Description Method of Outdoor Climate Characteristics Considering the Comprehensive Effect on Indoor Climate

What human and buildings perceived the environmental information is comprehensive information. However, existing indoor environment design methods are often simplified to single parameters for indoor and outdoor environmental prediction and indoor environment design. In order to describe the indoor climate characteristics of the comprehensive impact of outdoor climate, this study uses the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) method to establish a multi-parameter integrated outdoor comprehensive environmental information description method based on the information-response theory. The outdoor climate feature description method is applied to the analysis of the amplitude and frequency characteristics of outdoor comprehensive information, which provides a research basis for further exploring the indoor and outdoor environmental response under the multi-parameters interaction

Equilibrium Melting Temperature of Polymorphic Poly(L-lactide) and Its Supercooling Dependence on Growth Kinetics

In this study, the isothermal crystallization process of poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) has been investigated using in situ XRD, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and polarized optical microscopy (POM). Linear and nonlinear extrapolation methods have been deployed to estimate the equilibrium melting temperature ( T m 0 ), which is used for analyzing the supercooling dependence of the PLLA spherulitic growth rate (G). A double-melting behavior observed for PLLA under crystallization Tc < 120 °C has been attributed to the formation of both α′ and α crystals. The T m 0 values of both α′ and α crystals have been evaluated using the linear method (172.8 °C) and nonlinear method (196.4 °C), with the nonlinear estimate being 23.6 °C higher. A discontinuity in the temperature dependence of spherulite growth rate is observed around 128.3 °C. Regime II–III transition is found to occur at 128.3 °C when T m 0 = 196.4 °C as estimated by the nonlinear extrapolation method

Physical activity participation and psychological wellbeing in university office workers in china and Australia: An online survey

Background and purpose: Physical inactivity and prolonged sitting have associations with adverse health. University office workers are at a high risk of psychological and pain issues. This study aimed to explore the differences in sitting time, levels of physical activity participation, stress, depression, anxiety, and pain among university office workers in China and Australia. Methods: Online surveys were distributed to university office workers over 55 years at two universities in China and Australia, respectively. Results: A total of 185 participants completed the online survey (119 in China and 66 in Australia). Significant differences were found in sitting time during workdays between the two countries (p < 0.05) with a longer sitting time in the Australian respondents (7.5 h/day) than those in China (4.6 h/day). Additionally, there were also significant differences in terms of levels of depression and pain symptoms within the two countries (p < 0.05). The Australian respondents reported high levels of depression and pain (M = 7.38, SD = 5.86 and M = 3.65, SD = 2.21, respectively) than those in China (M = 5.71, SD = 4.87 and M = 1.89, SD = 1.89, respectively). The gender, education level, and sitting time of participants were found to be associated with pain scores (p < 0.05). A significant association between marital status and pain scores was found among the Australian respondents (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Future studies with a larger population are needed to validate the results and to further explore the association between physical activity participation and psychological wellbeing among university office workers

TCR-L: An Analysis Tool for Evaluating the Association Between the T-Cell Receptor Repertoire and Clinical Phenotypes

Background: T cell receptors (TCRs) play critical roles in adaptive immune responses, and recent advances in genome technology have made it possible to examine the T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire at the individual sequence level. The analysis of the TCR repertoire with respect to clinical phenotypes can yield novel insights into the etiology and progression of immune-mediated diseases. However, methods for association analysis of the TCR repertoire have not been well developed. Methods: We introduce an analysis tool, TCR-L, for evaluating the association between the TCR repertoire and disease outcomes. Our approach is developed under a mixed effect modeling, where the fixed effect represents features that can be explicitly extracted from TCR sequences while the random effect represents features that are hidden in TCR sequences and are difficult to be extracted. Statistical tests are developed to examine the two types of effects independently, and then the p values are combined. Results: Simulation studies demonstrate that (1) the proposed approach can control the type I error well; and (2) the power of the proposed approach is greater than approaches that consider fixed effect only or random effect only. The analysis of real data from a skin cutaneous melanoma study identifies an association between the TCR repertoire and the short/long-term survival of patients. Conclusion: The TCR-L can accommodate features that can be extracted as well as features that are hidden in TCR sequences. TCR-L provides a powerful approach for identifying association between TCR repertoire and disease outcomes

Association of systemic immune-inflammation index with asthma and asthma-related events: a cross-sectional NHANES-based study

BackgroundAsthma is associated with persistent airway inflammation, and numerous studies have investigated inflammatory markers causing asthma. However, the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) is a novel inflammatory marker, with scarce research reporting on the correlation between SII and asthma and asthma-related events.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between SII and asthma and asthma-related events (including whether asthma is still present, asthma flare-ups in the past year, and asthma duration) using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).MethodsThe study utilized data from NHANES 2009–2018 with asthma and asthma-related events as dependent variables and SII as an independent variable. Multifactor logistic regression was employed to assess the correlation between the independent and dependent variables. Smoothed curve-fitting and threshold effect analyses were also carried out to determine the presence of non-linear relationships. Subgroup analyses were then performed to identify sensitive populations.ResultsIn this study, we analyzed data from 40,664 participants to elucidate the association between SII and asthma and its related events. The study findings indicated a positive correlation between SII and asthma, with a relative risk increase of 0.03% for asthma incidence per one percentage point increase in SII (OR = 1.0003, 95% CI: 1.0002, 1.0004). For individuals still suffering from asthma, higher SII also indicated a positive correlation with ongoing asthma (OR = 1.0004, 95% CI: 1.0001, 1.0006). However, no statistically significant association was observed between SII and asthma exacerbations within the following year (OR = 1.0001, p &gt; 0.05). When considering the duration of asthma, we observed a slight positive correlation with SII (β = 0.0017, 95% CI: 0.0005, 0.0029). Additionally, a significant non-linear relationship between SII and asthma duration emerged at the threshold of 504.3 (β = 0.0031, 95% CI: 0.0014–0.0048, p = 0.0003). Subgroup analysis revealed a stronger correlation between SII and asthma in male patients (OR = 1.0004, 95% CI: 1.0002–1.0006) and individuals aged 60 and above (OR = 1.0005, 95% CI: 1.0003–1.0007). No gender differences were observed for individuals still suffering from asthma. However, the positive correlation between SII and asthma was more pronounced in participants under 20 years old (OR = 1.0004 in Model 3, 95% CI: 1.0002–1.0006). Specific sensitive subgroups for asthma exacerbation recurrence within the past year were not identified. When considering asthma duration, we observed this association to be significant in male individuals (β = 0.0031 in Model 3, 95% CI: 0.0014–0.0049) as well as individuals aged 20 to 39 (β = 0.0023 in Model 3, 95% CI: 0.0005–0.0040).ConclusionOur study concludes that SII is positively correlated with the persistence of asthma yet has limited predictive power for asthma recurrence. This highlights SII’s potential as a tool for assessing asthma risk and formulating targeted management strategies

City branding in China's Northeastern region

The past decade has seen a surge in the use of city branding, which is used to attract specific target groups of investors, high-tech green firms and talented workforce and reflects a desired shift from old, polluting manufacturing industries to new, clean service industries. Previous studies in the Chinese mega-city regions Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta a