is extended beyond individual unit cell to cover the entire solid, and the electrical conductivity soars, indicating a transition to the superionic state which is characterized by freely-moving proton and solid FeO2 lattice. The highly diffusive hydrogen provides fresh transport mechanisms for charge and mass, which dictate the geophysical behaviors of electrical conductivity and magnetism, as well as geochemical processes of redox, hydrogen circulation, and hydrogen isotopic mixing in Earth’s deep mantle

NUMERICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE ANAEROBIC DIGESTION TO MAXIMIZE RESOURCE RECOVERY AND MINIMIZE ENERGY CONSUMPTION

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

An Effective Dynamic Path Planning Approach for Mobile Robots Based on Ant Colony Fusion Dynamic Windows

To further improve the path planning of the mobile robot in complex dynamic environments, this paper proposes an enhanced hybrid algorithm by considering the excellent search capability of the ant colony optimization (ACO) for global paths and the advantages of the dynamic window approach (DWA) for local obstacle avoidance. Firstly, we establish a new dynamic environment model based on the motion characteristics of the obstacles. Secondly, we improve the traditional ACO from the pheromone update and heuristic function and then design a strategy to solve the deadlock problem. Considering the actual path requirements of the robot, a new path smoothing method is present. Finally, the robot modeled by DWA obtains navigation information from the global path, and we enhance its trajectory tracking capability and dynamic obstacle avoidance capability by improving the evaluation function. The simulation and experimental results show that our algorithm improves the robot’s navigation capability, search capability, and dynamic obstacle avoidance capability in unknown and complex dynamic environments