Evaluation and treatment of low and anxious mood in Chinese-speaking international students studying in Scotland

There is a rich body of research on the impact of common mental health difficulties such as depression and anxiety. These concepts, formalised by Western-developed diagnostic frameworks, may be less relevant in non-Westernised cultures. Although depression and anxiety may be presented, they can be presented in different ways in non-English speaking populations. Cultural adaptation of interventions has therefore been advocated to enhance engagement and recovery. This thesis focuses on the mental health presentation and support of Chinese-speaking international students with low mood or anxiety. It aims to explore how they might present with symptoms of depression, how they would like to work/engage in treatment, modify and then test the feasibility of delivering an online life skills package aimed at such students as well as bringing together the evidence base around such interventions through a systematic review

The impact of bilateral brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity difference on cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality

BackgroundThis study aims to investigate the association between an elevated bilateral pulse wave velocity difference (BPWVD) and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and all-cause mortality.MethodsThis study included a total of 38,356 participants. A multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression was used to assess the association between high BPWVD and the increased risk of CVDs and all-cause mortality by calculating hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals.ResultsA total of 1,213 cases of CVDs were identified over a mean duration of 6.19 years, including 886 cases of cerebral infarction (CI), 105 cases of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and 222 cases of myocardial infarction (MI), along with 1,182 cases of all-cause mortality. The median BPWVD was 42 cm/s (19–80 cm/s). After adjusting for all confounders and baseline brachial-ankle PWV (baPWV), our analysis revealed a significant correlation between a higher risk of CVDs, MI, and all-cause mortality with an increase in BPWVD per standard deviation. HRs (95% confidence interval) were found to be 1.06 (1.01–1.11), 1.11 (1.02–1.21), and 1.07 (1.04–1.10), respectively. Among the participants with higher baPWV on the left side, the HRs (95% confidence interval) were 1.08 (1.02–1.14) for CVDs, 1.27 (1.10–1.46) for incident ICH, 1.16 (1.00–1.24) for incident MI, and 1.10 (1.07–1.15) for all-cause mortality, for per standard deviation increase in BPWVD.ConclusionsOur findings reveal a significant correlation between elevated BPWVD and the risks of developing CVDs and all-cause mortality. This highlights the importance of thoroughly evaluating BPWVD as a means of detecting individuals at risk for CVDs and mortality

Cumulative exposure to remnant cholesterol and the risk of fragility fractures: a longitudinal cohort study

ObjectiveTo investigate the association between cumulative remnant cholesterol (cumRC) and the risk of new-onset fragility fractures.MethodsThis study included individuals who participated in the 2006, 2008, and 2010 Kailuan health examinations. Baseline characteristics were compared between groups according to cumRC quartiles. The incidence density was calculated, and the log-rank test was used to compare the cumulative incidence. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI), and restricted cubic spline was used to examine the possibly non-linear relation between cumRC and the risk of fragility fractures. Additional analyses were performed with stratification by age (≥ or <65 years).ResultsA total of 43,839 individuals were included in this study. During the median follow-up period of 10.97 years, a total of 489 fragility fractures occurred. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression model 3 showed that the Q1 and Q4 groups versus the Q2 group were associated with a higher HR of fragility fracture (HR 1.61, 95% CI: 1.23–2.11; HR 1.38, 95% CI: 1.06–1.81), and restricted cubic spline regression analysis showed a non-linear relationship between cumRC level and the risk of fragility fractures (POverall association < 0.001, PNon-linear association = 0.001). The association was significant in the age group <65 years but not in the age group ≥65 years. The sensitivity analyses were consistent with the main results.ConclusionsBoth too high and too low cumRC levels were associated with a greater risk of fragility fractures, and this association was more significant in young and middle-aged people

Real Time Building Evacuation Modeling with an Improved Cellular Automata Method and Corresponding IoT System Implementation

Facility emergence evacuation is often a complicated process under extreme conditions. Most of the buildings today use pre-installed signages to guide the emergence evacuation. However, these guidances are sometimes insufficient or misleading, particularly for evacuating from high-rise buildings or complex buildings, such as schools, hospitals, and stadiums. Following a planned route may lead the crowd to move towards dangers, such as smoke and fire. The future emergency guidance system should be more intelligent and be able to guide people to evacuate with a higher survival possibility. This study proposes a real-time building evacuation model with an improved cellular automata (CA) method. This algorithm combines cellular automata with the potential energy field (PEF) model in fluid dynamic theory (FDT) to choose safe paths for the crowd and reduce the possibility of stampedes. Custom-designed wireless sensors, artificial intelligence (A.I.) enhanced surveillance cameras, intelligent emergency signage systems, and edge computing servers are used to sample fire and crowd data, operate the intelligent evacuation algorithm, and guide the crowd with the signage system in real-time conditions. In addition, we performed the algorithm simulation on a two-dimensional plane generated based on the building structure of the Beijing Capital Airport Hospital. The evacuation drill simulations show that the average escape time is significantly shortened with optimal real-time guidance. In one case, a 72% reduction in evacuation time is achieved compared with evacuation using pre-installed signages. The results also demonstrated that the proposed model and system’s evacuation time reduction performance is particularly good in crowded buildings, such as schools or stadiums

