Validation of bone mechanics by micro-computed tomography and finite element modelling

Bibliography: p. 140-146Some pages are in colour

An empirical study on environmental impact of natural draft cooling tower with flue gas injection

In order to understand the influences of natural draft cooling tower (NDCT) with flue gas injection on pollutant concentrations of the theoretical plume downwash area, an automatic air quality monitoring station was set in the theoretical plume downwash area of NDCT in Qinling power plant to get hourly SO2 and NO2 concentrations over a year. The results show that: 100% 1h average concentrations of SO2 and 99.64% NO2 observations satisfied the requirements of Chinese ambient air quality standard. High pollutant concentrations caused by plume downwash of NDCT with flue gas injection are not observed during the monitoring period, and there are no significant differences (P > 0.05) between pollutant concentrations in the theoretical plume downwash area under the prevailing westerly wind conditions (37.2 ± 24.8 μg/m3) and easterly wind conditions (36.9 ± 22.3 μg/m3), while the concentrations under conditions of west wind speed > 5m/s are significantly lower (P < 0.01) than those under conditions of west wind speed < 1.2m/s. The observations of this study indicate that ground pollutants at high concentration owing to plume downwash would not occur in the theoretical plume downwash area of NDCT with flue gas injection

Spatial-Temporal Changes and Driving Force Analysis of Green Space in Coastal Cities of Southeast China over the Past 20 Years

The purpose of this study is to reveal the spatial-temporal change and driving factors of green space in coastal cities of southeast China over the past 20 years. A supervised classification method combining support vector machines (SVMs) and visual interpretation was used to extract the green space from Landsat TM/OLI imageries from 2000–2020. The landscape pattern index was used to calculate geospatial information of green space and analyze their spatial-temporal changes. The hierarchical partitioning analysis was then used to determine the influences of anthropogenic and geographic environmental factors on the spatial-temporal changes in green space. The results indicated that the total area of green space remained constant over the past 20 years in coastal cities of southeast China (1% reduction). The spatial change of green space mainly occurred in the area near the ocean and the southern region. 41.37% of forest land was transferred from cultivated land, while 44.56%, 41.83%, 43.20%, 46.31%, 41.98% and 40.20% of shrub land, sparse woodland, other woodland, high-coverage grassland, moderate-coverage grassland and low-coverage grassland were transferred from forest land. The number of patches, patch density, edge density, landscape shape index and Shannon’s diversity index increased from 2000–2015, and then decreased to the minimum in 2020, while largest patch index continued to decline from 2000–2020. The contribution of anthropogenic factors (0.53–0.61) on the spatial-temporal changes of green space continually increased over the past 20 years, which was also higher than geographical environment factors (0.39–0.41). Our study provides a new perspective to distinguish the impact of anthropogenic activities and geographical environmental factors on the change of green space area, thereby providing a theoretical support for the construction and ecological management of green space

Post-Graduate Geographical Education in China: Can Talents Meet the Need of Sustainable Development?

As widely acknowledged and targeted in Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, talents education and training is an important measure to systematically solve the problem of economically, societally, resource, and environmentally sustainable development, and so as the post-graduate geographical talents education and training. Whether post-graduate geographical talents education and training can meet the need of sustainable development is an increasingly significant issue in geography science. Therefore, from the perspective of population scale, education quality, and education input, taking Chinese post-graduate geographical education as an example, the paper empirically investigated the spatial differentiation and talents production mechanism. With the support of spatial analysis tools by ArcGIS and GeoDa software, the strong inter-regional differentiation and imbalance characteristics of post-graduate geographical talents education were detected, outlining a general east-west geographical pattern in China. Moreover, the spatial production mechanism of post-graduate geographical talents has its own global and national scale, regional comprehensive and province-related characteristics, and production of the talents education and training in human geography, physical geography, and cartography. GIS also has its own focuses and demands

Comparative Analysis of Recommendations for Timingand Frequency of Home Blood Pressure Monitoring in Clinical Practice Guidelines

