FlightFit: An Application Enabling Air Travelers to Do Stretches Onboard

Currently, with the development of economy and the improvement of people\u27s living standards, more people would prefer traveling by air. However, sitting for extended periods of time on a long flight would be an uncomfortable joyless experience and it may have negative implications for health. A study from the World Health Organisation confirmed that the risk of developing venous thromboembolism (VTE) approximately doubles after travel lasting four hours or more. So carrying out some stretches frequently as well as standing up and moving around as often as possible under permitted conditions would help to improve blood circulation and relieve muscle soreness. Designing a system which helps air travelers reduce stiffness and fatigue by doing inflight stretches effectively and conveniently is the ultimate goal of this thesis project. FlightFit is an iOS application which introduces basic stretching techniques to air travelers in an interactive way. Users can not only stretch different muscle groups by following the default sessions visually and acoustically, but can also customize their own stretching plans based on different needs through the application. The thesis project utilizes UI Design, UX Design and Motion Graphics Design methodologies, which aims at providing air travelers an accessible and effective solution to help them improve flexibility and keep body active during long flights. The whole process can be divided into four stages in this project: Research, Design, Evaluation and Implementation. Each stage involves relevant design methodologies, tools and outcomes that take part in the process to make this project highly efficient and usable. The final deliverables of this project are an interactive prototype and a motion prototype for iPhone and iPa

Extracranial Artery Stenosis Is Associated With Total MRI Burden of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease in Ischemic Stroke Patients of Suspected Small or Large Artery Origins

Background and Purpose: Extracranial artery stenosis (ECAS) is related to individual imaging markers of cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD). However, little has been reported on the association between ECAS and the total burden of cSVD as assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between ECAS and cSVD burden in patients with ischemic stroke of suspected small or large artery origin.Methods: We reviewed consecutive patients with ischemic stroke of suspected small or large artery origin who underwent color Doppler ultrasonography and brain MRI. Bilateral extracranial cerebral arteries including common carotid artery, internal carotid artery (ICA), and proximal vertebral artery (VA, ostium, V2–3 segments) were assessed using color Doppler ultrasonography. ECAS severity was classified as no/mild stenosis, moderate stenosis, severe stenosis, or occlusion. The total cSVD score was assessed by awarding one point according to the load of each of these cSVD markers as determined using MRI; lacunar infarction, white matter hyperintensities, cerebral microbleeds, and enlarged perivascular spaces. The relationship between ECAS severity and cSVD burden according to MRI was examined.Results: Two hundred and twenty one patients were included in this study (mean age 61 ± 12 years, 75.6% male). Hypertension, current smoking, hyperlipidaemia, and diabetic mellitus were frequent among the patients (67.4, 45.7, 43.9, and 36.7%, respectively), while the other vascular risk factors including previous stroke or TIA and alcohol excess were less frequent (19.0 and 15.4%, respectively). Patients with higher total cSVD burden was significantly older and had severer ECAS. The frequency of hypertension was significantly higher in patients with higher total cSVD burden. This analysis indicated that that increasing ECAS severity (from no stenosis through to 100%) was independently associated with increasing total cSVD score after adjusting for other vascular risk factors (odds ratio 1.76, 95% CI [1.16–2.69]).Conclusions: In this study, high levels of ECAS from ultrasound evidence were associated with coexisting advanced cerebral cSVD in ischemic stroke patients of suspected small or large artery origin. Further studies are required to determine if and how extracranial arterial imaging helps reduce cSVD burden or improves cognitive function

Methods for controlling heavy metals in environmental soils based on artificial neural networks

