Modeling the effect of health education and individual participation on the increase of sports population and optimal design

Health education plays an important role in cultivating people's awareness of participating in physical exercise. In this paper, a new differential equation model is established to dynamically demonstrate the different impact of mass communication and interpersonal communication in health education on people's participation in physical exercise. Theoretical analysis shows that health education does not affect the system threshold, but individual participation does. The combination of the two leads to different equilibria and affects the stability of equilibria. When mass communication, interpersonal communication and individual participation satisfy different conditions, the system will obtain different positive equilibrium with different number of sports population. If the interpersonal transmission rate of information is bigger, there is a positive equilibrium with a large number of sports population in the system. Sensitivity and optimal design analysis show some interesting results. First, increasing interpersonal communication and mass communication can both increase the number of conscious non-sports population and sports population. For increasing the number of conscious non-sports population, the effect of mass communication is better than that of interpersonal communication. For increasing the number of sports population, the effect of interpersonal communication is better than that of mass communication. However, individual participation has the best effect on increasing the sports population. Second, increasing the daily fixed amount of new information will be more helpful for media information dissemination. Finally, the three control measures need to be implemented simultaneously for a period of time at first, and then health education and participation of sports people need to be implemented periodically in order to maximize the sports population

Epicuticular wax of sweet sorghum influenced the microbial community and fermentation quality of silage

Epicuticular wax, as secondary metabolites (hydrophobic compounds) covering plant surface, plays important roles in protecting plants from abiotic and biotic stresses. However, whether these compounds will influence fermentation process of silage is still not clear. In this study, two sweet sorghum cultivars with varying epicuticular wax on sheath (bloom), Yajin 2 (YJ, less bloom), and Jintian (JT, dense bloom), were harvested at flowering and maturing stages, and ensiled with or without bloom, aiming to evaluate the effects of bloom on fermentation quality, feed nutrition and microbial community. The bloom was collected manually with de-waxed cotton and extracted with chloroform. The results showed that the bloom reduced the concentrations of water-soluble carbohydrate and crude protein of the two cultivars at both stages, reduced lactic acid (LA) for YJ at both stages and for JT at flowering stage, and increased LA for JT at mature stage. The α-diversity of bacterial communities of the silage fermentation with bloom was significantly lower than that without bloom. Bloom increased the abundance of Lactobacillus, reduced that of Bacillus and Weissella, and significant correlations were observed between fermentative qualities and bacterial abundances. However, decreased diversity of bacterial community and the contents of LA implied that shifts in bacterial community might exert negative effects on silage fermentation. Our results suggest that bloom wax could alter the microbial community composition of ensiled sweet sorghums, which thus influence the fermentation qualities

The Influence of Migration to Regions with Different Coverages of Health Education on Schistosomiasis

Background: Health education plays a vital role in the prevention and control of schistosomiasis in China and throughout the world. However, the coverage of health education varies from place to place for various reasons. Moreover, people with different levels of health education migrate between different regions. Methods: In order to analyze the effects of different coverages of health education on schistosomiasis transmission, a schistosomiasis mathematical model with people’s inter-regional migration is constructed in two regions with different coverages of health education. The basic reproduction number is calculated, the global stability of the system is analyzed qualitatively, and a numerical simulation is carried out. Results: (1) The transmission trend of schistosomiasis could be reduced by increasing the migration of the susceptible population from the region with a high coverage of health education to the region with low coverage, or by increasing the migration of the infected population between the two regions. Schistosomiasis can even be eliminated if the migration of the susceptible or infected population from the region with a high coverage of health education to the region with a low coverage is sufficiently large. This is quite different from the prevention and control of other epidemics in which the movement of people should be restricted. (2) A low coverage of health education will have an impact on the number of patients and infected snails in both of the two regions. This result indicates that increasing the coverage of health education can reduce the risk of schistosomiasis not only in the local population but also in the surrounding regions to which people migrate. Conclusions: There is no need to restrict the migration of the infected population between the two regions nor the migration of the susceptible population from the region with a high coverage of health education to the region with a low coverage. However, there is a need to restrict the migration of the susceptible population from the region with a low coverage of health education to the region with a high coverage. These are some suggestions to prevent and control schistosomiasis