Objective  To compare and analyze the recommendations for the timing and frequency of home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) in clinical practice guidelines to help clinicians select the best recommendations and provide suggestions for the development of recommendations in the future.  Methods  Clinical practice guidelines related to hypertension published in the last five years were systematically searched and screened, and the recommendations for the timing and frequency of HBPM were extracted for statistical analysis.  Results  A total of 21 guidelines developed by institutions in 16 countries or regions were included, containing recommendations related to the timing and/or frequency of HBPM. For the HBPM timing, all guidelines recommend that blood pressure measurements be taken twice a day, in the morning and evening. In the morning blood pressure should be measured before taking antihypertensive medication (94.4%, 17/18), before breakfast (72.2%, 13/18) and after urination (55.6%, 10/18), while in the evening it should be taken before dinner (50.0%, 8/16), before bedtime (37.5%, 6/16) or 2 hours after dinner (6.3%, 1/16).For HBPM frequency, 9 (40.9%, 9/22) guidelines recommend at least 3 consecutive days of measurement in the week before the visit, and others suggest that measurements should be taken consecutively for at least 4 d (18.2%, 4/22), 5 d (13.6%, 3/22) or 7 d (27.3%, 6/22) days.  Conclusions  The guidelines of different countries and regions have great differences in recommendations on the timing and frequency of HBPM. It is recommended that future guideline developers develop the best recommendations after a thorough search, evaluation, and synthesis of the evidence, with full consideration of the balance of pros and cons, feasibility, patient preferences and values, as well as the context in which the guidelines are implemented

Reflections on Developing Health Standards Based on Evidence-based Concept

National health standards involve all kinds of technical requirements formulated and numbered in accordance with the procedures and formats stipulated in the standardisation system for the implementation of national health and hygiene laws, regulations and policies, and the protection of human health. The establishment of health standards in China should align with our legal framework, including laws, regulations, departmental rules, and health and hygiene policies. During the development of these standards, a comprehensive approach is advocated, encompassing in-depth investigations, rigorous demonstrations, and extensive stakeholder engagement. However, the process of standard formulation may suffer from insufficient research evidence. The evidence-based concept emphasizes the significance of evidence. Therefore, integrating evidence-based concept into the process of developing health standards can enhance the quality and scientific basis of these standards. This article systematically elucidates the current status and development process of health standards in China, explores the necessity and feasibility of incorporating evidence-based concept into the development of these standards, analyzes the challenges and opportunities, and presents reflections and suggestions

Developing the RIGHT-COI&amp;F extension for the reporting conflicts of interest and funding in practice guidelines: study protocol

Background: Conflicts of interest (COI) and funding may influence the development of practice guidelines, but there are no internationally endorsed guidelines specifically focusing on the reporting on issues related to COI and funding in practice guidelines. Our aim is to develop an extension of the essential Reporting Items of Practice Guidelines in Healthcare (RIGHT) for COIs and Funding in practice guidelines (i.e., RIGHT-COI&amp;F). Methods: We will follow the Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research (EQUATOR) network's toolkit for developing a reporting guideline in six stages: (I) identifying the need for the extension; (II) registering the project and setting up working groups; (III) collecting the initial items; (IV) reaching consensus on the items to be included; (V) revision and formulation of the final checklist; and (VI) dissemination and implementation. We intend to form a multidisciplinary international team of experts to collect and evaluate the items and plan to complete the full reporting guideline in about 2 years. Discussion: The RIGHT-COI&amp;F statement will help guideline developers improve their reporting of issues related to COIs and funding, and subsequently improve the reporting quality of their guidelines. Journals editors, guideline users and evaluators will benefit from a more complete and transparent reporting of COI. Trial registration: We have registered the protocol on the EQUATOR network (https://www.equator-network.org/library/reporting-guidelines-under-development/reporting-guidelines-under-development-for-other-study-designs/#RIGHT-COI).</p