Abstract The problem of heavy metal pollution in soil has become a global environmental problem, and it is very important to predict and manage the heavy metals in the environmental soil in a timely manner. The changes in heavy metal content in soil have characteristics such as nonlinearity and large delay, making it difficult to predict heavy metals in soil using traditional methods. Traditional prediction methods are complex and cumbersome, which can lead to longer treatment time and easy secondary pollution. This article analyzed the Back Propagation neural network (BPNN) in artificial neural networks (ANN) and applied it to the prediction of heavy metals in environmental soils. BPNN has good nonlinear function approximation ability, so it can be well applied to complex problems such as soil heavy metal prediction. The methods of treating soil heavy metals include physical repair method, chemical repair method, microbial repair method, plant repair method, plant microbial combined repair method and so on. The use of BPNN can predict heavy metals in environmental soils through adaptive dynamic learning. However, the training time of the BPNN is relatively long and the convergence speed is relatively slow. Therefore, additional momentum terms were added to adjust the weights and thresholds of the network to improve the BPNN. In the experiment, the prediction performance of the improved BPNN was compared before and after the improvement. This article took 50 monitoring data of heavy metals in the same soil in a certain region in 2021 as sample data and predicted the content of heavy metals in the soil using improved and improved BPNN. Due to time constraints, this article only conducted experimental analysis on heavy metals such as lead and cadmium. In the first experiment, when the soil sample data was 50, the prediction accuracy of the BPNN for cadmium before and after improvement was 75.95% and 89.56%, respectively. In the second experiment, when the soil sample data was 50, the prediction accuracy of the BPNN for cadmium before and after improvement was 77.99% and 89.85%, respectively. The improved BPNN has good prediction accuracy and can effectively predict the status of heavy metals in soil. The analysis in this article can provide scientific basis for the comprehensive prevention and control of heavy metals in regional soil, and also provide reference for the development of pollution-free agriculture and ensuring food safety

Studies on the reduction of unsaturated thioesters using copper hydride

published_or_final_versionChemistryMasterMaster of Philosoph

A study of the future of the Telecommunications industry in Singapore

This project aims to provide an analysis based on consumers' perceptions on the various opportunities that the industry can offer in the future. It is mainly focused on segments such as mobile services, Internet, cable TV and the upcoming technology – 3G. Additionally, we will make suggestions on the types of strategies that the telecoms can adopt

Table_1_Fulvic acid alleviates cadmium-induced root growth inhibition by regulating antioxidant enzyme activity and carbon–nitrogen metabolism in apple seedlings.docx

IntroductionSubstantial previous studies have reported that fulvic acid (FA) application plays an important role in Chinese agricultural production. However, little is known about the mechanisms for using FA to increase apple trees resistance to Cd toxicity. In order to clarify the mechanism underlying FA alleviation in Cd-induced growth inhibition in apple seedlings.MethodsHerein, we treated M9T337 seedlings to either 0 or 30 µM/L Cd together with 0 or 0.2 g/L FA and analyzed the root growth, antioxidant enzyme activities, carbon (C) assimilation, nitrogen (N) metabolism, and C and N transport.ResultsThe results presented that, compared with CK (without Cd addition or FA spraying application), Cd poisoning significantly inhibited the root growth of apple seedlings. However, this Cd-induced root growth inhibition was significantly alleviated by FA spraying relative to the Cd treatment (Cd addition alone). On the one hand, the mitigation of inhibition effects was due to the reduced oxidative damage by enhancing antioxdiant enzyme (SOD, POD, and CAT) activities in leaves and roots. On the other hand, this growth advantage demonstrated compared to the Cd treatment was found to be associated with the strengthen of photosynthetic performance and the elevation of C and N metabolism enzymes activities. Meanwhile, we also found that under Cd stress condition, the distribution of C and N nutrients in apple seedlings was optimised by FA spraying application relative to the Cd treatment, according to the results of 13C and 15N tracing.ConclusionConclusively, our results suggested that the inhibitory effect of Cd on apple seedlings root growth was alleviated by FA through regulating antioxdiant capacities and C and N metabolism.</p