Structural and Functional Characteristics of Soil Fungal Communities near Decomposing Moso Bamboo Stumps

Background and Objectives: Fungi degrade lignin and other fibers, thus playing an essential role in the decomposition of Phyllostachys edulis (Carrière) J.Houz. (Moso bamboo) stumps. Herein, we characterized key soil fungal communities near different levels of decomposing Moso bamboo stumps (mildly, moderately, and heavily decayed). Materials and Methods: High-throughput sequencing technology was used to analyze the soil fungal communities inside and outside of mild, moderate, and heavy decomposing Moso bamboo stumps. Results: We found nine phyla, 30 classes, 77 orders, 149 families, and 247 genera of soil fungi near the bamboo stumps. Soil fungi OTUs and diversity and richness indices were lower outside than inside the stumps, and decreased with increasing degrees of decay. Inside the bamboo stumps, Soil fungi OTUs and diversity and richness indices were the highest and lowest in moderate and heavy decay bamboo stumps, respectively. Ascomycota dominated inside (from 81% to 46%) and outside (from 69% to 49%) the stumps, and their relative abundance gradually decreased with decomposition, whereas that of Basidiomycota increased outside the stumps (from 17% to 49%). Two-way ANOVA showed that the interaction between the two factors of occurring inside and outside the bamboo stumps and the degree of decay, significantly affected Chytridiomycota and Penicillium (p p < 0.05). The abundance of different genera was significantly correlated with saprotrophic functional groups. Conclusion: Changes in the structure and functional groups of soil fungal communities may play an important role during different levels of decomposition of Moso bamboo stumps. This study provides a scientific basis for screening functional fungal strains that promote the decomposition of Moso bamboo stumps

Phase evolution, bandgap engineering and p-type conduction in undoped/N-doped BexZn1-xO alloy epitaxial films

A systematic study of BeZnO alloy epitaxial films on phase evolution, bandgap engineering and p-type conduction was carried out. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra were used to investigate the detailed phase evolution by Be content variance. A ZnO to amorphous to BeO transition was evidenced with increasing Be content. Moreover, the absorption spectra confirmed the non-practicable of high- and mid-Be content BeZnO as a bandgap engineering material system due to the complicated phase composition and poor crystal quality. But the low-Be content BeZnO is verified a promising starting material for ZnO p-type doping. We demonstrated that the Be incorporation can suppress donor-like Os, in the undoped ZnO host and renders weak p-type conduction. When doped with N, Be can help ZnO capture N atoms more abundantly and stably, which has long been a crucial problem of p-type ZnO. Our research makes a meaningful progress in BeZnO alloy, and provides a better insight into its formation, evolution, band structure and conduction type. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

The wurtzite-rocksalt phase transition for a BexMgyZn1-x-yO alloy: Be content vs Mg content

The Be-and Mg-content-dependent phase transition of BexMgyZn1 x O-y alloy is investigated by theoretically calculations and experiments. For a given content of Be, the maximum content of Mg at which the wurtzite structure still remains in BexMgyZn1 x O-y alloy is intensively studied. We find that as the content of Be increases, the maximum content of Mg in wurtzite BexMgyZn(1 x) O-y alloy increases accordingly. Moreover, the Be-and Mg-content-dependent band gap of the alloy at each wurtzite-rocksalt transition point is evaluated, which is expressed as an empirical law. In addition, the mechanism underlying the tunable band gap of the alloy in wurtzite BexMgyZn1 x O-y alloy is revealed. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Controlled growth of epitaxial wurtzite BeMgZnO alloy films and two microscopic origins of Be-Mg mutual stabilizing mechanism