Gleichverteilungseigenschaften von Zufallsvariablen

SIGLETIB: RN 7354 (80) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Effects of relative humidity on electrification and lightning discharges in thunderstorms

Ten-year measurements of lightning and relative humidity from 2002 - 2011 have been analyzed in the Nanjing city, China. Statistical analysis shows the lightning density is positively correlated to relative humidity during this period. To further investigate the effect of relative humidity on electrification and lightning discharges in thunderstorms, a two-dimensional cumulus model incorporating dynamics, microphysics, and thunderstorm electrification mechanisms is used to present a sensitive study. The results show that the higher relative humidity in surface leads to more cloud droplet and stronger updraft, because of enhanced latent heat releasing from increasing condensation. Greater updraft and cloud water content primarily contribute to stronger ice crystal and graupel particles production with increasing relative humidity. A greater formation of cloud droplet, graupel and ice crystal result in increasing charge separation via non-inductive and inductive mechanism. The total lightning flashes increase as the relative humidity increase from 60 - 90%, and only tests with high relative humidity of 90% can produce negative cloud to ground (CG) flashes and positive CG flashes. In addition, the increase of relative humidity condition generally leads to a quicker and stronger convection, which results in earlier electrification and lightning discharges in thunderstorm

Cu2S/Ni3S2 ultrathin nanosheets on Ni foam as a highly efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction

It is an inevitable choice to find efficient and economically-friendly electrocatalysts to reduce the high overpotential of oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which is the key to improve the energy conversion efficiency of water splitting. Herein, we synthesized Cu2S/Ni3S2 catalysts on nickel foam (NF) with different molar ratios of Ni/Cu by a simple two-step hydrothermal method. Cu2S/Ni3S2-0.5@NF (CS/NS-0.5@NF) effectively reduces the overpotential of OER, displaying small overpotentials (237 mV@100 mA cm−2 and 280 mV@500 mA cm−2) in an alkaline solution, along with a low Tafel slope of 44 mV dec−1. CS/NS-0.5@NF also presents an excellent durability at a relatively high current density of 100 mA cm−2 for 100 h. The excellent performance is benefited by the prominent structural advantages and desirable compositions. The nanosheet has a high electrochemical active surface area and the porous structure is conducive to electrolyte penetration and product release. This work provides an economically-friendly Cu-based sulfide catalyst for effective electrosynthesis of OER

A potential risk factor of essential hypertension in case-control study: MicroRNAs miR-10a-5p

Background: Essential hypertension is a multifactorial disease with high morbidity. The researches on the influence of genes on the disease are still in its infancy, and the mechanism of gene regulation is not clear. MiRNAs are key molecules that regulate the expression control of protein-coding or protein-non-coding RNA. It may be an important biological molecule risk factor for essential hypertension. Methods: A case-control study with 98 EH and 98 non-EH was conducted in our experiment. The candidate miRNAs including miR-10a-5p and miR-497-5p were detected and verified by qRT-PCR. Results: The expression level of miRNA in EH cases was significantly lower than the healthy control (P = 0.005). In addition, the relative expression of miR-10a-5p was closely positive correlated with DBP (r = 0.162, P = 0.023) and SBP (r = 0.223, P = 0.002). After adjusting confound factors, the result of the logistic regression indicated that hypo-expression of miR-10a-5p is a risk factor for EH (OR(95%CI) = 1.676(1.302,2.157), adjusted P < 0.0001). And the ROC analysis shows that the combined line with BMI and miR-10a-5p was a values marker for EH (AUC: 0.728, P < 0.0001). Conclusions: Lower expression of miR-10a-5p, as the key role, is significantly related to the risk of EH and maybe as a potential biomolecule for EH

The Diagnostic Value of Artificial Intelligence Ultrasound S-Detect Technology for Thyroid Nodules

This study aimed to evaluate the consistency of ultrasound TI-RADS classification used by sonographers with different ultrasound diagnosis experience in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules and the diagnostic value of using artificial intelligence ultrasound S-Detect technology in the differentiation of benign and malignant thyroid lesions. 100 patients who underwent ultrasound examination of thyroid masses in our hospital from June 2019 to June 2021 and were further punctured or operated on were included in the study. Pathological results were used as the gold standard to evaluate ultrasound S-Detect technology and the value of TI-RADS classification and the combined application of the two in diagnosing benign and malignant thyroid TI-RADS 4 types of nodules, and the consistency of judgments of doctors of different ages is assessed by a Kappa value. There were 128 nodules in 100 patients, 51 benign nodules, and 77 malignant nodules. For senior physicians, the sensitivity of diagnosis using TI-RADS classification combined with ultrasound S-Detect technology is 93.5%, specificity is 94.1%, and accuracy is 93.8%; for middle-aged physicians using TI-RADS classification combined with ultrasound S-Detect technology for diagnosis, the sensitivity is 89.6%, specificity is 92.2%, and accuracy is 90.6%; for junior doctors, the sensitivity of diagnosis using TI-RADS classification combined with ultrasound S-Detect technology is 83.1%, specificity is 88.2%, and accuracy is 85.1%. Regardless of seniority, the combined application of artificial intelligence ultrasound S-Detect technology and TI-RADS classification can improve the diagnostic ability of sonographers for thyroid nodules and at the same time improve the consistency of judgment among physicians, and this is especially important for radiologists