Anti-MicroRNA-21 Oligonucleotide Loaded Spermine-Modified Acetalated Dextran Nanoparticles for B1 Receptor-Targeted Gene Therapy and Antiangiogenesis Therapy

The use of nanoparticles (NPs) to deliver small inhibiting microRNAs (miRNAs) has shown great promise for treating cancer. However, constructing a miRNA delivery system that targets brain cancers, such as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), remains technically challenging due to the existence of the blood‐tumor barrier (BTB). In this work, a novel targeted antisense miRNA‐21 oligonucleotide (ATMO‐21) delivery system is developed for GBM treatment. Bradykinin ligand agonist‐decorated spermine‐modified acetalated dextran NPs (SpAcDex NPs) could temporarily open the BTB by activating G‐protein‐coupled receptors that are expressed in tumor blood vessels and tumor cells, which increase transportation to and accumulation in tumor sites. ATMO‐21 achieves high loading in the SpAcDex NPs (over 90%) and undergoes gradual controlled release with the degradation of the NPs in acidic lysosomal compartments. This allows for cell apoptosis and inhibition of the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor by downregulating hypoxia‐inducible factor (HIF‐1α) protein. An in vivo orthotopic U87MG glioma model confirms that the released ATMO‐21 shows significant therapeutic efficacy in inhibiting tumor growth and angiogenesis, demonstrating that agonist‐modified SpAcDex NPs represent a promising strategy for GBM treatment combining targeted gene therapy and antiangiogenic therapy

Pore Structure Characteristics and Permeability Stress Sensitivity of Jurassic Continental Shale of Dongyuemiao Member of Ziliujing Formation, Fuxing Area, Eastern Sichuan Basin

A shale condensate gas reservoir with a high clay content and a high formation pressure was found in the Jurassic shale of the Dongyuemiao Member in the Fuxing area of the eastern Sichuan Basin. Reservoir characteristics and formation pressure have a significant influence on optimal development. The present study investigated the continental shale of the Dongyuemiao Member in Well F. The petrological properties, physical properties, and pore structure of the Dongyuemiao Member were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), N2 adsorption, and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP). The permeability stress sensitivity characteristics of the shale reservoirs are discussed based on the change in shale porosity and permeability under overburden pressure. The tested shale samples yielded total organic carbon (TOC) and S1 + S2 values ranging mainly from 1.0 wt.% to 1.5 wt.% and from 0.39 to 2.28 mg/g, respectively, which was in the high maturity stage of the thermal evolution of organic matter (OM). The shales of the Dongyuemiao Member were found to contain high average clay mineral contents (more than 50%) of calcite and quartz, as well as albite, pyrite, dolomite, and halite. The main developments were identified as silica-rich argillaceous shale lithofacies, argillaceous shale lithofacies, and mixed argillaceous shale lithofacies. The pores were found to mainly be plate-like and flake-like interlayer pores of clay minerals and OM pores with various shapes. The pore size was mainly concentrated below 110 nm, and the pore volume increment increased in flakes with pore diameter. The average porosity and permeability of shale were found to be 4.827% and 0.243 mD, respectively. Clay minerals and quartz are beneficial for improving the porosity and permeability of reservoirs, while carbonate minerals have the opposite effect. The permeability of the shale showed a negative exponential change with increasing effective stress under overburden pressure. When the effective confining pressure was greater than 20 MPa, the decline rate of the shale permeability decreased with increases in the effective stress. The higher the clay mineral and TOC content, the stronger the stress sensitivity of shale permeability. The higher the carbonate mineral content, the weaker the stress sensitivity of shale permeability. The porosity sensitivity exponent indicates that matrix pores and micro-fractures are both developed in the Dongyuemiao Member, and the development of internal fractures is the main factor in the strong stress sensitivity of the shale permeability in the study area

MICs to different antibiotics of the WT, the <i>cprR</i> and <i>cprS</i> mutants.

MICs to different antibiotics of the WT, the cprR and cprS mutants.</p