A narrow growth window for high quality BeMgZnO quaternary alloy films was discovered. The key for this growth window is to keep the Be/Mg atomic ratio low. Here we examine this growth window in more detail and specify the optimum Be/Mg ratio, which is between 0.2 and 0.4. Within this region, the doping level and band-gap can be tuned in a wide range with constant crystal quality, which is certainly favorable to ZnO-based bandgap engineering. More importantly, we discuss the microscopic origins of this growth window to unveil the Be-Mg mutual stabilization mechanism. Our semi-quantitative analysis demonstrates that lattice mismatch compensation between Mg2+ and Be2+ and the strong fourfold coordination preference of Be2+ are two major origins. We have clarified that the upper limit of the growth window is determined by the lattice mismatch and the lower limit is determined by the coordination number (CN) preference, which use the new criterion parameter delta to take both ionic and covalent bond into account under the frame of Pauling's Rules. We believe that Mg can alleviate the serious lattice mismatch due to Be incorporation and Be can reversely relieve the ionic CN6 anxiety due to Mg incorporation. That is the way they stabilize each other and come to a balance. Our research provides a better insight into the stability of BeMgZnO alloys and a very meaningful way to design and engineer this quaternary alloys. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Well-controlled wet etching of ZnO films using hydrogen peroxide solution

We propose hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) solution as a novel and promising etchant for ZnO thin film with well-controlled etching performances and enhanced ultraviolet (UV) luminescence, which is also facile, inexpensive and environmentally friendly. We have analyzed its etching mechanism and surface modification effect for ZnO. Using this etchant, fine patterns have been transferred to the ZnO single-crystal films with good fidelity. The etching performances have been comprehensively investigated using Raman spectroscopy, scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), atom force microscopy (AFM), surface profiler and photoluminescence (PL) spectrometer. The results have shown that ZnO films after the long-time etching exhibited linear etching rate, smooth profile and increased UV emission, which enables H2O2 solution as an excellent wet etchant for various ZnO-based optoelectronic devices. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V

The modulation of grain boundary barrier in ZnMgO/ZnO heterostructure by surface polar liquid

Modulation of grain boundary barrier in ZnO layer by polar liquid, was investigated in ZnMgO/ZnO heterostructures grown by plasma- assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Traditionally, surface adsorbates can only affect the surface atoms or surface electronic states. However, it was found that the electronic conduction property of ZnO far from the surface could be tailored obviously by the polar liquid adsorbed on the ZnMgO surface. Physically, this phenomenon is supposed to be caused by the electrostatical couple between the liquid polarity and the grain boundary barrier in the ZnO layer through crystal polarization field

Wide Range Bandgap Modulation Based on ZnO-based Alloys and Fabrication of Solar Blind UV Detectors with High Rejection Ratio

Theoretical calculations on formation energies of MgZnO, BeZnO and BeMgZnO alloys are presented. The ternary alloy MgZnO (BeZnO) is found to be unstable with high Mg (Be) contents. However, the quaternary system BeMgZnO is predicted to be stable with small Be/Mg atom ratio. Subsequently, a wurtzite Be0.17Mg0.54Zn0.29O alloy with a bandgap of 5.15 eV has been acquired experimentally. Its bandgap is in the middle of solar blind region and thus it is an ideal material for realizing a high rejection ratio solar blind ultraviolet (UV) detector, which has long been a problem. A metal semiconductor metal (MSM) structured solar blind UV detector based on this material is then fabricated, realizing a much higher rejection ratio than reported MgZnO-based detectors. One more interesting thing is, as a complicated quaternary system, BeMgZnO can maintain its crystal quality in a wide compositional range, which is not happening in MgZnO and BeZnO. To get some microscopic insight into the Be Mg mutual stabilizing mechanism, more calculations on the lattice constants of BeZnO and MgZnO alloys, and the coordination preference of Be ions in alloy were conducted. The a-axis lattice compensation and 4-fold coordination preference of Be atom are confirmed the major origins for Be-Mg mutual stabilizing in ZnO lattice